CHAPTER SIXTY-SIX
AWKWARD EXPLANATIONS

Aaron was stood in front of the bathroom mirror, growing more and more infuriated with himself with each second past.

He was doing his best to fix the cuts on him, more specifically his face. The boy had just accepted that there was nothing he could do but wait for the bruises to clear on their own.

He had a small plaster on one side of his jaw from where he had been surprised to find dried blood and a cut. The blond soon concluded that he had probably been more concerned with the amount of blood pouring past his bloody nose to even notice.

Aaron frowned slightly as he looked back at himself in the mirror. He considered maybe asking Kimmy if she would like to move their date from next week to a little further back, worried that maybe he would draw unnecessary attention and embarrassment from people passing with the bruises and cuts all over him.

However he decided not to do so, the boys excitement for the date overpowering the embarrassment.

Their date was four days away, the said date including going to the movies to see Back to the Future seeing as they had missed it, and then the fair which neither the two of them had managed to attend on the Fourth of July due to the same reason.

"Fuck this." The boy sighed, dropping the cleaning pad that he had been trying to use to clean the cut on his lip with.

Checking the digital watch on his wrist, he ran a stressful hand through his hair as he made his way into his room.

Aaron did want to see Kimmy that day, but he didn't want to have to tell her what he knew needed to tell her. The boy knew that she cared a great deal about her friends and that she probably would feel bad for not making sure Max was okay the second it happened, that being the reason he knew he had to tell her the moment he could.

Sitting on the edge of his bed he put on a clean pair of sneakers, not the ones he had wore the past few days. Those sneakers were currently drying downstairs.

The first thing Aaron did when he returned home the previous night was take off his sneakers and try scrub them clean, they were absolutely filthy. Covered in blood, dirt and god knows what else.

He had sat on the kitchen floor for hours trying to scrub his shoes clean instead of going to bed, only allowing himself to leave the kitchen after he was satisfied with the cleanliness of his shoes.

He'd then showered - twice, having not believed that one could possibly be enough with all the crap he was covered in before washing his clothes and finally going to bed.

Steve was still asleep - or at least Aaron thought he was, he had yet to see him that morning. However if he was still asleep then he certainly wouldn't be anymore seeing as how loudly the ring of the doorbell echoed around the quiet house.

Aaron scrambled to get his second shoe on, tripping over his feet as he tried to rush out of his room. The blond groaned out in annoyance as he thudded to the floor, pushing himself up and rushing down the stairs so he could get to the door.

"Hi." He spoke quietly, completely breathless from rushing down the stairs.

"Hi..." Kimmy replied unsurely, still a smile on her face nonetheless.

"Uh, do you want to come in?" Aaron asked, unsure why all the nerves were hitting him all at once.

Aaron didn't really know why he had asked because he grabbed her hand which had no small white cast around its wrist and pulled her into the house before she could answer.

The blond didn't know what to do or why he was suddenly so nervous, scratching the back of his neck he looked around and glanced at anything but the girl stood in front of him.

Suddenly, he caught sight of his untied shoelace, instantly dropping down to tie it so he could speak without the embarrassment of his face turning red for no reason.

"Um, we don't have to stay here," he blurted, unsure why he was unable to stop his mouth moving. "I just- I don't know. We can go wherever you want, but Steve's sleeping so probably best we don't stay here."

"Okay." Kimmy replied in a calm voice, a slightly awkward tone about her but the blond assumed it was due to the fact he was acting so bizarrely. "I don't mind."

"Okay- uh... cool." Aaron spluttered, standing much faster than he should have as he looked to her nervously before walking past her and to the front door, motioning for her to follow.

They walked side by side down his street, Aaron clasping his hands together nervously as he walked.

He subconsciously glanced to her, biting the inside of his cheek as he allowed himself to watch her. Well, not watch her - not in a creepy way. He didn't know what he was doing, he supposed he was just... admiring her in a way? As embarrassing as it sounded.

He felt himself frown when he realised there was the faintest trace of a bruise on her face that he knew for a fact hadn't been there last night when he had last seen her.

From the time he and Steve had dropped her off at her house, to the very moment he was walking next to her was only a few hours - eight at the most. How the hell she had gotten such a deep looking bruise was beyond him.

His eyes glanced away from her face and instead drifted downwards to try see if she had any bruises elsewhere that he hadn't been aware of, he couldn't see any. However not because she didn't have them.

Much to his surprise she was wearing jeans.

He hadn't seen her wearing jeans since May, and it was now the beginning of July. If anything she was one of his friends who complained the most about the summer heat and how she was always too hot, the blond wondered why she would decide to switch to jeans if she knew she'd be uncomfortable all day.

Her shirt was baggy and also had sleeves going right down to her hands so that only the smallest part of the cast on her wrist could be seen.

Aaron didn't think twice about her shirt, she always wore shirts that had sleeves, it was nothing out of the ordinary. The jeans however - they were.

"What did you want to tell me?" She asked anxiously, clearly her throat as she did so.

Aaron tried not to let the concern slip onto his face at the sound of her voice. It was all scratchy, the type one's voice gets when they'd been yelling or even screaming.

He noticed how her face scrunched together the slightest after she had spoken, looking as if it had hurt for her to talk.

Although Aaron assumed that she didn't know he had been watching and that's why she had let her slight pain be seen. Her gaze was solely focused on the ground below, unlike the boy next to her.

"Aaron?" Kimmy asked in a slightly higher pitched voice, as if she was concerned. She glanced up to look at him, a slightly worried expression on her features when she realised he was already watching her. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." Aaron nodded instantly, he could tell from the hesitant look that Kimmy didn't believe him.

"Did you hear what I said?" She asked in a puzzled tone, as if she was actually worried about him.

"Uh..." the boy trailed off, not knowing what to say for a moment. He obviously had heard what she had asked, but he had gotten distracted by his worries regarding herself. "Uh, no. I didn't."

"I asked what it was you wanted to tell me yesterday?" She repeated, looking much calmer now but Aaron could tell she still had a slightly alarmed look in her eyes.

"Oh... um, yeah." The blond trailed off, another pile of worry adding onto his shoulders as he thought over what he was supposed to say and how he was supposed to say it. "I don't mean to freak you out or anything, and I probably am not the best person to tell you this but I wasn't sure if anyone would tell you."

Aaron cringed at himself at the way he had worded it, making her stress out before he had even explained what he wanted to.

"Sorry, sorry, I worded that wrong." He stressed upon seeing the startled expression on her face. "I didn't mean to make you worry but I didn't think anyone would have told you what happened and I don't want you to not know and-"

"Aaron it's fine." Kimmy cut him off by saying as calmly as she could, however he could tell she was obviously slightly panicked with the way her voice shook slightly. "What's wrong, what happened? Are you okay?"

"I'm okay, it's not about me." Aaron dismissed quickly, looking away from her momentarily as he thought over his next words. "But... I think when you get home you should call Max and see if she's okay-"

"What's wrong with Max?" Kimmy asked instantly, her eyes blown wide with worry as she stopped walking, gently grabbing Aaron's shoulder to get his attention. "Did something happen last night? Is she-"

"Max is fine but... but she watched, um..." Aaron trailed off, spluttering over his words. He wasn't sure what to say, he wasn't the best with others feelings as it was, the boy was quite awkward when it came to things like that. "Her brother Billy died last night. And she had to watch it."

Kimmy was completely taken aback, not having expected that at all. Aaron watched as she blinked numerous times, the gears turning in her head as she tried to think of what to say.

"Oh," she nodded after a moment, sending him an awkward kind of watery smile as she spoke. "Um, yeah, no one told me. I'll be sure to call her as soon as I'm home, thanks for telling me."

Aaron pursed his lips awkwardly before nodding, the two walking off much slower than they had before.

Kimmy didn't stay out with him much longer, the girl rushing home to call her best friend that she had clearly been worried about since the boy had brought it up.

Aaron felt bad for her, she seemed to take everyone's emotions on her shoulders. However she only ever seemed to do this when it was anyone's negative feelings, she clearly felt more for others than she did for herself.

The blond did walk her home before making the walk across town to his own house, hoping Steve was awake so he could maybe eat lunch with him instead of sitting himself.

...

Aaron huffed as she slammed the front door closed behind him, kicking his shoes off before making his way to the kitchen.

He felt his brows raise in slight surprise at the sight of Steve sat at the table eating a bowl of cereal, Aaron checked the digital watch on his wrist, the numbers 11:37 staring back up at him.

Aaron was taken aback to find the boy awake seeing how early it was in Steve's world. He was rarely up at a decent time, especially when he didn't need to be.

"What are you doing up?" Aaron asked in a tired voice, slumping into the seat opposite his older brother.

Steve shrugged, not glancing to him as he continued to eat his cereal. "Couldn't sleep, got a shit sleep last night."

"I didn't get a good sleep either." Aaron agreed quietly, placing his head in his hands in a bored manner. "I was up cleaning my sneakers most of the night."

"Why are you out so early then if you didn't get a good sleep?" Steve scoffed teasingly, his edges of his lips pulling up slightly as he fought back a slight remark.

"I was out with Kimmy." Aaron shrugged calmly.

"Oh, really?" Steve questioned, his interest suddenly peaked as he sat straighter in his seat. "Who has a date first thing in the morning-"

"It wasn't a date." The blond rolled his eyes, only causing Steve to grow more amused with the situation. "Seriously, it wasn't. I was telling her about Billy and Max, she's Kimmy's best friend I wasn't sure if someone had already told her about it all, but she's away to check in on her now."

"Oh." Steve mumbled, the mood completely dulled. "Well that's a great way to start your morning."

Aaron rolled his eyes at Steve's bluntness, clearly not as stressed about the situation as he was. The blond didn't like Billy, not one bit. Not after what he'd done to his older brother the year before, however Max was still his friend and it wasn't good to see your friend in any sort of pain.

"When is your date again?" Steve asked as he ate his breakfast despite the fact it was nearly twelve.

"It was when we got stuck in that Russian elevator thing." Aaron explained with a small sigh, still frustrated that he and Kimmy hadn't made it to their movie. "But we're going to the fair in... four days to redo it."

Steve raised his brows in very evident in surprise at what his younger brother had told him, doing a terrible job at hiding his expressions.

"Hmm, and when did you ask her this? Just now?" The older boy questioned suspiciously, Aaron already knowing that he would judge his answer no matter what it was.

"No." The blond shook his head, sitting back in his seat as he tried to smooth out his sandy colored hair that had ruffled slightly from where his hand had been. "I asked her before she left with you to go to Dustin's radio."

"Aaron, that is like... the worst time you could have asked!" Steve exclaimed with a sigh, dramatically placing his head in his hands and shaking his head.

"No it wasn't!" Aaron argued back frustratedly, trying to get his older brother to see his point of view. "We were already talking about it and-"

"It? What is it?" Steve stressed, completely frustrated with how his brother had handled himself. "Like the date you missed or your date next week or-"

"I don't know." Aaron cut Steve off, utterly sick of his brothers dramatics when it came to Aaron and the girl he desperately liked. "We were just talking about the date we didn't get to and then it got onto when we would get to redo it and then it turned into the actual dating thing-"

"The actual dating thing?" Steve repeated with wide eyes, his voice raised in surprise. "Like, as in, you asked her to start dating? Like boyfriend and girlfriend type of thing?"

Aaron felt his face go bright red, not at the thought of Kimmy being his girlfriend. If anything, he was very taken on that idea. His face was red at Steve's assumption that it was Aaron that had brought it up.

"No, we aren't dating. Like, not boyfriend or girlfriend." Aaron explained quickly, suddenly wanting Steve's approval on the matter. "But, I didn't- I mean... she just basically told me that she would be on board with the boyfriend and girlfriend thing if I was."

"And what did you say?" Steve asked hesitantly, already believing that the blond had ruined it all for himself before it really started. "Seriously, Aaron, at least tell me you replied to her."

The blond paused, sending his brother an offended look before continuing. "I told her I was."

Steve nodded slowly, clearly thinking over Aaron's response before adding his input. The blond nervously clasped his hands together under the table anxiously while waiting to hear what his brother had to say about it all.

"Okay..." Steve eventually trailed of, pushing his bowl of cereal away and crossing his arms over his chest. "So she literally told you that if you asked her to be your girlfriend, she'd say yes... and you still didn't ask her?"

"Yes, but listen, I thought it would be better to ask at the fair? I thought I could plan it out properly instead of just blurting it out quietly so no one else could hear?" Aaron rushed out all at once, not looking for a repeat in conversation with the one he had with Lucas.

Aaron watched with an expectant expression before it crumbled into one of slight worry as he watched Steve shake his head and stand from his spot at the table.

"You're so weird." Steve joked as he walked away, laughing slightly as he climbed the stairs.

Aaron frowned, leaning over to pick up his disregarded plate and clean it up.

Obviously Steve had been joking and hadn't meant Aaron to take any sort of offence, but Aaron had been excited about it all, now he was feeling less excitement and more doubt as he wondered if maybe it was all stupid.

Steve probably thought Aaron was making a bigger deal out of it all than needed, but the blond couldn't help it. The younger boy didn't have much control over things in his life, nor his parents or the... issues he seemed to have when faced with dirt or mess.

With that said, he wanted everything to go right with the brunette. He had control over what he did around her and how whatever the two of them had going on was paced.

Aaron scoffed abruptly, shaking his head as he placed Steve's bowl in the sink. Fuck Steve's opinion and fuck Lucas' opinion. If he wanted to ask her on their date to be his girlfriend, then he was going to ask her.

If he knew one thing it was that Kimmy deserved to be asked, not just showing up and calling her his girlfriend one day, he wanted to ask her properly.

The blond also knew that maybe things weren't so great for the girl as of that current moment, although he was unsure what that was.

All he knew was that she hadn't been acting the same way when she'd been with him the last few days, all of a sudden she was acting different... defeated in some way.

Aaron didn't know what it was bothering her, or if there even was something bothering her. All he knew was that he wanted to fix it for her, she always felt so bad for everyone else and never allowed herself a shred of comfort or weakness and the blond was tired of it.

He was tired of her always thinking the worst about herself, or always putting others before her who wouldn't return the favour.

The blond sighed once more before shaking his head and leaving the kitchen, unable to shake the thoughts of the girl from his mind as his worry surrounding her grew and grew with each hour past. Overthinking and picking every thought apart.

...

The start of the in between chapters!!!!! This one is kinda boring but I promise it gets interesting!!

Hope everyone had a great day!!

- AJ :)