Aaron and I laughed at this as I made a move to get off his lap. I skipped towards the door, scoffing when Danny began to skip as well. Not being careful enough, I banged my hand on the side of the door, a loud whimper leaving my lips.

Aaron moved in to inspect, but Justin quickly took ahold of my hand, concern evident in his eyes as he examined it. I winced in pain when he touched the red area, near my knuckles. Justin tutted at this.
"Can you try being a bit more careful?" He asked. The question was rhetorical but i answered, nevertheless.

"I'm sorry, Justin. But, it's fine. It's just a bruise." I murmured to which Justin's dead grey eyes settled on me. His voice harsh as he spoke.

"No, it's not just a bruise, Alexis. It kills me when you're in pain." He said, blowing softly on my hand.

And, Danny could have broken his neck from how fast it whipped to look at Aaron.

*************

I cleared my throat for, about, the third time. The sudden silence in the room loomed in like a thirsty predator and all we could do was hope that someone would break it. But, such a thing never happened.

Justin, however, seemed oblivious to all this, a sight that was both rare and strange to see. With his hand still gripping mine, he continued with his previous action of inspecting my hand. Concern filled his eyes and I smiled at how caring he was.

Correction, I would have smiled, had it not been for the words he had tacked on with his endearing actions.

So, I stood and stared at him in silence, my mouth slightly agape, hoping that someone would save me the awkwardness from asking him to clarify.

Thankfully, Danny and his mouth were present in the room. His eyebrows were furrowed in confusion as he glanced over between Justin and Aaron. He scratched the back of his head awkwardly before speaking, a tentative tone to his voice.

"Er, dude? Do you have something you wanna share with the rest of us?" Danny spoke hesitantly, motioning towards Aaron and I, at the end of the sentence.

At this, Justin's gaze- that was so benevolently fixated on my hand- turned to Danny. He raised a dark eyebrow at Danny's words, before slowly shaking his head.
"No, why?" He said bluntly, looking towards as Aaron as well to see if he understood what Danny's dim rant was about this time.

Except, this time, it wasn't a dim rant, a fact known to us all with the exception of the grey-eyed boy who was stood before me.

This was not to say that I thought that Justin was, in the slightest, attracted to me. No, that wasn't it.

But, I knew how the other boys could be. Danny and Aaron shared very similar characteristics: that is, both lost their temper very quickly and would easily jump to conclusions. To add to this, they were both crazy loyal to their friends. Given these attributes, I knew that they would question Justin's actions.

So, if Justin could just clarify what he meant and, simultaneously, deny their supposed allegations then everything would be fine.

I turned to look at Aaron, only to find that his gaze was directed towards the floor. There was no expression on his face, so I couldn't tell what he was feeling right now. Was he angry? Upset? I didn't know.

I turned my head back at the sound of Danny's nervous chuckle. He shook his head vigorously and waved his hand, in a dismissive manner before speaking.

"Oh, no reason, my curious amigo. I was just wondering." He said, his voice was loud and I cringed from how forced it sounded.

So, if I could tell then Justin would clearly identify it.

His next actions confirmed this. He moved towards Danny slightly, crossing his arms as he did so.
"Oh really? Just wondering? So, nothing's up?" He asked, his eyebrow still raised. His grey eyes burned into Danny and it was evident that Danny was not good at keeping anything to himself.

Danny rocked back and forth uncomfortably, fiddling with his hands. A nervous smile was on his face and I noted how this was the first time I had seen him nervous.
"Nope, nothing. Nothing at all. Diddly squat. Zero. Practically non-existent." He rushed out, his voice loud and strained.

Justin didn't reply for a minute as though was deep in thought. And then, suddenly, his hand was on Danny's ear. I didn't know what he doing, until Danny let out a shrill scream. At that point, I knew that he was pulling Danny's ear and I felt the urge to step in. That was, until Danny opened his mouth.

"Ow! Okay, okay! You just said you didn't like seeing Alexis in pain and it sounded kind of, I don't know, flirty or something! You know, what I mean! Now, let go!" He shouted out, trying to pull out of Justin's grip.

Thankfully, Justin let go of Danny's ear and turned to Aaron, a concerned look on his face. He moved closer to him, glancing at me quickly before turning his gaze back to Aaron.
"Is that what you think too, Aaron?" His voice was devoid of emotion, as per usual, but his eyes said it all. He was upset at the circle of doubts that were currently present, in the room.

Aaron didn't say anything for a minute or two and kept his gaze fixed to the floor. At long last, he shook his head slightly.

"No, I don't think that." He finalised, looking up at Justin. The blue in his eyes seemed calm, so I knew he wasn't angry. But, something was up.

At this, all heads snapped to him in confusion. Justin's eyebrows furrowed at his words.

"Then, what is it, Aaron? Something's up." He stated, the look of worry evident in his dull grey eyes.

Aaron sighed at his words, confirming that there was- indeed- something up with him. His gaze, suddenly, landed on me and my breath caught in my throat. His gaze was soft and filled with warmth. Not too long after, he turned back to Justin.

"I'm glad, you care so much about her. I mean, you've cared for her properly, this whole time. You did something that I couldn't do- you didn't let her down and she deserves something like that." Aaron let out and I was taken aback by his words. I didn't know he felt that way.

Clearly, neither did Justin.

He stared at Aaron, for what seemed like centuries, before pushing a hand through his hair, a strained look on his face.

"Aaron, you've got to be kidding me." He muttered.

Before Aaron could respond, Justin made his way towards me and motioned in my direction, with his hand.
"You've got to be crazy, if you think that I care more for her than you do. I mean, I care for her a lot, more than I've cared about a lot of people. But, I know how you feel about her, Aaron. Everything you did, regarding her, you did because you care so much about her. Sure, the way you cared wasn't probably the best way, but you cared. When you left her at the hospital, you did it because you couldn't see anything happen to her. When you caused that fight in school, it was because you couldn't stand to hear a word against her. And, when you got angry at Avalon, it was because you couldn't tolerate anyone hurting her. You act impulsively and let your anger take control, but no one- not even you- can deny that you feel the most for her." Justin's voice was firm but gentle.

I think that was the most I have heard him say.

Aaron stayed silent for a moment as thought taking in what Justin had said. He opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by Justin yet again.

"I do love her, Aaron. But, I can because she's like a sister to me and I have a right to be concerned about her." He finalised, his eyes glancing towards me and I smiled at him, feeling happiness at his words.

Last time he had said anything to me that was sister-related, it wasn't the kindest of words.

Aaron smiled at his words as well, pushing a hand through his hair. He let out a small laugh.
"Okay, I'll admit, I kind of felt you were into my girl." He said, his tone both nervous and relieved.

Justin slapped Aaron's head at this and, just like that, they were good. They soon became engrossed in conversation and I would have listened in, if it weren't for Danny distracting me.

He looked at my hand, the one that had hit the door, with an intense look in his eye. A small faint bruise had formed, in the short time that had passed and I winced when Danny poked at it, oblivious to the pain he was causing me. His eyes suddenly met mine, his face alit with a burning realisation as he spoke.

"Can I take a picture of your hand, for my blog?"

And, that was the day that Danny also received a bruise.

**********

POV Change

"Okay, laugh it up, Dawson. But, just remember, there's ice in my drink and I'm pretty sure it could find its way into your shirt." Aaron warned jokingly, but he couldn't concentrate on his own words. His mind seemed to go blank when she laughed like that.

It always did.

He watched as she sat beside him, laughing at an embarrassing childhood story he had just told her. Her hand was raised against her mouth as she laughed and her dark brown eyes glistened with amusement.

She was beautiful.

And, Aaron couldn't stop his mind from going back to the day he had first met her.

**********

A few months ago...

" 'Give the ladies only so much that they come back begging for more'. That's what he told me over the phone, yesterday." Danny's voice boomed out, a mischevious grin on his face.

Aaron looked at Danny, his eyebrows raised.
"Wow? Your grandpa gives... great advice, Danny."

Danny nodded at his words and began speaking about conquest no. 4, but Aaron paid no heed to this. It was Friday, the last day of school before Monday and to say that Aaron was relieved was an understatement. He didn't hate school, but- sometimes- he needed a break to relax from all that was going on right now.

And, sometimes, a 'break' and 'relax' meant partying which was a good thing to, seeing as Mason's party was conveniently on Saturday.

His thoughts were interrupted by Justin's arrival. He smiled at Justin who sent one back before returning his gaze to his phone.

And, with that, all three boys were walking towards the exit. Not much to their surprise, they were gawked at by the females and glared at by the males. But, no attention was spared for those males. The boys were used to this behaviour. Rather, they embraced it to its fullest depths, taking any opportunity they had to wink or wave at the girls. That was except of Justin, of course, who kept his gaze trained on his phone. He only removed it now and then to ward of any approaching person. They were almost near the door, until Aaron's eyes landed upon her.

And, with that, he couldn't look away.

He didn't know her name, but he wanted to and he chastised himself for not seeing her before. His eyes sweeped over her small figure. Her hair was a light silky brown and he resisted the urge to go touch it. He looked on as she stared into her locker, her eyes as dark as chocolate and quite doe-like.

She was beautiful.

Suddenly, an idea formed in his mind. Maybe, she was the answer. She could help and all she had to do was accept his favour.

And, with that intent, Aaron excused himself from his friends and made his way over.

**********

Original POV

"What are you thinking about?" I asked Aaron who had been staring at the wall for the past two minutes, a faint smile on his lips.

Well, I wasn't one to complain, seeing as how I spent those two minutes staring at his smile.

Aaron shook his head again before turning to me. He raised a hand to my face and caressed my cheek, an action he did more often now.

Again, not like I'm complaining

Aaron's looked into my eyes as he spoke.
"I'm so lucky." He said, pure adoration clear on his facial expression and I blushed at his words.

I was about to answer, but a loud thud emanated from downstairs and Aaron was already up. He made his was downstairs and I followed behind.

I watched when he stopped in his tracks when he reached the lounge to find Danny sprawled out on the ground and a visibly angry Justin, hovering over him.

Aaron quickly made his way between them, his eyes glancing at both boys.
"What's going on?" He asked, a seriousness in his tone and, from that, I knew this wasn't a joke.

Justin scoffed at his words before motioning towards Danny with a hand.

"Ask him. Ask him what he's done."

__________________________________________

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Until next time! Love you, guys!

S. A. A