Sweetheart

39

Lizzie
November 2020

It's about four in the morning when I wake up in Aaron's empty bed. We went to sleep about six hours ago, curled up and holding each other, and now his side of the mattress is cold and the bedsheets are all on me.

I squint my eyes a little, still trying to wake up enough to understand what's going on around me. I sit up, shivering as the cold hits my body. Quickly, I wear a pair of fuzzy socks and pull over my head the sweater Aaron always keeps on the headboard of his bed.

I'm all for sexy pj's, but when it's November and you're in Canada no one can keep me away from long pants and a long-sleeved shirt. Warm over sexy.

I look for my phone, but when I find it there are no texts from Aaron, telling me of his whereabouts in the middle of the night. Sighing, I unhappily get out of bed and head for the door, intending to go wake up Grace and tell her that Aaron's kind of missing.

Instead, as I'm taking the first steps ahead, a noise from outside reaches me. It's the sound of metal against metal, and I instantly know that it comes from the gym machines that are kept in the garage.

Gathering all my patience, I wear some shoes and quietly walk down the stairs. I grab one of the coats hanging on the hanger and wear it before opening the door to go outside. As soon as I take a step, the cold hits me.

Burying my face in the sweater and using my hair to cover my ears, I quickly run towards the garage. I will personally kick Aaron's ass for making me go outside at 4 a.m. in fucking November.

I open the door and close it, thankful for the slight warmth that welcomes me. I slowly ease a sigh, letting a shiver run down my spine and then back up.

When I raise my eyes, I find Aaron lying on the bench, lifting some weights, wearing only his sweatpants and a black t-shirt. He has earbuds in his ears, so that explains why he isn't already telling me that I shouldn't be here.

I grab his phone from where it's resting on a shelf. He's just started listening to Often by The Weeknd. I remove the Bluetooth so that the music is filling the room.

Aaron sets down the weights and sits up, heavily breathing as he checks his earbuds, confused. He turns towards the phone, where the music is still playing, and tilts his head when he sees me.

"Interesting music taste," I tell him, breaking the ice.

He chuckles, although his breathing is still short, and runs a hand through his damp hair. "And hello to you too," he ironically says, resting his hands on his thighs.

I walk up to him with my arms folded, scowling. "Do you know what time it is?"

"Hmm," he hums, looking me up and down with a smirk. I hate how good he looks, with his hair a mess and his muscles all flexed. "You look good with my clothes on."

"Shut up. What are you doing here?" I ask him, looking down at him with a serious face. He stares at my grimace, grins, and slowly rises to his feet, towering over me.

He lifts my chin with his finger, slightly inching his head down. "God, you're beautiful." I roll my eyes and try to move my head to free myself from his grip, but he forces me to look back at him. "Going somewhere?"

I look more into his green eyes and see the slightly redder eyeballs. I frown. "Are you high?"

"Just a little," he murmurs, eyes fixated on my mouth.

"You're working out while being high? How stupid can you be?" I scold him, finally moving out of his grasp. "It's dangerous."

Aaron shrugs, finally putting away his earbuds, although not stopping the music. We're on some other The Weeknd's song, but I'm too busy looking at him to know what it is.