"Margo?", he asks while looking over at me. "Yeah?" I look at him and smile. He looks away again and sighs. "Is something wrong?", I ask and he shakes his head. "No, no. Just eh- You do know that I, eh-" He stops talking. Is he going to say it? Should I let him or should I change the subject while I still can? I don't know what to do. He takes a deep breath and looks at me. "You do know that I li-" He stops talking as someone knocks on his door. I sigh in relieve and watch him stand up to open the door. Thank god he did not finish that sentence.
"Pizza is here!", he yells while he walks to the kitchen with two pizza boxes in his hands. "Want to eat on the couch?" I can hear him grabbing some plates and he walks over to the living room. "Sure, lets eat on the couch.", I answer and he hands me a plate. He sits down and smiles. "Pizza for the princess." I grab a slice of pizza and smile. "Thanks." He smiles, grabs some pizza and leans back. "But, eh- What I was about to say.", he starts again. "Why are you and Alex always fighting?", I ask without giving him a change to let him finish what he wanted to say. He looks at me for a few seconds in silence and then finally answers. "I don't know. I just don't like her that much. She acts like she has it all, but she is just a broken teen. She just assumed you would take her in, as if you don't have anything else to do. And besides that she totally crashed our lunch yesterday." He starts eating his pizza and doesn't even look at me once. "I know she can be a little cocky. But she means it well. Please, try to get along. Even if it's just for me." I hear him sigh and he looks at me. "You know I can't say no to you. That is not fair." I smile at him and say: "I'll ask Alex to stop teasing you. Okay?" He takes a bite and looks annoyed at me. "Fine." he says with his mouth full.
It is currently 10:47PM and I am still at Aiden's apartment. We watched some movies and talked a bit about school and such. The last movie just ended and Aiden stands up and stretches. "That one was good, but it took so long.", he says and walks to the fridge. "Do you want anything to drink?", he asks and I check my phone. "No, thanks. I think I should go home soon." I hear him close the fridge and he walks over to me. "Do you really need to go? It is not that late, yet." He sits down again and looks at me. "I know, but I have Alex at home now too." Actually, Alex would love it if I stayed longer. "Margooo~ We haven't had a sleep over in years. Please?" He puts away his drink and pouts. "Maybe you'll have a nightmare again. Then I can help you right away!" He smiles and grabs his phone. "That's very sweet of you, but I don't even have my pajamas here.". He doesn't even look up from his phone and says: "You can wear something of mine. A t-shirt and some sport pants." He looks up from his phone and smiles. "And Alex doesn't mind it. I just asked her!" I look at Aiden and shake my head. "Hold up. That is unfair. Alex just wants me to sleep over at any guy's house, that way she has my apartment all for herself. I'm more scared of the mess she will make.", I say as a last resort. It is not that I don't want to sleep over. It's just… I don't want to give him false hopes. But it would be kind of nice to have an old-fashioned sleep over again. "Alex promised me to keep your apartment clean. Don't worry, okay?", he says and grabs his drink. "Alright then. But only because we don't have school tomorrow." He smiles bright and stands up. "I'll grab you a shirt and stuff. Let's watch another movie in our pajamas." He laughs as he walks to his room. He is adorable. True. The thing is that I am not sure if I am attracted to women or men. I don't want to try anything in case it ruins the friendship. I can't lose Aiden. Alex is back now, but Aiden never left me even once. I understand that Alex had to move away because her parents wanted to. But Aiden stayed, even when his parents moved. He got an apartment close by and made sure I never felt alone. I can't risk it. Our friendship is too important to me. "Margo? Is this okay?" He walks towards me with a big t-shirt and sweatpants. "Sure, looks good.", I say and stand up. I grab the clothes and go to the bathroom to get changed. The clothes smell like Aiden. It is stupid that I even notice that. I get changed and walk back. Aiden is sitting on the couch already wearing a huge cat jumpsuit. I laugh and sit down next to him. "Let's start the movie!"
I open my eyes and there is dust everywhere again. I stand up and look around. This is the same dream. I run towards the center of the town and look around. Everything is destroyed. No one is to be found. I am all alone with this left over chaos.
"Margo…"
I quickly look around as I heard my name. That was Aiden's voice. I'm sure of it. "Aiden!", I yell as I run around the place. "Margo!" I hear him calling my name, but I don't know where it is coming from. Suddenly I see something move in the corner of the town's diner. Half of it is destroyed, so I can look right into it. On the ground is Aiden. He waves and I run over to him. The closer I get the worse it looks. One of the water pipes in the wall broke and pierces right through his stomach. He smiles weakly as I approach him. "Hello, princess.", he says and coughs. I just stand there looking at him. I don't know what to do. How do I help him… "I am happy to see that-" He coughs hard and spits out some blood. "-That you are alright." I feel my eyes getting teary and I fall down on my knees in front of him. "Princess, don't cry." He moves a bit forward and groans. "You are way too pretty for the sadness on your face now." Again, he coughs and spits out some blood. This time he starts to vomit blood too. "Margo…" He leans even more towards me, making the pipe in his stomach move. He groans deep and moves his hand up towards my cheek. Once my cheek is in his hand and his thumb is wiping away my tears, he smiles. "I love you." His hand slowly lets go of my face and his body falls backwards. I try to move, but I can't. I am frozen and everything starts to get blurry. "Margo!"
I jump up and immediately start crying. I look around and I'm still on Aiden his couch. The blanket that he brought before we went to sleep is also still here. "Margo? Are you alright?" I look beside me and Aiden is sitting on the ground while holding my hand. I have never been so happy to see him. "I- You just-" I try to speak but all I can do is sob. "Margo, it is alright. Calm down first, then you can explain. I will stay right here with you. Okay?" He gets up and sits down next to me. I bury my face in my hands and start sobbing. Waterfalls of tears. I feel Aiden's hand on my back trying to comfort me, That was horrible. But it was fake. Aiden is right here, with me. He is still here. The town is still here. Everything is fine.