Aedrienn's aesthetic ~

WOOHOO! First chapter! How exciting is this?!?!

For the first few chapters, I will be posting the character's aesthetic boards to give you guys a feel of who they are. I will also be dedicating a song as well. I always appreciate it when authors add an entire playlist in their book, and I knew that was something I would definitely do if I ever wrote my own story. Please also note that the pictures are not mine and I give full credit to who they belong to. Also, keep in my that the story will alternate between the present and the past for every other chapter. This chapter takes place in the present and is told from Aedrienn's pov.

Date Started: 02/02/2022

Date Finished: TBD

Now enough chit-chat...

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Is There a Place I Can Go by Trudy and the Romance

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-Present Day-

Aedrienn

"WELCOME HOME!"

I barely have time to set my luggage down before Nova crashes into me, embracing me so tight that I end up dropping my purse and coffee on the airport floor.

My poor coffee.

It had been such a long day already. My flight had been delayed twice and what originally should've been a four hour trip from Texas to Boston turn into a twelve-hour disaster. The only thing that had managed to get me through it was my favorite book and coffee.

Well, at least I still have my book.

On any given day I would've been annoyed by this, but right now I'm just so, so incredibly happy to see my best friend that I return her embrace with equal force.

"Hi!" I laugh, the sound muffled by her mop of curly black hair in my face. "You owe me a new coffee by the way."

She pinches my side and I yelp. "Shut up. I'll buy you a coffee on our way home." Nova steps back to give me a dazzling white smile. "And I've missed you too my dearest Aedrienn."

Her voice cracks when she says this, her eyes filling with tears, and the same sentiment fills my own heart when I realize that I hadn't seen Nova in over nine months. I pull her to me again, grateful that I'm finally back with my favorite person in the whole world.

After a couple of minutes, we separate. "Come on!" Nova exclaims. "Let's clean this up and get you home. There's so much I need to tell you!" She helps me with my bags and I laugh at her excitement as we exit the airport.

We walk around the parking lot for ten minutes looking for the car, and when we finally do, a huge smile splits my face at the sight of my beautiful 2020 black Jeep Wrangler.

I sink into the passenger's seat with a deep sigh, loving how the refreshing smell of pine still lingered in the air even after five years.

"What?" Nova asks from the driver's side and turns on the ignition. "Afraid I would have crashed it?"

I look at her from the side of my eye. "Honestly? Yes."

She sticks her tongue out at me and pulls us out of the parking garage. "Ye of little faith."

I'm constantly joking about Nova's ability to drive properly and according to the traffic laws, but in reality, there's no one I trust more than Nova when it comes to these things. Especially this car.

Before I left for Texas, I'd decided it was best to leave my car here in Boston with her, trusting that she'd be responsible enough to take care of it in my absence. And by the looks of it, she did not fail. At the end of the day, it was just a piece of metal, but it had been given to me as a gift, and even after all these years it still remained one of my most prized possessions.

True to her word, Nova buys me another coffee before we make our way home. We pull up to our apartment complex minutes later, and my heart can't help but clench at the sight of the familiar door as we walk up the stairs. Nova inserts the keys and turns the nob slowly.

"I warn you," Nova whispers. "He's been dying to see you."

I laugh and signal for her to hurry up. "I hope so. I've missed him too."

The second she fully opens the door another body launches itself at me, this one a lot warmer and with a lot more hair than Nova.

"Ace! How's my good boy?" I look down at our 5-year-old German Shephard and smile as he tries to jump on me.

Nova throws him a glare over her shoulder as she carries in my luggage. "Traitor. You were never that happy to see me after I'd get home from the hospital."

Indeed. I've only ever seen Ace be this happy with just one other person, but he runs in circles around me now, and I kneel to the floor, kissing him on the top of his head. He whines at this, as if he too knows that I've been gone for so long, and gives me a kiss of his own by licking me on my cheek. "Don't listen to her Ace. She's just jealous." I whisper so Nova doesn't hear me.

I stand up and move my way to the kitchen, Ace trailing close behind.

"I heard that," Nova says as she takes a plate of food out of the microwave. She sets it down on the countertop and signals for me to sit. "Here. Eat. You must be exhausted."

I groan as I pull out my seat. "You have no idea." I look down at my plate and smile as I see what it is. "You prepared your famous lasagna just for me?"

Nova visibly winces at this. "Sure..." she trails off. "That and the fact that it was the only edible thing I knew how to make while you were gone. I've missed your cooking by the way."

"I'll take whatever I can get," I say and shove a spoonful of the contents into my mouth. "I see that you redecorated, too."

I spin around in my chair to look out into our living room, taking notice of the new curtains and throw pillows on the couch. Considering that it was just the two of us living here, the apartment was pretty spacious. Our large kitchen opened up to an equally large living room and we each had our own rooms with a private restroom attached. The entire space had a modern, elegant look to it, but my favorite thing about it was the ceiling-to-floor windows that made up the entire sidewall of the living room, giving us the perfect view of the city of Boston.

"I hope you don't mind. I was trying to change up the color palette a bit and - "

"Nova," I cut off her rambling. She normally did that when she was nervous - which usually never happened because Nova never got nervous. "This is your home as much as it mine. Decorate it however you want."

"I know it is." She shrugs her shoulders. "It's just that...well, you know."

I do know. I understand why she might feel hesitant to alter the apartment in any way, but it still pained me to know a small part of her would always be uncomfortable doing it.

"Nova," I say sternly. "Mason left this apartment to the both of us. Not just me. Do you want me to pull out the will again? Because I'll go get it right now."

She rolls her eyes. "No. There's no need for that. It's just that I worry about you sometimes."

I give her a deadpan look. "You always worry about me. Just as much as I worry about you."

"But it's different with you and you know it."

I notice the slight tremor in her voice, the deep concern in her eyes when she looks at me, and I'm startled by her sudden change of mood. I extend my arm across the counter and grab her hand in my own. "What's this about Nova? What's wrong?"

She shakes her head. "It's just that...you were gone for nine months. It hadn't even occurred to me that you would be alone for so long until you left. That...that you'd be alone at night."

Ah. I see. I squeeze her hand, imploring her to look at me. "I was completely fine. I had my own room at the base and no one bothered me."

She looked at me suspiciously. "So, no episodes?"

I shrug my shoulders. "That doesn't really matter." I did still have nightmares. Still had tremors. But the worst of it had passed a long time ago. 

She blanched at this, her expression turning grave at the thought of me having to go through those panic attacks alone. But I'm quick to correct her thoughts, knowing that I'd need the reassurance as much as she did.

"If I'm being honest Nova, I don't think they'll ever go away. But what good would have all those years of therapy been if I don't put the exercises Dr. Daniel gave me to use?"

She doesn't say anything but takes the time to think over my words. This had also been my fault as well. The panic attacks began just three weeks after the accident, and I genuinely believed they would've stopped by the time I went off to medical school. But they hadn't - and I wasn't lying when I told her I don't think they ever would.

Nova and I had only been twenty at the time when we moved to Boston. We had been so excited, so grateful that we both got accepted into our dream school - Harvard Medical School - at such a young age. And the fact that my older brother Mason had left me his apartment already prepared and furnished made it so much easier to settle down here. I remember it so clearly. That first night, with packing boxes spread all around the living room and us eating our dinner of ramen on the floor because we were too lazy to make actual food, we laughed and talked all night about what we would expect from these next four years of school. We were nervous, of course, because medical school is no easy thing, but it was a comfort knowing my best friend would be there with me every step of the way.

It was midnight when we'd both retired to our separate rooms, and not even an hour had gone by when I began screaming, crying because of the same nightmares. I'd never told Nova about them, not even when we still lived in Seattle with our parents. Because it would've just given her more reason to worry, I'd decided that it would be my secret until I fixed it on my own.

Obviously, that never happened. That night she came bursting through my door, terrified out of her mind, but luckily she was able to shake me out of it. When I came out of my state and took in the confused look on her face, I knew then there was no point in lying to her. And of course, she was furious when I explained everything, scowling me for thinking I could keep such a thing from her.

Then she started crying. So hard that it was as if she was the one who had the nightmare.

"Nova. Hey," I took her into my arms and hugged her to me. "What's wrong?"

"It's just - it's just..." She lifted her head to look at me, and my heart broke at the sight of her tear-stained eyes. "I didn't know. I could've helped you. You were...you were all alone."

I hug her tighter to my chest. "Actually, I wasn't alone."

Understanding dawns on her face, and she nods, trying to collect herself. "I'll be with you now, then."

And from that day on, she was. Every time I woke up screaming, Nova would be there, holding me through the worst of it. A week later she made me an appointment with a psychiatrist.

That's how I met Dr. Daniel. For the past four years, he'd been helping me, getting me through the worst of my trauma. Before I left for Texas, we had decided I was well enough to spend some time apart from home. He made it very clear I'd still get nauseous and would probably have nightmares, but he was confident I had the tools and knowledge to deal with them properly now.

The first few weeks in Texas were rough, I'll admit. But as I began working and learning from the doctors over there, the episodes slowly resided and became less and less frequent. Like I said - the worst of it had passed.

Looking at Nova now and how much she's grown the last couple of years,  I realized how hard this must have been on her more than it was on me. How she walked through the darkest parts of my life with me, handling it with such grace and kindness...it all just made me appreciate her more.

I give her a smile now, hoping it lightens her mood. "I won't lie to you. I did have some - occasionally. But once I was able to put Dr. Daniel's exercises to use, it got better."

She relaxes at this. "Good. I still don't know how you do it, though. Live through all of it. If I lost what you've lost..." She shakes her head, letting out a deep breath. "I don't think I could survive it."

"I didn't think I could either. But my dad and Mason died five years ago, Nova." And the finality of that statement threatens to leave a gaping hole in my chest. "It never goes away, either. That pain. It's always in the back of your mind. The way I see it, I could spend the rest of my life sitting in my own misery, but that would just be a waste of everything they taught me."  I shake my head, standing up to take my plate to the sink. "And I refuse to taint their memory like that."

Nova doesn't say anything for a while, and I find her staring at me when I turn to look at her.

"What?"

A wide smile splits her face when she speaks. "You're a freaking superhero, Aedrienn Atalia Renna. You're my superhero."

I return her smile with one of my own. "And you're mine, Nova Jaqueline Perez."

The sentimental moment is interrupted by a loud bark, and we look down to see Ace rolling on the floor. We bust out laughing at the sight, and I bend down to scratch his belly. "Yes, yes. You too Ace. You're my hero too." Ace barks, seeming to agree with me.

"Alright!" Nova claps her hands together. "Why don't you go change into something more comfortable and we can spend the rest of the day watching movies!" 

"I would love that - but I can't."

"What?" Nova exclaims. "Why not?"

"I have that interview at three. Remember?" I look at the living room clock and see that it's barely twelve in the afternoon, giving me plenty of time to shower and get ready.

Realization dawns on Nova's face and her disappointment quickly disappears. "Oh yeah! Can you believe we'll actually be working at the same hospital together?"

"Don't get too excited yet. I still have to pass this interview."

Nova dismisses me with a wave of her hand. "You practically already have it. And you actually would if you'd just told them - "

"No." I cut her off before she can say another word and move my luggage to the living room. "I won't tell them until after I get the job."

Nova follows and sits in the recliner next to me while Ace lays at my feet, "Honestly, Aedrienn, I don't see what the big deal is."

"The big deal," I say as I take out my clothes from my bag and begin separating them into different piles of color. "Is that I want to actually earn the job. I don't want them to give it to me because they think they have to."

"Really? And what are you going to do if you don't get it?"

I give Nova a tight-lipped smile. "There's more than just one hospital in Boston. I'll just find somewhere else to work."

"But then you won't get to work with me," she whines.

"I know. And that would just be unfortunate." I laugh as Nova throws a pillow at me. I catch it, throwing it back at her - and Ace, thinking that we're playing, launches himself at Nova, trying to pry the pillows from her hands. But Nova doesn't stand a chance against the seventy-five-pound dog.

I double over, laughing at the sight of Ace dragging Nova across the living room floor, and her threatening to shave off his hair if he didn't release her. Oh, how I missed their antics.

Yeah, I think to myself. I'm definitely home.