Love's Delusion || ✓

Chapter Twenty Six

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

"Honey, I'm home!" 

My eyes shot open, wide as ever, as I shot up from the bed. I must have fallen asleep while I was on the phone with Gage. 

Was it wrong of me that Gage and I had stayed on the phone for hours? Looking at the clock beside me I noticed that it was eleven o'clock in the morning. 

I furrowed my brows, had Aaron only just come home? 

"Veronica, where are you?" He yelled from downstairs, making me roll my eyes in irritation. I've only just woken up, hold your damn horses. 

Knowing about what he's been doing all these nights made me feel bitter. I felt like an absolute hypocrite but I was overly bitter with the fact that Aaron had been sleeping with other people behind my back for weeks-- maybe even months. 

I sighed, throwing the duvet off of my body and making my way to the bathroom to freshen up-- he can wait. 

When I had finally made it downstairs, I noticed that Aaron was leaning on the edge of the stairs with his eyes closed. 

"Aaron?" I spoke up, gently poking him in the arm. He instantly opened his eyes in a rush as if his sleep had been interrupted. "Are you okay?" He scoffed, throwing an arm over my shoulder. It felt as if he was putting all of his weight on my shoulder as he leaned on me for support. 

"I'm great, babe." When he spoke, his breath had waved in my face causing me to cringe at the scent of booze-- vodka to be precise. It was his favourite and no matter how many times I told him to take it easy, he would ignore me as if I didn't exist while he continued to down a bottle. 

I cringed away from Aaron slightly from the smell of the alcohol, however, all I could do was move my head due to the fact that his arm was still sitting heavily on the top of my shoulder. 

"Maybe you should lay down," I suggested as we made our way into the kitchen. I gestured towards the bar stools that sit in front of the island. "I'll help you." I offered while trying to pulling him closer to the stools however he seemed not to like the idea. 

"No," Aaron gripped my shoulder and harshly pulling me away from the stools. He turned me away to face him as he placed his hands on either side of my face. I had backed up enough that my back was now pressed against the fridge as Aaron leaned closer. 

"Aaron--" 

"Did you miss me?" He cut me off as he stroked either side of my face. The once endearing movement made me want to cringe away. I didn't like the way he touched me, I felt dirty. 

His breath continued to hit my face the closer he got, I flinched away slightly as I tried moving away from his head however his hands kept me in place.

"Aaron, you stink of alcohol," I spoke through gritted teeth. He was incredibly close to me, his hands still on my face as his nose almost tip to tip with mine. His glance, however, not on my eyes but on my lips as he tilted his head. 

"I missed you." He ignored what I said only to press his lips on mine. While he had gone for an open-mouth kiss, mine were fully sealed. His eyes immediately shut as mine were wide as saucers, my hands instantly pressing against his shoulders to move him away. 

Aaron had moved from my lips to my neck, the spot where Gage had once been in the past twenty-four hours. I cringed when I felt his wet lips on my skin, I wanted nothing more than to push him away but he wouldn't budge. 

"Aaron, stop!" My voice began to crack as I called from him to get off of me. However, all he did was move his hands from my face to my hips as he dug his fingers into the skin that was on show as my shirt had ridden up. 

"I've really missed you." He repeated as he harshly bit into my neck, showing his 'affection'. I yelped, trying harder to push him away. 

"Aaron, stop!" My voice was louder as I began pounding on his shoulders.

Suddenly, he pushed himself off of my neck and gripped both of my wrists harshly to stop me off. I cried out in pain as the grip got tighter and tighter, his eyes narrowing on me. 

"Who the fuck do you think you're hitting?" He spat out, the grip on my wrists as tight as ever while I continued to cry out. 

"Aaron, please! Please, please stop!" I tried yanking my wrists out of his touch but he wouldn't budge. "You're hurting me." 

"And you've hurt me!" He roared, throwing my wrists out of his hands however before I got even get in control of my hands, he had swung his own palm and slammed it down on my cheek, striking me down. 

I cried as I fell down on the marble floor, my shoulder stinging after the impact on the floor. 

"Look what you've fucking made me do! Why did you do that?" Aaron shouted at me, his hands on his knees as he lowered his gaze to me on the ground. It was as if he was scolding a child. 

I stayed on the ground, tears running down my cheeks as I held on to my wrists. My cheek was pressed onto the cold floor, I didn't want to move. I continued to sob and I squeezed my eyes shut as if it could stop Aaron, as if it would just make him disappear. 

"I wanted to love you! I wanted to show you how much you fucking meant to me, this is what you do to me?" Despite my eyes being shut and restricting me from seeing the man in front of me, there was no way I could shut my ears from his voice.

"How dare you hit me when I'm trying to show you how much I care for you! You ungrateful whore!" I felt him grip onto the top of my head, his fingers harshly running through my hair as he pulled me up with force. I screamed in pain, my hands shooting up to where he was holding me as if it would calm the pain but it didn't. 

With one hand gripping my hair and another gripping my chin, I squinted at him from the tears to see him seething at me with such hatred. 

Was this the man I was with? The man that I spent years of my life with? 

"It's because you've been whoring about, haven't you? You don't have the time for me because you too fucking busy giving your time to someone else, isn't it?" He snarled in my face, his eyes darkened in anger. "Well, I'll fucking show you."  

With the grip he had on my hair, he turned my head to the side harshly only to smash with intensity into the fridge behind me. I screamed in pain, my scalp burning from how tight he was holding my hair as well as the added blow of the stainless steel fridge. 

He threw the grip he had on my hair down, causing my head to go down it. Another harsh blow hit me as my head made contact with the ground. 

I sobbed loudly, cradling my head with my hands as Aaron advanced towards me. With his strength, he pulled my body up by my neck before throwing it out of the door of the kitchen and into the hallway, my body hitting the ground. The harsh impact had pain rippling through my entire body as I gasped for air.

"You dumb bitch." Aaron swore from behind me, before sending a kick to my side and causing me to roll on the floor in excruciating pain. 

He was ready to set me into another fit of rolls and tears by kicking me in the side again only to be stopped by a rapid sound of knocking on the front door. 

Through teary eyes, I dared to look at Aaron to see his eyes narrowed at the door, his fists clenching and relaxing over and over again. 

"Who the fuck is that?" He snarled, looking back at me with hatred almost spilling from his eyes with the way it overflowed and then back at the direction of the door. The knocking continued as he bent down to my level. 

"Don't you fucking make a sound, or I'll kill you." He sneered, his fingers roughly trailing down my face as I bit my tongue, nodding my head vigorously. 

Aaron stepped over me and make his way to the front door, disappearing through the hallway. When he was out of sight, I curled in my ball with my eyes tightly shut as I slightly cried. Occasionally I took sharp breaths as I let tears roll down my face, the image of Aaron's angry face not leaving him despite him not being in the room. 

I heard the front door open; 

"Gage, what the fuck are you doing here?"