'I'm beginning to think I imagined you all along'

XIX

The last couple of weeks had been full of nothing but elation and comfort for both Suha and Aaron. After spending so long in hospital he had missed his home comforts more than anything. It was the simplest things that he had longed for, he spent most of his time playing on FIFA and asking Olivier to come over whenever he could to join him. There were a few times that he'd been out of the house, but mostly he just enjoyed being back in familiar surroundings, comfortable. Being able to spend longer than 20 minutes in the shower, shouting along to 'Mardy Bum' at the top of his lungs and then carelessly leaving all of his damp towels all over the bedroom - Suha could hardly blame him this time though. Aaron felt like a teenager all again between physio sessions and visits from Nurses and Specialists, he was spending all his time with the love of his life, cherishing her and building bridges that they'd previously both thought to have been burnt, it was exactly the one thing that he needed to boost his spirits. He'd had so many visits from his friends too, mostly players from other premier league clubs, but a lot of the Arsenal lads came over, Theo was especially keen to check in on Aarons progress, he really appreciated all the support. Suha spent a lot of time her time testing new recipes on Aaron for him to either enjoy or pull funny faces at and end up with half in his beard, and she was always thinking of ways that they could spend their time together that wasn't just sitting around the house. A haze had seemed to descend around them and they were just trapped in their own little bubble, it was the closest that they had been in a long time. It was exactly like the first few weeks of their relationship, playing out again. Aaron was still finding it difficult to be mobile on his own but he had definitely made improvements, still heavily reliant on his frame his movements were more fluid and he was feeling positive about his future. Determined to make sure that he was fit to train by the start of the next season. Not being able to play football was the only thing that seemed to be dragging him down.

"Babe look! No hands!" Aaron joked, his grey sweat pants hanging off his hip, his crisp white t-shirt clinging snugly to his biceps and chest and his arms fully stretched out straight above him in the air, a contagious grin plastered across his face. Suha looked up from her laptop to see Aaron almost bundle over into a heap on the floor, once again "Aaron what are you doing!?" she jumped up from her seat instantly and ran over to him, reaching up for his wrists and pulling his arms back down onto the frame to steady him
"It's okay, babe I'm just joking. At least it doesn't hurt all the time now though!" he says, waving his leg around beneath him and cocking his head to the side, faking a sweet toothy grin before making his way into the kitchen where Suha was sat. 
"Anyway, you've been on that thing all day, what is it that you're doing?" he asks
Suha hastily makes her way into the kitchen and blocks Aarons view from the glare of the screen, almost putting her entire body over the table, she reaches over the table and grabs her phone"Oh you know, just catching up on work and stuff. I've got so much I need to do!" she quickly replies, her eyes firmly locked on her phone screen. Aaron furrows his brow, but doesn't think to question Suha on the matter, but certainly noticed her change in behaviour. She has been overworked lately, so Aaron thinks no more of it
"Go and sit back down, i'll bring you a drink over okay? and we can watch a film"
Suha puts her phone down, lets out a sigh and then closes the lid of her laptop and gestures for Aaron to go back into the living area
"I forgot to tell you that Luke's coming over, he'll be here soon so you can get on with your work. We're probably just gonna chill out. He's been great with me ya know, he can really relate"
"Aaah right, that sounds nice. I'll probably just go into the bedroom and do my work anyway"
Suha unplugs her laptop, grabs her phone and starts to walk out
"Hey hey, you don't have to do that? we aren't gonna be loud, plus I think he said he wants to see you anyway"
Suha lets out a sigh, she has tried to avoid Luke for as long as she can. Feeling humiliated about the kiss she shared with him, she's always been honest with Aaron but this is the first time she has ever kept anything from him. Even if she told him it meant nothing to either of them, what good would it do? Thinking it would put unnecessary stress on their recently rekindled love, she keeps putting off the moment to tell him. Considering Luke and Aaron seem to be becoming good friends, it's not just her relationship that she would put in jeopardy by telling him. 

"No really, it's alright. I'll just get distracted anyway, you know what i'm like" she jokes, walking over to Aaron and leaving a kiss on his lips.
"I wont be long okay? I love you" 
"I love you too" Aaron says, reaching out his arm towards Suha as she starts to walk off, grabbing her hand he pulls her towards him almost knocking her off her feet
"Aaron! What are you-" Before she knows it she is being ensnared by Aaron and it's him that's leaving a lingering kiss on her lips this time, he boops her on the nose with his finger tips
"Now away with ya, i've got some serious FIFA skills to crack on with" he jokes, pushing her away from him

Suha makes her way into their bedroom and pulls the blinds down so the room is quite dimly lit, she lights a few candles and then sits on the bed, relaxing with her knees up and her laptop resting upon them, her back against the headboard. Putting some music on while she starts brainstorming about her next article. She hears the front door close and she knows that Luke is here, her body immediately tensing at the thought of him being only in the next room.. She tries to throw herself into her work to take her mind off her thoughts, but all she can hear is laughter from the living room, cheers of 'COME ON ENGLAND!' and opposing cheers of 'NAAAH, WALES ALL THE WAY MAN' It's been half an hour and she's only managed to write 2 lines, she has a stress induced headache and listening to The 1975 doesn't seem to be helping. She puts Lifehouse on and puts her laptop onto the side table to close her eyes for a while, anything to budge her headache and avoid going into the kitchen to get pain killers. Suha lays down on her half  of the bed, curled up on her side she rests her head on her pillow but can smell Aarons cologne and she instantly pictures him laying beside her, bringing a warm, gentle smile to her face. She feels like she can breathe easier already. She remembers all the lay ins they've had together recently, waking up before Aaron and just watching him, breathing, being, existing in such close proximity to him. The way he sometimes breathes out through his mouth and blows his hair away from his head by his own breath, the way it falls softly back down across his long eyelashes. The way the skin around his neck is clammy from having himself wrapped around Suha the entire night, the way his hands feel when entangled with her own, the way his scent still lingers on her skin. Thinking of Aaron completely calms Suha as she lulls herself to sleep with thoughts of waking next to him.

An ice cold grasp on the top of Suha's arm wakes her alarmingly as she turns quickly onto her back, her head still feeling quite heavy she shuts her eyes tightly and brings her hand up to her forehead, before scooting up the top of the bed and sitting up, the small of her back supported by the pillows. Still feeling very groggy she finds it hard to open her eyes properly and looks at him thought squinted, skewed vision.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you.. Aaron said you were working. You'd been in here quite a long time so I thought i'd just see how you were getting on.." Luke said, timidly. Biting the inside of his cheeks, he sits on the side of the bed next to Suha and starts to fiddle with his hands, his head almost down all the way to his chest.
"It's alright, I had a bit of a headache so I thought I'd try and sleep it off. Think I made it worse" she replies
"Oh, I'm sorry, I hope you feel better soon" Luke says, his voice almost a whisper.
"Suha.. I've been trying to speak to you for a long time" he continues, raising his head and turning to face Suha on the bed
"You wont take my calls, you always hide away in here or leave the flat when I come to see Aaron. You wont reply to my texts or my messages. I don't understand, have I upset you?" Luke shrugs his shoulders before looking back down at his hands, his disappointment and sadness wrote all over his face. In hushed tones Suha looks at Luke, his head huddled over his chest
"No Luke, look. What W-E did, was wrong. I think distancing ourselves from each other for a little while seemed like a good idea"
"Seemed?" Luke asks, looking up again
"Seems, seemed, I don't know" Suha was getting searing pains through her temples and shut her eyes tightly again and winced in pain. Luke raises his hand to cup Suha's face but she shakes her head and pushes his hand away with hers, looking at him sternly she says
"We can't talk about this anyway, not here"

"You can't talk about what?" Aarons voice bellowed around the room and seemed to reverberate off the walls, it chilled Suha to her core as she looks across to the doorway and see's Aaron glaring at them both. Her stomach is in knots.