19 Chaper 19

I have never been the kind of person who gets mad easily. Sure, there were times where I was frustrated and overwhelmed, but I had never been so mad at someone the way I was with Aiden right now. He had taken up so many thoughts inside my head, so many etched conversations that it was getting difficult to not think about him at all.

I blinked around a few times, watching as the bartender hooked his arm under the bouncer and lifted him up on his two feet. He sat him down on a barstool and as soon as the bruised man recollected his memories, the pain seemed to hit him all over again.

His two large hands cupped an icepack to the side of his face, helping to calm down the already swollen parts of his now-purple skin.

I dusted myself off from the glass and crunched over it to make my way over to them. I didn't want to just chase after Aiden without apologizing after the damage that he had done first. It wouldn't have been right, especially when their expensive alcohol was spilt on the floor among the blood of a worker.

"That boyfriend of yours needs some self-control." He flinched when he moved the ice against his face. "He started hitting me because I told him to leave after he had too much to drink." The bouncer shook his head, and then to my surprise, he chuckled. "Can't deny he has a strong right hook, though. Guy took me down like a bird with a stone."

"He might have a good right hook but look at you! You're probably going to need stitches, dumbass!" The bartender argued with him.

"I'm really sorry again. I hope there wasn't too much damage to the bar..." I smiled weakly and left the place only to fall prisoner to the cold air outside, away from the cigarettes and alcohol.

When I reached the parking lot, I searched for Aiden until I found him leaning over his car, his hands tearing out at his hair with anger. I stood in front of him quietly, looking down at my feet.

"Are you... are you okay?" I muttered out, trying not to stutter because I knew that would annoy him more. And the last thing I needed was for him to lash out at me too.

Then, I noticed his bruised knuckles, blood and scabs mixed together in a grimacing sight. His clothes were stained – probably in blood too – and I would have felt sorry for him if I didn't know that he was the one who started the fight in the first place.

Aiden dropped his hands from his hair and raised his head. His eyes looked even worse. The red blended with the white almost scared me, and the way his pupils were dilated made only a thin ring of grey around them visible. Clearly, he was still drunk out of his mind.

"Why are you here?" He asked in a menacing tone, which made me feel dumb and stupid and awful all at once.

"I- I got- I-" My throat was dry, my eyes on the brink of tears and the expectant yell to come from him only made me feel worse.

"Stop stuttering!" His loud voice rang in my ears just like I predicted.

I wasn't even mad anymore. All of that had faded into something alike to fear or dread.

"I- I'm sorry..." I managed out with a small voice. My eyes fell back to the floor under me, hoping that sometime now, it would swallow me up.

"Answer me, Emma! What are you doing here?" He gripped onto my arm and I winced, my eyes forcefully being pinned on his. Immediately he let go when a tear slipped down my cheek and hit the ground.

"Please, don't hurt me." I whispered out in a sob, feeling far too small for my actual height.

"I wasn't... I didn't..." His eyes ran down my arm and stayed there, now drowned in concern. "You're arm," He pointed. "It's bleeding." He looked back up at me then flicked his eyes away again. "What's wrong with you?"

I swallowed the thick lump in my throat.

"When I-" I took in shaky breath and hoped that when I tried to speak I wouldn't stutter. "When I pulled you off from that guy... you- you pushed me and I fell backwards..." I sniffled and wiped at my nose with my sleeve. "There was broken glass and when I hit the ground, it just cut me."

He didn't answer me straight away. He looked confused; trying to put pieces the together as if he didn't remember a thing I was telling him.

"Are you hurt?" He said, and for a moment, a single lonely moment, it appeared as if he actually cared. But then his coldness took over with the breeze of the wind and his concern was gone just as quickly as it came.

"It's nothing... I'm okay." I swallowed again, holding the small cut with my other hand.

"Then answer my question." He huffed. "Why-are-you-here?" He took a break between each word while he set his jaw still. "I don't recall asking for your help." He raised his voice and took a step towards me.

"No, but-"

"I didn't need you to be here! I don't want you here!" He took anther step, not considering how close we already were. "Can't your small brain understand that?" I took a step back. "You were not wanted!" He yelled again.

I tried my best to ignore his insults and stood my ground, facing him through smeared colours.

"Well if you didn't hit Elijah, I wouldn't have to waste my time helping you!" This time, I take a step. "If you weren't so arrogant, so unbelievably condescending and egotistical, I wouldn't need to be here!" I take another step. "Were you so jealous that you had to hit Elijah to get back at him?"

"Not everything is about you, Emma! I can do whatever I like! I don't need to be jealous of anyone to do so! Or are you so stupid to believe that I actually care enough?"

Everything about Aiden was now tensed up or clenched.

"Are those all your insults? Or do you have a special jar labeled 'For Emma' up your ass?" I yelled back. "God, you are insufferable! You don't let anyone help you! Don't you see that if it weren't for me, you would probably be in jail right now? Everyone was worried sick about you!" He flared his nostrils, irritated just as much as I was. "That bartender was going to call the police, but I begged him not to! So believe it or not jerk, but you have me to thank for that!"

The beating of my heart was beginning to get louder as it thumped around. It almost hurt to breathe as I stared at him. My hands were unsure of where to sit and my legs had gone numb from the feeling. I couldn't even feel the cut in my arm anymore.

"Is your hearing impaired? Did you not hear me? I didn't need your help!" He hands waved around. "You just want to be in every situation so you can fix it! Well, I don't need you to fix anything! I can't be fixed! So leave because I can't stand you here! I can't stand you around me when-!"

I didn't want to argue with him anymore. I couldn't bear to hear him yell at me, to break me down any more than he already had. I just wanted Aiden to shut up, to stop being so maddening and infuriating for once. So I let myself close the mere space between us, and did the first thing that came to my mind in that moment.

I kissed him.