~~~~~~~~

Aidan had to try.

He couldn't give this up, give her up.

~~~~~~~~

Hey, you working today?

I am yeah why??

Where?

At the convention part.
Whats up??

I'm like close by so I
thought I would come
visit.

Lol that would be nice
but how are you going to
come see me??

I could pretend that I'm
coming for the event
you're working for.

lol ok?
This is the event I'm
working today if you did
want to come say hi.

(y/n) was confused but shrugged off her best friend, not surprised by her spontaneous drop-ins. What she didn't know was that her best friend was working with Aidan, sending him the details so he could talk to her.

He couldn't let her go, couldn't leave the animosity between them. He couldn't live with himself if he didn't try to fix this.

He didn't care if he had only a bag with the bare necessities.

He didn't care if he had flown across the world just to see her and fix things between them.

He didn't care that he dropped everything, his friends, his family to just see her.

He needed to fix this.

He had to find her and talk to her, desperately looking for her on the floor that her friend told him she would be on. His heart was pounding in his chest, panting for air as he searched for her. His breath hitches when he finds her, quickly walking up to her and pulling her around the corner.

"Get your hands off me!" (y/n) gasps with fright, about to smack this person as she turned around but her hands were stopped, held by the one person she didn't think she would see here. "Aidan?"

"We need to talk." he rasps out, pleading with her with his eyes, hoping that she says yes. He falters as he lets her go when he noticed the blank look on her face, her jaw clenched.

"I'm working." she rips her hands from his grip, walking away from him and he panicked.

"(y/n) please!" he exclaims and she looks around in fear that her supervisor was around.

"Not now!" she hisses, sighing in defeat after realising that Aidan wasn't going to take no for an answer. "Fine! Fine..."

"When-"

"-tomorrow afternoon... I'm working today."

"Tomorrow. Ok!" Aidan breathes out in relief, nodding. "What time?"

"Five pm."

"I'll send you the location?" he asks and she nods, shooing him away and going back to work. He watches her leave with a faint smile of hope, holding a hand to his chest and praying that tomorrow doesn't go to shit.

~~~~~~~~

"What do you want?"

Aidan gulped in fear seeing the cold look on (y/n)'s face as she walked towards him from the steps down to the beach, flinching from her harsh tone. It was the first time she had ever expressed anything other than joy towards him. She looked around and raised a brow at why they were at the beach in the first place, it being empty now since the sun was just starting to set.

He didn't know what to say but knew he had to say something but the words were stuck in his throat. He didn't want to say the wrong thing for fear of losing his love even further.

"That day... with the kiss..." the brunette visibly flinched from the memory, wincing when his love frowns at him for mentioning it. "I swear I didn't know she was going to do that when you saw us... I should've known she had other motifs when she got back in contact with me... I'm so sorry... please believe me (y/n)..."

"Is that all?" his heart plummets to his stomach hearing those monotone words as his love tapped her foot impatiently.

"Why didn't you wait for me? For me to explain? Why did you leave-"

"-the fuck you mean Aidan? I had a flight to catch that day." she snaps back at him in exasperation, rolling her eyes at his stupidity. "I'm not going to pay to extend my flight for another day. I had booked that flight home months ago. Why am I going to waste my money? I told you how expensive flight tickets are to America."

"Right..."

"Are we done here? I'm not in the mood."

Aidan screwed up, he knew that. He knew he did and he knew that he wanted to fix things between (y/n) and him.

He saw how calm she looked as she waited for him to explain and he hated it. He hated that there might be a chance that she moved on already, moved on from him. He knew she was independently strong, that she would be completely fine without him but him...

He needed her.

He would be broken without her.

"I'm not mad Aidan..." she sighs out heavily, looking so tired. She saw the barrage of messages he sent her trying to explain what had happened, that it wasn't him that kissed her, it was that bitch. And she believed him because she knew he doesn't lie, he hates lying but she just couldn't answer his messages. She couldn't get rid of the memory of the two of them kissing. It just hurt her too much and she stopped thinking about it, about him.

Aidan hated that (y/n) showed him no emotion, like she moved past all of this already. He wanted her to yell at him, to scream, shout, hurt him! Just do something to show him that she hadn't given him up already. He needed to know that she was still close enough to reach, that she didn't completely slip from his fingers.

"Don't lie to me (y/n)." he frowns, noticing how she closed herself off from him with her arms around her. She grinds her jaw and turns away from him, moving to walk off and he had to stop her. "I know I fucked up! I should've stopped her! Please, yell at me, shout, scream, do something (y/n)! Don't close yourself off like before! Talk to me! Please!" he begs her, trying to prevent her from spiralling into her dark phase again. He would never forgive himself if he couldn't stop her from hurting... but he was the one causing her pain.

"Fine... I am mad!" she whirls back around to him, taking off one of her shoes and pelting it at him as he stumbles back from the impact. "I'm fucking pissed! I'm hurt, Aidan! You hurt me!" she throws the other shoe at him and he flinches from the attack, not moving to dodge them.

He deserved it.

"Do you know how much it killed me to see you two kiss!?" she screams at him, throwing her bag at him and he catches it after being hit in the chest with it.

"(y/n), I'm sorry! I should've stopped her, I didn't know she was going to kiss me-no, I shouldn't have even given her the chance to. I didn't kiss her, I didn't make the first move, she did! I swear I moved away as soon as I could when it hit me! She doesn't mean anything to me (y/n)-"

"-so what!? That doesn't mean that it's not killing me inside that I might not be good enough for you!" she yells at him trying to hold back from her eyes tearing up. "To hear that little nagging voice in my head tell me over and over again that you should've never been mine, that I'm not enough for you!"

Aidan's heart broke hearing that.

"Since the minute I first met you, over and over I believed that I wasn't meant to be yours, that I wasn't in your league, that I had no chance, that I was a fucking nobody! You're an actor for fucks sake and I'm just one in a million! Our worlds are too different-"

"-I'm still a person (y/n)! I want to be with you! Famous or not-"

"-but you are famous! And you're completely different from me! Why would you ever be with someone like me when you could have so much better!?" (y/n) turns away to hide her tears, frantically trying to stop them but she was heartbroken. Her mind was cruel as she thought back to the kiss, crying into her hands softly.

Aidan picks up her stuff silently and walks up to her, kneeling down in front of her to help her put her shoes back on for her carefully before standing up again "You promised me we would try to make us work, you promised you would give us a chance. Don't let this be our first and final fight. You said we would talk it out, no jumping to conclusions, work it out... (y/n), you promised me..." he holds her hands gently to look at her but she rips her arms from his grip and he tears up from the heartache. "Please... you know I would never intentionally hurt you..."

But I did anyway when I swore I wouldn't...

"I know Aidan... I know you wouldn't. It's not you to do that, I know it wasn't on purpose and I know you don't lie... but it hurts anyway..." It hurt seeing him being kissed by someone who had known him for longer, by someone that was his first love, by someone that had his heart first.

It scared her that he would go back to Her.

"She was your first love, Aidan... I just..." she had too many doubts, too many whirling thoughts that made her lose what little confidence she had in herself.

Aidan hated seeing (y/n) cry, hated seeing the tears... it killed him seeing how in pain she was when she did. She rarely cried and when she did, it was all her sadness and agony poured out and the fact that it was his fault made it so much worse.

He had to show her that she was his one and only, and that he would never leave her for another.

She had his heart entirely and he would lose himself completely if she left him.

He didn't want to tell her like this but if this was the last time he was going to see her again...

"...I love you." Aidan breathed out softly, noticing (y/n) bristling as she stopped walking for a moment. All there was in the harsh silence between them was the sound of the waves crashing against the beach shore, the air warm from the setting sun. Her eyes widen, unsure if she heard him right. "I love-"

"-don't you dare," she whirls back to him, crying furiously with the most hateful snarl on her face as she stormed back to him and shoved him back harshly making him stumble back a couple steps. "don't you fucking dare say that just to get me back! You don't love me-!"

"-I have been in love with you ever since we first got to know each other better at the Stadium!" The brunette exclaims back and his love goes rigid when she processes his words.

He... Since then...?

"I've been in love with you for so long (y/n)..."

"We didn't know each other back then, you can't love me. This is not some fantasy destiny bullshit-"

"-falling in love with you was my choice, and one I will not hesitate to make over and over again... not destiny, not fate, my choice to give you my heart." Aidan says, his own voice cracking. "I fell in love with you, your laugh, your smile, your mind, your heart, your anger, your love, your kindness... I fell in love in getting to know you, in seeing you, in spending time with you. We're different, fine but that doesn't make me love you any less. I want you, all of you, heart and soul..." (Y/n) falters, lips quivering when she saw how sincere he looked as he said those words. Her heart pounded rapidly in her chest and she trembled, stepping back away from him in fear. "I love you-"

"-stop, don't..." she breathes out shakily, terrified as her ears rang and she cards her fingers together behind her neck unsure of what to do, or how to react. "...Just don't... don't say that..."

"You have made me the happiest I have ever been in my life and if you decide to end us, then I have to let you know. I need you to know... before I never see you again..."

"Aidan..." she looks up at him and he gently wipes her tears away but more continued to spill down her cheeks. She couldn't handle it, couldn't handle his gaze and she turned around to avoid the eyes that held so much love for her, so much adoration and admiration for her.

"I love you (y/n)." Aidan whispers out, almost breathlessly as if the words came from the deepest part of him. (y/n) stood still, frozen and shocked. She looked over at him as her hands started shaking and he smiles ever so softly to not frighten her, silently taking a step closer to her. "I'm in love with you (y/n)." he says more clearly, looking down at the girl that had his heart in her hands for so long, held it so dearly and so protectively. She was the one he knew he wanted to be with after years of hurt and pain and failed relationships.

The girl that had never been in love with anyone before.

The girl that had never been in a relationship.

The girl that knew how to love him back so perfectly.

The girl who had never hurt him ever, the one who loved him with every bit of her being in her own perfect little ways.

He hesitantly reached up as she sobbed, her lips quivering and it hurt him how much those words could bring her so much pain. "I have been for so long."

"I-I..." her voice cracks, mouth open to try and say the words back to him but she couldn't and he didn't mind.

Because Aidan knew (y/n) loves him the same way he loves her.

She didn't have to say it. She wasn't a verbal person but he knew through her every loving action towards him. Her every sacrifice, money, time, effort, her care, her person... looking after him, caring for him, being there for him, hell even taking time away from her family, her friends, her work to stay with him in Toronto and his home. Every little thing she did for him, every big gesture and surprise, every high and low, every small thing she did for him... Every hi, every bye, every hello and see you later... She would drop anything for him, to be there for him and he wanted to repay them back for her. To love her, to do anything for her, to be there for her every step of the way.

She gave away every piece of her to those she loves and cares about deeply in her life and he wanted to give every part of her back to her.

She was too perfect for this world. Too perfect for him.

"I love you (y/f/n)." Aidan pulls (y/n) into a tight hug as she bursts out into a heartwrenching sob, him catching her when she crumbled to the floor and he holds her tight. No one had ever said those words to her before. Not once in her lifetime. And though her friends might say it, it was never the same because they said it only for the sake of it. Not with sincerity.

Aidan was the first person to ever say those words to her and actually mean them.

He pulls back from the hug to hold her cheeks as she sobbed, her chest hurting painfully like everything she had bottled up her entire life, all the pain and self-hate, all that heartache just bursting to the surface. "I love you, I love you so much. And I'm so sorry. I never wanted to hurt you, I will never hurt you again." he repeats again, softly and earnestly every single time and she breathes out shakily like all the pain suddenly started fading away from each time he said those words to her. "I am in love with you. I love you (y/n)... I love you..." he cries softly as he wipes her tears away from her cheeks, brushing her hair back to see her clearly as she wipes her eyes. "I. Love. You." he says one last time with a shaky breath, holding a hand to his chest as he felt his own heart pound erratically against his chest.

She looks at him with every loving emotion she had for him and he knew she felt the same for him, gingerly moving to hug her when she let him. She wasn't used to all this emotion and affection and he held her gently in his arms, letting her move to hold his shirt in her hands as she buried her face against his shoulder. He felt her move to hold him tightly for dear life like he was her anchor and he held her just as tight. She didn't want to let him go, terrified that he was going to disappear from her life and he felt the same way.

"I'm here and I'm not going anywhere (y/n). I promise you, my love."

I love you...

~~~~~~~~