The Fate Of Broken Hearts

Chapter 42

Birthdays aren't usually something I look forward to. I always found that there were always too many expectations placed on people to give the perfect gift or plan the perfect party. All of this, though, was bearable. Being the recipient of the planning and gifts, however, was a totally different story.

Twenty years ago, I was born. And no matter how many birthdays I've had, they've never gone the way that dreamy wonderful birthdays should. Whether it was filled with fights and screams or I spent the day in my room crying, I always felt the same. Alone.

As a result, I never allowed myself to expect a day full of celebrations or people around a birthday cake singing a song. I never told anyone about it, so that made things easier. William only found out as a product of his deliberate manipulation, which led me to unintentionally giving him my birth details.

I always felt a heavy absence that carried behind me like a ball and chain tied to my feet. And as I walked, that ball became bigger when I learned that Aiden was not coming at all. He hadn't called. He hadn't texted. He just left.

Will was even angrier than me about it, cursing him in all the flavors and colors.

I didn't understand why Aiden suddenly disappeared. One moment we were in my apartment where I sat at my desk and listened to my music through headphones, and he was on my bed, reading one of my books. All afternoon we hadn't said a word due to the obligations of my studies until he crawled to the edge of my bed and asked what I was listening to. I knew he had been curious by the way I caught his eyes on me multiple times, but I didn't think he'd want me to play the song for him considering it was one of his conditions.

He insisted, and so I pulled out the cord connected to my laptop and hit the play button, watching as his warm smile faded to the notes of the piano strumming in the air.

The white surrounding the beautiful calm of grey in his eyes turned red and shiny, bouncing off the walls fervently. His muscles contracted under his shirt, defining the stress with the tanned shades of his skin. In mere seconds, he was making excuses and leaving. I went after him, asking him what was wrong and what I had done, and still, he continued to storm out of my apartment and drive off in his car.

Every time I called, I received his voice mail. Every time I sent a text, I received silence and the infuriating word 'delivered'.

I spent the entirety of the following day just trying to reach him through his friends, worrying if he was okay and stressing about the horrible thing that I must have done for him to leave as such.

I didn't even realize it was my birthday until I got an incoming call from my mother and Mark, shrieking a happy birthday. I still hadn't told her about Aiden and me, but it was definitely the wrong time to do that now, so I was going to wait until the man I had begun a relationship with wasn't missing.

My father and Kate also called in the late afternoon. My father put Gabe on the phone and he read me another poem that he had been working on for weeks, which turned out even better than the last one he made.

Kate notified me that Arthur and James also wished me a happy birthday. She brought up Aiden, asking about everything that happened after we left the library the other day, but I made up some excuse and ended the call after thanking them all for their best wishes.

Will faced me with a noticeable frown he didn't bother hiding.

My worry and stress eventually dissipated and formed into a thick frustration in my chest that knotted at the pit of my stomach.

Will helped take the feeling away for a while. He stayed and watched some of my favorite movies. He even got me the book I mentioned weeks ago as a present, along with a bookmark that didn't only save the page, but also the exact line I left on.