*insert creative title*

"it's always been you" and an italicized 'oh' for aruden FOR calypsowriting

•••••••••••••••••

It's always a strange thing to fall in love and Aiden knew no better. When the flutters in his stomach started, he thought he got food poisoning. When the blushes crept up his neck, he thought he was just getting very short, recurring fevers. To say he was inexperienced was not an exaggeration.

It wasn't even him who first realized what he was feeling (considering how emotionally constipated he was). It was Brynne over dinner. And she took no short time to start teasing him for falling for her.

"Awww, Aiden! Look at you blushing at my sister, of all people! How ROMANTIC."

He rolled his eyes, chewing on his fork and turning away from her. "Shut up, Bee. It's not like YOU can talk anyway."

"Yeah, yeah. The difference is that I actually asked her out and she's my girlfriend now."

He scoffed, ignoring the rest of her teasing. He didn't like Aru, he was just... having an allergic reaction to her electricity. Whatever that meant. Still, he didn't want to enjoy this newfound nervousness and so he did the only rational thing: he pushed her away. Can't get sick if you're not near them, right?

But it just made him feel worse. So, so much worse. Aiden was getting lonelier and lonelier by the minute but it was better than realizing just what was happening. Denial is one hell of a drug. But denial didn't blind him and he saw just how Aru felt. She was angry, she was sad, she was getting over him. But he couldn't get over her. He couldn't... he couldn't get over her.

Oh, he realized too late. Oh no.

~• Time skip to dinner some day •~

Dinner was... silent. Silent and awkward. Aru sat opposite him, pointedly avoiding his gaze. The gaze he kept firmly fixed on his food. He could tell that their friends were losing patience with them, and he couldn't blame them. The, as Aru would say, vibes were off since the night he had... kissed her.  Finally, Brynne slapped her hands on the table. "Alright, this is ridiculous. You two need to talk it out. Everyone else, we're leaving these two to finally speak." As if coordinated, everyone immediately got up with the plates and filed out of the room. Brynne glanced back at them pointedly and pulled out a key. The key to the room. "Talk, otherwise y'all aren't coming out." Oh no.

With that, the door was slammed and they were alone. No words were exchanged for minutes that seemed like eternities. And then finally, a frustrated exhale. "Why're you ignoring me?" Aiden winced at the question. It wasn't unexpected per se, but he had been avoiding that himself. "Uhh..."

She slammed her hand on the table, glaring at him. Hair fell over her face softly, framing her angry eyes and tired features as if she was a fallen angel. She was gorgeous even when she was angry. Even when she was angry at him. "ANSWER ME!"

"Fine, fine! I've been avoiding–" he said, leaning towards her, "–you because uh... how do I say this... because you give me way too many butterflies for comfort."

A deafening silence and the sucking in of air.

"What?"

He sighed, looking away as his face heated up. "It's- It's always been you, you know. No one else gave me butterflies and then you tripped into my life."

Silence again, shock radiating through the air like electricity. "I think I'll need a fainting couch," Aru muttered. He let out a breathy laugh. "Me too."

Me too, indeed.