Chapter 45: Kayla

Ended up having to split it into three :/

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I've never thought about death.

I mean, I have—who hasn't—but I've never thought about what happens after.

From a scientific point of view, it doesn't make sense.

The neurons in your brain stop firing, so movement stops, thinking stops, seeing stops.

There's just...nothing.

Which is a weird concept to think about.

If dying means everything stops, how do you know you're dead?

Sure, you can be dying and know you're dying, but after that, when you're actually dead, how can you be sure you're not alive?

You can't see anything, you can't think about anything, you can't do anything.

So what happens?

It's something that's always messed with my brain, and I should not be thinking about it now, as I'm about to meet Aaron's aunt and uncle and cousins, but I felt like I was dying earlier and now I can't stop thinking about it.

Everything felt so real, it felt like we hit something and I was bleeding out and dying, but I wasn't.

Aaron said he swerved to avoid an animal that ran out onto the road, and then he pulled over to the side of the road because I was freaking out.

What is wrong with me?

That wouldn't have scared me before the accident, and I don't want it to scare me now.

"Cassie?"

I turn my head to the left to see Aaron looking at me, the worry clear on his face as we sit parked in the driveway of his aunt's house.

He reaches out to place a hand on my thigh, and I feel myself relaxing, thoughts about death fading away.

"We can drive back if you're not up for this. It's not important, and they won't be upset."

I honestly want to agree to that.

But I can't.

Despite what Aaron said, this is important. Maybe not to his family, but it's obviously important to him, which means it's important to me.

Which means I'm going to have to suck it up and go through awkward introductions to make Aaron happy.

The things I would do for him.

"No, it's alright. I'll be fine."

I can see the way his eyes brighten, but he doesn't move, his hand still on my thigh.

"You sure?"

I nod my head, and he gets out of the car, on my side and helping me step out as soon as I open the door.

He holds his hand out and bows dramatically, causing me to roll my eyes, but I take his hand and get out of the car.

Closing the door behind me, Aaron grabs my hand, interlocking our fingers as we walk together, heading towards their front door.

Once we reach it, Aaron rings the doorbell and we wait in silence, hands still locked together.

As soon as the door opens, a dog is barreling towards me, knocking me down, which causes my hand to release itself from Aaron's grip.

A flurry of licks and fur obscure my vision, and I can't help the laugh that leaves my mouth.

The dog is finally lifted off of me, and I see it's a golden retriever, one that's struggling against the literal male copy of Aaron.

Like, they literally look the exact fucking same. Black hair, green eyes—the only difference is that Aaron's copy is less muscular and more lean.

But Aaron looks way better. His ass in those sweatpants is doing something to me.

Aaron picks me up from my ass and wraps a hand around my waist, pulling me into his side.

"Would you sit, Garfield?"

They named their dog after a cat.

I think I'm going to like Aaron's family.

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Aaron's male copy, who's name is Anthony, is a pretty funny guy. He's actually way younger than he looks; I thought he was eighteen, maybe nineteen—still in high school, at least—but he's twenty, turning twenty-one in a couple of months.

But, despite his age, he acts like a sixteen year old boy.

"And then he f–fell down the stairs because he forgot his pants were down and—"

Tony, as I was directed to call him, can't finish his sentence because he's laughing too hard, similar to how I can't breathe because I'm laughing too hard.

"Oh my God," I manage to get out. "That's such an Aaron thing to do."

Tony and I fall into another fit of laughter, me being careful of Garfield, who's resting his head on my lap, and Aaron rolls his eyes from where he's sitting across from me at the dining room table.

"Alright, Cassie, I think that's enough laughing."

I ignore him, not saying anything in return, mostly because I can't stop laughing.

All I can see is a sixteen year old Aaron Brewer running down the stairs of a girl's house with his pants down as said girl's father chases him.

A burning fire of jealousy ignites in my chest at the thought of Aaron having sex with another girl, but I push it down, determined to keep this interaction light-hearted.

"How is Trace doing?" Aaron winderw. "I haven't spoken to her in a few months."

There goes my plans to keep everything light-hearted.

Nope, it's too early for that, he just asked how she was, that's not anything important. It's not like he wants to have sex with her anymore, come on, Cass, keep it together.

"You're shitting me," Tony says, his voice filled with amusement. "You used to talk to her all the time."

Tony cannot keep a secret to save his life, something that was made abundantly clear to me the within the first few minutes of our meeting.

I'm not sure if what he just said was exactly a secret, but Aaron casts me a worried look, only looking away when I raise an eyebrow at him.

"Well, I haven't in a while," Aaron says, redirecting his attention to Tony. "Not since the beginning of the school year, actually."

Tony shoots a confused look at him, but when he looks at me his expression transforms into one of understanding.

"Right," he says. "Anyways, she was asking about you. Wanted to know when you'd be coming up."

Aaron quickly stands up, pushing his seat back, a panicked look on his face. "And you told her?" he shouts, looking pissed off and terrified at the same time.

His expression capabilities are awesome.

"Well...yeah," Tony says, the confused look back. "Why wouldn't I?"

"Because she's crazy?" Aaron says it like a question. What is the deal with him and this girl? "Why do you think I only talk to her when I'm here and not when I'm in Florida?"

Tony's eyes widen. "Oh," he draws out. "That makes sense."

Aaron rolls his eyes and starts pacing, dragging a hand through his hair.

I love his hair.

Not the time to be thinking about that, but I can't help it, my hormones are just all over the place.

My eyes widen as I remember the reason why my hormones are all over the place.

And I just about start crying when I realized what I did earlier.

I grinded on Aaron's dick as I was bleeding out of my vagina.

Oh God.

What if the pad shifted and blood got all over him?

Oh my fucking God, I can't.

Shit, I hope he put pads in the suitcase when he packed for me.

"Aaron," I say calmly, shoving the down the panic rising up in me. "Can I speak to you in private please?"

I think he thinks I'm going to talk about something else because his eyes widen and his face is frozen in an expression of terror.

"Yeah," he says—tries to say—casually. "Sure. Come on."

He jerks his head to the side, and I push back from the table, sending Tony a small smile.

Aaron leads me to the hallway by the front door and stands a few steps away from me, his hands in his pockets.

He swallows nervously. "What's up?"

I open my mouth to start the awkward conversation, but Aaron speaks before I can get a word out.

"Look, Tracey and I had a thing, yes, but it was a minor thing. It didn't mean anything to me, as bad as it sounds, I was just in it for the sex, I never wanted to pursue a romantic relationship of any kind with her, so if that's what you're worried about, you don't have to be."

He finishes up, and all I can do is blink at him.

They had sex. I knew that, but it somehow hurts more hearing it in this setting, hearing it from him, than it does hearing it from a family member, told like a joke.

But, I clear my throat and aim to seem like it's not affecting me.

"That's not what I was worried about, actually."

I just wanted to know if he brought my feminine products, but I can't bring it up in this serious conversation.

He takes a step closer and grabs my hand, lifting them and placing them on his shoulders before his hands go down to my waist and he rests his forehead against mine.

"You sure? I don't want it to..." He swallows again, his Adam's apple bobbing. So cute. "I don't want what I did with Tracey to come between me and you."

His eyes close, squeezed tight, and, suddenly, his whole thing with Tracey doesn't bother me anymore. Okay, yes, it still bothers me, but not to the same extent. I know he loves me, and I know he wouldn't do anything to mess that hope.

I trust him.

"It won't," I tell him softly. "Okay?"

He nods against my head, causing my head to move too, and lands another soft kiss on my lips, lingering there for a few seconds.

A drawn out, "Ew," causes us to leap apart, and I see a small girl, no more than seven years old, standing a few feet away from us

Aaron's face lights up, and he crouches, extending his arms towards the little girl. "Kayla!"

She runs towards him and leaps into his arms, squealing. "Aaron! You came back, like you promised."

Aaron lets out one of the biggest laughs I've ever heard him give. "Of course I came back. How's my favorite little princess?"

This guy is wonderful with kids, something that has my ovaries on overdrive, which is a little weird considering I'm only eighteen, but still—it's adorable.

"I'm good," she chirps.

"Great."

Aaron stands up, leaving Kayla on the floor and she pouts.

"No fair, you got taller and I didn't."

I have to let out a laugh at how cute this child is, and Kayla's attention turns to me.

I shoot her a friendly smile, but she shrieks and hides behind Aaron's legs.

Aaron smiles apologetically at me. "She's not very big on strangers."

He turns around and picks Kayla up, resting her on his left hip.

"This is Kayla, Tony's daughter," he says to me. "Kayla, this is Cassie."

At those words, Kayla practically leaps out of Aaron's arms and walks until she's standing in front of me, her head tilted to the side.

I think she's staring me down, but then a grin to rival Aaron's breaks out on her face.

"You're her!" She lunges forward and hugs my legs, looking up at me with that huge smile still present on her face. "You're really her!"

I laugh. "I guess I am."

I have no idea what she's talking about.

The doorbell rings, and I look up to see Aaron walking closer to the door.

When he opens it, I'm the one wishing I could hide behind him. Instead, I put a hand on Kayla's shoulder as she moves behind me.

"Trace," Aaron says obviously surprised. "What are you doing here?"

The person at the door, who I'm assuming is Tracey, doesn't answer.

Instead, she takes a step forward and plants the biggest kiss on Aaron's lips.

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Happy Valentine's Day!

Where are all my single people at?

Meant to update this yesterday, but Wattpad deleted the chapter and I had to rewrite it. It's not as good as it was, and I'm feeling a little eh about it, you know?

I'm so single. Anybody wanna date me? I'm just kidding, but seriously, it sucks.

There might be another chapter tomorrow, but it's doubtful; I've been really busy and might not have time to update, sorry. I probably shouldn't have introduced another conflict, but oh well, it's cool, lmao.

We're almost there guys.

Rose-