Show a little love 2

Show a little love 2
Aria watched Troy’s eyes go to the chessboard. She smiled, like she always did when he managed to slip a personal question past her. Troy was sweetness itself. The perfect prince nickname was deserved through and through. They never quite got personal exactly, or rather he didn’t, but Troy listened to Aria. He was the voice of reason in her head when she felt like losing her shit. He got into her head somehow, had been working on her for months before she finally broke and told him. About the grief, about the way she wanted to feel Dean’s warm blood on her hands, but mostly about how much she missed her mom’s warmth, Ethan’s stupid grin and her father’s easygoing but strict demeanor. If it really did come down to it, she could do worse than Troy for a king, a partner.

“Regretfully, I do not. I always meant to learn, but I never could quite make myself.”

The truth she was burying, even from herself, was that Aria and Aaron had talked about playing together many, many times. He was supposed to teach her, but they never could quite spare the time to get through a game. Back then, he was trying to stop a war from erupting in his country and she was trying to keep it together about the one happening in Warlanda and Ethan’s frequent trips back and forth to and from Warlanda. It was enough just to hear from him. To know he was safe, alive. They were supposed to have all the time in the world to make him better at chess, for him to teach her, for her to help him find a way to finally best his father without cheating. Aria felt the stabbing pain that she’d buried with the news of the deaths of her family, the realization that he wasn’t coming, creep back up.

Troy wanted to offer to teach her. It was probably time they got to know each other beyond the grief, beyond the war. Aria still hadn’t responded to his proposal, which he had been very serious about. Their countries could only know peace by reuniting with each other as they had with Diane and Ethan’s marriage. She didn’t strike him as the kind of woman who could marry without being in love, though. He had no idea if he could offer her that after Caroline, but he wanted to try. For the first time, it seemed like something she might be open to, like the warmth was returning to her whether she wanted it to or not. This warrior of a woman had lived through enough pain. She deserved to be happy with her king, which he now realized she might not want him to be because there might already be someone else. Did Aria have her own CC? Was he the person that brought her eyes back to life? After losing both of his parents and his brother to the wars, Troy found that the idea of this woman being happy despite all the shit that the Pierce name brought into her life gave him some measure of peace. So he didn’t ask. He let her finish her briefing like always and ended the call. Hopefully, her story would end better than his did.

It started when they got to the castle gates.

“Are you good, Ron?” James asked, concerned.

If he hadn’t been seeing her everywhere before, he sure as shit was now. This place was drowning in memories of her, of them messing around, being stupid, wasting time.

“Of course,” Aaron lied with a grin.

The problem with Aaron was that he was too good of a liar.

“Okay, let’s do it then. She’s hot, right?”

Not good enough to fool his best friend, but obviously Aaron needed to do this. James was with him by his side. No matter what, they would deal with it.

Things didn’t quite go the way they were supposed to. The minute the car stopped, Aaron was out of it, losing himself in her again. He went to the shooting range, wanted to stand where he’d once stood with her. Just as he entered, he watched her leave via an alternate entrance. It wasn’t her, couldn’t be her, he knew, but those flames going down her back looked so real. How could he not go after her even if he was chasing a ghost? He followed her up to her room. It was exactly as he’d left it, like he’d just stepped out for a moment and had come right back. If only that had been the case. If only he came for her a little sooner. If only he never left her. He was so caught up in these thoughts that he only just caught a glimpse of her back as she left the room. This time he followed her out into the courtyard and then she was just gone. Like she had been a million times before. Like she was every time he went after her. He felt a hand clap down onto his shoulder and spun around.

Aria wasn’t ready for him to see her yet. She’d envisioned this moment a million times. Him seeing her all sweaty after hours in the shooting range was not her idea of romantic. She was still mad at him for not coming sooner, for the other woman he had almost replaced her with, but Aria was in love with him. Had always been in love with him. If she had to see him, she at least wanted him to see what he’d left behind in a better state. Maybe, just maybe, this time he’d do better. Maybe this time he’d stay despite everything, despite the war, despite the mess that was her life. Was it possible that even a small part of Aaron Condor still loved her like she loved him? If he did, she’d made a small part into all of him before she could do it again. With juvenile thoughts like these in her head, Aria made her way back up to her room to get ready to receive the princes of Terres Somnia.

“She’s here, James, I know she is! It was different this time. That really was her! It had to be! Let me go!” Aaron screamed, trying to get away from James’ arms.

James took his brother into his arms and held on to him like he had several times since they got to this country. Only this time, Aaron wasn’t shaking it off. He was convinced that she really was here.

His eyes weren’t lying, not this time. Adele was here. Those intoxicating flames, the way she moved, the way he felt when he saw her, the way he just always knew when she was there. All of it. It was her, it really was.

“We’re leaving! This is over! No more!” said James, dragging Aaron back to the car they had arrived in.

After James got Aaron into the car, he felt Aaron just let go. He went completely numb as they went through the motions of getting to the private plane and boarding it. His eyes had glazed over. Aaron had completely checked out. James never should have let this carry on for so long. He was doing the right thing. He needed to take his brother home.

Aria and Keira had had a conversation about boundaries. She never showed up in Aria’s room except to deliver news. No news delivered b
y Keira was ever good.

“He’s not coming, Adele.”