Birthday Boy

"You saw the news?" Aaron asked as soon as I had opened the door.

I nodded, wiping the last remaining tears from my cheeks when he sighed, pulling me into his arms.

"You're famous." He mumbles and I nod.

"I am. Sorry for not telling you." I sniffle when he closes the door behind us and moves us to the living room.

"It's okay Isa, I understand. You just wanted to keep that part of your life private." He said with a small smile.

"I just-... I'm not proud of that part of my life. I wanted out, and that's exactly why I came here. Except I thinks it's time to go back." I said and Aaron nodded.

"Yeah, it really is." He said softly, wiping my tears away.

"Do you think he saw it? The news?" I asked looking back at the television which was showing pictures of me and Adam holding hands, smiling and kissing.

I averted my gaze, not being able to look at it for much longer when Aaron shrugged.

"He might have, obviously. I mean, it concerns him as much as it concerns you so, I guess so." He said and closed the television, noting what those pictures were doing to me.

"I guess I'll never be able to really escape him, will I?" I asked with a sad smile.

"You loved him. Correction, love him. I guess it takes more than a messy break up and some foul words to truly hate someone you loved so much. Same goes for him." He said gesturing to my phone which was blasting with calls and messages from my family and friends and even... him.

"H-he's actually calling me." I stated in disbelief but then took a deep breath and shook my head, declining his call.

"But I'm not going to give in so easily. He hurt me, and he has to earn my forgiveness." I said firmly when Aaron nodded.

"That's my girl. Stay strong, and don't let anyone take you down, yeah?" He said and I nodded, wiping my tears furiously.

"How about operation move on from our exes?" Aaron smiled slyly and I knew exactly what it meant.

"I couldn't have asked for anything else." I grinned and we both walked into my room and bee lined straight for my closet.

"This?" I asked twirling but he shook his head.

"Nah, go again." He said and I frowned, trying on the tenth pair of outfits Aaron and I had taken out for our day out.

It was something we did whenever we felt down or get reminded of our exes, we dressed up, although casually, but the process was fun.

And then, we went to a random place to have fun. The first time we did this we went to an arcade.

Then to a carnival nearby, once to the movies and today, we were going to some fair that was being held close by.

"This one." Aaron grinned and I nodded as well, setting my clothes aside as we chose something for him as well before starting to get ready and just like always, singing together in the shower.

"I look around and, Sin City's cold and empty..." I sand loudly, holding my shampoo bottle in my hand.

"No one's around to judge me, I can't see clearly when you're gone..." Aaron sang and I giggled.

"I said, ooh, I'm blinded by the lights, no, I can't sleep until I feel your touch... I said, ooh, I'm drowning in the night, oh, when I'm like this, you're the one I trust..." We sang together, laughing at the end as we got of our showers.

I quickly curled the ends of my hair, putting on some pink lip gloss and eyeliner, I quickly put on my clothes and slipped on my shoes after moving my curtain bangs out of my eyes as well as my white hair that I had dyed, once again.

"Ready?" Aaron came into my room and smiled.

"Ready." I said and took his outstretched arm, following him out.

* * *

"This was a bad idea." I said sighing, looking out and around to see if we were in the clear before Aaron grabbed my hand and we ran into the nearest restaurant.

"We'll be safe here. I think." Aaron said confused and we sat on a table, now noticing how weird we looked sneaking around and hiding behind tables. The people inside thought the same.

"I'm so sorry Ronny, if I had any ide-"

"It's okay, Isa, you didn't know." He patted my hand and smiled reassuringly when I nodded.

"For what it's worth, I really am sorry. I didn't know that we'd be..." I trailed off when Aaron chuckled.

"Bombarded by people and photographers who recognized you?" He raised a brow and I shrugged, picking up a menu card and scanning through it.

"It's alright, I don't mind, really." He said and I nodded.

"I'm hungry. Are you hungry?" I asked when Aaron laughed and nodded, picking up another menu and scanning through it.

We had a nice dinner at the small restaurant which seemed really cosy and decided to visit it again sometime because the owner, who was a really nice lady in her fifties kept us hidden in her back office from the photographers.

"Remind me to call your mum to thank her for those cookies. They were delicious." I said and Aaron smiled while we both ate our ice creams as we walked back home.

"I will. Movie night?" He asked cheekily.

"Duh." I said rolling my eyes playfully when he chuckled as we entered our apartment block.

Getting changed, we both got settled in my apartment, snuggling deeper into our pillows as the movie started to play just as there was a knock on the door.

"I'll get it." He said and I paused the movie as Aaron went to see who came at this time.

"Ronny? Who is it?" I called out and he came back a few moments later.

"Who was it?" I asked when he shrugged.

"Some guy named Mark... Do you know anyone of the sort?" He asked when I frowned.

"Not that I know of, no. Why?"

"He asked if this was Isabelle Edward's apartment. I said it was." He said and I shrugged.

"I'll ask the landlord if he had sent someone. Tomorrow." Aaron said and I nodded, shrugging off the weird feeling as we played the movie once again.

Why does that name sound familiar?

* * *

That was six months ago.

"Alright, pass me the button." I hold my hand out and Aaron places the last button in my palm as I work on the tux I was designing for him.

"Aaaaand done!" I yelled, throwing my arms up in the air and gave Aaron a high five.

"Wow, this is amazing!" He said excited, looking at his tux with big eyes before picking me up in his arms and twirling me in the air while I squealed.

"Thank you!" He pecked my forehead, a big toothy smile fixed permanently on his face.

"Now, I'll see you in the evening, madam?" He asked cheekily, bowing to me when I giggled.

"You will, my fine sir." I mimicked him, doing a little curtsy as I helped him take the tux back to his place.

"Thanks once again Isa, see you tonight!" He yelled.

"See you!" I yelled back, both of us slamming our doors shut at the same time as I flop onto my bed, utterly exhausted.

"God that was tiring." I mumble into my pillow, placing an alarm for two hours and within minutes, I'm off to a dreamless slumber.

* * *

Now, I'm getting ready for dinner in a hurry because I overslept just as my phone rings.

"Hello?" I answer the call in a haste when a throat is cleared on the other side.

"Belle, how are you?" Lance asks when I sigh, putting on my earrings.

"I'm okay, considering everything." I say and hear his hum.

"Are you going somewhere?"

"You could say that..." I trail off, huffing when I can't get the bloody earring in.

"Where are you off to?" He asked as I punch my fist in the air after successfully putting on my jewelry.

"Uh.. dinner, with Aaron." I say breathless, brushing out my newly dyed white hair and wince when my fingers get tangled in them.

You might be wondering where the hell did white come from after pastel pink. Well, let's just say I've been being a bit too spontaneous. Also because I'm in hiding.

"Alright, well, I just wanted to ask how you were doing." He said when I hummed, slipping on my shoes just as there was a knock on my door.

"Shit, he's here. Can I call you later?" I ask.

"Of course, have fun sweetheart."

"Yeah okay bye!" I hang up abruptly, throwing my phone in my purse and blowing out my curtain bangs from my face as I look at myself once more in the mirror.

"Good enough." I mumbled before before rushing to the door and swinging it open.

"Oh, hey. Wow... You look..." He said, trying to make out the words but nothing came out of his mouth when I chuckled.

"Thanks, you look the same." I say when he narrows his eyes at me playfully, taking my purse from my hands so I could pull on the straps of my heels.

"And what if I said ugly?" He be said when I smirked.

"I said you look the same, didn't I? So I'll assume whatever you said was good since it comes back to you." I replied and heard his brief chuckle from behind me as I locked the door and followed him out.

Today was Aaron's twenty-fourth birthday, and we had decided to dine in a fancy restaurant that had just opened a few weeks ago. Dinner was on me, obviously, and both of us were mad excited.

Since the restaurant wasn't that far, we had decided to walk, breathing in the fresh air as we chatted along the way, laughing on each other's lame jokes until we reached our destination after a good ten minutes.

"Reservation under Isabelle Edward." I said to the manager who gaped at me a bit, obviously recognizing me before clearing her throat and nodding.

"This way, ma'am." She said, leading us both to our table while we looked around the place like little kids.

"This place is amazing, how'd you even get a table?" Aaron asked me surprised when I shrugged.

"I don't reveal my secrets." I said with sass, flipping my hair over my shoulder and laughing along with him.

Honestly, it felt good. It felt good to smile again and laugh. When I had met Aaron, he told me a few days later that he had a feeling that my eyes lacked their usual brightness.

I didn't say anything, just shrugged in response, but he was right. My eyes had gotten dull again, and I nearly didn't recognize myself in the mirror anymore.

The Isabelle six months ago had bright blue eyes that glimmered with happiness, her hair was healthier, her skin was brighter and she was happy. Content.

The Isabelle now had dull eyes, hollow cheekbones, she ate less, her skin was more pale now and her hair was white.

Fucking white.

Aaron, thankfully, had tried to bring me back to life. I had blurted everything to him one drunken night a month after I had moved here and we had gone out to 'forget' ourselves.

He's been a tad bit too over protective of me ever since. And my brothers, well, let's just they were not happy.

They wanted to come to me here, but I assured them I was fine, even though we all knew well enough that I was not. I just needed space from everyone.

Taylor was pissed, to say the least. We had talked on video chat many times and she was unhappy with how 'broken' I looked.

But I was glad she didn't push me too much, even though she knows every thing that happened six months ago.

"I love you hair." A girl commented, breaking my trip down memory lane as I looked at her and then her friends who smiled at me.

"Thanks, I like yours too." I said, admiring her unique hairstyle and wondering how the hell her head wasn't hurting with so many braids.

"Thank you." She beamed before leaving with her friends when I frowned.

"I fucking hate my hair." I grumbled, blowing away a strand from my face when Aaron laughed at me.

"It suits you." He said when I raised a brow at him.

"I'm not lying, I swear." He said and I rolled my eyes playfully just as food was brought for us.

Both of us ate happily, enjoying our time together and then the chef had made a complimentary birthday cake for Aaron, as per my request, and Aaron nearly fainted of happiness.

His smile was so contagious that I was sure my face would break from smiling so much as well, because my cheeks definitely hurt like hell.

And after cutting the cake and wishing my best friend of six months a happy birthday, I kissed him on his cheek and he in turn pecked my forehead, because he was the affectionate type of guy, and I absolutely loved it.

He literally wore his heart on his sleeve and was probably the most expressive guy I had ever met. Or maybe because I was used to cold businessmen all my life, Aaron was a breath of fresh air, literally.

"Alright, open up." I say holding a spoonful to his mouth after he had cut the cake and blown out the candles.

Just when he thought I couldn't possibly pull a prank on him in a place like this, I shoved the spoon against his mouth, effectively spreading cream all around his lips and nose.

"Hey!" He whined while I laughed at him hysterically, opening up after so damn long it was refreshing.

People turned to look our way, some smiling at our antics while others clearly judged as he pushed away my stray strands from my face, tucking them behind my ear while chuckling.

"You got me there." He said licking off the cream and wiping the rest with a napkin.

But like every good thing has to come to an end, so did this one.

The hair at the back of my neck suddenly rose, goose bumps lining my body at the same powerful voice that had once made me weak in the knees.

"Isabelle?"