It Wasn't Love ✔️

Chapter 20

Ugh. My bed sheets were covered in blood when I woke up. Great. My period was early by a week. I slumped out of bed, before limping to the bathroom.

After taking a shower, fixing up and getting dressed in a cream shirt and beige army trousers, I take the bus to college. It's a weird feeling, going through the gates and there's no one tormenting my every move. It's weird that it felt like a routine to me, and now I feel slightly incomplete without a daily jab from Laura.

It was put until until my free period, that I started to get a cramp. I was crouched over on my chair, trying to revise psychology. Tears prickled in my eyes but I wiped them away. I can deal with the pain, I've been dealing with it for the last six years. Damn, women are so fucking strong.

I yelped when I felt arms around my shoulder. Looking to my side, Jacob was sitting in the chair and his eyes instantly took on a worried stance when he saw my face.

"What's wrong?" He instantly asks, placing his hand on my shoulder.

"I'm leaking." I groan, dropping my head into my arms that were wrapped around my knees.

"Sit on the table." I give him a confused look but oblige.

He swings my legs in front of him and brings my knees up. Now, my feet were on his thighs. Holding onto my arms, he folds them in front of my lower abdomen.

I leaned forward myself, dropping my head into my lap.

"Why didn't you just tell me to sit in the foetal position?" I mumble.

Jacob chuckles a little, rubbing my calf.

"I wanted to make it seem as though I knew my shit." I chuckle before looking up, his face was right in front of mine and I immediately recoiled back.

He clears his throat before standing up and placing my feet in the chair.

"I have to go to football practise."

"Have fun."

"I hope you feel better." He nods his head before squeezing my knee and walking away.

***

When I got home that day, there was a car in the driveway that I didn't recognise. My parents weren't supposed to be home for a couple more weeks so it couldn't be them.

The front door was unlocked when I tried to open it. Entering the house, I scan the landing for anything peculiar. There were two suitcases near the winding stairs and that's when I knew.

My parents are back.

"Mum? Dad?" I called out.

"In the living room!" I cautiously walk towards the living room to see my parents standing the middle.

"Aria, sweetie!" My mum swoons and brings me in for a hug. I awkwardly hug her back and then my father was next.

"Why are you guys home early?" I ask them, trying not to show that I was disappointed.

"The business conference ended a little earlier than expected." Dad says before shrugging his jacket on.

"Where are you going?"

"Where are we going. Dinner."

Mum smiles at me before placing her hand on my arm and walking me towards the stairs.

"Go dress in something... appropriate."

"How is this inappropriate?" Literally every part of my body was covered.

Mum gives my outfit a one over before sighing deeply.

"Fine, but lose the hat." Huffing, I pull of the hat and throw onto the dining table.

I'm glad that I didn't have to change into fancier clothing because that would mean showing my scars, something my parents didn't know I have.

When we left, my parents' personal chauffer had driven us to a fancy restaurant. So yeah, I definitely wasn't dressed appropriately. And that spiked my anxiety tenfold.

But I kept my head down and walked to our table. I had asked my mum to order for me and my parents had fed me bullshit about how proud they were of me and how they're starting to trust me again. I pretended to agree with whatever they were saying.

We left after an hour and my parents had told me that they trusted me enough to start driving again. Fucking finally.

I've had enough of using public transport and, quite frankly, I missed my car.

By the time I got home, it was around six o'clock and I was knackered. I took a shower and fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

***

The ringing of my phone woke me up.

"What the fuck?" I mumbled as I picked up my phone. Jacob.

I rubbed my eyes and answered the phone.

"What time is it?" I mumble into the speaker.

"Shit, did I wake you up? It's midnight."

"You did, but it's okay."

"Are you sure? I can let you sleep-" I cut him off swiftly.

"Seriously, it's okay. I was gonna get up soon anyway." I would probably have gotten about five more hours of sleep before my screeching phone alarm woke me up. "Are you okay?"

"I just wanted to check up on you. I just got back from practise and I didn't know if you were sleeping or not." His voice quivered slightly as he spoke and I wondered if something was wrong.

"Yeah, I'm okay now. Jacob, is everything okay? You sound off."

"I do?"

"Yeah..."

"Really? I didn't know that-" I laugh a little at his attempt of changing the subject.

"Stop trying to change the subject. What's wrong?"

"Nothing... it's just some shit with my brother. It's okay."

"Are you sure? Is he okay?" Concern drips through me and I'm sure that Jacob picks up on it.

"Hey, don't worry. He's okay, he's going through an episode." I hear Jacob sigh through the line and a little bit off rustling.

"And you? Are you okay?"

"I'm not really the main priority right now." He whispers and chuckles lightly.

"That's doesn't mean you're okay." Jacob is silent for a while before he swiftly changes the subject.

"I forgot to tell you, I'm having a Halloween party at my house. I wanted to ask you if you wanted to come but I wasn't sure if you'll be comfortable around so many people, but it's going to be at my house so-" If he didn't want to talk about how he's feeling, that's okay. I never want to talk about my feelings either.

"I think I can make it." I hadn't seen Jacob in a while and it would be nice to see his face again, even if it might be coated in makeup.

"Really? You don't have to if you don't feel comf-"

"I think I'll be fine." I say, and it the the first time that I had meant it.

Hey!

This chapter was me realising that Aria is, in fact, a woman and does, indeed, have womanly problems. Like a period.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter!

I'm going to be taking a break from Wattpad for a while. I have a couple of chapters that have already been written so they will be released but after the 27th, I won't be updating for a while. Sorry for any inconvenience.

-H ⚫️⚪️⚫️⚪️