Pretend (75 page)

             
"No. Aiden is," she said as she laughed at my now relived expression.

             
"Ok."

             
"Glad to see the confidence that you have in me though," she said
,
sarcastically with a smile on her face.

             
"You forget how long I've known you and if there is one thing that I have learnt, it is that you and the kitchen are in no way friends," I said as we both began to laugh.

             
"Just get ready
,
woman!" She said as she walked out the door, laughing.

****

             
As I walked down the stairs after getting ready I was greeted by the delicious smell of food cooking. If Aiden kept this up we could have a very long life together.

             
"Oh, good morning sweetheart," Susan said as she watched me walking down the stairs.

             
"Morning Mrs-I mean Susan," I quickly corrected myself.

             
"Sleep well?" She asked with a smile on her face.

             
"Yes thank you. I really enjoyed last night, thanks for inviting me," I said as I smiled back at her.

             
"April sweetheart, you're family, you never need an invite," she said as she gently squeezed my hand and then walked into the living room leaving me stood still with a smile on my face.

             
"Something smells good," I said as I watched Aiden moving around the k
itchen like a true professional. It was nice watching him cook. H
e seemed at peace, like he was in his element.

             
"Morning beautiful," he said as he smiled at me.

             
"Would you mind taking these into the dining room, I thought that it'd be nice to all eat together today," he said as he poi
nted towards the four plates
, knives and forks.

             
"Course I will but I want something in return," I said as I smirked at him.

             
"Oh
,
is that right? What did you have in mind?" He asked as he his smirk now mirrored mine.

             
"Surprise me," I whispered as I watched him start to walk towards me.

             
"I thought
that
you hated surprises?" He said as he stood in
front of me.

             
"I used to," I said before I felt his lips con
n
ect with mine.

I quickly parted from Aiden as I heard a whisper in the kitchen and turned to see Susan and Crystal watching us.

             
"
Awww
, so romantic," Susan said as she watched us happily, causing me to blush.

             
"I know
,
right," Crystal played along as she was clearly trying to hold back the laugh that she so badly wanted to release.

             
"I'll just take these next door," I said as I picked up the plates and cutlery off of the marble counter and headed towards the dining room.

* * *

             
Breakfast turned out to be really nice. Sitting around the table in the Daniels' house was a distant memory that reminded me of my childhood and it was nice to experience it again.

             
"Right, you two ready?" Aiden asked as he
,
Crystal and I washed and packed away the last of the breakfast dishes.

             
"I'm getting a ride with Jinnie this morning," Crystal quickly blurted out.

             
"Why?" I asked in a confused state.

             
"Well
,
it's just, you guys deserve to have a little alone time every now and then so
,
you know," she said nervously.

             
"That's really sweet but you didn't have to do that," I said as I smiled at her.

             
"She didn't?" Aiden asked before receiving a nudge in the side from
 
my elbow.

             
"I'm kidding," he said as he began to laugh.

             
"
Honestly
sis
,
just call her and say
that
I can take you. I like riding with you in the mornings," he said in a more serious tone.

It made me smile when I thought about how close they both were.

             
"I know and I'll ride with you tomorrow but today is your day so enjoy it because you won't be able to get rid of me so easily again," she said as she winked at me and then walked out the door towards Jinnie's car. I really do love that girl.

             
"I guess it's just you and me then," Aiden said as he smiled at me.

             
"I guess it is."

             
"Bye M
om," he shouted as we walked through the door, towards his car.

             
"
Bye
Susan
."

             
"Bye kids, have a good day," she shouted back.

             
"I'm kind of glad that Crystal did that actually," Aiden said after he started up the car and started to head to school.

             
"Why
?"

             
"Well
,
I kind of wanted to talk to you about something," he said as he glanced at me before keeping
his eyes on the road ahead
.

             
"Ok," I said, not knowing what to expect.

             
"
I decided that I want to go and see my dad."

             
"Really?"
I asked in shock.

             
"Yeah
,
I kind of want to help him out," he said nervously.

             
"How do you mean?"

             
"Well
,
I figured
that if I c
ould try and get him to agree to seeking some professional help
things might get better
," he said as he glanced at me again.

             
"I think that's a great idea Aiden, I'm really
proud of you."

             
"Thanks and it's down to you really," he said, catching me completely off guard.

             
"Me?"

             
"Yeah,
April you
’
r
e
such a good person, you forgive people of things that just seem impossible, you give people second
chances and show them love. I
didn't understand it at first and honestly I still don't understand why you do it but it feels right. You gave your dad a chance and look how happy you are. I can't promise that I can forgive my dad straight away after everything that he's done but I guess I can
try, i
f not for me then for Caitlyn. She's my sister and I don'
t want her to grow up seeing the
things that I did
,
so if I have to help him in order to prevent that then I will," he said.

             
I
honestly
had never heard Aiden speak so much in one sentence or speak so much at all and it was nice. It was also the reason that I blurted out the next thing that I did.

             
"Gosh you make it so
hard not to fall deeper in love with you," I said without thinking. I suddenly felt my cheeks heat up as I
tried to look out of the window and brush o
f
f what I had said. Sure
,
I had told Aiden that I loved him but I never quite told him that I was 'in love' with him. I never really thought that there was a difference between the two before Aiden but there really was. I loved Kyle and it was an amazing feeling but this was different. With Aiden things just didn't make sense but it didn't
matter. With Aiden I knew that it
was different, I loved him in a way that made me accept that he was my best friend, a way that made me want to tell him things about my life that I could just about tell myself, in a way that made me want to put his feelings before mine, in a way
that meant that if he hurt then
my heart felt broken and in a way that if he was in pain
,
I would
n’t
hesitate to switch places with him just so that he was ok and I can honestly say that I have never felt that way before.

             
"In love?"
He asked in a serious tone.

             
"
Erm
...I guess so
,
yeah," I mumbled.

             
"Crazy, right?"
I said as I turned to face him.

             
"If you were telling someone that didn't feel the exact same way then yes but you're not," he said before pulling up in the parking lot of Janeson high and parking his car.

             
"You do?" I asked, quietly.

             
"April, do you even have to ask?" He said.

             
"It's just that..." I began.

             
"I get it.
Kyle, right?
Look, I know what Kyle did to you and I understand that, it makes you scared to put that level of trust in someone else but I'm not out to hurt you," he said in a gentle voice.

             
"That's just it I'm not scared to put my trust in you and that's the bit that scares me. I already trust you in a way that I have never trusted anyone before," I said in a serious tone as I bit my bottom
 
lip.

             
"Good because I trust you too and
honestly
I can't say that I will never hurt you but I can promise you that I will never intentionally hurt you and that I intend to protect you for the rest of my life," he said as he gently squeezed my hand, causing a smile to appear on my face.

             
"Good," I replied.

             
"Oh and for the record I fell
 
in
 
love with you a long, long time ago it just took me a while to realise it," he said as he opened his car door and slid out.

             
I didn't reply, instead I just smiled and watched as he took my hand in his and headed towards the entrance of the school.

*
*
*

             
I have to admit that the day went pretty quickly, which made me very happy since I was really looking forward to seeing Ed later. I also spent most of the day in a daze, just thinking about mine and Aiden's conversation
earlier, he really was the one. H
ow it took me so long to notice I will never know.

             
"Earth to April," Jess said as she waved her hand in front of my face.

             
"Sorry I was just-"

             
"Thinking about Aiden," her, Crystal, Jinnie and Erica all sang as we all burst out laughing.

             
I didn't
even
bother denying it since my face would probably give me away anyway.

             
"Anyway, can I catch you guys up later, I wanted to go and talk to Kyle's friends because I didn't see him around today," I said as I stood to my feet.

             
"Ok," they all said in unison before carrying on with their conversation and eating their lunch.

             
As I went to walk off I was stopped by a gentle tug on my wrist.

             
"Will you be ok?" Crystal said before taking her hand off of my wrist.
I nodded my head to say yes, which caused her to smile and then I walked off in the direction of Kyle's friends.

             
"Hey J," I said as I approached the table that Kyle would usually be sat at.

             
I
received
a few no
ds and smiles from the rest of Kyle's friends before Jamie stood up and walked over to me.