"No one else can make me feel the way you do. The way my insides flutter when you smile to the way my blood boils when you're hurt, it's exclusively for you. Always"

❃ B l a z e ❃

Today was just the same as yesterday. I was left to pick myself off the floor once Aiden was done with me. This was becoming a daily occurrence and it was really too much to handle. Surprisingly, Aiden didn't leave today and he was going through his phone in his bedroom, but most of the nights he was away.

I slept in my bedroom, which was earlier a guest bedroom before I moved in. His parents were filthy rich, there was no doubt about it. Their money showed in their lavish furniture to the expensive cars Aiden owned.

I hadn't seen them for months. They travelled a lot and due to the fact they were never home, Aiden always had his way. The nights that they were home, which were only a couple of times during the last year, were the best days.

It wasn't always like this. They actually used to live in this house. Ever since Kiara passed away, they couldn't bear to be home. It was a stark reminder of the loss they suffered. However, when they were around, everyone would act as if life was peachy and they still weren't hurting from the void left behind by her loss.

Over the years, I spent most of the time at the Marshall's house and although Mark and Andrea were never around, they always considered me to be their daughter. If only they knew what was going on.

I only had an idea of what Mark did. He was a criminal lawyer, and he earned a generous amount of money to say the least. Their constant absences on so-called vacations and cases for the last year were proof. I just wished they stayed at home like before.

As I got up and went to took a shower, I wondered if I should ask Aiden about my plans for the weekend. I figured it was better if I gave myself some time to gather courage and compose myself and of course give him some time to cool down.

I took a long shower and tried to soothe some of the bruises but to no avail. My thoughts were muddled and all over the place. I was a chronic overthinker, surprise surprise. My added mental health issues didn't help when I needed to calm myself down, because Aiden was never there for me.

I somehow wondered how he could grow to despise me so much if he used to love me at a time. He took away so much, scarring me for life. Because of him, I would have nightmares that marred my brain for years. It seemed like an eternity ago, when he had last looked at me with love and care in his eyes. I had come to realise that Kiara was the glue holding us together and that connection snapped when she went away.

Kiara and I had been best friends since kindergarten. Before my parents died, she was always over at my house. We used to have play dates and everything. My mom was quite fond of her, Kiara was a sweetheart after all. If only she hadn't jumped that night. If only she had stayed. If only I could've stopped her. I felt tears running down my eyes at the guilt and regret I felt recalling the events of that night. I was such a disappointment, both to me and her.

I remembered how Aiden and I had gotten closer. My parent's death had taken quite the toll on me. I was having nightmares every single night and Aunt Mary was anything but helpful. My mother and her had never been on good terms and she wasn't all too happy to be given the custody of a nine year old orphan.

She never caressed me throughout my dark times. She never held my hand when I cried staying up thinking of my mum and dad. All she could offer was "Shut up, you worthless child" along with a few colourful profanities. She never laid a hand on me, but her words were enough to scar my young self.

Kiara was there for me through it all. She would invite me over to her house and she would help take my mind off things and we would stay up talking late every night. Andrea was like a second mother to me. She would always give her kind words of advice and her warm hugs were enough to make me stop crying. Mark was also a kind man of few words. They never raised any objection to me staying over multiple nights in a row and I was forever grateful for that.

When I started growing up, I slowly began becoming more open and myself. Kiara pushed me to my limits and helped me find myself and we were inseparable. She was like my conjoined twin, weird I know. I guess it was true because the day she died, a part of me died with her. It was like we were attached at the hip.

The summer before freshman year was when thing changed between Aiden and I. Kiara and I used to hang out at her house a lot and Aiden had always been that big brother that never bothered to acknowledge his younger sister's friends.

He had seen all my crying sessions and the all-nighters I had pulled when I had nightmares, but he never interfered or bothered. It was almost like I was invisible to him.

That summer, surprisingly Aiden started hanging out with us more. I would be lying if I said I wasn't attracted to him. His sandy blonde hair and lopsided smile was enough to pull any girl in. At least me. But I wasn't willing to jeopardize my friendship with Kiara to flirt with Aiden. It was too special for me. It had been so long since I had last seen him genuinely smile like that.

Throughout the summer, Aiden and I grew close and one night when we crossed each other in the hallway, he whispered "I want to tell you something. I like you Blaze". It was out of the blue and new for me, plus not to mention quite funny to think. I had never felt this way about any guy before and the fact that Aiden was forbidden property was a bummer.

I couldn't stop blushing but pushed him off me harshly. That night, my mind was writing from thoughts about what had suddenly changed between Aiden and I. I felt like I was cheating Kiara and I blurted out what had happened to her the very next day.

I expected her to be livid and throw one of her diva tantrums but instead she gave me a sly smile. "I called it" she smirked. I shot her a confused look and murmured "Why aren't you angry?". She just smiled genuinely and replied "B, I just want the best for you and I don't care if that's the dimwit rooming next to me" she rolled her eyes. I grinned and pulled her into a tight hug. "You don't know how much I love you Kay" I told her genuinely.

Even after that night, Aiden never really made a move to ask me out or progress our relationship, whatever the heck it was at that time.

Sure, Aiden and I would have our moments that were spread throughout the time frame of the entire summer. We would share a gentle touch here and there and his usual cocky self would always smirk afterwards. Aiden wasn't very pleased to know that I had spilled the beans to Kiara and he would always groan whenever Kiara used to bring up the topic of us dating.

I knew that Aiden was a freshman and even though it was his first year, he must've had tons of girls swooning after him. He was already popular for a freshman, I knew that. What we had was just an innocent summer crush.

Soon, school started and we drifted apart once again. He would barely acknowledge me in the halls whenever his friends were around but he always slipped a smirk when no one was looking. His mixed signals were frankly too much for me to handle. I was just fourteen and trying to figure out what this meant.

Kiara was too busy to focus on our weird relationship. She was already engrossed with a guy she had met and grown close with in one of her classes, someone we had been studying with since primary school.

It was a guy named Jonah Alston. He was a good person and Kiara and him were already warming up to one another. Aiden didn't know about their mutual crushes on one another, which was on the insistence of Kiara.

One day we were sitting in the cafeteria- Kiara, Jonah and I, when Jonah finally asked her out on a date. "I would love to" Kiara grinned. She stood up and hugged him and suddenly Aiden spawned out of nowhere. He pulled Jonah out of her grasp and glared at him. "Who are you?" Aiden glared. 'Overprotective Brothers' Kiara mouthed to me and I chuckled at her expression.

Jonah looked like he was about to pass out with Aiden's constant bombarding and I continued laughing. Aiden just glared at me and I shut up. Kiara had then intervened "Aiden you need to chill. We're just going on a date". Aiden grumbled but let Jonah go reluctantly when Kiara started whining. She got her way as always with her puppy dog eyes. Aiden then grumbled and went over to his lunch table muttering a few profanities under his breath.

Kiara and I smiled sheepishly at Jonah and he just rolled his eyes. He was scared to death, there was no doubt about it. The next few days were spent by us obsessing over her upcoming date and figuring out what to wear, with the help of Andrea. Soon, the date night came up and she was looking stunning in a cute yet informal dress. I remembered her nervous smile as if it was yesterday.

When Jonah and his mum came to pick her up, both Mr. Marshall and Aiden took up their designated roles of being the father and overprotective brother of the girl who was going on her first date. It would be an understatement to say Jonah was about to shit his pants. They were soon off, after quite the interrogation and I grinned as Kiara rolled her eyes when they finally left.

Jonah and Kiara had hit it off instantly. The weeks that followed their date, they had become official and it was the phase of my life when I started to third wheel. I smiled at the memories.

During Lunch, a bunch of Jonah's friends would come sit with us and a guy named Logan would always flirt with me. I brushed it off as his way of being funny and sometimes I would flirt back.

Kiara had always insisted that he had a crush on me, but I always disagreed. We were just friends. One day, out of the blue, Logan stood up during Lunch and nervously smiled "Blaze can I talk to you privately".

I gave him a weird look but got up nonetheless. Kiara wiggled her eyebrows and I groaned as Jonah joined her. They were such a cute couple, but could be a pain in the ass at times. I sadly smiled at all the memories the three of us had together. Little did I know, it would all crash and burn.

I followed him and I felt a pair of eyes burning holes in my back as we left the cafeteria. I looked to find Aiden glaring at me with a weird look in his eyes. I smirked at him and gave him a small wave. He rolled his eyes and averted his gaze.

We started walking towards the locker when Logan stopped and leaned against the wall and shyly smiled at me. I had never seen him this nervous before. "So what is it you wanted to talk about? You literally made me ditch my amazing lunch" I rolled my eyes. He then broke our eye contact and started speaking while staring at the floor.

"Umm... So I was wondering. Well you know it's totally fine if you don't, but I would like it if you would come. But once again it's okay if you don't." He blabbered and I playfully glared at him "Get to the point Logan".

"IwanttotakeyououtonSaturday" he blurted out and he sounded very flustered. His eyes darted around everywhere except looking at me and his face was flushed. Logan looked like a cute, lost puppy. I grinned at the sight and smiled as I replied "I'd love to". It was a spur of the moment thing but I figured it wouldn't hurt to give it a try.

His face lit up brighter than a Christmas Tree. Literally. Then he suddenly hugged me. A full blown bear hug. "You can let go of me now, Hulk Hogan. I would like to live to go out on our date" I chuckled and he immediately let go.

He smiled sheepishly. "I'm sorry about that". He looked cute. We walked back into the cafeteria and Aiden was still glaring at me. I brushed it off and sat down at our table.

"Did you finally get the guts to ask her out, Miller?" Jonah laughed and I glared at him. Kiara grinned from ear to ear and then smirked at me. I rolled my eyes and ignored her knowing gaze throughout the day.

I was going over to her house after school, I practically lived there but once a week I would go back to Aunt Mary's to show her I'm alive. Once we reached her house, we rushed into her bedroom and she started her rant.

"So first we've got to get you something to wear. You shouldn't look like you tried too much but still look presentable. We also need to get you a haircut or something. You look horrible with your overgrown layers" I gave her an offended glare and she laughed, but continued making a checklist. Suddenly her door opened and in walked Aiden.

My heart always skipped a beat when he entered the room. It still did, but now it was for an entirely different reason.

"What happened in Lunch with Miller?" Aiden nonchalantly asked. "Why? Are you jealous?" Kiara smirked. Aiden scoffed but didn't answer. "She's going on a date with Logan" Kiara blurted out and I glared at her. Aiden's gaze hardened on me and he nodded stiffly and left the room. It wasn't any of his business anyway.

"B, He still likes you" Kiara murmured. It was now my turn to scoff. "Kay, I love you but we both know your brother's an asshole. He isn't interested in me" I rolled my eyes. "Yeah sure" she muttered but didn't press the subject further.

That night Kiara fell asleep early, something about having to do too much work at school. That girl was really the biggest drama queen I had ever met. I walked down to the kitchen to grab a snack late at night when I felt an arm snake around my waist. I was pulled into a firm chest and a masculine scent engulfed me. I knew it all too well. It was Aiden.

I pushed him off of me and crossed my arms over my chest. "What do you want?" I growled. "You" he smirked. "Couldn't you find something more original?" I joked but continued, "You made it very clear that you're not interested in being associated with me" I felt the anger seeping through my voice. "I made a mistake. B, I would like to take you out on a date rather than that dick, Miller" he said. I rolled my eyes at his words. "Too late" I muttered and pushed him aside as I made my way upstairs.

The next few days I couldn't get my mind off Aiden. Whenever Logan flirted with me, I could feel myself comparing him to Aiden. It was wrong to do so, but I couldn't help it.

Soon, it was the day of Logan and I's date and I was upstairs curling my hair whereas Kiara was getting some food downstairs. I felt the door creak open and Aiden walked in and stood behind me. "You look beautiful" I blushed at his words but rolled my eyes nonetheless. I used to do that a lot. "Yeah, I know" I smirked.

He scoffed but then added "Remember what I said" as he left.

I pushed him out of my mind when Kiara did my makeup. When Logan came to pick me up, Mark bombarded Logan with questions, just like he did with Jonah. The Marshall's always treated me like family and this was just another instance. Aiden surprisingly didn't say anything but just shot daggers with his eyes at Logan. We finally left for our date after almost 30 minutes of Mark doing a FBI-Level background check on Logan.

To say the date was a disaster was an understatement. We were awkward the entire time, and soon realized we had nothing in common. When the night neared an end, we agreed it was better off if we remained friends and the car was filled with an awkward silence as his mum drove us home.

I should've known that no friendship I had ever built was meant to last. He was just like everyone else, he left when things got tough.

Kiara asked for a full report of the date and I gave her the vague details. I would rather not revisit it. Apparently Aiden had heard every single word as he gave me a sly smirk from the kitchen. I glared at him and later that night when I grabbed a glass of water he showed up again and said "B, no other guy will make you as happy as I can". It was comical how the kitchen was the witness to all our late night confessions.

The following days he would flirt with me, and Kiara had caught on to our antics. She was sure Aiden was serious this time around. Whenever Logan slung an arm around my shoulder or so much as touched me, Aiden would always show up and glare daggers at him. I found it amusing but annoying too.

Then, suddenly he asked me out outside the cafeteria when we were alone. Apparently, this place was a hotspot for people to dump their feelings on me. They really couldn't find a better way to ask someone out.

I grinned, but just to mess with him, I said that I'd think about it. He grumbled but gave me my time.

I wished I had said no. I wished I had never associated myself with him. Then, maybe I would still have my body and my innocence. I could've saved myself from this nightmare if I had said no. That's all it would've taken. But to Aiden, no was just a word. I had screamed it over and over again as he robbed me of the last piece of myself that I owned. Like the beast he was, he silenced me time and time again, breaking me from the inside and out.

He was a monster.

Later on, I texted him to let him know I would love to go on a date with him. Kiara was a ball of excitement once I told her. She was already planning the theme for our wedding. She was quite a handful.

The Marshall's were thrilled when they learned about our date, courtesy of Kiara's motor mouth. I assumed they would be angry, but they were elated and kept on saying they had predicted this would happen.

Our date together was amazing and we instantly clicked, unlike with Logan. Aiden with his flirty smiles and me with my sassy retorts. We were weird together but it worked. Not anymore.

Life was smooth after that, everyone was getting along. Freshman year was coming to an end and I couldn't be happier. I finally felt a sense of content looking at my life. I had a great boyfriend, a beautiful best friend and an amazing circle of friends. I was at my highest.

But it came crashing down and burnt into flames that summer night before sophomore year. It was engraved into my mind. The images of Kiara's face before she did the unthinkable flashed into my mind. It was all my mistake. If only I had been quicker. If only I had noticed. If only I had said something. The depressing thoughts filled my mind once again. I was a let down. There was no escape from this hell. It was easy to say that I could leave, but I couldn't.

I was pulled out of my thoughts by Aiden's pounding on the door. "Blaze, You've been in there for an hour. Get the hell out!" I heard Aiden yell but there was no hint of concern in his voice. I quickly dried off and wrapped my towel around my body and stepped out into the room. Aiden wasn't there. I got dressed quickly and rushed downstairs.

All I saw in front of me was a livid Aiden with my phone in his hands. I slowly walked towards him and looked at the screen to see what he was reading and it was a message from an unknown number.

Unknown: I told you I had my ways, Princesa.

My eyes widened at the text. Only one person called me that. And Aiden knew that.

Hey Babes! So this chapter is unedited. Well most of the chapters are, so no surprise there. How are y'all doing? Hit me up I wanna hear from you guys.

Let's be honest, this chapter wasn't the best but meh.

This chapter was mainly focused on the past and no Raf here but we need to dive into Blaze's life too, bear with me here,

What are your thoughts about Kiara? There's a whole different side of Aiden here. How do you feel about that? If you guys don't get the timeline basically Aiden and Blaze started dating during Mid Freshman year and we lost Kiara in the summer before sophomore year.

There is still a shitload of drama to unfold. Get geared up. Go hit that lil' star below. Gimme some love lmaooo. I totally get you're silent readers and I love every single one of you. Stay safe babes!

Vote. Comment. Share

Love
A❤️