Wronged

? 23 ?

Four hours is a lot.

"What am I going to do all weekend then?" Nico butts in. "I don't have a life. I only have you guys."

Hayley laughs. "What about Aiden?"

"He's boring now. All he talks about is her," he huffs, pointing to me. My eyes widen and my cheeks burn a little. Hayley gives me a sly look. "Anna this, Anna that. He goes on and on about how you have these little indents on your face when you smile. And how you never wear your hair down." Nico snaps his fingers. "He's always wondering what you'd look like with your hair down. What's really annoying is that it's only the little things he mentions. He doesn't even talk about what you do. Just the smallest details. And-"

"Okay!" I say, one hundred and two percent sure that I looked like a baboons ass cheek. Hayley's smile was only growing wider and wider as Nico went on, and I was afraid she'd start squealing in excitement if I didn't stop him. "That's enough. I get it. You get annoyed. Whatever." I bite my tongue and look down, trying to hide my smile.

"Now you know how I feel," a familiar voice says behind us, making me stiffen. The chills happen all over again.

Aiden comes over and sits down next to me, and I try to avoid his cheeky grin. He's not even embarrassed that his friend just ratted him out. He's just loving my reaction.

"It's not like you shut up about Hales either."

Nico shrugs. "That's different."

"How is it any different?" Aiden scoffs, setting his bag down and stretching his legs out, using his arms to support him. His bicep grazes my much smaller, but still fit, arms.

"Because I don't talk about every fucking dust particle that's on her head!" Nico says, throwing his hands up in the air. I blush deeply again, giving up on trying to hide it. I throw my face into my hands.

Hayley's laughter has started to surface, and she keeps nudging me. I feel like Aiden's mean, tough guy composure completely falters when he's around me and his friends. By friends I mean Nico and Hayley. Only then does he smile. But even then, his smile couldn't hold any value if I'm not there.

And I'm not saying that to be narcissistic. It's biologically true. Without me, his emotions can't be genuine. Without his...soulmate. It wouldn't matter if it were me. If I'm not his soulmate, then his feelings couldn't and would never be real.

Aiden shrugs. "I'm observant."

He sends me a quick smirk, making me smile and continue to turn beet red. I look away and nibble on my bottom lip a little, suddenly remembering exactly how those tingles felt when he kissed me two days ago. My memory can not only memorize emotions, but physical feelings too.

This is something researchers discovered when I was in the institute. They more experimented on me than helped me heal, if anyone recalls me explaining, so they just understood my brain rather than fixed it. I was never fixed. Only looked at and data-recorded.

I feel like I'm on the right path of steering away from that place ever again. These past four days and three hours and twenty-one minutes have been eye-opening for me. Of course it's not enough to rid of all self-harming and suicidal thoughts, but they're already dwindling away. I'm getting better. I know I am.

My cure?

Aiden.

The bell rings, cutting us all off from speaking or any further staring. We all stand, and I wince a little. My leg still hurts a little. I was supposed to be using the boot for two more days, but I couldn't find it after swimming. Crazy. How do you lose a freaking boot on a roof? And Lyma just told me she couldn't find the matching panty set to my bra either. But I'm guessing that just got stuck behind the washer.