"You want me to fall back in love with you? How do I do that when I haven’t ever stopped?"

- The Best of Me, in theaters this Friday

Chapter 4

“Charm? Wow, you look really different!” Aidan exclaimed, looking at Charmeine’s old picture and comparing it to how she looks like right now.

Charmeine let out a short laugh and rolled her eyes, “It’s only been a year since we saw each other, Aidan. I don’t think I look that different. Just lost a few pounds or so!”

Well… she lost more than a few pounds, but whatever! He’s a guy; he doesn’t need to know the exact pounds she lost; that’s embarrassing.

“How have you been?” Aidan asked, feeling like a total dickhead for even forgetting about her.

Well, he means, who could blame him? She looks completely different! She’s way thinner than before – making her face accentuate her brown eyes even more. Not that she was never cute, but she’s definitely still attractive to him.

It’s just that… she looks really different. Though, he can’t tell if this is a good thing or a bad thing…

Charmeine hesitated for a second before smiling again with a shrug, “Good! I’ve been good.”

He gave a quick look around himself before lowering his voice and edging closer to her, “And.. you know…your uncle? Is he still bothering you?”

“Charmeine!”

The two of them turned around to see one of her supervisors striding towards her.

“Sweetie, we’re about to get hit by the big dinner rush, do you mind taking this side of the location until things start to die down?” The lady asked, pointing towards the other side of the restaurant.

Charmeine inwardly rolled her eyes but let out a forced smile. “Yeah, sure, Miss Danita! That’s fine.”

Miss Danita flashed her a quick smile before running around again to the next worker, while Charmeine turned back to Aidan with a grimace.

“You could have said no?” He said, in a sympathizing tone.

She shook her head, “And risk getting a reprimand? No thanks.”

“We wouldn’t want that.” Aidan smiled, feeling giddy inside all of sudden. “Now that I know you work here, I should just visit you more often.”

“Stalker.” She closed her notepad and let out a deep sigh. “Well I guess I have to start doing my work, Aidan.”

“Shall I see you soon?” Aidan asked quickly, inwardly snapping at himself for looking too overly attached.

She gave him a shy smile, both shaking her head and shrugging the same time. “I don’t know.”

Before Aidan could say anything back, she turned around and walked away from him; looking back only once with a full grin and a bright blush gracing her cheeks.

“That was so painfully awkward to watch, I might throw up.” Drake roughly said a few seconds later, making Aidan jump.

“Dad!” Aidan groaned, as he watched him sit beside him and his mother and sister sitting across from them. “How long were you guys behind me?”

“Long enough to know that you want to see her soon.” Stacey teased him, batting her eyelashes at him.

Aidan threw her a dirty look, causing her to give him a kissy face back.

“Behave, you lot.” Emma told them, pinching Drake on the side for being ridiculous in the first place.

“That is abusive.” Drake playfully smirked, poking Emma on the side, causing her to yelp with surprise. “Pinching is an abusive act, woman!”

His voice escalated at the last part, making Emma shrink down from the heavy weight of embarrassment she was feeling. Goodness, her husband is so ridiculous; sometimes she has no freakin’ idea why she decided to marry him.

Just kidding. She loves him so.

“How’s she doing?” Emma shifted her attention to Aidan, ignoring Drake anyway.

“She seemed alright.” Aidan shrugged, suddenly wondering why his parents are okay with this. “I mean, she looks different but she’s still the same, I guess. Awkward and shy.”

“Perfect for a submissive person, if you ask me.” Drake quipped inappropriately.

Emma and Aidan both gawked at him the same time, however Stacey simply snorted while she continued on with eating her food.

“That’s enough coming from you!” Emma snapped at him, “Stop being so juvenile, it’s really unbecoming!”

“Stop talking to me as if I’m a misfit.” Drake flicked her nose.

She groaned, “my goodness, you’re an idiot.”

“But you love me.” Drake shrugged nonchalantly, without a care in the world.

“Do I really need to hear all of this?” Aidan asked in disgust, pushing his plate away.

“Anyway,” Stacey said out loud, trying to put the attention back to the subject. “By the way, bro, don’t let Uncle Rich find out that you’re still in contact with that girl. I really don’t want a repeat of last time.”

Aidan scoffed at her, “Do you honestly think I want a repeat as well?”

.:Sophomore year:.

Aidan leaned down to kiss Charmeine on the cheek, grinning when he saw that familiar pinkness forming across her face.

“You’re so adorable, it’s amusing.” He smirked, opening the door for her.

Charmeine playfully glared at him before going inside his house, giggling here and there whenever Aidan would try to reach forward and tickle or grab her.

“Stop!” She whispered hurriedly, “I think your parents are in the kitchen!”

“Oh babe,” Aidan laughed, shaking his head. “Trust me; My parents invented PDA.”

Charmeine glanced at him for a few seconds, unsure if she wanted to question what he meant or not.

“Mom!” Aidan called out, wrapping an arm around her waist as they ventured down the hallway towards the living room. “Dad! Is it okay if Charmeine chills with us for a bit, I mean –“

They stopped.

“Uncle Rich?” Aidan asked in both surprise and excitement.

Richard was in the middle of stuffing his face with Emma’s leftovers the moment the teens arrived. He immediately swallowed hard and gave them a messy grin.

“’Woz’spen!” He said, his mouth still full of food.

Aidan grimaced, glancing at Charmeine and shaking his head. However, she merely laughed in amusement.

“Was that English?” Aidan called out, as he lead Charmeine to the couch. “Where’s my parents and Stace?”

Rich put his finger up to them, telling them to give him a minute to collect himself.

When he finally did, he took a large gulp of water beside the table and nodded at them, “Stacey is upstairs doing homework. Parents? They’re somewhere over the rainbow called the store. And what? Of course, it’s English, you twit.”

“Oh.” Charmeine snickered under her breath. “Your uncle is so nice.”

“I’m not really his uncle, sweet cheeks.” Uncle Rich scoffed, walking to the kitchen and placing the dishes inside the washer. “Who are you, anyway?”

“This is Charmeine.” Aidan proudly said, squeezing the life out of her in affection. “She’s my girlfriend.”

“Girlfriend?” Rich piped up with interest, looking at her up and down and snickering. “I thought Bryan tried to set you up with Sara.”

“Apparently Charmeine and I met at the right place and at the right time then.” Aidan shrugged. “I mistaken her for my blind date and well… she was just there.”

He paused, contemplating what he just said, before something came up. He turned to Charmeine and asked, “What were you doing there anyway?”

Charmeine bit her bottom lip and shrugged, “Waiting for my uncle to show up. He’s usually there to pick up a few things for his friends and I just happened to tag along and decided to wait for him.”

“Right place at the right time, then.” Aidan repeated, bending down to kiss her on the forehead.

“Aw,” Rich said in a high pitch voice, “baby Aidan is all grown up.”

Aidan flushed, fighting the urge to throw the middle finger out towards the guy but resisted.

“Who is your uncle, anyway?” Rich asked out of curiosity.

Aidan frowned, noticing how Charmeine immediately looked a little scared and hesitant to answer. She blinked at Richard for a few seconds and looked away, wrapping her fingers together in obvious nervousness.

What is going on?

“Yo kid,” Rich scowled at her, also noticing this odd behavior. “I asked you a simple question, no need to get your knickers in a twist.”

“Uncle Rich!” Aidan snapped at him, throwing him a dirty look before wrapping his arms around his girlfriend and turning at his attention back to her. “Babe, you okay? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing!” She immediately let out a nervous laugh. She looked at Richard again and cleared her throat, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to ignore your question.”

She paused again, wondering if she should even say her uncle’s name or not. Like, she knows that her uncle was part of the same gang with Drake back in high school.

She knows that Drake used to be involved with gang related activities when he was younger, and that Emma had no involvement in it, except trying to help Drake’s case. She knows all about this, because her uncle told her so.

Her uncle was the one who sent her to that place to meet up with Aidan.

He knew Aidan was going to be there to meet some girl name Sara, but she never showed up. Why? Well, there was a reason why… but he said it was because he offered Sara money to walk away, so she could be there and be ‘at the right place and at the same time’, as Aidan would think.

She was sent to spy for her uncle, because of what Drake and Emma did to her uncle’s leader, named Jay. She was originally supposed to report back to either her uncle Mark, or to Jay whenever she or Mark would visit him, but did she ever?

She did… but not necessarily anything truthful or important.

Just bullshit stuff like: “Drake and Emma went grocery shopping”, or “It was Stacey’s birthday and they decided to take a trip to Disneyland instead of Walt Disney World.”

“So?” Rich asked again, breaking her concentration. “What’s his name? I want to know if I know him.”

Okay, what harm could it do just by saying his name? Maybe this cop won’t know her uncle after all?

“What did you say your name is?” Rich asked a different question.

“Charmeine.” She replied back, slowly.

“What’s your last name?” He kept firing away.

“Avery.” Wondering where he was going with this.

“Avery?” Richard quickly did a double take, standing and rushing to his large bag from work.

He pulled out some papers and quickly flipped through the pages, letting his fingers run down some sentences and names. Aidan knew Richard found what he was looking for because his finger stopped at a section for too long before he looked up back at her.

“I’m going to take a wild guess and say your uncle is name Mark Avery?”He asked questioningly, crossing his arms and tilting his head to the side.

“Where are you going with this, dude?” Aidan asked, not liking that determined look on his face.

“Yes.” Charmeine answered very slowly, as if she was unsure if she should have answered him. He’s kind of a police, isn’t he? It feels odd for her not to answer him since he’s part of ‘the law’ or whatever they like to call themselves.

Richard stared at her for a second. Aidan was slightly taken aback to see that Rich’s facial expression dropped to a more sad look – a rare feature he would see grace upon his parent’s best friend. What’s happening?

“I’m sorry, kid.” Rich said lowly, almost regretfully. He stuffed his papers inside the large bag and threw his best friend’s son a look once more, before turning to Charmeine. “I need you to come with me, girly.”

Charmeine turned her head towards Aidan, but kept her eyes on Richard. “Sir? Why?”

Rich let out a heavy sigh, “Mark Avery is a wanted man for various crimes, young lady. I can’t really say more but –“

Yes he can. He just doesn’t want to.

“But he’s my uncle!” Charmeine snapped suddenly, ignoring Aidan’s arms around her. “I think I have the right, don’t you think?”

“What’s with all the yelling?” Stacey came running down the stairs, looking back and forth between Aidan, Charmeine, and Richard. “Uncle Rich, what are you doing?’

“Aidan has the right to know everything also, don’t YOU think?” Rich fired back at Charmeine, immediately regretting his outburst.

Aidan’s head snapped back, as if he couldn’t understand what was happening in front of him. He shook his head at Rich and looked at Charmeine, “What is he talking about, Charm?”

Charmeine opened her mouth to say something, but stopped; The words refusing to come out of her throat.

“Nothing.” She muttered, glaring at Richard as she stood up. She lifted her chin up and mockingly lifted her wrists up towards him, “Are you going to handcuff me, officer?”

The whole time, Stacey was quiet. She couldn’t even speak because of how confused and scared she was suddenly feeling with the scene before her.

“What the hell is happening?” Aidan snapped, also getting up as Rich lightly placed his hand on Charmeine’s shoulder. “Wherever you’re taking her, I’m coming!”

“Suit yourself, kid.” Rich shrugged, “But let your parents know.”

“I’m coming with you guys.” Stacey finally said, forcing herself to come.

While they were driving to downtown, Aidan turned to Charmeine and crossed his arms. “What does he mean I deserve to know the truth? What truth?”

“It’s nothing.” She only said, staring out the window.

“Don’t bullshit with me, Charm.” Aidan snapped, “If it involves me and my families safety, then uncle Rich is right. I have the right to know what –“

“You meeting me instead of Sara were no honest mistake, Aidan!” Charmeine finally blew out, throwing her arms up and looking at him. “Okay? There! My uncle was in the same gang your dad was in. He was extremely upset when your dad got away thanks to your mom, and threw their leader to the dumps.”

“What the hell?” Aidan gawked at her, feeling confused as she kept talking.

“Oh my goodness, how thick are you!” Charmeine snapped, though her eyes were getting glistening with tears already as they neared the destination. “My uncle sent me to spy on you and your family, okay?!”

Aidan quieted down. He felt as if a large had was grabbing his heart, not letting the blood flow to his head, causing around him to blacken even just a little bit.

“Yeah,” Charmeine continued on, her face smeared with tears as she tried to wipe them all dry. “I was going to sell you out to my family. I’m sorry.”

Aidan didn’t know what to feel.

Hurt.

Betrayed.

Confused.

Angry.

Instead of saying anything, he turned his whole body away from her and faced Stacey instead, even though he kept his gaze out the window.

When Rich gently took Charmeine away for questioning, he ignored her.

“Aidan.” He thought he heard her say, but he didn’t answer back.

When hours later, Charmeine came back after talking in front of these investigators, he still kept his body facing away from her.

“Aidan.” He heard her say once again, this time her voice dripped with exhaustion.

“I never want to see you near me or my family again.” Aidan muttered, anger lacing through his veins as he continued to stare out the window.

Stacey even let out a small gasp, surprised that Aidan would say such a thing. But at the same time… she gets it. She would do the same too if her family was put in danger by someone she thought she could trust.

After they dropped her off home, that was the last time they heard from her. Part of him regretted not to hear her side of the story, but he didn’t care. He loves his family, and anything that was a potential threat – he wanted out.

When he told his parents, they were angry. But to his surprise, not to him. They were angry with Rich for taking an obviously scared teenage girl for questioning without any proof of her involvement, regardless of her confessing.

Since then, they were hesitant of him driving their kids because of his often rash decisions. Who knows? Maybe he might get a car chase call while their kids are in the car, and he would definitely still do it.

But he felt he made a huge mistake, and he’s regretted it ever since.

.

“So she was basically going to sell us out to her crazy uncle, and you still want to hook up with her?” Stacey asked her brother in disgust, “You desperate creep.”

“That’s all in the past.” Emma told her, “Remember what your grandmother told you before she passed away.”

Stacey had the grace to look ashamed, “Forgiveness is the final form of love?”

“Exactly.” Emma beamed, “You’re dad was involved in a gang – but he learned from his mistakes.”

“Did I?” Drake smirked, pulling her hair playfully.

“Besides,” Aidan snapped, “In the end, she ended up selling her uncle out to the cops, right? So there’s no reason for Uncle Rich to hate on her. It’s not like she’s in the gang!”

“It really is none of his business, anyway.” Stacey shrugged, “He’s not even related to you, for goodness sake! Why does it matter! That Mark guy is back in jail, isn’t he?”

“He should be.” Drake nodded, “I wouldn’t be letting you hang out with this chick, Aidan, if I wasn’t sure her crazy uncle isn’t locked up behind bars.”

“Oh, thanks dad.” Aidan said, sarcastically. “Either way, I want to see Charmeine again.”

“The thing is,” Stacey smirked at him, “does she still want to see you?”