Chapter 2
Keeping Secrets

♡•♡•♡

Aaron

"Wonder if Shu is online..." I mumble, walking into my room. I sit down on my bed, and open my lap top.

Nope. Offline, like usual.

The doorbell rings, and I ignore it.

"AARON!" Melissa yells.

"WHAT?!" I answer.

"ANSWER THE DAMN DOOR!"

"DO IT YOURSELF!"

"I'M ON THE PHONE WITH DAD!"

Ugh...

I don't know why she bothers with our parents.

I groan, and walk down the stairs. The doorbell rings again.

"I'm coming!" I yell, walking over to the door.

I open it.

My eyes widen.

I slam it closed.

"MELISSA! I DON'T HAVE THE MENTAL STATE REQUIRED TO DEAL WITH THIS PERSON!" I yell.

"What, is it Aphmau?" She asks, popping out of the kitchen.

"No." I say.

"Then who?" She asks.

I step aside. She sighs.

"One minute Dad..." she days into her cellphone, putting it down and opening the door.

"Zane?" She asks.

"Who are you?" Zane asks.

"Huh? I'm Melissa. Aaron's sister. What are you doing here?" She asks.

"I'm here to talk to Aaron." He replies.

"No, no, no, and no. I'd rather not die." I say.

"Stop being a pussy Aaron." Melissa glares at me.

"I'LL BE IN MY ROOM, AVOIDING SOCIAL INTERACTION!" I yell, already up the stairs.

"GET YOUR ASS BACK DOWN HERE!" She yells.

♡•♡•♡

Zane

I can't believe I'm doing this.

Aaron's sister, Melissa, sighs.

"Come on in, I'll drag him out here." She steps aside. I step in hesitantly, and look around. The place is surprisingly clean, though I'm not sure what I was expecting.

Melissa goes up the stairs. I can hear a lot of yelling, and then a loud whacking noise sounds.

She comes back down, dragging Aaron by his ear.

"You can talk to him, or I'm telling Dad your joining." She threatens.

"Ow! Okay, okay! If I die though it's your fault." He replies. She let's go of his ear, and he straightens up.

"Uh... hey..." he says awkwardly.

"Hey." I reply.

"Uh... wanna sit down?"

"I'll stand."

"Okay... uh, what are you doing here?"

"I need to talk to you."

"About what?"

"..."

I hesitate this time.

"...Aphmau..." I say.

"What about her?" He asks.

"There's... something wrong..." I say, not sure how I explain the situation. His eyes fill with worry, though I can't tell if it's genuine or not.

"Is she okay? She's not hurt, is she?" He asks.

"No, she's fine, not hurt... but... okay, you know... the Ro'meave family buisness right?..." I ask.

"Yeah..."

"So, you know that the heir has to be married to inherit the company."

"Uh huh... wait..."

"Figured it out?"

"You aren't seriously saying..."

"Mhm. She's being forced to marry Garroth..."

"She's okay with this?!"

"She doesn't know... Katelyn and I... haven't told her yet..."

"Oh... why are you telling me then?"

"Uh... well, nobody else... uh... Katelyn and I are... kind of the only friends Aphmau has... everyone else... uh... drifted away. After what happened, she got really distant."

He lowers his head, seemingly in shame.

Irene, I'm getting so many mixed feelings from this guy. I've spent so long believing he was a bad person, now I can't tell if he really feels bad or not.

"Oh... right... so what do you want me to do?" He asks.

Good question...

"We aren't sure what to do yet... I've talked to them so many times, and nothing has changed, if only that they're more determined to make this marriage happen." I sigh.

"Why are you even telling me in the first place?" Aaron asks, "I though you all hated me..."

"Katelyn does... but... we aren't going to do this without help..." I explain. He nods.

"Okay. Do you have any ideas?" He asks.

"A couple. None of them are good. Might work, but would involve a lot of fighting..." I say.

"Alright..." he says.

"Can I suggest something?" Melissa pops out of the kitchen.

"What is it?" I ask.

"Move out of town." She says.

"If that was possible, we would've done it already." I cross my arms. "As it stands though, Garte will follow us anywhere in the world to make this marriage happen."

"Why Aphmau?" Aaron asks.

"Because Garroth picked her, and her father made a buisness deal that would give both companies an edge." I say.

"Her dad? Didn't her father lose all control over Aphmau once her parents divorced?" He asks.

"After her mother died in that car crash, Zack earned custody over Aphmau." I reply.

"What if we asked Dad to do something?" Melissa asks Aaron.

"No way. I'm not dragging that asshole into any of this." Aaron replies.

"What's wrong with your dad?" I ask.

"A lot of things. What about Mom?" Melissa asks.

"That's even worse!" Aaron exclaims.

I give them both a confused look.

"Mom runs a gang. Dad runs the Lycan company. Aaron is supposed to inherit the company, and I'm supposed to inherit leadership of the gang, but neither of us have any interest in either choices." Melissa explains quickly.

"Oh..." I sigh.

My phone starts ringing. It's Katelyn.

I pull it out and answer it.

"What?" I ask.

"Zane we have a problem." Katelyn says. She sounds panicked.

"What's wrong?" I ask.

"She did it again. I found her in the bathroom..." she says.

"WHAT?! Do you know why?!" I exclaim.

"No, but she keeps mumbling things about him. I think something triggered a memory. Are you almost done?" She asks.

"Yeah, I'll be back soon." I say.

"Good, because last time I dealt with this on my own it was loud." She replies, before hanging up.

"What happened?" Aaron asks.

He doesn't need to know about it...

"It's nothing. I need to head back. Are you helping or not?" I demand.

"I'll help." He replies, standing up and opening the door. I nod and leave.

♡•♡•♡

Aphmau

Shit...

I can't believe I was doing it again...

And worse, Katelyn caught me.

"There. Zane'll be back soon." She says, finishing wrapping the bandage around my arm. I nod absently.

"Go lie down or something... I'll make some tea." She tells me. I slide off the stool, and walk into my room, flopping onto my bed.

Even I don't know what triggered it... sometimes it just happens.

I go to the bathroom, grab the razor...

No, don't think about it.

I stand up and go to the closet, and grab my hoodie. It's crimson red, but warm. I put it on, and lay down.

Technically it's not mine. It used to be his, but I took it before he left. I wear it a lot now. It reminds me of him, before it happened.

The door opens, and I pretend to be asleep.

"She's asleep..." Katelyn sighs.

"Let's be quick then..." Zane replies.

I open my eyes a crack, to see Katelyn put down some tea on my bedside.

"She's wearing his coat again." Zane notes.

"I can see that. Come on, we need to sort out a plan." Katelyn retorts, grabbing Zane's arm and leaving.

Those two are hiding something, I know it, and I know it involves me.

And I'm going to find out what.