Part Nine.
A not so typical confession
When Aspen blinked awake the next morning, she was immediately aware of two things: One: this was not her bedroom, nor her bed and Second: she wasn't alone.
Slowly, her head rose from her comfy, warm beating pillow and she gazed down at the man who laid deep asleep beneath her, his legs entangled with hers, his warm arms curled around her frame, effectively holding her against him.
Her eyes skipped over his flawlessly dark brows furrowed slightly in his sleep, perfect nose and slightly swollen strawberry lips, his mane of obsidian hair, spread out on the pillow beneath his head.
'Jeez! Even when he's asleep, he's so handsome' Aspen thought as she continued staring down at Sleeping Soren. The light sunlight was streaming in through the floor to ceiling windows at the other side of the room, providing more than adequate illumination for her continued creepy staring.
Oddly, she couldn't take her eyes of him, neither did she want to, even though she knew she had to leave now, while he was still asleep.
But she couldn't bring herself to do it.
Her mind told her 'the smartest thing to do at this juncture is to grab your shit and disappear' but the tiny voice at the back of her head which she hated, cooed to her that she should stay, cuddle up to his warmth and go back to sleep.
She was torn, so torn infact that she found herself reaching out to stroke his slumbering face. She caught the herself before she did , her traitorous hand curling into a fist.
She had to go, she knew that.
But why was it so hard?
Her thoughts were broken by a familiar shrill ringing.
She jolted to reality and whirled around, looking for the source of the offensive sound. Finally she spotted her purse at the foot of the bed, on top of a mound of clothing and more or less dived for it. Soren groaned and mumbled sleepily as she wrenched open the purse and extracted her phone, putting it to her ear without even glancing at the screen.
"Hello" she hissed lowly
Static met her ears and she cringed inwardly before a familiar voice rumbled through the speaker "Aspen"
The red head gritted her teeth, instantly regretting answering the call "What the hell do you want Caleb? Why are you calling me?"
He didn't answer immediately and heavy breathing filled the phone, to Aspen it sounded like he had just run a marathon or something "Baby please listen to me"
Still holding the phone against her ear, she glanced behind her to check if her bed mate was still infact asleep before throwing her legs over the bed and rising, she stooped to grab at the first item of clothing she came across on the ground, which turned out to be Soren's shirt, and pulled it on deftly "I don't want to listen to anything you have to say Caleb" she hissed, glancing back at Soren before padding from the room.
"Aspen please, just let me explain. That girl, she meant nothing to me"
At that, she rolled her eyes "Please, I have no time for your cliche apology, I thought I made it explicitly clear last night that it's over between us"
"Baby please…" he started but she cut him off, her voice rising
"Stop it! I don't want to hear anything!" sighing, she glanced back at the closed bedroom door she just came from, she knew she had to keep her voice down if she didn't want to wake Soren
Rubbing her brow, she continued "I stayed with you Caleb, for ten years. Even when you treated me like crap, even when your family treated me like crap, I gave up my dreams for you, I gave up everything I held dear just to make you happy, even my own dad…." she paused and sucked in a steeling breath
"I'm tired of being treated like crap, I deserve better, than you, than anyone"
Caleb didn't respond, his breath echoed through the phone, tickling Aspen's ear as she tried to rein in her emotions to continue "You cheated on me Caleb, that I can never forgive."
Suddenly, a bitter laugh sounded. Caleb had finally lost it "You think you're so special huh? I could have cheated on you with a million girls that have better looks but I decided not to, and just this slip up, you're overreacting"
Aspen couldn't believe what she was hearing, how dare he say this to her?
The anger she had been keeping reined in since she heard his voice broke loose and she yelled out "Overreacting?! I'm overreacting?! You son of a bitch! I should have caved your skull in when I had the chance. Fuck you! Fuck your stupid snooty family! Fuck that stupid haircut you have that makes you look like a dildo! Fuck you!"
She sucked in a breath and continued in a lower tone "I should have let Rhys and Soren fuck up your ass, Hell I should have done it myself. You slimy piece of dog crap!"
"Your gonna regret this bitch! You and that piece of crap, faggot friend of yours, even that emo creep, you're all gonna get what's coming for you!"
Aspen paid no heed to his hissed threat and spat out more curses "Fuck off and go screw a goat, you turd"
And with that she hung up.
Heavy silence fell as she leaned heavily on the wall behind her, panting slightly. Anger still raced through her blood, so intensely that her hands shook against her thighs. She felt like punching something or better still punching Caleb
Closing her eyes, she bumped her head against the wall behind her, dissolving into maniac, anger filled giggles "You stupid shit! What the hell did you see in him? Where you blinded by his stupid blond hair or what? You're so dumb"
Aspen raised a fist and knocked against her temple, muttering "Dumb, dumb" as she did.
As she was about to knock on her skull again, a hand held her wrist, preventing her from doing so.
Slowly her eyes opened and she met soulful onyx irises gazing down at her.
Soren
The hand holding her wrist slid upwards and unfurled her fist, entwining his fingers through hers. She watched mystified as he stepped closer, his eyes solely on her. They held this emotion she couldn't decipher but it made her chest tight and the breath in her lungs stop
Slowly, he cupped her face, his thumb brushing over her cheek soothingly. She couldn't speak, at this point she had forgotten how to
His eyes were just too intense
She saw his irises flick down to her lips, the movement so fast she thought she imagined it until he leaned even closer and claimed her lips.
The kiss was soft, different from the ones they shared the night before in the heat of passion. This one…this one was filled with an emotion Aspen couldn't place, something heady and sweet, it made her dizzy, made her legs tremble beneath her form, it made her heart thump hard against her ribcage.
It made the already confusing feelings deep within her much more complex.
His tongue swiped against hers and she melted against him, like icecream on a hot summer day. He was the sun and she was the sticky, sweet residue dripping down to the burning sidewalk.
This felt unreal to Aspen, she had never felt this way before. All her previous anger, shame, regret had all faded away the moment his lips met hers. It was like he was the slave to all her wounds.
Finally, they broke apart and Soren pressed his forehead against hers, his breath coming in harsh puffs. He had woken up to Aspen cursing rather colorfully and had caught the last moments of her conversation with Caleb.
He couldn't express how those few words made him feel. He felt his tightly restrained anger start to buckle and jerk and he wanted nothing than to pound that entitled jerk's face into his skull.
He couldn't believe he would say those words to her, curse at her like that. It was disgusting to witness and Soren couldn't take it anymore.
He was just about to storm up to Aspen, snatch the phone out of her hand and give that idiot a piece of his mind when she cursed him out and hung up. He watched as she leaned against the wall and softly started berating herself, rapping her knuckles against her temples as she did
She shouldn't be the one sad and regretful. Soren felt his heart break watching her do that to herself and he couldn't take it anymore. He needed to show her that Caleb meant nothing, that he was nothing, he needed to show her how valuable she was, not only to him but to everyone who knew her, he needed to show her how much love he had for her, hence the kiss.
The kiss….he poured out his hidden emotions…his entire heart to her, wanting to show her without words just how precious she was. He hoped silently she got it
He hoped….
"You're not an idiot" he breathed out, his voice husky "You're none of those things that retard said you are. You are so amazing and you deserve much more that what you have. Nobody deserves you"
Aspen's heart filled at his words, her tight chest unfurled and she felt light, so light, as if his words had put air in her wings and lifted her out of the pit of despair she was wallowing in. She felt invincible hearing him saying those words
She didn't know what to reply so she just grinned and surged forward, capturing his lips again.