Pretend (47 page)

             
"Oh
,
there was definitely that too," he said as he gently kissed me again.

             
"Now, go get ready," he said.

             
"Ready? We're going out?" I asked with a puzzled face.

             
"My lips are sealed," he said as he walked into the living room.

             
"But what do I need to wear?" I asked as I peered into the living room.

             
"Anything," he said as he shrugged his shoulders.

             
"I don't want to under dress," I said with my hands on my hips.

             
"April, you look good in everything you wear, now go," he said with a smile on his face.

             
"Fine," I giggled before running up the stairs.

             
I had to admit that I was more than a little bit excited to see what the surprise was. Aiden just keeps me on my toes and it's really quite interesting.

             
After trying on at least ten different outfits, I finally decided to go casual. I looked over my outfit in the mirror and smiled. I had picked my black, skinny jeans, red shirt and my flat red shoes. I wore my hair up today as it was still quite warm
outside
.
 

             
Getting ready also gave me some time to think about Jake. I decided that it was probably not a good idea to meet up with him, so I text him saying that I don't think that we should meet after all and he still hasn't replie
d. Maybe he's upset, who knows.
Honestly I was too excited about what Aiden had planned that it didn't really matter right now.

             
"Hey," I said as I walked into the living room.

             
"You look beautiful," he said as he stood to his feet and walked towards me.

"T
hanks."

             
"So, you ready?" He asked as he took hold of my hand.

Nodding my head I let him lead me to the garden...Wait the garden?

             
"I thought
that
we were going out?" I asked in a confused tone.

             
"Well we are, kind of," he said with a smirk on his face.
It was only when I stepped into the garden that I understood what he meant.

             
I couldn't get the smile off of my face as I took everything in.

             
"You did this for me?" I asked excitedly.

             
"Well with a little help from Ant, yeah," he said as he slipped his hand around my waist.

             
"Aiden, it's so cool," I said as I smiled at him.

             
At the bottom of the Daniels' garden they had a guest house. He had completely decorated it in a way that it mirrored Danny's Diner. It was covered in little lights, had a red carpet path and even had a sign reading Danny's Diner. It wasn't a trip to Paris or a proposal on top of the Eiffel tower but it was perfect and I loved it.

             
"I just figured that since your date kind of got ruined, maybe you'd want a second shot at it?" He asked in what appeared to be a nervous voice.
Aiden, nervous?
 

             
"I think it's a great idea," I said as I watched the smile spread across his face.

             
"Ok, well then why don't you step inside," he said with a smirk on his face.

             
"Ok," I said as I allowed him to lead me inside by my hand.

I gasped.

             
"How did you do this?" I asked with a smile on my face.

             
"Well I figured that Danny's Diner wasn't really Danny's Diner if you didn't have Danny's food and he owed me a favour," he said as he sat me down on the chair to the left with a smirk on his face.

             
"You actually remembered the meal
that
I have," I said, looking up at him.

             
"It's your favourite," he said as though I was crazy for asking.

Wow.

             
"There's dessert too, since you never got it yesterday," he said as he looked into my eyes
,
smiling.

             
"You really didn't have to do all of this," I said as I put my hand on top of his.

             
"I know but I wanted to," he said with a more serious face.

I knew that he still felt guilty about yesterday.

             
"It's perfect. Thank you," I said as I smiled at him.

* * *

             
Once we had finished at 'Danny's Diner' we decided to play a few rounds of Mario cart which Aiden won, unfortunately. Then I sort of forced him to watch Twilight.

             
"Ok, so I'm going to explain this one more time," I said as I paused the
DVD
for like the third time tonight.

             
"His family are the
Cullen
s
,
they call themselves vegetarians because they only feed on animal blood," I explained, yet again.

             
"Well they can't exactly call eating animals being vegetarian," he said with a smirk on his face.

             
"Yeah well it's vegetarian to them, they don't eat humans," I said in a frustrated tone.

             
"Well I still think
that
it's a bit weird," he said as he let out a slight chuckle at the sight of my frustration.

             
"Just be quiet so that I can watch this bit," I said as I clicked the play button and continued watching Charlie and Edward sit at the table uncomfortably, waiting for Bella to come down the stairs in her dress.

             
As I tried to get into the film again, I couldn't because I could feel eyes on me.

             
"Why are you staring at me?" I asked.

             
"I can't
help it, I told you, you're cute
when you're mad," he said with a smirk on his face.

             
"No,
me
being annoyed is not cute
," I said as I tried not to smile.

             
"It is," he replied.

             
"It's not," I mumbled as I kept my eyes on the TV.

             
"Is," he whispered.

             
"Isn't," I grumbled.

             
"Is," he said as he let out a slight laugh.

             
“I can do this all night Aiden.”

             
“Me too and I always win,” he said with a smirk on his face.

             
"Whatever.
Isn't."

             
"Is."

             
"Isn't
.
"

             
"Is
.
"

             
"Isn't," I shouted as I turned my head around to face him.

             
He of course caught me totally off guard with a kiss.
 

             
"Is," he whispered as he gently pulled away from me to smile.

             
“Told you that I’d win,” he said as he continued to smile.

             
"Who cares, just kiss me," I said as I realised how much I was missing his kiss already.

             
"Yes ma’am," he said in a southern accent before kissing me again.
I couldn't help but smile. I had no way to describe how Aiden made me feel but it was amazing.

             
This night was what I could only describe as perfect, right up until the point that the living room door swung open and she walked in...

"Caitlyn?"
Both Aiden and I
sang in unison.

             
"How did you get in?" Aiden asked as he stood up and stared her in the eyes.

             
"The door was open," she said through her tears.

             
"Have you been crying sweetheart?" I asked as I took a step towards her and let her fall into my arms.

             
"It's ok, come and sit down," I said in a worried voice.

             
"Did he put his hands on you?" Aiden asked in an angry voice.

             
"I'm going to kill him!" He said as he began
pacing
up and down.

             
"Calm down, just
give
me a minute," I said in a gentle tone.
I watched as Aiden stormed out of the door, leaving me to cuddle Caitlyn to my chest.
When I knew that she had settled
,
I lifted her chin gently so that I could look directly into her eyes.

             
"So
,
how did you get here angel?" I asked in a gentle tone.

             
"I walked," she whispered.

             
"Oh gosh, Caitlyn that was dangerous sweetie, please don't ever do that again. So what happened?" I asked as I looked down at her innocent
,
twelve year old face.

             
"Dad hit her again," she said in a calm voice.

             
"Who?
Kate, I mean your mom?"

             
She nodded her head to say yes.

             
I let out a gentle sigh before opening my mouth again.
 

             
"Where is your mom now?" I asked in a worried tone.

             
"At home I think, I just ran out of the house and came here. I did knock but no one came and the door was open," she said in a guilty voice.

             
"
It's
ok angel, it's ok. Let's get you some hot cocoa, yeah?" I said as I led the way to the kitchen.
She nodded her head as a big smile crept onto her face at the mention of cocoa.

             
"Come on then," I said as I slipped her hand into mine and took her into the kitchen.

             
I knew that I needed to calm Aiden down but right now my attention was focused more on Caitlyn and making sure that she was ok. I felt bad knowing that Caitlyn being upset would bring back memories of when Aiden's dad used to hit his mom. It was a memory that we all struggled to get rid of. I used to love coming to the Daniels'
house
as a child but not when their dad was around, he scared the life out of me. We never told anyone about the violence of course, not at first, we wouldn't dare. He never hit
Crystal or Aiden but when he drank and became violent it was impossible to know how far he would go each time. I guess that the last stra
w was when a woman called Kate turned up with her
six year old
daughter,
Caitlyn
,
asking if Susan was the other woman. It turned out that
Aiden’s dad had been having an affair as well as being violent to both Susan and Kate. N
either of them knew about the other one
, so they were both just as shocked
.
Once
Susan
learnt that as well as being violent, her husband was also having an affair and had a secret child with another woman she
finally had the strength to kick him out that day
. Sadly
Kate always feared him
and so she forgave him,
took him back
and lived with the violence
. A decision that I'm sure, she has lived to regret.