Heartbreakers

39. torn in two

A.N -Please be transparent with your thoughts as you read, from this chapter onwards things are going to be bumpy until the end

"How did you go?" I ask, falling into the seat beside Grayson. He looks at me and shrugs, nervously biting the inside of his cheek.

When he doesn't answer me I look across the table to Eli who is busy staring at him to answer my question. His face is still healing but it looks a lot better than before. I still can't believe his cousins did that and I'm kind of glad my knuckles are almost healed completely, mom finally noticed them last night which was difficult to explain. I nudge my knee against Grayson's which makes him look at me.

"I did alright." I go to speak when Eli scoffs.

"He's joking with you. He wrote five pages within an hour, you should've seen the teacher's face. She thought he had cheated considering his track record with creative writing is horrible," I smile, noticing the pink lining his cheeks.

"That's amazing! I'm so proud of you," I instinctively give him a hug and go to kiss him but stop myself. His eyes meet mine and he gives a gentle smile in return. He moves closer and pecks my lips gently.

"I couldn't stop thinking about Saturday and motivated myself to write more." My cheeks flush slightly and I try to pull away only for him to pull me onto his lap.

I grip the table and his shoulder to gain my balance while one of his arms secures itself around my waist, the other on my thigh so I don't fall off. Once I'm certain he won't drop me or that I'm not going to crush him, I move my hand to scratch the back of his neck with my nails. His hand tightens on my thigh and his eyes meet mine.

"What?" I ask innocently, he rolls his eyes and somehow pulls me further into him.

"You know what you're doing," He bites his lip which makes me smile. I stop tracing patterns with my nails and lean closer to his face, more precisely to his lips. "I really, really want to kiss you right now." He whispers and I smile.

"What's stop-"

That's all it takes before his lips press against mine. I lean back only to move as close as I can without falling off his lap. At the moment it just feels like it's us despite being in a cafeteria with others. My thoughts turn to mush as soon as his teeth nibbles on my bottom lip.

I move my hand up to run through his hair which is surprisingly soft and silky. My guess, he washed it this morning. I get completely lost in the kiss – well makeout to be honest –  until the stares start to burn into my skin. Obviously I wasn't the only one to feel it as Grayson pulls back first. His eyes meet mine and they flicker behind me.

"Aria. You might want to turn around now," He mumbles, I turn around and feel my rapidly beating heart fall to a stop at the harsh glare that we're getting from Aaron.

"Geez I never thought you guys would pull away." Ella teases, pushing Joshua's head away from getting a kiss. "Glad to see you aren't really afraid of the PDA thing anymore." She moves her chair away slightly only for it to be tugged back, arms wrapping around her waist and a raspberry being blown into her neck.

"It's not like you guys can talk." Parker rolls his eyes, clearly unamused by all the PDA from the couples at the table.

However, I'm more worried about Aaron at the moment. He looks like he's about to blow a fuse and the jokes being made about what happened by his team-mates is all it takes for him to storm out. Cursing under my breathe, I wriggle out of Grayson's grip and grab my bag to chase after him only for my wrist to be encased by a hand.

"Are you really going to chase after him?" I turn around, finding Grayson looking pissed off as well.

"Let me go I need to talk to him." I yank my wrist away, he lets go letting out a scoff.

"Of course you're going to chose him," My eyes narrow and he shrugs. "Just remember that you asked, almost begged me to kiss you so-"

"I did not beg you!" I snarl, shocked by him getting so angry at me.

"Weren't you chasing after someone who can't handle the sight of us?" A smirk that I haven't seen in a while slips onto his lips and I'm tempted to slap it off.

"Thanks for being a jerk about this. Thank you, much appreciated." Each word is filled with sarcasm.

His smirk doesn't falter as I storm away to find Aaron. Where the hell would he go? I apologise to the girl I knock into on my way out, turning into a faster walk when I reach the corridor. My first guess being his locker and the next being the soccer field. I check his locker which the hall is vacant of people before I head to the soccer field.

When I get to the field, surprisingly there is nobody there except a person mowing the grass. Nervously I fiddle with my necklace and turn to head back inside. He wouldn't leave the school no matter how angry he is. I go to push the glass door only to notice the fence move from under the bleachers in my peripheral vision.

I lean forward, spotting the pair and feel my stomach drop at the sight in front of me. Unexpectedly, I tug a little to hard and my necklace falls completely into my hand. I move away from the door clearing my throat which makes Aaron pull away from Sarah who is smirking wickedly at me.

"What's the matter Aria? We've been dating for a month now." I look to Aaron who is refusing to look at me, his hands still resting on her waist.

"You're using him aren't you?" I snap, breaking my stare on Aaron to glare at the bitch determined to make my life more difficult.

"Oh no, honey. I'm not using him. Maybe as a fuck buddy then ye-"

"Sarah stop." Aaron whispers, she scoffs and runs her filthy hand down his chest. "I didn't think you would realise I had left with Grayson's tongue down your throat."

"Are you kidding me? That is what this is over!" My voice cracks mid way and I realise I'm close to tears.

"Wow. Isn't this a blast from the past seeing you almost in tears over me stealing someone who you love?" Her words hit hard and I visualise smashing her head into the metal pole a meter away from me. "You really must be unlovable if that's the case. Maybe I should try my luck with Gray-" Fuck visualising.

Dropping my bag from my shoulder I charge at her only to be yanked backwards by my waist. I scream, trying to go forward while she takes a step back hiding behind Aaron.

"Let me go!" I try to break free, wanting to smash her face into the pole. "I will kill you! You're a fucking bitch."

"Don't talk to her like-"

"Fuck off Aaron. You know what she's done and you still want to protect her, are you kidding me?" The person holding me gets the shits, one arm going around my waist and the other around my neck so I stop. The band around their wrist is enough for me to stop, I'm not going to hurt Grayson because I'm pissed at Aaron.

"Come on, let's go." Grayson whispers in my ear as I stop struggling to break free.

His grip loosens slowly to make sure that I don't try to rip her throat out again. I collect my bag from the ground without looking at them again out of fear I'll cry. Grayson sends a glare over my shoulder to one of them, maybe both but I don't check.

"Sarah you need to leave. I need to talk to them," Spinning around I furrow my eyebrows at Aaron who holds out her handbag for her. Hesitantly she takes it pressing a kiss to his cheek before leaving us. "Are you guys still faking it or can I start going off because it's real?"

"You have no reason to go off at us." Grayson laughs, shaking his head at Aaron's words.

"Yes I do! You're probably doing this out of spite and I don't want her to be the one who gets hurt," I frown, briefly looking between them. "I'm not an idiot Grayson. You still hate me and that's fine but do not think you can take it out on Aria because I will kill you. Literally, I will snap your neck."

"Is this what everything's about? Your stupid self hatred for each other?" I ask, stepping away from Grayson. "Why can't you just get over yourselves? For my sake would you please just stop because I don't like the feeling of being pulled between my cousin and my boyfriend."

"Boyfriend!? So you actually are dati-"

"Why are you so surprised?" Grayson rolls his eyes.

"Because this started out as you blackmailing her."

"No it started out as me using her to hurt you."

My heart stops beating and I look at Grayson. His eyes are filled with anger as he glares Aaron down to his grave, while Aaron is more focused on controlling his temper. He used me? For what? I bite the inside of my cheek, wondering if that's what this really is about.

Grayson making me fall for him just so he can smash my heart – all for a game. For some stupid egotistical game.

"Are you still using me?" I whisper, breaking the tension.

Instantly both heads snap to me and I notice the anger dissipate in his eyes slowly. Mine fall to the dirt ground, thinking over everything that's happened. He admitted to using me to begin with but what if he never stopped? What if me falling for him was his real plan? What if I'm the biggest fool in the world right now?

"No I'm not-"

"Bullshit, of course you are." Aaron glares and Grayson scoffs.

"Why don't you shut your mouth for once?"

"Stop being an ass for once."

"You're being a hy-"

"Shut up!" I yell, both of them flinch and I swallow the lump in my throat. "Just shut up." I whisper, Grayson takes a step towards me and I take one back shaking my head.

"Aria. I'm not using you anymore. Please don't-"

"I can't do this."

I walk off without looking at them, they continue to bicker until their voices become white noise. My heart is pounding violently and vision blurred as a sledgehammer gets slammed into my head. I feel sick that I'm being torn between them and what's worse is I know who I would pick as well.

You can't turn your back on family.

Just gonna leave this here. Thoughts? (None directed towards my death please) I have one more plot twist -well it depends on your thoughts/ predictions- to come and then you can decide whether you want to kill me or not.

Love you  x

-inspiredrlh 💕