Sweetheart

56

Lizzie
December 2020

I'm sitting on my bed, staring at the packed bag on the floor with my hands clasped together under my chin.

Aaron is driving me to the airport soon, but I can't wrap my head around the fact that all my problems are about to be solved. Well, most of them, anyway.

I spent the past few days trying to convince Aaron to move in back with his parents now, but he insisted that he wanted to be around me as much as possible this week. If he waited two years, another week wasn't going to change anything. That's what he said to me.

The trial is tomorrow at 8 a.m.
My brain hurts whenever I think about it. I will have to go through those memories again. I have no idea how I'll do it. But I have to. It's time for the world to know who that son of a bitch really was.

A knock sounds in the room. I lift my eyes and find Aaron standing in the doorway with an encouraging smile. "We should get going."

I nod, standing up. "I'm ready."

———

I'm quiet during the drive to the airport. Aaron holds my hand all the time, but I am incapable of forming a sentence. Even when he walks me to the jet my parents sent for me, I don't know what to say.

He understands, though. He pulls me in for a hug, holding my head and resting his chin on top of it. "You're gonna be okay, sweetheart. You can do this," he tells me. "I'm proud of you. Hmm? Okay? And I love you. I'm here."

I take a deep breath, focusing on his heartbeat and his scent. "Thank you."

He pulls back, and seeing him smile gives me courage. "You've got this." He kisses me, careless of the plane crew spying on us from the windows.

I take one more moment to feel his touch, and then I step back. I get on the plane, remembering that the last time I was on one was when I got here, pretending to be a normal girl who definitely doesn't own a private jet.

I sit down and glance outside to wave at Aaron. But he's not there. I furrow my brows, and I hear one Stuart complain about something. I look in the direction from which the complaint is coming, and find Aaron on the plane.

I widen my eyes and walk up to him. "What are you doing?"

He sighs. "I'm coming with you. I won't let you do this alone."

I pull my brows together. "What? Aaron, no, you can't. You gotta go to school, and you have to tell Grace and your mom and... Aaron, you don't even have clothes with you. You can't just—"

"Yeah, I can. And I will. I'll figure the rest out later."

"But—"

"Come on. We have to go."

I blink at him. The crew looks at me, not knowing what to do. I bob my head. "He's coming with us."
Aaron smiles.

———

I didn't miss L.A. at all.
The temperature is so different from Fernie's. And the people... So many people. I forgot how crowded big cities are. I got used to living in a small town.

For Aaron, though, this is all new. The traffic, the loud sounds... He looks like he's about to have a heart attack every time the driver hits the brakes.

It feels weird being in a car that isn't driven by the man who's always been behind the wheel ever since I was a child. Our new driver, Thomas, is probably in his mid-forties and knows nothing about me.

"So," Aaron breaks the uncomfortable silence. "I'm gonna meet your parents."

"You are," I confirm. "If you expect them to be assholes, brace yourself because they'll be worse."