The Other World

2.

,,Aaron!?"

,,You can't stay out of trouble, can you?" He asked me with a nervous smile.

I walked towards him and slapped him. Hard.

,,Ouch... But I guess I deserve it."

,,You idiot! You were out here all this time and didn't even bother coming back!? Do you know how worried everyone was!? How worried your friends were? How worried your aunt was? How worried I was!? How did you even manage to hide for so long? We've been searching for you for weeks! And what even are you wearing?"

All the emotions I have been bottling inside were now coming out. I couldn't hold back the tears and the sobs that were coming out.

,,What? No 'thank you' for saving your life?" There he is. This cocky side of him he only let out when he didn't want to talk about something.

,,You are not changing the subject! Why didn't you come back!?"

He looked at the ground and took a deep breath. Only when he looked up did I notice the troubled look in his eyes.

,,I wanted to, believe me, I did. There was not even one minute I haven't thought of that. But I couldn't. I don't expect you to understand why, I just need you to understand I was protecting you."

As I was already in front of him, I just started hitting his chest as hard as I could repeatedly.

,, You idiot! I hate you!" I said, not having any plans to stop hitting him.

,,Hey hey hey! Stop! Ouch, Lia STOP!" He shouted, grabbing my arms and holding them by my side.

I pulled my hands from his grip and pulled him in a bone crushing hug.

I just didn't know what to do anymore. I was mad at him that he didn't come back, even if he was this close. But I was also incredibly happy and relieved that he was here. He wasn't dead.

,,You need to calm down..." He whispered, hugging me back.

I let go of him and sat under one of the trees, still looking at him in shock and disbelief.

•°•°•°•°•°•

,,Try me." I said, my voice a little hoarse from all the yelling and crying.

,,What?"

,,You said I wouldn't understand the reasons you didn't come back. Try me."

He took a deep breath and let it out.

,,Come on." He said, holding out his hand for me to stand up.

•°•°•°•°•°•

,,Aaron, we've been walking for half an hour!"

,, Actually, we have only been walking for 10 minutes, Lia. You really need to get in shape." He said with a small chuckle

,,Are we close?"

,,A little more"

We haven't stopped walking since I stood up, and I was getting tired. Aaron was right. We did only walk for about 10 minutes, but I don't even have the a of the athlete in my genes. I don't know how I ran away from that thing that was chasing me. Adrenalin really does make you do incredible things.