Random Aru Shah Stuff

Happy Birthday, Aru: Part One

Okay, this is just the kiss from Aiden's point of view. I just really wanted to do this, so... I hope you enjoy it!

WARNING: Spoilers for CoG

Everything was messed up.

Aiden and Aru had gotten into a fight at the House of the Sun. And as if that wasn't enough, the prophecy from Chhaya comes out of nowhere. The girl you love will be the death of you. He had seen the image of Aru in the fog. And he had seen the shock on the real Aru, who had been near him. She clearly didn't know that the prophecy was talking about...her.

Aiden didn't want to hurt Aru, but he didn't want to put himself in danger, either. He hated himself for even thinking that Aru would try to hurt him, but the nightmare at the House of the Sun was still fresh in his mind. And plus, the hopeless thoughts of his parents' failed marriage were also plucking at him, and he didn't want the same thing to happen to Aru. So...he decided to ignore her.

And he did, for the next eight months. The most miserable eight months ever, that is. And Aru seemed extremely hurt. It stayed like that throughout the weeks. Every time he saw her stung expression, he felt a pang of guilt. She tried getting him back to normal a couple of times, but one day she just quit and tried to pretend everything was okay. And only a few people could see through her expression.

But the thing is, Aiden was one of those few people.

For once, he wished he wasn't. He wished he couldn't see the devastation on her face every day, every minute. But it was there. It was as if there were words on her face describing how Aru felt.

Months twirled by, and Aru's birthday came up. There were so many things Aiden wanted to do, wanted to say to her. But he crammed it all inside.

Aru was forced to wait upstairs for the whole day. But she somehow managed to sneak downstairs. Aiden decided not to point it out and get Aru in trouble. What he was doing now was already enough. When she wasn't looking, though, he snapped a picture of her. He knew he did it at the right time because right after he quickly looked over the photo, Aru was blown backward by Brynne. Aiden assumed she'd tried to peek at the cake, which was highly possible.

But when she finally was allowed to come downstairs, she was all dressed up, and stunningly gorgeous. If usually she looked like a princess, now she looked like a queen. Or a goddess. And he knew it wasn't the outfit (though that looked beautiful, too). It was almost like seeing her...in a different light.

Aiden stood in the same position for a moment before realizing he was staring. He quickly glanced away before Aru noticed.

He wondered how long this was going to continue.

←—————————————————→

Aru looked so happy at the party.

But Aiden still felt a little uneasy. And it didn't help that Kara was now tapping his shoulder. She seemed to be saying something, but Aiden couldn't hear her over the birthday party music.

He bent down. "What?"

Kara, realizing that he couldn't hear, leaned in and whispered in his ear. "Can we talk privately?"

Aiden felt confused. What did Kara want to talk about? But he still nodded toward the Hall of the Gods exhibit. He knew it was supposed to be off-limits for guests, but he couldn't find any other place where no one could hear them, since Kara said she wanted to talk privately.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Aru staring at him. But the thing was, instead of covering her expression with her usual cute grin, the hurt on her face was now clear. Her eyebrows were scrunched up in sadness, her shoulders caved in. Aiden's stomach churned. He hated doing this to her, especially on her birthday. But he caught something else in her expression. Was that... jealousy? Wait...why would Aru feel jealous?

Aiden shoved away those thoughts as they approached the Hall of the Gods. New questions started taking over his mind. Why did Kara want to talk to him privately? Did she find out that the Sleeper was coming? Was Aru upset and wanted Kara to tell him that he's been acting very rudely recently?

Instead, Kara said, "The party's great, isn't it?"

"Yeah..." said Aiden, still confused, but also, to be honest, a little impatient. If it was about Aru, he wanted to know now.

But it wasn't about Aru.

Kara laughed a little. "I like you," she said, twirling her shiny ring. "I don't like keeping secrets or holding stuff in, and so I...I wanted to tell you."

Wait...what?

"Oh," said Aiden. He stared at Kara.

She liked him? For the past few months, he'd only been focused on Aru, and not really anyone or anything else. The person that he liked would always be her.

He tried to be kind in his rejection, but he knew it would hurt Kara in the same way.

"Kara...I've always thought of you as a friend," he said before quickly adding, "A good friend, you know. I don't want to ruin that—"

Aiden stopped there, not knowing what else to say.

Kara sniffed loudly.

"I'm sorry—" tried Aiden.

"No, it's fine," Kara sniffled. Then, without another word, she stormed out of the hall.

Part 2?