Aaron's POV

*Play Song*

I'm a terrible person. A clearly, certifiably terrible person.

I mean, what was I thinking?

Not really the thing with Aphmau, despite not feeling guilt-free because I would never consider myself an adulterer . 

But the thing with Lily.

Why did I marry her?

I mean I tried to love her, and I'm pretty sure I did...

It was a convenient kind of love, a safe one. Or so I thought... 

But whatever it was, it was certainly not the way I love Aph.

Just by seeing her again—gods.

It got rushed me with feelings I hadn't felt since I last saw her and had convinced myself since, was just a bad case of puppy love. Dreams of a boy I'd grown out of, but clearly I'm still that boy—at my core, I always will be.

And it didn't help that she was—My Irene—even more beautiful now than when we were kids. 

Physically and mentally—and emotionally, I think

Who knew she would become a doctor too—well, she always did have a big heart. 

I inhale deeply, failing at trying to prepare myself for the wrath of my crazy, jealous wife, which I very much deserved.

Adultery, whatever the stakes, is still adultery. I am a sinner in that regard—and in many others.

I unlock the door to my house, waltzing into an ominous silence, the lone sound of the antique door hinges creaking into the vacantness. 

I take a brief look around at the room I was in, admiring the memories I made here—the life I had with Lily.

But they are nothing compared to the one I had and will have with Aphmau. And I owe the both of them the truth—I've wasted enough time as it is. 

Something this right, of course, does come with its consequences of being wrong in some aspects. Like, well, infidelity.

I vowed to myself as I child I would never be this kind of husband, but I also promised I would never be in a marriage like this.

No excuses—just tell her.

Why did it have to be this way?

"Lily?" I call out into the sleeping house. I would expect she is still out at her yoga class, but the lights were on and her coat...

Her coat...was strewn across the floor in a haphazard manner....as was another—recognizable one.

Curiousness as well as foreboding pounds in my gut as I climb our stairs measurably, observing the train of disposed of articles of clothing...each progressively becoming more and more revealing.

Once atop the stairs, I plant a shaky hand on the doorknob, scrunching my eyes closed as I heard noises that just clarified what I had been imaging in my head. I finally muster up the courage to open the door to our room to find what I had been suspecting.

It didn't make it hurt any less, but I had no room to talk.

"Aaron!" Lily shrieks, covering herself up with the blankets—our blankets.

In our bed, with Lily, was Gene. My best friend.

All my guilt dissipated in a somewhat-relief filled flash.

No big reaction, all I allow myself to do is just turn around and walk out of the room with the intent of walking out of this house—walking out this life.

"Aaron!" Lily screams again, wrapping a puffy white robe around herself as she chased after me into the hall. 

I feel my jaw tense as I stop at the stairs, turning around to face my "wife," surprisingly not angry—at least not as much as I could be. 

"It's not what it looks like.—" She begins the movie cliche, but I save her the trouble

"Lily, god, you don't have to feel guilty. I also—wait" I knit my eyebrows in extreme focus, realizing something—a chain, a trail...a lie.

"You said you were at your yoga classes..." I spell out for myself, the words the final pieces to the puzzle.

Lily doesn't dare speak, staring sheepishly at her bare feet.

"All those times you said you were out—you were really..."

"Aaron, please don't—"

"Lily...we're done—we're so done." I say exasperatedly as I start to stomp out of the house, done with this lie I've been living. This toxic world and relationship I had somehow convinced myself to be a life where I was happy.

"Aaron! please don't leave—"

Her voice is muffled by the sudden door between us, her words...meaning nothing to me.

Aphmau's POV

I enter my apartment as quietly as I could at 10 pm, hopeful that Katelyn, Garroth, and Travis were either asleep or too occupied by their Netflix binge.

I make a dramatic act of sneaking across the living room in a desperate haste, trying to escape to my bedroom without being noticed.

"Aphmau, move along please." Katelyn commands, her voice muffled by the newspaper pressed against her face, probably so she doesn't see me, as she's woefully seen more of me than I ever would've like. 

"Katelyn."

"Oh no, please—I beg of you, just leave the room so I can take this disgusting thing off my face!"

"Uh, what's going on?" Garroth yawns, entering the vicinity of the living room, followed by a half-asleep Travis, both outfitted in matching...pineapple PJs?

"NOTHING!" I shriek, my eyes widening, shooting my gaze to Katelyn.

"Aphmau, what did you do?" Travis crosses his arms.

"It's more like who did she do." Katelyn murmurs under her breath, though loud enough for the guys to hear.

"Wait, what?" Garroth scratches his head, squinting as his eyes adjust to the light.

"KaTeLyN!" I scream back, blushing my usual crimson.

"Oh, who DID you do Aphmau?" Travis smirks, clearly amused.

Luckily, I'm saved by the conveniently ringing doorbell.

"Oh, thank, Irene." I exhale in relief, opening the door.

"Oh no, thank you Irene." I say after seeing who it was, my voice monotone.

"Aphmau, I need to talk to you," Aaron says, his voice laced with too much urgency for this hour.

"Uh, sure." I say, running a quick hand through my messy hair, courtesy of him. "Um, c'mon in..."

"Him?!" Garroth and Travis exclaim, both in their own forms of elaborate shock. 

"Who's here!?" Katelyn yells, her face still miraculously covered by the newspaper.

"Guys, could I talk to Aaron—alone?" I inquire calmly, also weighed down by exhaustion.

"Aaron's here? Oh, I'm out!" Katelyn exclaims before ramming into the wall inches next to her bedroom, making her collapse backward for a few seconds before she finally successfully scrambles into her room.

Everyone eventually leaves, just Aaron and I remaining in the living room.

Aaron clears his throat, his eyes dark with hurt. "I went over to the house to talk to Lily, to break the news as softly as I could, but apparently she's been cheating on me for months...with Gene." He explains, a muscle feathering in his jaw.

"Oh—gods—Aaron, I'm so sorry." I can't help but rub his arm reassuringly.

"Well, it's over, and that's all that matters now..." He diverts his gaze from the floor to me, captivating mine.

We fall into silence, not an awkward silence, but a comforting one—the air still thick with tension.

I drop my head momentarily into my hands, closing my eyes, trying to take this all in.

"You haven't forgotten me now, have you?" I hear him say with his cheeky little smile.

"Never forget me, okay?" Tears in his young eyes, a road of unexperienced pain in his future.

"I will never Aaron—I'll never forget you..." I promise, dropping the ball once more with shaky hands, my eyes replicating his.

Though that was so long ago, it still feels like it was just yesterday. The pain still fresh like a never-healing wound.

"Never have—and never will," I say with unwavering resolve, our eyes boring into the other. 

He inches closer to lean in, his lips ghosting over mine before finding purchase. I kiss back, a pleasurable feeling running through my veins.

I love you, Aaron Lycan.

Always have, and always will.

Have a nice day my crystals!