Falling, Fallen | ✔️

48

~Ayla's POV~

Soren and I stood together next to the table of food amidst the crowd, his arm around my waist. "Do you want anything to eat? Maybe a drink?" He asked me, his gaze flicking down to mine.

I smiled softly and shook my head, looking away from him as I scanned my eyes over the crowd of people. "No, it's okay. Thanks." I refused quietly, causing him to sigh deeply. My lips twitched up as I tilted my head back, looking up at him again. "By the way," I began, a smile breaking out on my face. "I heard what you said to Danica earlier. I know you probably didn't mean very much by it, but it was nice of you to defend me like that, so thank you."

His face turned a little bit more pink, blue eyes flicking away from my hazel ones as if embarrassed. "It's not like she didn't have it coming. She was being a bitch." He chuckled softly, making me smile and laugh quietly. "Yeah, you're probably right." I giggled. I felt his arm tighten around my waist, subconsciously pulling me into his side more. It probably shouldn't have but the action made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. He took a sip from the cup in his hand, which I hoped wasn't alcohol considering he still had to drive us back home. I supposed that if worse came to worst, though, I could always drive us home myself.

For a while he and I just stood there beside the food table, not talking to one another any further. I wondered if maybe we looked odd because people were giving us looks every so often, eyeing the two of us. "Why is everyone staring at us?" I whispered to Soren, tilting my head back enough to stare up at him.

He glanced at me and hummed, previously glancing around at everyone surrounding us. "Probably because we've been standing here for at least thirty minutes but have barely spoken to each other, yet we're supposed to be husband and wife." He responded, making me frown at him and sigh deeply. "Right." I muttered, shaking my head. "I kind of forgot that we have to actually play the part, not just show up together." I admitted, chuckling feebly. It seemed impossible to forget such a thing, but before he and I had drifted apart, there wasn't exactly any acting to be done. We got along well, and we spoke often. We were good together, I thought, and now we were just uncertain and awkward around one another.

"Yeah, I could tell, and so could my dad, apparently." He chuckled, causing me to furrow my brows in confusion. "What do you mean? Did he say something to you?" I wondered, incredibly lost. He trailed his eyes over my face, nodding his head. "He did, yeah." He affirmed. "He told me that we haven't been being seen acting like a couple enough in public. I'm guessing that this is probably what he meant."

I just about cringed, not having realized that he and I had drifted so far apart that even Mr. Maxwell noticed something was off. That definitely wasn't good.

"Well, what should we do?" I asked, reluctantly looping my arm around his side. His eyes practically sparkled at the slight reciprocation of my hold. "Maybe we should go dance, to start with? I mean, if you'd like to?" He suggested, nodding his head to the crowd of people slow dancing with each other.

Though I hesitated at first, I eventually nodded my head, allowing him to lead me into the crowd. We stopped amongst everybody else, both of his large hands finding my waist whereas mine looped loosely around the back of his neck. His hands were so big and his fingers so long that I could feel his fingertips on the skin of my back, making goosebumps rise on each inch of my skin. I peered up at him, my chest brushing against his due to the close proximity of our bodies, and he swallowed thickly as he gazed back at me.

"I know I said it already, but you really do look beautiful, Ayla." He told me, making my face warm from the compliment. I glanced over his shoulder just so I wouldn't have to stare him in the eyes, looking off at nothing. "Thank you." I said. I wanted to compliment him back, tell him how nice I thought he looked in this suit, or about how good he smelled, but I ended up not doing that.

"You styled your hair a little differently." I opted to stay instead, redirecting my eyes to his soft looking hair. He laughed softly and grinned at me, giving me that smile that always got my heart racing. "I didn't think you had noticed." He admitted, feebly shrugging his shoulders. "Do you like it?" He asked. I paused before I answered, unsure if I should answer that, but I then realized that it was just a question. Besides, it wasn't as though he didn't know I still had feelings for him, and it wouldn't change anything if I was honest about what I thought, anyway.

"I do." I admitted, nodding my head. "You look handsome." Like always, I wanted to say.

Some part of me expected him to tease me, to say something about how attracted I was to him, but he just grinned at me. He didn't tease me at all, and I wasn't sure how I felt about it. It wasn't like him to not tease me when he had the chance.

As we danced, our bodies slowly migrated towards one another, my fingers gently wandering into the hair at the nape of his neck. Our chests were now pressed firmly against one another, my head resting against his chest as his arms wrapped all the way around my waist, his hands on my lower back in a way that felt comfortable with him. Only with him.

"Can I be honest with you, Ayla?" He murmured, resting his head gently on top of mine. I shut my eyes, listening to the sound of his heart racing in his chest. "Of course." I whispered. He tightened his arms around my waist and my own heart began to race as well. "I've missed you." He told me softly, making my heart skip a beat. The things this man said to me, and the things he did to me...They weren't fair, but I loved them anyway. "We live in the same house, Soren." I responded softly, trying to pretend like I didn't know what he meant.

"Don't do that." He sighed, immediately catching onto what I was doing. "I meant I miss you. I know it's not fair of me to say, but I miss talking to you, and holding you, and having you near me. I know we live in the same house, but most of the time it feels like you've already left."

"You know why it has to be like that." I reminded him, lifting my head to look at him as we swayed gently with one another. He frowned deeply, looking sad and defeated in a way that I had never seen him before. "I'm a selfish man, Ayla. I don't want to just...give you up without trying to fix things." He sighed, making me stare at him incredulously. I cocked my head to the side and raised my brows at him. "Fix things?" I repeated quietly. "I'm in love with you, Soren. No matter how much you try to fix it, it won't go back to how it was." I said softly, being sure to keep my voice quiet.

This wasn't exactly the place to be having this conversation, but it seemed like we were going to be having it here regardless. "But Ayla, that day, I didn't..." He hesitated as he stared down at me, our eyes boring into one another's. I waited patiently for him to continue, wondering what he was going to say. "What is it?" I asked quietly when he never finished his sentence, hoping he'd tell me.

But he just shook his head again, looking away again. "Nothing. Forget I said anything." He muttered, and then we continued to dance like nothing was ever said.