Though We May Fall {An Aphmau AU}

The Perfect Moment

**Aphmau's POV**

      After walking for about fifteen minutes, we arrived at the first place Katelyn had wanted to take us. It was our old elementary school, Phoenix Drop Elementary. It looked the same as ever, the old stone covered in ivy and the playground barely visible behind the trees.

    "I remember this place." I sighed, leaning against Katelyn, who had her arm around my shoulders. She grinned, poking me in the side. I squirmed away from her, giggling. I skipped ahead to the steps, running my hands over the railings as I walked up the smooth stone steps.

     "You aren't Elsa!" Jeffory called out, earning some laughs from the girls. I turned back and stuck my tongue out at him. He returned the gesture, and we both laughed.

     "If you remember, this was the first place we met." Aaron, joining me at the top of the steps, looked down by the flagpole where Katelyn was arguing with Lucinda. "Right over there, by the flagpole, you ran into me and I helped you up." I raised an eyebrow at him, folding my arms over my chest.

     "I'm pretty sure you ran into me while running away from Jeffory." He rolled his eyes, a smirk crossing his face.

     "I don't know. I'm not sure if I can trust your memory..." I scoffed, smacking his arm. He laughed, grinning down at me. "But we have had so many memories here. Especially at the playground. That's where all of us first met up, a week or so after I saved your stuffed animal from Gene."

     "Still sorry about my jerk brother by the way," Dante called, grinning sheepishly. I rolled my eyes at him, jumping down the steps and landing next to him.

    "But we never would've met if not for him." He smiled at me, and I reached up and ruffled his dark blue hair. "Come on! I want to play on the playground!" I started running towards the back of the school, and Nana raced to beat me. The two of us ran and laughed like we were back in kindergarten, as close as we ever had been.

    When the rest of our friends caught up, Nana and I were on the swings, going back and forth and feeling taller than ever. Travis hopped on a swing as well, as did Cadenza. We all hung out there for about half an hour before Katelyn convinced us to get going.

    "There are other places I want to go, and some of us have things we need to do tomorrow!" Katelyn grabbed the chain of my swing, causing me to slow down. I pouted, dragging my feet in the sand. Travis smirked, looking at Katelyn.

    "There's a million things I haven't done!" He shouted, jumping off of the swing halfway down, landing on the mulch. Katelyn rolled her eyes, a small smile crossing her lips.

    "But just you wait." She finished. Shaking her head, she grabbed my hand and pulled me off of the swing. "Come on, let's go!"

    Katelyn took us several places throughout the city, and each new location brought more and more memories back to me. Slowly, I was starting to recover the time my dad had stolen from me. Speaking of my dad, I hadn't talked to him in over six months. Part of me felt like I was a terrible daughter, but the other part of me was proud of myself. I had finally stood up for what I wanted instead of letting him push me around like I was a puppet he could control. Also, deep down, I felt like he had been behind my not getting into PAA. I deserved to be here, I felt. I had tried and practiced and worked so hard, that not getting into this school for two years had started to tear me apart from the inside. And it wasn't the only thing doing that either. Again, it was his fault that-

    "Aph?" My thoughts were interrupted by Aaron saying my name. I looked up, giving him half a smile. "What's up? You looked down." A slight frown caused his forehead to crease just a little bit.

    I let my smile spread, banishing the dark thoughts to another day. "Oh, nothing!" I responded cheerfully, trying to make him believe me. "Come on! Look, there's the green!" I grabbed his wrist and pulled him after me, heart secretly pounding. Out of all the people here, Aaron's the last person I want finding out. Not because I don't trust him, but because he would want to help and would only end up making things worse. Irene, sometimes it felt like he a big puppy falling over his paws all the time.

    For about an hour or so, the fourteen of us sat on the green, talking and reliving the past. When things like this happened, I could see the children we used to be. We were no longer young adults, but kindergarten through third graders, innocent and believing that we would spend the rest of eternity with each other. How wrong we were.

    Around ten o'clock, we were all sitting in a circle, our phones in the center with the flashlights facing up, giving us the ability to see each other ever so faintly. A voice broke our peace. "Aaron, I didn't expect to see you out here." I turned around, as did the rest of the group not facing that direction.

    A young woman with brown hair and golden eyes stood behind Aaron, her full lips turning up in a smile. I knew immediately that I liked her.

    Aaron turned around, surprised for a moment before relaxing. Even in the dark, I could see his eyes roll. "I do have friends you know." He looked back at us, shaking his head slightly. "This is my sister Melissa." He explained once noticing my confusion. "Melissa, you know everyone, right? Oh, and this is Aphmau. Remember her?" Melissa looked around the group, smiling and giving a friendly wave to her brother's friends. Then she looked at me, and I could tell she was grinning when I saw the whites of her teeth.

    "Oh, I remember you! You were my little brother's best friend. You know, he really wasn't the same after you left." Suddenly I was glad of the dark. No one could see me blush.

    "S-Shut up Melissa." Aaron reached out and flicked her shin, causing her to laugh. Zane also laughed, and by the sound of it, he was going to try to embarrass one of us.

    "Did you stutter Aaron? I thought only Garroth stuttered." Zane laughed again, as did Laurance.

    "Well, he is the Stutter King." Laurance grinned cheekily, earning a smack from Garroth.

    "Oh shut up you two! I don't stutter!" Vylad smirked, leaning against his brother.

    "Sorry to break it to you bro, but you do stutter. Especially around girls you like." Vylad winked, and Garroth shoved him off. I could clearly see the beet-red shade his face was at the moment. He stutters around me... My face flushed as well, and I could tell by the way Katelyn was trying to contain her laughter that she knew what I had just discovered.

    "Anyway," I turned back to Melissa, smiling, "it's been a pleasure talking to you." She kept on grinning.

    "Likewise. Anyway, Aaron, call me tomorrow, okay? I have something I need to talk to you about. I should get going, as should all of you." She winked, turning and waving as she walked back home. "See you, bro!"

    Once she was gone I looked at Aaron. "I like her." He laughed, rising to her feet.

    "Sorry about her. But she is right. Katelyn, didn't you say you had something to do tomorrow?" He looked pointedly at her, and she sighed.

    "Yeah... well, it's been a lot of fun guys. We need to do this more often. Let's start walking," And just like that, our perfect night was over. But it had been fantastic.