Chapter 28: Tangled tongues

Aiden's P.O.V Two days passed since Harry's funeral, Blake came back to consciousness last night. I look straight at Riley, he focuses on eating, his abnormal silence makes me uncomfortable, he really releases the gloomy aura. That night after the hug he uttered no word unless I ask him any questions. He just coldly answers in brief and ends the conversation, he has been slamming the doors shut and sometimes dropping things to the floor but when I ask him what's the matter he says nothing... I get his message, he is mad at me... I tried to talk to him but didn't have the time as I spent more time in the hospital to let Lisa rest. Riley does his dishes and walks out the kitchen like I never existed. Letting out a low sigh I stand to follow him. 'Riley," I call out... He doesn't stop and walks to my room. 'Riley, wait," my voice comes out loud this time, he finally stops near the bed. 'Why the hell on earth are you so mad?," I look at him when he turns around to face me. 'Don't you know, Why?," he asks aloud, for the first time I see him this way, for the first time he raised his voice, for the first time I see him in rage, the pair of chestnut orbs stare at me looking for an answer. My hand runs through my hair as I look everywhere except him, biting my lower lip I face him to give an explanation for my action... Damn, I never bothered if people were mad at me unless my parents but now, he makes me feel guilty and I don't know why. I simply feel that I should give him an explanation. 'I was anxious to kill Kim before Harry's funeral...," He interrupts before I complete my statement. 'I don't care about Kim, in fact even I wanted him dead. I understand you but do you understand me?" 'I ..," 'You don't ," he yells 'You have no idea what I felt when you locked me in and went alone," his voice gets lower in disappointment, he rubs the nape of his neck as he lowers his gaze and looks at me again, my eyes never leaves him ' I'm terrified," he says, his eyebrows meet as he narrow his eyes 'When I saw what happened to Blake and Harry, I'm afraid... I'm afraid that you will be hurt...After you left, every second," he pressures on each word ' I was out of my freaking mind when you left, every passing second made me suffer afraid that you will be hurt. Yes! I was mad at you when you decided to leave but that moment...that moment when I saw you safe in Kim's house it made me feel something that I couldn't hold back, I couldn't show my anger because I was happy, I was happy that you were safe... ' 'Riley," I mention his name softly 'I know to protect myself," I state, he doesn't have to be stressed out about my safety in the first place. 'I know," he answers aloud ' I know that you can protect yourself," his voice turns low again in an instant, like from pitch to zero 'I know that you are a good fighter, I know that you're strong and you can protect yourself but still," his eyes never fails to look away 'I want to protect you," his tone turns soft 'I don't know why but I just need you to be safe, I just need you to be in my sight...Every minute you are out my sight I'm in delusion," I look at him taken back at every word which rolls down his tongue, I stay frozen in front of him watching him spit out paragraphs 'I don't know how to put this...Aiden," my name comes out low and soft 'I know this sounds insane but you are just driving me nuts, I'm urged to take a glance at you every second, my heart pounds when we get closer, I'm elated when you smile at me. We are living together yet I want to be next to you" What is he saying? 'I have been confused all these days, however I found it, I found out that I'm in love with you," Is that a confession? From yelling he ends up confessing! I brush up close erasing the wide gap between us, damn...he smells divine... A gasp leaves Riley's lips when I push him, which makes his shoulders to hit the wall, keeping a step closer to him I cup his cheeks, my eyes never misses contact with the pair of warm eyes. His lips part when I plaster a smile as I move a little more closer, in a blink of an eye I brush my lips on his... I kiss him... His body stiffens like he just stood straight, I meet his eyes closer, the widen eyes with raised brows, his eyeballs swaying at the bottom looking at me. I move my head back my hands still cupping his face, our eyes locked as neither of us avert our gazes. 'You're not my type," I utter low which comes as a husky whisper. The corners of Riley's lips twitch up to a grin, I withdraw my hands from his face, before I drop them down he grabs me as he slips his arms around me. In a flash, his lips capture mine, my eyes close on it's own when he sucks my bottom lip, the arms wrapped around me tightens as he pushes me more towards him, sliding my hands from his shoulders to the back I lean onto him, my right palm at the back of his neck and the left at the back of his head, my fingers pulling out his hair. A hot blush rises above my neck and my heart beats faster and faster, a feeling a warmth rises from the pit of my stomach when his tongue swirls into my mouth. Our tongues battle for dominance and he won... Yes, he won... Am I dreaming? This is surreal! This is just difficult to picture, Me and Riley? So instantaneous and urgent is his tongue, it wiggles in my mouth having a taste of every corner which overwhelms my senses. We break, as we separate to draw in some air, the very next moment our tongues tangle again for dominance. We pause. Our heavy breaths fills in the air, our pounding hearts clearly to be heard in the silent environment. Is this really happening? I cannot imagine anyone else doing this right now, it's all him, who started and one who will end it. I open my eyes, the hot fire which rise in my body like someone had set a slow and steady match beneath my centre, deep in the pit of my stomach cools down a bit... Our eyes meet, those brown orbs seems different, like they in need of more. It was not long that we broke up, if I'm not mistaken it hasn't even been a minute. My arms wrap around his neck, I shove his head towards mine and smash my lips on his, Riley closes his eyes when I suck his lower lip. Holding onto him tight I spin with him moving closer to the bed. I pause and he opens his eyes... I remove my arms from his neck and I push him down into the duvet, he raises his brows questionably, his mouth twitches to a smile showing his set of big teeth, his messy hair makes him look even hot. Wait! What did I just say? Even hot? I never found him attractive in the first place but now.. but now why does he look handsome to my eyes...Damn, he has no idea that he is driving me nuts as well. I place my palms on the bed at the either side if his head and I lean in for a gentle kiss on his cheek. Lifting myself I look down at him, the right corner of my lips drag up to a smirk at his countenance, his furrowed brows and squinted confused eyes. Huh! What did he expect me to do? I turn and flip myself to the bed beside him, I stare at the ceiling... Who knew that we would go from partners who doesn't suit each other to tangling tongues? 'Will we look good together?," I chuckle at the thought of us together, my eyes fix to the ceiling as my brain rewinds about us...And yeah, no matter how much I try I cannot see that thing between us... I mean the thing like ‘you both are made for each other' or ‘you both look good together '... It's funny though... My toes curl when Riley hovers over me, a little gap between us, his palms rest at the either of my head, he looks down into my eyes. 'Absolutely not," he whispers. Without my realisation a low gasp leaves my lips when he lowered himself and nuzzles my neck with his nose and kisses repeatedly up to my ear... My chest heaves up and down as the sound of my breaths gets louder and louder, he slides his hands down and intertwines his fingers with mine. My dark vision welcome rays of light when I slowly lift my heavy eyelids, the far away noise of ringtone playing in the background, squeezing my eyes I run my hand through my hair as I sit straight and take a look at Riley, he lays next to me a sheet barely over him exposing his half naked body. I pull the sheet over him and I hurry to living room to pick up the call... It's Lisa... ‘Hello' my voice comes out dry and drowsy, I cover my mouth to yawn my gaze moves to the clock. It's twelve... It's afternoon already? ‘Aiden you there?' I hum in reply as I walk in the washroom to brush. ‘Did you check the news?' ‘No, Why?' standing in front of the mirror I lift my right shoulder to hold the phone and I squeeze a little amount of paste onto the brush. ‘Check it out' I hang up the call and click on the link which Lisa sent, an article appears. I read through while scrolling the page... Nevertheless It's not surprising as I expected that something would happen but burning the warehouse is a huge loss for them... It's a pity that seven workers are dead. Perhaps it's supposed to be a sudden examination from the health department, I wonder why burning after two days. Does the chairman know the date? 'What happened?," I turn to my right, Riley stands in the entrance of the washroom, leaning onto his left shoulder over the door frame. 'See this," I toss the phone to him, he stands straight and fixes his gaze to the screen. 'The warehouse is burnt out," he frowns looking up at me. 'Yeah," I nod 'Do you think it was an accident?" I insert the brush in my mouth. 'Surely not," he puts paste to his brush 'So the stocks are not checked, we should prepare for the next hearing," I replace the brush and face Riley's reflection 'Are you taking a wash first?," I ask. He spits the water in his mouth to the sink and turns to his left facing me, his already enlightened eyes sparkles 'Why not we do it together?," his lips spread to a wide cheeky smile, brown strands of his hair falls over his forehead... I almost gape at him my eyeballs sliding left to right, he raises his brows amusingly. In a swift moment I grasp his shoulder, twisting his left arm behind his back I push him to the wall, his right cheek glued on the tiled wall. 'Oww...Oww," He howls, his right hand tries to unlock my hold. I keep a step forward reaching to his ear 'Next time you flirt I'll spank you," I blurt low as I loosen my grip. Without turning around to look at him I exit the washroom. 'You can just tell no, why have to be fierce," he grunts under his breath loud enough to get into my ears, I chuckle closing the door behind me. After an hour we finally sit to eat... The silence breaks the next minute... Silence, it's something which I enjoyed and preferred to always be in a surrounding with no noise and especially with people who speak less. Lisa was the only person who made me dislike silence but Riley made me hate it. When he is around in silence it makes me uneasy for no reason. 'What are we gonna submit to the court?," he asks and folds the plastic sheet, he looks straight at me. 'I've got a plan," I wipe my hands with the tissue 'Can this be fixed?," I take the phone from the couch and I toss it on the short table 'Its Kim's," I inform when Riley takes it curiously. I didn't notice when Kim broke his phone, his action makes sure that there is something in it. I usually hand over these items to Blake as he is an expert in technology. 'Yes, it can be repaired," Riley nods as he examines the phone 'I guess Evan can make it," he faces me. 'Great," I stand 'Lets leave then," 'Where to?," 'I'll drop you to meet Evan," 'Then you?," he collects the plastic sheets in a bag and stands. 'I have to meet Chloe, to return his car," I say. I didn't have the time to drive back to Chloe as I was caught up with Blake. He told that there is no need to hurry yet I should return it today... Luckily Riley's car is repaired yesterday. I pull the brake by the lane, turning to my right I face Riley who unbuckles his seatbelt. He looks at me as he grins like a Cheshire cat. 'What?," I snap, I move my head back furrowing my brows, my lips form to an uneven shape when he moves to my direction. 'Shall we go on a date later?," he asks. I chew my inner cheek staring at him... This feeling, the bizarre feeling which surges in me makes me melt... Its a lie if I say that he never made me shy! My lips purse to a flat line, I look away to the windscreen, his heated gaze enough to make my stomach churn... I nod... He claps 'Fantastic" he heralds. He yanks the door and steps out, jumping like a kid who got permission from his parents to play out. He closes the door and bends to peep through the open window. 'Lets meet at the bus halt," he turns and walks away. I wait watching him till he walks far away, till his figure disappears from my sight and once there is no glimpse of him I start the car... My thoughts are clouded of him, of Riley... Damn, I never knew that I would fall in love with him, a person whom I've never imagined... The unpopular idol who had a contract relationship with me is now my boyfriend... Huh! This is outrageous... I park the car by the side of the road, a smile makes it's way on my lips when I spot Chloe through the transparent glass of the ice cream shop. Chloe sits straight at my arrival, his lips form to a grin when I sit opposite to him. I toss the key to the table. 'Thanks a lot buddy," I smile 'I'm really sorry for leaving that way last time, it was something urgent," I apologize as I've been feeling bad for my action that day, I just left him back and you know, I left with his car. 'Hey, that's okay," he shoves off 'Not a big deal," he leans forward 'And no formalities," he says as he pushes the cup of butterscotch ice-cream to my direction. No formalities, that is what we agreed between us in high school, we made an oath to not use the words thank you and sorry between us to show that we are close. 'How's everything going? I heard that the warehouse of Aim's is burnt due to electric short," I take a spoonful of ice cream and look straight 'Yeah, and I don't think that was an accident," 'Why so?" 'It was a plan because of the abrupt confiscation" 'So what are you going to do for the next hearing?" 'The families who helped us to open the lawsuit will be the witness," I'm glad that our conversation is not awkward after what happened last time. His confession was indeed a surprise, I didn't even imagine that he had feelings for me as I always hang out with him as a buddy, we were like brothers more than a friend. 'I hope everything goes well," he passes an assuring smile. 'It will," I nod to myself.