The days flew by quickly which was startling to me. Not much had happened since that surprise visit from my friends. I had spent the rest of my December studying for my Christmas exams and once they were over, I didn't see much of my friends. We were all spending time with family for Christmas and never really made plans over those two weeks we had out of school. It was nice to be with my family again, don't get me wrong I love my friends but they can be a little bit overwhelming sometimes.

On the plus side, I have been able to enjoy seeing my cousin Alice. She visits every Christmas and for most of the Summer. We have practically been raised like sisters, her only being six weeks older than me. The only downfall is that she lives abroad so I can't see her every day but there is a plan for her to move here next year which we couldn't be more excited for.

You know how everyone has that one cousin that you hope to see at any family gathering because they're the only other family you can tolerate and have an enjoyable time with. Well, that's how Alice and I are with each other.

Something I have started to notice is the lack of Aiden's presence. We never see much of each other over Christmas because we do want to be with our families, but the last text I received from him was on our last day of exams, he wished me good luck and that was it. I sent him a text wishing him a Merry Christmas but I got no response. This is the longest he has gone without contacting me, he hasn't even made a random visit to my house. I have been trying my best not to overthink the situation but when someone who speaks to you every single day just loses contact with you suddenly, I think worrying is completely justified.

Alice had been reassuring me that he was most likely extra busy with family this year which I suppose I can't exactly argue with.

My worry had eased off until I texted Katie, Erin, and Connor to ask if they had heard from him and when they all responded with 'yes,' my heart sank. So, he is only ignoring me but why? I'm trying to wrap my head around the idea if I had done or said something wrong but I can't think of anything. This is not how we normally solve our problems. We have always been what other people might even consider 'too' upfront with each other but that's what works for us.

Tossing my phone aside I flop onto my bed. It's New Year's Eve and my family normally hosts a small get together of friends and family to celebrate the New Year. What a great start to my new year, I'm being ignored by my best friend

"I told you already not to worry about it, Julia. I know it doesn't make sense why he's talking to everyone else and not you but do not let it ruin your night." Alice tells me.

"Julia and Alice, you better be getting ready up there. The party is in less than an hour and make sure your room is clean." I hear my mam call. Now my question is, why does my room need to be clean? What guests are going to be coming into my room?

I hold back my urge to ask her that question because I know that she's stressed enough trying to organise a party for god knows how many people. After taking some time to decide what to wear I spot the outfit I bought earlier this month. Since I didn't wear it at Christmas because I already had Christmas clothes, I think that now would be as good of a time as ever.

I glance over at Alice who is doing her hair. She has it curled and is currently putting it in a half-up hairstyle. She's wearing a well fitted black jumpsuit which makes her look taller than she is. Not that I can say much since I'm smaller than her. I can spot her sparkly silver open-toed heels peeking out from the end of her jumpsuit. The silver sparkle on her shoes matches the silver glitter on her eye that blends into a smokey eye. She always ends up looking extremely stunning for any event. Any excuse to dress up she will happily take and go above and beyond and I admire her for it.

I apply some eyeliner, fake eyelashes, and some glitter on my eyelid before I begin to curl my hair. I pin back one side of my hair just so that I can firstly keep it out of my face and secondly, show off the new earrings I was gifted on Christmas. After putting on my heels which I believe were made by Satan himself, I look in the mirror. I clean up nicely if I do say so myself but something is missing.

I spot the necklace that Aiden had gotten me out of the corner of my eye and while remembering that he is currently ignoring me, I clasp the necklace around my neck.

Hearing the door open and the sound of my mam greeting guests I turn to leave the room but I hear my phone chime. A text from Aiden, a very simple and short text.

I'm sorry. That is all it says.

I show Alice the text and she scoffs and rolls her eyes.

"You should really come downstairs and just try to get your mind off of it. If he can manage to say sorry then I'm sure he will manage to find the rest of his explanation while you don't respond," she says before leaving the room.

Sorry for what? I'm about to text back when I hear my mam calling me to be social with our guests. I keep my phone in my hand as I make my way downstairs. I am instantly greeted with many hugs from many people that I could not name even if my life depended on it. Some of them telling me how grown up I look compared to when they last saw me when I was about seven or eight.

The downstairs rooms fill up quickly but there is still plenty of room to move around. My mam has assigned me to door duty since she is busy hosting the guests. I've been standing in my hallway for about thirty minutes just scrolling aimlessly through my phone. Going through the texts that Aiden and I have exchanged before he started to ignore me, just to see if I said anything wrong.

I lock my phone but it buzzes instantly, to my dismay it was not Aiden but actually the new co-worker that has been hired at my work experience, Shane. He's a nice guy, we're the same age so he asked for my Snapchat just to talk about work and get along better as co-workers or something like that. I was tired when he asked so I didn't really mind what his reason for asking was.

Happy New Year, see you in work on Monday.

Thanks, you too. I'll see you then and get ready for a busy day, we're putting out new stock.

Oh, wow I can't wait but you'll make it a little more enjoyable.

Was that a little bit of flirting or was he being friendly? He couldn't be flirting; he doesn't know me that well. He's only seen me look like I got dragged through a bush every Monday morning, there's no way he finds that attractive. Why am I thinking about this so much? It was just a friendly text.

There's no more time to think about it when I hear a knock on the door. I am soon greeted with the faces of Aiden's parents which could only mean one thing. As Aiden's mam pulls me into a hug, I spot Aiden over her shoulder looking down at the ground, kicking some small stones across my front garden.

I pull away from the hug and welcome them inside, just as Aiden gets to the door, I stop him.

"Well hello to you too stranger," I say, my tone is definitely not welcoming in the slightest.

"I said I was sorry Julia, what more do you want?" he responds

What more do I want? Oh, I don't know maybe some kind of explanation as to why he has been completely ignoring my messages and has made no effort to speak to me in the past two weeks. I'm about to say something when I'm interrupted but not by Aiden.

"Aiden, I hope you know the Wi-Fi to this place, I'd like to be able to post pictures of us for New Year's."

It's Sarah, the only thing going through my mind right now is three words. What the fuck?

"Can we come in Julia?" he asks with pleading eyes, his eyes glancing sideways to Sarah and then back to me. That's when everything clicks, he's sorry about her. Sorry that he brought her along and sorry that she's the reason he's been ghosting me. I stand aside and let them both step into the warmth of my house. I received another apologetic look from Aiden and a disapproving one from Sarah.

I can only think that the only reason she agreed to come is that she knew I would be here and didn't like the idea of Aiden being here with me.

I don't even know what to say at this point. I've had these arguments with Aiden before and I was sure that we had put it behind us. That he was able to get Sarah to come to terms with the fact that I am a part of his life whether she likes it or not.

Alice notices Aiden and Sarah walk into the kitchen and her eyes fall on me. She clearly sees my distress and comes to my rescue.

"Ok Julia I think they were the last guests for the night, why don't we get you a drink and talk to some family we didn't know we had," she says with a grip on my shoulders, guiding me towards the kitchen and grabbing me a drink.

She pours water for herself and hands me my drink which I end up finishing pretty quickly and the pouring myself another. Alice watches and sighs.

"This is going to be a long night," she whispers but I hear her.

"Look if I have to go into the New Year watching Aiden and Sarah getting all lovey in my house then I am going to want to make it worth my time."

"Julia, why do you care about what they're doing together so much?" she asks and it's a question that throws me off guard a little.

"I don't care what they do together, yay for the happy couple and whatever. I'm pissed off because one of them has ignored me for two weeks and the other one hates me and is the reason behind why I was being ignored." I claim I can feel myself getting more irritated the more I think about it.

"You really think Sarah told Aiden to ignore you? Maybe he just wasn't in the mood to talk." Alice suggests.

"You know damn well Sarah is the only person Aiden would become a little bitch for. There is no way he just blanked me unexpectedly. She does not like me and Aiden would do anything to keep her happy." I snap.

Alice doesn't try to respond because I notice her expression drop. I notice hands reaching from behind me. When I turn around my eyes meet Aiden's and he does not look happy.

"I'd like to make it clear that I make her happy because I'm her boyfriend not her bitch but if you really think that way then I suppose as her 'bitch' I should really get back with her drink." he declares as he turns on his heel and leaves.

Could this evening get any worse?

"No, I don't think it could." How did Alice answer my thoughts?

"Because you said it out loud dumbass."

I turn to face her wide-eyed. I glance down at my cup and then back at her.

"What the hell am I drinking?" I ask

"Not sure," she says shrugging her shoulders. "I just poured you the first thing I saw that would help you get through the night." She swiftly moves past me and goes further into the crowd of people and begins to socialize with some relatives.

I take another sip of my drink and push past everyone and into the living room. The living room isn't as full of people but all of the seats are taken which leaves me standing in these god-awful heels.

~ ~ ~

The evening moves on slower than I would like it to. I make conversation with a few people but I'm just repeating myself over and over again. Talking about school, my future, and my relationships. I push myself off the wall I was leaning on to go find Alice and get another drink. I wasn't paying attention and my body slams into another person. When I look up, I'm not even surprised with who I'm looking at right now.

"Sorry I wasn't paying attention; I'll just get out of your way," I say quickly to avoid any arguments but his hand wraps around my arm and he pulls me to a stop.

"Jules, can we talk? Please." He asks quietly, probably not wanting Sarah to hear him.

"Where's Sarah?" I ask as I pull my arm away and cross them.

"She's talking with my parents and believe me they have plenty of questions to keep her busy for a while. Please, Jules, I need to explain myself." He begs and I sigh, taking his arm and leading him upstairs to my room. No one would be there and no one would even try to come in.

I close the door behind me as Aiden sits down on my bed. I didn't even notice what he was wearing until now. A light grey button-up shirt tucked into some black jeans and all black runners. His hair is styled the way it always it, tousled but not messy. He's never been one to dress up but he makes an effort, mainly to please his mam. He looks good, handsome even.

"I think that's the longest I've ever seen you wear heels without sitting down." He says with a low laugh.

I grin and look down at the black open-toed shoes that are making me want to snap my ankles.

"Yeah, I'm afraid if I sit down that I'll never stand back up."

"You look really pretty though, finally have an occasion to wear the outfit you got and the necklace still suits you." He compliments me and I feel my cheeks heat up. Why are my cheeks heating up?

"Thanks, you clean up nicely too. Still refuse to wear trousers I see." I realise I can't stand much longer and need to sit down. I take a seat beside Aiden but keeping my distance slightly.

"I'll help you stand back up if you need it."

I can tell he's trying to break the ice and lighten the mood but I do want to talk about what we came here to talk about.

"Look Aiden I'm sorry about what I said about you being Sarah's bitch, I know you love her and I shouldn't speak about her like that." I start.

"No, it's okay Jules, I know I can be a pushover when it comes to her. I just want her to be happy."

"Even if it means not being my friend anymore." It comes out as more of a statement and less of a question like I had hoped and I see him stiffen beside me.

"Jules it's not that easy. She just doesn't understand that we're friends and nothing more. I've tried to talk to her but I don't want to lose her, she suggested that it would be best if we weren't as close anymore. I can still be your friend but not really to the extent that we've always been." He tries to explain the situation to me but it just sounds like a load of bullshit, to be honest.

"I'm so glad your girlfriend is giving you some kind of freedom. Now, do I get to have you every second day or just weekends?" I say sarcastically while rolling my eyes. Aiden is aware I can get a bitchy attitude when something doesn't sit right with me. I've never really gotten it towards him though.

"That's not fair Jules. You know you're my best friend and besides, you're the one who told me to talk things through with Sarah instead of just breaking up with her."

That's when I snap.

"You're right Aiden. You're so fucking right! I'm so sorry that because I was being your friend that you're now being sucked into a controlling relationship and have to stop being my friend. It's all my fault that I'm going to lose you and you have to pretend you're happy with her!"

I can feel the tears forming on the corners of my eyes and my throat tighten. It feels like I've just swallowed a hundred nails but I'm trying to fight the tears. I stand up out of frustration and move towards the door.

"I never said it was your fault, Julia! Why are you twisting my words? You know damn well that's not what I fucking meant! I love Sarah, I love her with everything I have and you're my best friend. This is so hard for me so please try to understand that." He's standing now. Even when I'm in heels he manages to tower over me slightly but not by much.

"You love her but are you happy?"

He takes a step back, he expected me to blow up in his face and fire back but I stayed calm when I asked him the question which caught him off guard.

"That's a ridiculous question Julia I don't understand what point you're trying to make."

"Love isn't enough to make a relationship work Aiden, you need to be happy, you need to be valued and you need to be respected. Don't go wasting years with someone just because "you love them" it means nothing if you're not actually happy. Don't convince yourself you love them either just because you're scared of being alone."

He stays silent.

"I don't know what bullshit you're feeding yourself in order to convince yourself that you're happy but it must be a lot because I know you Aiden. You're not yourself when you're with her, you're on edge all of the time, you don't speak your mind and you let her boss you around. You never let anyone boss you around before her." I wait for a response but I don't get one.

We wait there for a few minutes in silence. I want him to process what I just said because he knows it's the truth. I take a deep breath and try to let the anger I feel settle down.

"I've always told you that I only wish nothing but happiness for you Aiden. I'm not saying these things to hurt you or to make your life difficult. I'm saying these things so that you can think about if you're doing the right thing."

"I am happy Julia." He finally days and I know it's a lie but I have to listen to him. I have to accept that answer and accept that he's far too deep into this situation for me to pull him back out. That just means he's going to have to learn by himself.

"Then I'll step back."

"What?" He has a confused look on his face. I gave in, he couldn't choose so I chose for him.

"You're happy with her so I'll step back. I'll keep my distance and I'll let you both be happy. If she means that much to you then I want you to be happy."

My phone vibrates on the bed and Aiden picks it up to hand to me but I notice him glance at the notification and his face drops and the confused expression grows.

"Who's Shane?" He asks

"My new co-worker, he's my age so he's the only one at work that I can talk to like a teenager," I respond taking my phone from his hands.

"But you barely know him and you gave him your Snapchat? He could be a creep, Julia. You don't have any of your other co-workers Snapchat's so why his?" I don't like the tone of his voice; he's being serious and it's unsettling.

"Ok, first of all, I work at a bookshop so all of my other co-workers are at least in their late thirties and don't use Snapchat. Secondly, opinions on the boys I talk to are reserved for best friends only."

His face drops because that's when reality hit him. This is how things are now. His opinion can't hold a special place in my life anymore and he only realised that now. I open my bedroom door and find Alice on the other side. She most likely heard all of that which is fine, it just saves me time explaining it all to her later.

"Julia your mam wants your downstairs because it's five minutes until midnight oh and Aiden your owner, I mean girlfriend is looking for you." She says with a bitchy undertone and a tight-lipped smile.

She takes my hand to comfort me and we head downstairs to welcome in the new year.

Aiden waits a few minutes before following me, which is for the best because I can only imagine the shit he would get from Sarah if she saw him walk down behind me.

He finds his way to Sarah's arms pretty quickly and gives her a swift kiss on the cheek as the countdown begins.

Hearing everyone around me chant the countdown as I take another sip of my drink. Alice still gripping tight onto my hand to reassure that she's here for me.

"Five!"

I look over at Aiden and notice the way he looks at Sarah.

"Four!"

Everyone else believes he's happy, even Sarah but I know deep down he isn't.

"Three!"

I know that deep down he knows that too.

"Two!"

But I watch him with her anyway as he pulls her closer and kisses her.

"One!"

Entering the new year with a girlfriend.

"Happy New Year!"

A tear rolls down my cheek as I enter the New Year without my best friend.

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Thank you for reading the fourth chapter of "All I Knew was you" I hope you enjoyed and continue to read. Please feel free to vote, comment and share if you did enjoy as it would be a major help and mean a lot to me.
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Thank you all for reading, you will hear from me in the next chapter.