How It All Began: Chapter 26

 Aaron walked towards Ria's house, determined to see her and make things right. He walked up the sidewalk in Light City. He still wasn't used to how...bright it was, but at the moment it didn't bother him. He clenched his fists and avoided people's eyes though he could feel the stares. A little girl gaped at him openly like he was some kind of rare species.
"What're you lookin' at kid?" he snapped irritably. The little girl flinched and stumbled away screaming for her mommy. He ran his hands through his white hair making it even messier than usual. As he walked he thought about Ryan's warning how it would be best to stay away from her. Aaron froze in his track his beautiful gray eyes suddenly wild and fractured, What if Ryan's right, what if I hurt Ria... he thought suddenly terror struck. His body trembled as he imagined how he might mess up Ria's life. Then a sharp voice jarred him back to reality. "You gonna go to her or not?" the voice demanded in irritation. Aaron blinked.
 Lounging on a nearby wall was a thin, lithe figure wearing a long, black cloak that covered their face, hair and eyes. Aaron blinked, fairly sure she hadn't been there a minute ago. The figure was clearly female though it was no one he had ever seen. She wore tight-fitting black jeans, dusty brown boots, and a white t-shirt. Glittering around her neck was a key pendant.

 "W-Who are you?" Aaron snapped trying to regain his composure. The girl smirked and swung off the wall. Though her movements were relaxed and nonthreatening, he had no trouble believing she could hurt him very badly if need be.
 "Who am I? Good question, see if you can figure that one out on your own." She walked over to him and lightly placed her hand on his arm. A jolt shot through Aaron, not a painful one like with Adrian's electrical powers but one of fear. This person, this girl was reading his entire being through a single touch. "So are you gonna listen to your master?" the girl said in a slightly sarcastic tone. He flinched and stared at his black and white sneakers.
 "He's not my master," Aaron said his tone cold and angry.
 "Aw well you sure do act like he is," she purred, her eyes cold and sarcastic.
 Aaron flinched, knowing her words to be true and hating it with all his heart.

"He's built walls around me... I can never escape him" Aaron muttered. The girl gave an irritable sigh and turned on her heel and started to walk away from him. Just before she was out of ear shot she turned. She met his eyes and grinned.
 "You, Aaron Lehne, are only confined by the walls you build for yourself." she said, and with that she walked across the border to Night City and vanished from sight.
 Aaron stood there quietly his head in his hands as he tried to regain his thoughts and composure. His gray eyes actually brimmed with tears as he thought about what that girl had said, "You, Aaron Lehne, are only confined by the walls you build for yourself." He raised his head suddenly feeling braver than ever before, he clenched his fists and walked towards Ria's house.
 "Only confined by my own walls..." he mumbled. He turned his face to  the sky mulling the girl's words over.
 "I thought I'd find you here Aaron," said a soft, cruel voice that caused Aaron to flinch. Ryan. He clenched his fists thinking Mitchell must have sold him out to their "friend".  Ryan's teeth were bared in a grin.

"Now what would someone like you be doing in a place like this?" Ryan whispered, his voice a low hiss like a snake's. Aaron stood there quiet and frozen as he stared into those eyes icy blue but with pits of red that burned like fire. Aaron knew good and well what he was capable of, so he forced himself to focus on his sneakers.
 As Ryan spoke, Aaron felt himself falling into his mindset of doing what was expected not what he wanted. You are only confined by the walls you build yourself...once again that strange girl's advice came back to him. He couldn't figure out what she meant, but he knew one thing. He didn't have to take Ryan's abuse.
 "We're leaving. Aaron, come on." Ryan snapped grabbing Aaron's wrist. But Aaron had other ideas, digging his heels into the ground he stopped Ryan dead.
 "No." he replied, yanking his wrist away and meeting Ryan's shocked eyes. But rather than ducking his head he stood his ground, eyes blazing, jaw set, and fists clenched. Ryan shook his head as though he hadn't heard clearly, his shock giving way to anger.
 "What did you say to me...?" he whispered his voice hoarse and rasping.
 "You heard me, I said no." Aaron's voice wavered slightly but he stood his ground, ready for anything Ryan would throw at him.
 Ryan stared at him in horror, he couldn't believe what he was seeing. Although he did treat Aaron like dirt sometimes, they honestly were friends. Aaron was the one and only person who knew why he was truly like he was. Why he was always so mean to everyone who came near him, including his closest friends. He had known Aaron practically since they were born, and they had been together since. Ryan was trying to protect Aaron by eliminating his distractions, including that stupid girl. That girl is what's was holding him back! Doesn't he see that he'll be sentenced to a fate worse than death if he goes down that road?! How stupid is he?! He finally found his voice,"What do you mean no?!"
 "I-I mean I'm tired of you telling me what to do! I don't understand how you and Mitchell think, and I never will." he looked down,"I think I've known for a while now that we can't continue the same path in life, and I think you've known too. I'm just not like you, I never was able to succeed like you, think like you, or be as strong as you. I know that you were ultimately trying to keep me out of trouble because you think that I'm involved in a mess I'll regret later, but I can't change the way I feel about her." He looked Ryan in the eyes,"You understood though, didn't you? You knew from the beginning that this might happen, and so you did everything in your power to keep us away from each other. Am I wrong?"
 Ryan closed his eyes. It was true, he knew Aaron well, and had already foreseen that this might happen. That's why he discouraged him so strongly. He didn't want to lose the only friend he ever had! He stood up straight to talk directly to Aaron,"No."
 "That's what I thought." he smiled through the pain in his heart. "And don't worry, I know very well what the price is when you have forbidden love. I know exactly what will happen, but I'm choosing to do it anyways."
 Ryan was finally at the end of his rope and yelled,"You idiot! How do you know if she'll even accept you?! Did you already forget what you said to her?"
 "Maybe she won't. I wouldn't blame her if she never wanted to speak to me again."
 "Then why-?!"
 "Because I love her!"after a small pause, he continued,"I don't expect you to understand why. I haven't quite comprehended it yet either, but I know I love her." Ryan looked like he was ready to kill at any moment. Aaron frowned,"I know you won't hurt me, Ryan."
 "Oh really? How so?" his blood started boiling.
 "Because even though you always act tough, and act cruel, it's just that. An act. I know you won't hurt me, because we're friends. No matter how you treat me, we ARE friends. And we always will be." he smiled and turned away from Ryan.
 Ryan's entire body shook with sadness. Which made him angry. Why am I sad? I should be tearing him apart! Why can't I move? His hands laid limply at his sides and he couldn't do anything. His friend was walking away, and he was useless to stop him.
 When Aaron looked back for the last time, he saw a look of abandonment on Ryan's face and felt a wave of guilt. Someday Ryan would understand. Someday he would understand what his feelings meant. Hopefully, on that day he would break free from his parents grip on him. He ripped his eyes away from Ryan and started running towards Ria.

......

 Jinx was playing video games with Adrienne. It had been quite a while since their moment when they hugged, but he could still feel Adrienne's arms around his neck. His face felt hot, and his heart was beating rapidly. Why is it so hot in here? It's usually pretty cold at her house...
 Adrienne slowly looked over at Jinx who was trying to fan himself with the game controller. "You OK?"
 "Yeah! It's just a bit hot in here for some reason..."
 She actually felt a little chilly. After forcing down her embarrassment earlier, she felt kind of sick. like someone was twisting her insides. it's how she always felt when she was nervous, but she tried not to think about it.
 "Look, I'm sick of fighting and feeling awkward like this, you wanna just make up?" she asked hopefully.
 Adrienne would never fail to surprise Jinx. She was always so unpredictable and forward. He nodded, his face slightly red. She smiled and continued playing their game. While he was playing, some light came in through the window and caught his attention. He looked at the shining sun which was being reflected from a key on Adrienne's desk. It was painted pink, so he figured that it was Ria's.

.....

Aaron was getting closer to Ria's house by the minute. He eventually saw the top of her house slowly coming into view and he realized that he had no clue what to say to her. He leaned against a nearby tree and started thinking. What can I even say to make it up? Will she even listen to me? I don't even know if she's home! How could I possibly explain this? He started forming a plan in his head as of what to say. Even though he wasn't completely satisfied with what he had, he decided he had better not waste any more time. He walked all the way up her long driveway, and eventually got to her house. He was still a little ways away when he saw her. She was sitting in the driveway, leaning against one of the carport beams. Then he realized she was crying. She was crying rather loudly now that she was all alone and no one could hear her. He suddenly forgot everything he had planned to say, and started running to her at full force. He finally got to her and he slid across the ground on his knees in order to break his run. She looked very surprised to see him as the tears fell down her face and before he could stop himself, he seized her in a hug.

 The entire speech he had memorized was gone and he couldn't utter a single word of it. 

 "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" he cried as he squeezed her frail form tighter. All of his thoughts and emotions started flying around his mind in a swirl. Why he shouldn't be doing this, why he should be doing this. Ryan's words flew through his head and collided with what Ria said earlier. He was confused and upset, but one thought rang clear through his head, It's OK. Maybe It's OK to not understand what's going on. It's OK to not know what's going to happen. It's not like you can change anything that's in the past, so don't stress out about it. Whatever happens, happens. Just live life so you don't have regrets.

 He felt useless while all he could say was "sorry". He knew that he had planned to say much, MUCH more than this, but he couldn't think.

 After a few minutes, Ria pulled back and looked him in the eyes. "Why are you sorry?" she asked in a quiet, hoarse voice. Her throat was sore from the screaming earlier, and she was really cold.

 "Why?"

 She nodded.

 "Because I hurt you,"

 She could already feel a few tears escaping.

 "and I promise I will NEVER hurt you ever again." he pulled her into his arms and she cried on his shoulder for a while.

 With tears rolling down her cheeks and a smile on her face she replied,"I forgive you!" She gave him a jubilant kiss on the lips and hugged him. Aaron knew that this would seal their fate, but he would protect her through anything. No matter what. 

 Suddenly, she started coughing. "Are you feeling OK?" he asked, worried.

 "Yes," her breathes were heavy as if it was hard for her to breath,"it's just that my throat is sore. And I'm freezing." she shivered.

 He put his wrist up to her head and his eyes went wide,"Ria! You're burning up!"

 "I-I'm fine."

 "Have you been sitting out in the cold rain all day?" She nodded with a tired look. "Well, where's your key?
 "I left it at Dad's..."
 He felt confused and panicked. He was confused because he thought her dad wasn't alive, and panicked because that meant that she was stuck out in the rain. He smiled reassuringly at her,"We'll get through this, it'll be OK." He walked down the side of the house to the front door where he was pelted with rain. He focused as ice slowly covered the entire door. Just a little more! Cracks started appearing in the door as the ice was slowly crushing it. Then he reared back and kicked it with all the strength he had. it flew open and banged into the wall. The impact made it bounce back toward him, so he pushed it open then went back to Ria. He gently picked her up into his arms and carried her into the house. After laying her on the couch, he quickly closed the front door before more rain came in. "Ria," he asked her softly,"where's your room?"
 She pointed towards the stairs and then looked at him confused,"How did you get my door open?" she croaked.
 All he could do was smile and pick her up. He walked up the stairs and she pointed towards a white door that had been heavily decorated with butterfly stickers and fake flowers. He shifted her weight into one arm and opened the door. After adjusting her safely into her bed, he looked around for the bathroom. Once he finally found it, he opened the cabinet where a vast array of linens where neatly stacked on top of each other. He wet a cloth then brought it back to Ria and gently pressed it to her forehead. For a little while longer, she was coughing, but her body eventually gave out and she fell asleep. He leaned forward almost subconsciously, ever so slowly, and kissed her softly on the cheek.