I was in twist. Standing in my closet, I stared at my array of clothes. It was true when people said that regardless of the number of clothes a girl had, she would still find it hard to decide on what to wear.

Laurel had called to tell me that her dad had finally decided to take off the Christmas decorations. She asked if we could go out. I was in a pickle over what to wear.

I knew we weren't going anywhere fancy so I was looking for something lovely but casual.

After a lot of thought I settled on a knee length red dress with white polka dots. The top of the dress covered all the way to my neck and the sleeves were a modest elbow length.

I chose a pair of white ankle boots and put my hair up in a pony tail.

When I got down, Gram was in the living room watching her favourite romcom. 

“Good morning Gram” I hugged her from behind the couch, wrapping my arms around her shoulder.

“Morning sweetie”

She turned on the couch to look at me.

“You're all dressed up, are you going out?”

“Yes, I'm just going to pick Laurel up first”

“Okay have a nice day”

“I will” I said grabbing my brown frock coat from the closet. It was practically spring already, but the weather was still a bit unpredictable “Bye!” I yelled before closing the door behind me.

Getting to Laurel's house, I could clearly see the difference. Virtually all the outdoor decorations had been removed.

I locked the car and walked across the street. The pretend snowman was still on the lawn and ribbons still decked the door. I pressed the bell, waiting a few seconds before Laurel opened it and let me in.

“So glad you're finally here” She sighed shutting the door behind me. The scene before me was easily humorous but the sweet side gave the humor a cute edge.

Laurel's younger brother and sister stood by the Evergreen Christmas tree taking ornaments off it's leaves. Jake and Ally were both arguing about who got to take of the star. Jake being older, was taller and he was using it to his advantage to convince Ally to let him do the honours. But Ally was younger the little angel of the house, she could easily persuade daddy to lift her up and help her take off the golden star.

I couldn't help but smile at their childish tantrums.

Away from the kids was Mr and Mrs Peters, they both stood by the fire place having a little conversation of their own.

“Oh come on honey, just a few more days. We've already removed most of them” Mr Swan said while standing on a ladder, which he was using to reach the ribbons on the highest parts of the off white walls.

“No, no, no. You had enough time, now be quick so I can have my house back to normal; neat and classy” Mrs Peters retorted.

Laurel's mom was quite elegant, she had wonderful fashion sense especially when it came to decor. The house was usually kept neat and with little ornaments to avoid it looking clustered.

I could still recall last year when Mr Swan had literally turned the house into a spiral of ribbons and Christmas lights. Mrs Swan had freaked, she kept complaining about it being too much.

Mr Swan had a thing with always out doing the neighbors when it came to decorations. Be it Christmas, Halloween or even parties, his just had to be better or rather it had to be more flashy and fun.

They were so different. They were the definition of opposites attract, and they complimented eachother so nicely and created a balance that was much needed in a relationship.

Laurel finally suggested we leave, pulling me away from her family drama.

Laurel told me about a restaurant she would like us to go to. I was a solid two hours drive. She didn't have any plans on being home till the drama at home was over.

When I got there I saw why Laurel had wanted to come. It was an Italian themed restaurant. It was a medium sized room, big enough to accommodate a modest number of people. Most of the tables around the corners of the restaurant were booths for four while the rest were smaller wooden tables for two.

It was really warm and smelled like lavender. Upon entering my nose was assaulted by the delicious aroma of their rich cuisines. All I could think about, as we made our way to a table, was digging into some spaghetti.

“I don't see why we had to come so far, we've got plenty of restaurants back home” I said betraying my thoughts, even as I took a fork full of spaghetti. I found it hard not to moan at how good it tasted.

Laurel looked at me like she couldn't believe what she was hearing.

“Oh really? You're devouring you meal yet you tell me you don't see why we chose to come here, uh?”

I rolled my eyes stifling a laugh.

“Okay the food is wonderful but is that really the only reason we came this far?” I didn't need to read her thoughts to know that she had other reasons.

“Well, the farther we go the longer it'll take to get back. And trust me when I say you haven't seen the whole thing yet. I don't wanna be there today, I mean do you see what I go through every year? Before and after decorating” she finished dramatically and sighed.

I laughed, “It's a good thing your dad finally agreed to take out the decorations”

“Oh it's long over due” she said with emphasis on long and we both laughed. By the time we were done with our food it was almost 3:00pm.

“That was divine, this place isn't half bad” I commented

“Seriously Alexa! Just say you love this restaurant”

“Maybe,” I grinned childishly.  “How did you find this place anyway” I asked as I downed my glass of orange juice.

“Dad brought us here last year on our way back from mums office party. You know the one they do at the end of every year?”

“Yeah I remember. We should really be on our way before it gets late”

“Okay I'll get the bill”

“And I'll be in the bathroom” I stood up from the table and tried to locate the ladies' room. I saw the sign ahead towards the end of the room. I had almost reached it when a voice caught me off guard.

“I know what my job is” I paused. It wasn't the voice of a stranger, it was so familiar, it sounded just like…

Aiden?

I hid behind the wall leading to the ladies room my back flat against it as I tried to listen to their conversation. It was very close to their table and with my good hearing I caught every word.

“Are you sure? You know we can't rush things, don't let your emotions get in the way. When she is with us everything will be as it should” The guy he was talking to said.

I couldn't see them since they were seated at weird angles I could only see a part of Aiden's face but the other guy was completely blocked off from view.

“Yes I've been waiting years already. A few months won't kill me. But Amelia is not ready to let her go”

“She will have to once she realises how bad things are”

“perhaps. I have to go now, say hey to the others for me” He stood up as I ducked farther behind the wall to avoid being seen.

“Amelia?” I muttered before retreating to the restroom.

Once out, I didn't say a word to Laurel. I needed to be sure first. It might have just been someone that sounded like Aiden. I didn't get a good look at him anyway.

“Ready to go?” Laurel inquired, standing up from our table.

“Yeah” I muttered softly in a bid to mask my distress. I didn't want to get her worried with any of my intuitions, especially after what happened last night.

Yesterday.

Aiden had only been in my life for a few weeks, but it already felt like a lot was happening and too fast.

The drive home took a little longer than it did earlier. The day was slowly ending, and traffic had built up. For some, the day was over. For others, it was only beginning as with the thrills that came with the moonlight. 

Surely, clubbing and partying were one of the many thrills. At times, I wished things were easier for me. I wish I could live my life without all the worry and tension. Yet a part of me welcomed all the drama and excitement. That being in me lived off of it.

By the time we got home, it was around 6:45. I'd dropped Laurel home first, of course. I wasn't expecting what I saw when I opened the door.

Standing in the kitchen was a freshened up Aiden. He had gotten home before me!

I was sure he'd only left a few minutes before us. He shouldn't have had that much time. He shouldn't have been too far ahead either.

I was filled with an intense feeling of angst. It was almost a replica of what I'd felt the night he came home, only without the extra fear.

“Honey?” Gram called.

“Good evening Grams”

“How was your day?”

Oh, my day started of lovely, but now it's just a mess of fear and confusion.

“It was lovely” I replied courteously, disregarding my mental voice, which was fighting to hold onto the little sanity it had left.

I tried to clear my head. It sounded like the most rational thing to do first. And then I needed to do some digging around, so I started causally, “What's for dinner? I'm famished” I would be able to know how long he'd been here.

“Didn't you get anything to eat out?”

“Uh, I did but not much and it was a stressful drive back home, I must've burnt out all that energy” I lied, gram could tell when I was lying, I knew that. Yet this time, she didn't seem suspicious, and if she was, she  wasn't showing it.

“Well, I'm making a casserole”

“Wow, nice. How long have you been cooking, I mean, is it almost done?” I rephrased, trying to sound natural. I was terrible at it.

If it was him I saw in that restaurant, then he's here for a reason. I couldn't do anything to tick him off or let him realise that I was on to him.

“It's been about forty minutes, just a little longer”

“And Aiden's been helping you?”

“From the very start, you see, he's a good boy” I gave a light smile in response. Aiden, who had been quietly cleaning up the kitchen island, spoke up.

“You're not the only chef in this house see” he smirked, feeling proud of himself. I fought to keep my sassy remarks at bay and, instead, gave him an unamused look before going to my room.

I had dinner after freshening up. The drive home had seriously worn me out. The casserole was truly magnificent, but of course, I wouldn't be admitting that to anyone. Not as long as Aiden had helped make it.

I ate hurriedly so I could retreat to my bedroom, my solace. The one place I could think comfortably. Perhaps I felt that way because it reminded me of my parents.

When we used to visit gram, we spent most of our time in my room. I would always make them play with me and tell me stories.

Till present, it's the only place that has any possessions of theirs. It helped to take away the emptiness I felt most of the time.

Finally, in the safety of my room, I began to think.

I wasn't completely sure that I had seen Aiden. I had only seen a fraction of his face, but coupled with his voice... it couldn't have been a coincidence.  I knew nothing of the person he was talking to, I had only seen him from the back, and his voice wasn't familiar in any way.

But if it was Aiden, how had he managed to get home so quickly? And mentioning grams? There's no way that was an accident. It was clear that they knew very well what they were talking about.

A sound outside my window pulled me back into reality. It was coming from outside the balcony. I opened up the doors and inched closer to the edge as I looked around.

No one.

Just as I was about to shut the doors, a strong gust of wind blew from nowhere. I pushed hard trying to shut the doors, but it seemed the wind itself was... angry.

Yes, I could feel it. There was some foreign emotion being emitted from it. I was about to call for help when, just as it started, it stopped.

I only had a second to catch a figure below speed away.

I shut the doors quickly, making my way to the bed as I sat down slowly, crippled with fear.

My shaky hands moved up to feel my sweaty face. I sat there frozen for what felt like hours before I finally managed to calm myself down.

I cuddled up in the silk sheets, wrapping myself up with the duvet as I forced my eyes shut with only one thought in my head.

I need to end this

Author's Note
Late chapter, i know, but life has been keeping me really busy and tired lately…
I have decided to change Thea's name to Alexa. Alexa was the original name but after my book went through some major reconstruction I changed it and now once again I'm changing it, Alexa is just better. So I apologise for future confusion😊😊😊