Song for chapter thirty six: You Got Me by Colbie Caillat

|Skyler|

I fell back onto my bed with a thud groaning in annoyance at the math homework on my desk. Josie and I were on the phone with her just about in tears because she couldn't figure out our assignment. Explaining to her how to correctly complete the questions was more exhausting than physically doing it.

The house was eerily quiet today, with Aunt Claire at work even though it was a Saturday, not that I was complaining about the fact that I had the house to myself. It saved me from having to look presentable; I was still in my pyjamas.

My phone buzzed next to me, and I sat back up on my bed, half expecting it to be another question that Josie had.

I picked my phone up to see a message from Aden: I'm picking you up in half an hour, dress for the weather :)

I frowned slightly at the text. Half an hour?

Not nearly enough time to get myself ready, not when I looked as if I'd just woken up. I glanced up at the clock, realizing that I'd already wasted a minute sitting on my bed.

I scrambled out of my room and into the bathroom, almost cringing when I caught a glance at myself the mirror. My hair was frizzier than usual, like a birds nest on the top of my head even though I had brushed it when I woke up.

I jumped into the shower and managed to make it back to my room within a few minutes to pull on my clothes.

Perks to being home alone: walking around the house naked.

Finally, after taking my closet apart, I settled on a pair of black jeans and a thick parka overtop since winter was finally arriving. Underneath, I threw on a random sweater I dug up from the bottom of my drawers since I realized no one would see it under my jacket anyways.

I let out a scream when I glanced over at the time and realized that I had ten minutes before Aden would get here. I was relieved to see that my hair had begun to dry decently, so I put on a layer of mascara and finished just in time to see a text from Aden saying that he was downstairs.

I stepped out of my apartment building, the frigid air numbing my cheeks almost immediately as I stepped into Aden's car. To my relief, he had the heat on full blast.

"Hey Clumsy," he leaned over to me, pressing a kiss onto my cheek. I glanced over at him when he pulled away, my face heating up as I rubbed my clammy hands onto my jeans, trying to pretend as though Aden's outfit wasn't making as flustered as I was. He sported a pair of black sneakers, dark jeans and a grey hoodie underneath a jean jacket. His hair was combed back like usual, though for some weird reason I was feeling more nervous than normal.

He started up the car again, pulling out of his spot and onto the street.

"So, where are we going?" I asked, holding my hand in front of the heater and it tingled with warmth. Even though I was outside for a solid three seconds, my hands were already freezing.

"You'll see," he smirked, keeping his eyes on the road even though it was clear he could see my smouldering glare. "I'm glad to see that you did dress for the weather though, it may get cold tonight."

I glanced down at my jeans, "Seriously, where are we going?"

"Not telling you," he held a smug grin that infuriated me even more.

I grunted and proceeded to bombard him with questions that Aden continued to ignore effortlessly. My voice and words went in through one ear and came out smoothly through the other.

"How are you not answering me?" I finally asked, leaning back on my seat, impressed with the amount of patience he had.

"Because, Ryan does this all the time, and I got used to it," he laughed, but it was cut short when he noticed my unimpressed expression. "Alright, if let you play whatever music you want, will you stop asking questions?" he raised an amused eyebrow at me.

I pondered for a moment, pursing my lips before nodding. "Alright, deal."

I took the AUX cord from his hand and plugged in my phone, deviously scrolling through my playlist to find a song that would annoy Aden the most. I cackled under my breath when I found the song, earning a confused glance from Aden.

I pressed play on 'These Boots Are Made For Walking' by Nancy Sinatra. Aden stared at me with a flat look when the chorus came, though his eyes glistened.

"THESE BOOTS WERE MADE FOR WALKING, AND THAT'S JUST WHAT THEY'LL DO. ONE OF THESE DAYS THESE BOOTS ARE GONNA WALK ALL OVER YOU!" I shouted at the top of my lungs even though I was way out of tune, and barely singing.

Aden parked his car on the side of the street. "Alright are you done yet Nancy Sinatra? We're here."

I grinned, shutting off the music, "Hell yeah, I'm dying from anticipation over here." I opened the door and stepped out, it hit me in an instant that we were at Central Park.

"Woah..." I trailed off as my eyes took in the sights of the large skating rink in front of me. It stretched out for many yards across the field, Christmas lights already dangling and lit up on the trees that surrounded the rink. Autumn had clearly hit, the trees now shades of orange, yellow and red rather than green. Their leaves littered the grass and the roads around us. Even though it was only the beginning of November, a large Christmas tree sat in the centre of the skating rink.

I swear, New York City will never not amaze me.

I felt Aden weave his fingers between mine as he pulled me towards the rink, stopping in front of a large desk, also adorned with a bunch of fairy lights. A lady assisted Aden and I as we picked out our skates to put on. Even though I'd never gone skating before, I still managed to put them on correctly with just a few pointers from Aden, much to my relief.

Christmas music blared from the speakers as we stepped onto the ice. I let out a scream that paralleled a screeching crow as my foot slipped from under me, the only thing that helped me keep my balance was the fact that I had a tight grip on the fence.

Aden stepped out smoothly, spinning around to face me with a smirk. He didn't say anything about my embarrassing screech.

"Don't tell me you played hockey or something," My eyes widening at how smooth his steps were.

"No, but Ryan and his family always forced me to come to the rink in the winter," he responded, stretching out his hand. "Come on." I took his hand in mine, warming my cold ones and I shimmied awkwardly towards Aden. "You got it?"

I nodded, attempting another step, only to have my foot slip from underneath me again. Aden's hands clamped around my waist, steadying me on my feet again before I could even scream or register the fact that I was falling.

He pulled me upright again, facing him as he bit back his laughter, "Are you sure you've got it Clumsy?"

"Yes," I repeated, eyes hard with determination. I was going to get good at this if it was the last thing I'd do tonight.

"Here, focus on my feet," Aden took both my hands in his, and pulled me along with him. I did as he asked, my shoulders tense as I held onto his hands so tight that he could possibly lose circulation at any moment, bracing myself for another fall. He glided on the ice, me following close behind his footsteps until my body relaxed and my hands stopped gripping his as tight. We made it around the rink a couple times before I was sure that I was as good as a professional figure skater.

"Oh my gosh! I'm doing it!" I exclaimed, looking up at Aden, only to find his eyes already trained on me. He had a light smile on his lips, his eyes soft as he watched me.

When he noticed my eyes on him, he blinked as if he were snapping himself out of a daze. "Yeah you are."

"Now I'm better than you," I was smug, letting go of his hands and standing on my own.

"Definitely not Clumsy, don't kid yourself," he smirked.

"Fine then, race me," I stood up taller, trying to get up to his level even though it was futile. The ice skates had given him a couple more inches to his already tall physique. "On three."

We got into position at one end of the rink, leaning slightly forward in preparation.

My stomach tingled with excitement. "One, two—" I gasped when Aden already zoomed ahead of me. "Hey! I didn't even say three!" I called out after him as I moved my legs, the blades of my skates scratching against the ice.

I pushed myself faster, surprised that I wasn't falling over, until I was just a little ways behind Aden when he reached the other side, crashing into the fence it's a loud thud.

"I win," he smirked, breathing slightly heavier as he turned around to see me run into the fence with my momentum.

"You totally cheated," I panted, though I couldn't stop the smile that was stretching across my face. I skated towards him, pressing both hands onto his chest and pushing hard.

"Woa—" he stumbled backwards from the force, losing his balance completely as he fell backwards.

I cackled at him, proud of my revenge when his hand clasped around my wrist. He tugged, and before I could register what was happening, I toppled over, losing my balance as I fell face first towards the ice. I yelped as I fell over, my face landing on someone just a little softer than the ice below us.

Aden groaned below me from the impact of my weight on top of him.

"How did I get so lucky?" he breathed, his eyes watching my face as he weaved a hand through my hair.

"Shush Aden," my cheeks burned as I peeled my face off his chest.

He began laughing, his chest shaking up and down moving me along with it. My eyebrows furrowed in confusion as I took one look at his face. His eyes were alive with mischief as I continued to force my lips into a flat line, trying to convey the fact that I was pissed I ended up on the ground with him.

Eventually, his hysterical hoots infected me, giving way to my obnoxious laughter that I usually would've been embarrassed about as I dissolved into giggles.

I tried to contain myself so others around us wouldn't shoot us weird looks, but it was no use. We seemed like two crazy high school kids with the potential to annoy the whole rink.

I wondered if my mom would be glad that I was enjoying myself. I wanted to think she'd be happy for me. But still, I wasn't sure why it hurt a little that I was enjoying my life without her. I pushed the thought away.

When we finally calmed down, Aden's eyes were still on mine as he sighed, placing a hand behind my neck as pulled me in, connecting our lips for a lingering, gentle kiss. It sent a burst of tingles throughout my body, warming me temporarily from my head all the way to my toes.

"So that concludes it, I am the superior skater," I breathed as we pulled ourselves back up, our jackets and jeans damp from the ice we melted underneath us. I shivered slightly, regretting how long we'd stayed laying on the ice. I'd lost valuable body heat from that.

"Only this time," he said as a matter of fact as he slid his hand into mine again, pulling me towards the centre of the rink. He looked down at my hand. "Are you cold?"

"Um... no?" I lied, not wanting the date to end so fast. As much as I hated to admit it, Aden was a great teacher and I was actually getting the hang of it.

"You know I can totally tell when you lie right?" he said as he pulled my hands up to his face. He began blowing onto it with his mouth. The warmth from his breath immediately sent tingles up my arm, butterflies in my stomach multiplied tenfold as I watched him like an idiot, at a loss for any words.

"H-how can you tell?" I asked when I finally found my voice.

"Your face looks as though you're thinking really hard about it," he said, lowering our hands. "And sometimes you take an extra second to answer, or you answer too fast."

I felt the blood rush into my cheeks, heating it up within the cold. My own mother wouldn't even know about the little white lies I told, and neither did any of my friends. But Aden knew, after just two months of knowing me.

"Come on, lets get some drinks to warm us up," he smiled at my perplexed expression, leading us off the rink.

We sat down on the bench and Aden began to untie his skates. I bent over to do the same, my hands shaking as I shivered from the cold. Why am I even cold? I've felt worse before, my fellow Canadians would be disappointed in me.

I fisted my hands together in attempt to stop them from shaking  when I felt a pair of hands fiddling with my skates. I glanced down at my feet to see Aden undoing my laces.

"Here, I got it," he said, his hands delicately pulling the skates off my feet and setting them aside. My legs and my brain turned to jelly as I watched him, my mouth struggling to put together a simple sentence when he slipped my sneakers on.

"It's okay, I got it now," At last, I found my voice again and he let go, a soft smile on his face as he watched me tie my laces quickly. "Can we get hot chocolate?" I asked sheepishly as we began making our way out of the ice rink. More and more couples were beginning to show up as Aden and I maneuvered around them, back onto the sidewalk.

"Anything you want Clumsy," he said, swinging our hands forward and backwards as we walked towards the nearest coffee shop down the street.

"With extra marshmallows," I added, my lips stretching out into a large grin.

"With two orders of extra marshmallows," he brought my hand up to his lips, pressing a soft kiss onto the back of my hand. His breath warmed my hand momentarily, just as my brain blanked out again.

The sun had already set long ago, highlighting the Christmas and fairy lights that they had dangled over the trees on the streets and on the rink.

We entered the shop as Aden's phone rang in his pocket, and he fished it out. His eyebrows furrowed at the caller ID, but he answered it anyway, bringing the phone to his ear. The heat in the coffee shop immediately warmed up my cold hands. It was  a typical coffee shop, mostly empty, with the occasional person tucked inside a booth.

"Hello?" he spoke into the phone.

"I'll get the drinks," I whispered to him as I went over to the counter. Thankfully, no one was in line so I placed my orders for two hot chocolates, with marshmallows for both of us.

I handed the cashier my money as I turned back to see Aden, sitting at a table at the corner of the shop. His eyebrows were now scrunched together in anger — not confusion — his mouth moving rapidly as he spoke to the person on the other end of the line. Though the shop was quiet, I still couldn't make out his words until he finally hung up just as I received our drinks.

I sat down onto a seat across from Aden, handing him his drink. "What's wrong?"

He looked at me, with conflicted eyes as he opened his mouth and shut it again. His shoulders were taut when he finally spoke. "My mom called me."

My jaw slackened slightly, "What for?"

"She wants to meet up with me. To talk," he said through gritted teeth. "I told her she could go fuck herself." We stared at each other for a long moment, my own lips pressed into a thin line. "What are you thinking about?" he asked finally, his voice wavering.

"Nothing," I said quickly and Aden raised a skeptical eyebrow. I sighed. "I don't want to tell you what to do, but I believe you should talk to her."

"What? No that's crazy, she left me remember," his jaw clenched. "She has a new family and she didn't even think to contact me earlier."

"I know she hasn't been the best mother, but it's better regret going than to regret not going," I leaned back in my chair before sighing. "I don't even have a mom anymore. It means something that she wants to talk to you now, right?"

Aden looked up at me from his intense stare down with the table. His eyes were no longer angry, but rather sympathetic as he sighed, running a hand through his hair. "You're right. I'm sorry, I completely forgot, I'm an asshole."

I gave him a sad smile. "It's fine, but just think about it is all I'm saying."

He nodded slowly, returning my smile. "I will."

_______________________

Aden and I stopped in front of Aunt Claire's apartment door. The mood had switched back into a lighter one as we finished our drinks and got into his car, filled with debates about —once again — who was the better skater, complaints about a chemistry test neither of us studied for and, like always a car ride wasn't complete without my horrible, ear damaging sing alongs.

"Is this the part where you give me a cheesy goodnight kiss?" I laughed when I noticed his eyes lingering on my mouth.

Aden scoffed, "You beat me to that thought."

He tilted my chin up with two fingers, and connected his lips to mine. His arm snaked around my waist as I placed two hands on his face to deepen the kiss.

We pulled away a moment later, his forehead still resting on mine.

"Goodnight Clumsy," his dark eyes gazed into mine for another second before he pulled away and walked down the hall to the elevator.

I turned around to open my own door as I whispered, more to myself than to him. "Goodnight Aden."

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Hope you liked this chapter! Please do vote, comment and share if you did!

Holy hell this chapter was 3000+ words, I'm brain dead.

~SweetnessInTheSalt