Chapter 8: Triggered

"Dare? I didn’t expect that"Di shook her head.

"Life has many surprises,"he said.

"Go upstairs, and jump into the pool from the second floor,"she said. I looked at her with a puzzled face.

"What?"I couldn’t hold myself.

"Oh, don’t worry,"Aiden looked at me. "I’ll survive that."

I blushed since I clearly showed that I cared for him. Was that a mistake?

He stood up.

"Aiden, no way!"Elena shouted. Vito was barking.

"He can’t go back now,"Enzo laughed.

He looked at me again. But all I could do was look at him with eyes wide open. I wasn’t sure if he wanted me to say ‘Don’t do it,’ but I was too startled.

He went upstairs. I looked at Di. "Why did you say that?!’’

"I had to punish him because he refused to tell one truth about himself,"she smiled. I was angry that she was right. Why did he avoid that?

I ran to stand by the pool. Elena, Enzo, and Di joined me.

"Don’t do that, you’ll catch a cold!"I shouted.

"So what? You’ll feed him with a spoon!"Enzo said quietly. I hit his shoulder as he laughed.

I saw him on top of the roof. "I only said the second floor, you silly!"Di shouted.

He took off his t-shirt which led me to blush again. Was he working out? He had so many muscles I lost count.

"That’s too high!"I shouted.

"It’s not,"he answered. And ran to the edge of the roof. It only took three seconds for him to hit the water and spill it on us. Elena and I shouted as a reflex while Di and Enzo were enjoying the scene.

He swam a little more under the water and came up by the edge of the pool. He got his head up and put his arms on the side.

"You’re insane!"Di shouted.

He finally got out of the pool and looked at me. "Try the blueberry bagels while I change, they’re amazing,"he laughed.

I rolled my eyes while Enzo was joking with him and getting him inside. I called Vito.

We sat down again and in a minute Aiden came down with dry clothes on. While he was sitting, and putting his arm again on my chair, my phone buzzed. I closed my eyes as a reflex. Not now.

I declined the call fast and straightened my position. Leaning forward onto the table helped me get a bit away from Aiden’s scanning eyes.

Elena turned the bottle. As it appeared, I wasn’t lucky. The third round was Enzo and me.

He moved his hands like he was going to eat his favorite meal and laughed. I heard Aiden laughing too.

"Oh my, I was waiting for this,"said Enzo. "Truth or dare, pancake?"

"I wasn’t thinking of saying dare, but now, I’ll never say it and risk jumping into the pool,"I looked at Aiden.

"Okay, then. You choose your path."He leaned back. I started to get scared and leaned back like him.

"It will be the simplest question. Because I know you’ll give me a true answer,"he said with a straight face. "What are you afraid of the most in this life?’’

I thought about it all the time. It was an easy question.

"Going insane,"I replied.

"Why is it scary?"he continued.

"Because I don’t want to lose control of myself,"I said, struck by how I sounded emotionless.

"Don’t you think it is sometimes necessary?"Enzo’s tone got calmer and calmer.

"Not knowing the difference between the real and the imagination… That is not necessary, that is destruction."

Before everything, I would answer his interrogation questions more calmly. But now, I was already on the verge of losing my mind as a person who recently lost many great things in life. That felt personal more than ever.

My fears could come to life if I didn’t focus on the good things I still have.

"Fair enough,"said Enzo and set me free.

I turned the bottle. And by my extreme luck, it was Elena and me.

"I think I should mirror my sweet brother,"she said. "And I assume you’ll go with truth again.’’

I nodded.

"I bet you’ll ask ‘What makes you the angriest in life,"Di laughed.

Elena looked at me with a smile I’d never seen on her face before. She was about to unleash her power.

"What do you seek in love?’’

I froze. Di was also shocked and looked at Elena with her mouth open. And I could swear that I heard Aiden’s heartbeats.

"That’s more creative than mine,"Enzo laughed.

I tried to answer the question under high pressure.

"Even though love is a violent feeling, I seek peace in it,"I said shortly.

"Okay,"said Elena and kept looking at me with her devious grin.

"Wasn’t it a really good game?"Di asked with a high tone.

"Yeah, but we’ll definitely have to talk about it,"Elena hit Enzo’s shoulder. She would take her revenge in some way.

After a while, we got ready to leave. But somehow, I found myself in the garden talking to Aiden. He knew how to take someone away.

I had many questions in my head. And I knew that I wouldn’t get them answered if I waited. After taking a deep breath, I started asking.

"So, we met one evening. Then I saw you again. And then, you’re always around."I looked at him. I stopped watching the pool to see his face. "We talked a lot. About almost anything. But I don’t know anything about your life."I sounded annoyed at the end. I didn’t realize that it made me feel that way.

"You can learn anything you want, Lara,"he answered but kept his eyes down, still watching the pool.

"I think you don’t want me to,"I said.

"Why wouldn’t I want to? Wouldn’t it make things easier?"he chuckled. I felt the disguise in his tone. He was either playing with me or keeping things from me. Either way, that didn’t feel right. He looked like a puzzle to me.

"Good night, Aiden,"I said with a smirk. He looked surprised and turned his body to me while I walked away.

"Let’s go,"I said to Enzo and pet Vito goodbye.

"Good night,"he smiled.

When we got into Enzo’s car, I received a text from Aiden.

"Tomorrow?"

"We would, but you’ll one hundred percent catch a cold, so…"I sent.

"Wouldn’t be a problem if I were to get that soup,"he replied.

"If only pneumonia could be cured by a soup.’’

"I thought you would team up with the soup and take care of me.’’

I smiled and blushed.

"Let’s see first if you’ll survive the night,"I replied. He was insane and I couldn’t afford one more sleepless night because of him. But I couldn't escape seeing him in my dreams.