Chapter 204 - He's A...Friend

Keeley had watched five episodes of her show and Aaron still hadn't woken up. She turned off the TV and went to go check on him, feeling uneasy. He didn't actually die, did he?!

Dinah meowed and emerged from under a piece of furniture before following her up the stairs to Aaron's room. She opened the door as quietly as she could and noticed he was still out like a light.

She leaned close to his face to make sure he was still breathing. He looked awfully pale. He was still breathing…did he have a fever?

She laid a gentle hand against his forehead and accidentally brushed back his hair. No fever.

A small nostalgic smile appeared on her face. Ignoring the black eye, Aaron looked much more peaceful in his sleep. Younger. She could almost believe he was the teenage boy she had fallen in love with all those years ago.

They had both been so young and stupid then. If she had known what was coming for her, she never would have approached him in the first place. He probably felt the same way. Being together brought them nothing but misfortune in the end.

With that sobering thought in mind, Keeley figured she should wake him up to eat something so she could go home. She shook his shoulder gently.

"Aaron. You need to wake up."

He groaned and swatted at her hand. "Lemmesleep."

She parked herself on the edge of the bed and shook harder. "You've slept for nearly five hours. You need to eat something. Up!"

His arm sn.a.k.e.d around her waist and pulled her down with a screech. What on earth was he doing?!

"Aaron," she said warningly as she lay trapped on top of him and the blankets. "Get up or I'll roll us both out of bed."

He buried his face in her hair and made a sleepy sound that could best be described as 'nnn.' Did he even realize he was using her as a human teddy bear right now?

"Aaron!" she hissed and reached backwards to softly smack his cheek a few times. "Get. Up."

"Huh?" So he really was still asleep. He finally sounded coherent. "Um…what are you doing?"

"Me? I'm trying to get you up because it's six o'clock! I'm not in this position by choice, you know. You're a sleep grabber!" Keeley said crossly.

He released her instantly. "Sorry. I do actually feel quite a bit better now. Food sounds nice."

She straightened her shirt and strode toward the door, calling over her shoulder. "Your leftovers from earlier are in the fridge. I texted Aiden for you—he's coming to get you in the morning in case you can't wake up."

"Thanks for staying. I probably would have woken up at 3 AM if not for you."

"Take care of yourself."

She hurried to grab her purse and make it to the elevator before he said anything else. Valentina was probably wondering where she was at this point; she had the day off and would already be at home.

Sure enough, she was confronted immediately upon stepping foot inside their shared apartment. Valentina was nosy and wanted to know why she had been gone so long if she was just taking someone home.

Keeley had to explain that she was concerned about leaving him alone because of the nature of his injury but that he was fine when he woke up so she left. She tried her best to make it seem an unsuspicious as possible but her roommate wasn't buying it.

"You went to all that effort for a guy you hardly know?" she asked with a gleam in her eye. "Do you like him?"

"No! I've actually known him longer than Cameron has." A lot longer. An entire lifetime longer. Seeing Valentina's confusion, she elaborated. "We went to the same high school."

"I thought you said everyone in your high school was a snob."

"Almost everyone," she corrected.

Aaron had been a snob, though she wasn't sure she could categorize him that way anymore. He had definitely changed for the better.

In their first life there was no way he ever would have become friends with Cameron or Aiden because of his classist ideals. It was crazy the two of them ended up together in the first place since he looked down on her upbringing. 

"We were in the same literature class…we had a group project together at one point," Keeley continued lamely.

Valentina was staring at her like she didn't believe a single word coming out of her mouth so she felt the need to elaborate further. It was the truth, okay?! Just a very small part of it.

"Don't look at me like that," Keeley insisted.

"You, the Ice Queen, took care of a guy for half a day. How else am I supposed to look at you?"

Ice Queen? That was offensive—and untrue. She was a very warm person! A very warm person that happened to avoid men's advances, that's all. Having been married to the actual Ice King, she knew for a fact that she wasn't an Ice Queen. They were polar opposites.

"He's a…friend."

She couldn't exactly say that she felt obligated to take care of him because she felt sorry for him always being alone.

Her friend remained unconvinced. "Is he that guy? The one that broke your heart?"

How did everyone manage to guess this?! Was it tattooed on her forehead or something?

"What makes you say that?"

"I know he went to your high school. The only other boy I know of from your school is your law student friend in Maryland," she said smugly. "I'm right, aren't I? He doesn't seem like a bad guy! And he definitely likes you."

"He's not," Keeley said begrudgingly.

At least, not as bad as she thought. He had still been cruel and thoughtless at times though lately he had been all sugar and spice and everything nice, which was totally weird for him.

She also couldn't help but wonder if he really did like her like everybody thought. His reminiscing about the past as he complimented her earlier really threw her off. As soon as she discovered he had been reborn she chalked it up to a guilt-fueled obsession but what if she was wrong?

No! It didn't matter whether or not she was wrong. She had to stop thinking about it. She was in charge of her own fate now. Whatever strange force had brought both of them back wasn't going to convince her to put herself back in jeopardy for him.

Valentina rolled her eyes. "You're in denial, my friend. A nice, handsome, rich man is interested in you. Who wouldn't be swayed by that?"

Keeley wouldn't. Never again. She was prepared to ignore her friend and go hide in her room when Valentina's tone turned more serious.

"Hang on…there's actually something I need to talk to you about."