Hold My Hand?

You Are My Everything

Aiden's P.O.V.

   The photo shoot finished quickly and was easy in every way. Sierra was amazing. It was like she had done it a thousand times. I couldn't stop staring at her, and when she left, my eyes drifted to the pictures. She was a drug and I was the addict. Suddenly, I felt a tap on my shoulder. Turning around, I saw that it was Dean.
     "Mr. Marino, I was wondering if we could have another business meeting tonight to discuss the photo shoot in 2 days. I'm still finding some miscommunications." He told me. I looked back at the camera, before looking at Dean.
     "I'm sorry Dean, but I can't. I have plans that I need to take care of. How about dinner tomorrow?" I responded. Dean nodded and walked away. I sighed and began packing up everything I had. After packing, I brought it to my car and Adam was getting in his own.
     "Seeing your lovely lady tonight, instead of having a business meeting are you now?" He asked teasingly. I blushed.
     "Whatever. I'll see you later Adam." I said and got in my car, driving away. I saw Sierra arguing with Dean and I wondered why. I shook my thoughts away and drove to the hotel Sierra was staying at.
   After I arrived, I parked my car and entered the hotel. I walked over to the bar. Sitting down, I ordered a shot glass and took it. I needed to clear my head before asking Sierra if she'd go out with me so I could talk to her. I'm not sure how long I was at the bar, drinking a martini, when Sierra walked in with an angry Dean by her side. I cocked my head to the side as I noticed Sierra was also upset. I could only wonder why.
     "I'm going to my room. You behave." He ordered her. Sierra rolled her eyes.
     "Whatever you say dad." She mocked and turned towards the bar. Sierra stopped dead when she saw me. She shook her head quickly and walked slowly towards the table. Sitting down next to me, she ordered a Bloody Mary. "Hey." She said quietly, unsure if what to say. Honestly I was shocked she said something to me.
     "Hey." I responded. "Um, I wanted to know if you would have dinner with me. I need to talk to you about something." I told her awkwardly. She licked her lips absently.
     "What would we talk about?" Sierra's voice was quiet and barely audible.
     "You know what." She sighed at my answer. Looking up at the ceiling, she nodded. I felt a surge of happiness course through my body. "Really? You're sure?" Her head snapped to mine, a teasing smile sported on her face.
     "Don't make me change my mind." She teased. I smiled and helped her off the stool. We quickly paid the bartender and left. "Where are we eating?" She asked me.
     "Angelos. It sounds good and I think you'll really like it." I responded.
     "Italian?" I nodded at her question. "You haven't forgotten me completely."
     "Even if I left, that doesn't mean I forgot your favorite food. Italian was like all you ever ate. Except for the steak your dad made once and awhile." Sierra laughed and got in my car and I got in, and began driving towards the restaurant. We sat in silence, not knowing what to say. Time passed quickly, and we arrived. I got out, then opened the door for her. She got out and looked around at her surroundings. "Come on." I brought her in and we were given a seat.
     "So?" She asked. I sucked in a breath and began my speech.
     "I'm so sorry. More than I could ever be. I know I should have contacted you or visited you or something to show that I still cared. But though it may seem that I didn't, I did. You were the first thing I thought of in the morning and the last thing I thought of before I went to bed. Sometimes I regretted leaving you because I loved you so much. But I had to leave. My parents wanted me to take part of the business even if Rafael would be running it. But I didn't want to, and I knew I would be miserable. Photography was my passion and what I wanted to do, but they wouldn't have any of that. I just had to go. I didn't say why or what I would do. I only said the state I was leaving to. I just needed to disappear and get out of that awful life. I didn't want to leave you, but my parents left me no choice."
     "Why didn't you tell me? I would have gone with you. I would have packed my bags, and left with you. We could have been together. Or you could have contacted me. You changed your number so I had no way of contacting you." Sierra demanded. She was angry and I knew it.
     "I couldn't let you leave your life! You needed to finish school and your parents would have murdered me if I let you leave. At 17 no less." I argued. "Sierra I care about you too much to get you involved in my mess of a life."
     "You hurt me so much Aiden. I spent my first few days crying, sobbing, in my room. You were gone. I thought you hated me. Before I could always lean on you, but now I can't. I ended up believing every-" Sierra immediately shut her mouth in a tight line.
     "Believing what? Sierra tell me exactly what happened? I know something happened to you, because your modeling instead of designing. Now tell me what happened." She looked stuck. Like she didn't know whether she should talk or not.
     "I started believing the media. When they would say something mean or rude about me, I believed it. When they said I was gaining weight, I believed it. When people said I was a brat or a bitch, I believed it. I believed everything. People started telling me what they thought I should do and I'd do it. The media suggested this job so I did it. When my parents asked something of me, I always did it. I never stopped doing what others wanted. I lost weight, lost confidence, lost moral dignity. Because you weren't there for me. You were here having a great life, while people criticized me for anything and everything that I did."
   My face dropped. I felt pale as a ghost. My amazing Sierra lost every ounce of confidence and strength because I wasn't there to help her. I couldn't help her know that she was more than what those people thought. Sierra has always depended on me, but ever since I left, she couldn't defend herself.
     "Sierra, I can't explain how sorry I am. I can't tell you how upset I am with myself. How angry I am. I can't believe I did that to you. If I could take it all away I would. I would in a heart beat. You have to believe me on that." I tried my hardest to show her how sorry I was. Sierra responded with a sad smile,
"Aiden, I get your sorry. And I want to forgive you. You mean to much to me. I can't imagine hating you forever. Yes, for awhile I hated you, but I got over it. But, I don't know how much I mean to you." She looked down at the table and my eyes went wide. I held her hand and looked her in the eyes.
"Sierra, you mean everything to me. You always have. I never wanted to leave you, but I needed to. If I could have avoided it, then I would have. You are my best friend." She smiled and out her other hand in mine, squeezing it.
"You have no idea how happy that makes me." She whispered.
"So you forgive me?" Sierra nodded. "I wanted to ask you something. Do you think we can start over? Forget everything that happened between us." She shook her head this time.
"We can't Aiden. We can't pretend nothing has happened between us. We have memories I'm not ready to forget. And we can't act like those 5 years didn't happen. They added hardship, yes, but in some way, it helped us realize how much we need each other." I sighed and stared at Sierra. She was right. We can't just pretend nothing had ever happened between us.
"You're right. But we're good, right?" She smiled, bit her lip, and nodded. I yelled and ran to hug her. Sierra laughed and hugged me back. I coughed and back away. "Um, thanks." I said in a deep voice. She chuckled and hugged me.
"Let's leave?" She asked looking around. I followed her gaze and several people were staring at us. I placed the check on the table along with a tip and left with Sierra. We drove away and enstérer the hotel.
"Thanks by the way. For forgiving me." I thanked her. Sierra looked at me and smiled.
"It's not like I couldn't. You are my everything." And she kissed my cheek and walked away. That night, I couldn't sleep. I felt like I was floating. In the end, the only sleep I got was 3 hours.

Yeee! Ok I'm loving this and I can't wait to continue it. I will type soon.
~Marissa-Meyer-Fan 🤪