Aelin had laid he soul bare to them both, it felt like a weight had been lifted of her shoulders and she sagged in to the chair as relief washed over her, Rowan had refreshed her coffee and she had managed to pry her hands out of their grip so she could take a sip. A silence had fallen over them but it wasn't awkward. She still needed to think about her next move and they needed time to process what they had just learned. She couldn't help but feel guilty for dumping all this information on them like this. She turned to Aedion whose face was showing a mixture of emotions but the one that shone through was guilt.
"Aedion, don't blame yourself. What happened wasn't your fault it was the hand that I was given by fate, there was nothing anyone could have done even if they wanted to." She placed her hand on his shoulder as she spoke to him gently. He nodded as he turned to look her in the eye; she smiled at him, and took another sip of her coffee. The shaking had stopped and her pounding heart had finally settled down.
"So what are you going to do now?" Rowan finally spoke; they both turned to him shocked as he had been so quiet.
"And I was starting to think an invisible cat stole your tongue." Aelin chuckled to herself, but the laughter was not shared; both Aedion and Rowan shot her a stern glare but Rowan was the first to speak.
"This isn't the time for joking around Aelin, what are you going to do?" His voice was low but it sent butterflies fluttering in her stomach when he spoke like that.
She put her head in hands when a soft voice came from behind her.
"Can't we just got to the police?" Rowan, Aedion, and Aelin jumped and turned around to see Manon, Lysandra and Dorian looking at them.
"How long have you been awake?" Aedion asked as his heart slowed back down.
"We heard everything" She said even softer looking Aelin with tears in her eyes.
Aelin smiled, she got up and walked over to Lysandra and gave her a comforting hug. Then she walked over to the window and looked outside. She needed to think to work out what she was going to do; she couldn't run away because it would put her friends at risk.
"I'm going for a walk." She said grabbing her coat and headed out the door before anyone could voice their objections...
The room fell silent and everyone shifted in their seats.
"I'm going after her" Aedion said standing up to get his things,
"Let her have some space, she's just opened up some old wounds, and laid everything bare. She needs time to process as do we." Rowan said from his seat, his words made Aedion sink straight back to his chair. He hated to admit it but Rowan was right, he was desperate to help his cousin but he didn't know how, he grew up in a happy household with friends and family around him, he didn't know the rules of the street, he looked around the room at his childhood friends and could see they were all thinking the same as he was. Eventually Manon broke the silence.
"Come on guys" She pulled herself of the couch and stretched, she pulled both Lysandra and Dorian from their seats.
"What?" Aedion asked confused.
"She's one of us now; she has been from the moment she stepped into the gym the first time we met her, she needs to know that she doesn't have to do this alone and that we have her back. Otherwise she is going to be so worried looking out for all of us that she is going to start being careless" Manon was just saying what they were all thinking, Aedion grabbed his keys and his phone, but noticed her phone was on the coffee table in front of the couch.
"She's left her phone" Aedion pointed out.
"I know where she is" Rowan said as he was already over the threshold of the apartment.
The all walked into the gym and there she was beating the hell out of the punching bag, she had changed into her gym clothes her golden hair braided and her scars were out on show for the world to see. She looked different, moved differently to when she had fought Aedion; her moves were more graceful and lethal no one could take their eyes of off her she was a completely different person.
Aelin continued her flurry of attacks at the punching bag, she hadn't worked this hard for a very long time and her unbound knuckles had spilt and sweat was running down her face.
"You keep that up and you're going to damage your hand." Wesley said from the shadows.
"You're meant to be following me, not actually helping me, Arobynn found out he'll kill you" Aelin said between punches and gasps of breath, she glanced at Wesley and he shrugged.
"This is my punishment for helping you, hunting you down like a dog; stop dropping your left shoulder." He said circling her.
"I prefer fox." A wicked grin crossed her face. As she dealt her last blow before she stopped to look at him. He looked at her then nodded to her group of friends who were still stood at the doors of the gym.
Rowan was the first to make a move he strode up to Wesley the promise of violence in his face but before he could reach him Aelin stepped in the way.
She locked eyes with him
He's a friend
He's the enemy Rowan's face darkened.
Try anything and your be on your ass before you lift your fist
Is that a threat?
Try me That feral smile crossed Aelin's lips again and Rowan backed down, she wasn't in the mood for him to push his luck tonight and with what he just saw he knew if they got into it, it would be brutal.
"Don't worry I was just leaving, I'll tell Arobynn you had a fight with your friends, that his plan worked." Wesley said stuffing his hands into his pockets and headed for the door, as he passed Aelin he nodded a sign of respect, and she returned it.
"What are you all doing here?" She asked her hands went to her hips,
"We have come to tell you, that you are not alone in this. You have us no matter how much you push us away we will stand by your side" Lysandra said walking over to her and enveloped her in a hug.
"GROUP HUG!" Manon shouted as her and the three guys ran over, they all became a tangle mess of bodies and limbs.
Aelin burst into a smile as the warm feeling of friendship welled up inside her.
After they untangled themselves, Rowan made Aelin sit on the side of the ring and vanished to get the first aid kit when he came back he saw her up in the ring flipping and twirling about throwing herself from side to side and to the ground. Rowan stood and watched her for a minute; she had some style about her he walked up to the ring and called her over, Aelin groaned and walked over to him and slung herself down on the side of the ring and held out her hands while he looked at the damage. He looked at her hand and then opened the box that was sat next to her.
She was probing her hand when Rowan came back with the bandages.
"Would you stop that" He growled as he snatched back her hand for the tenth time. She looked at him and stuck out her tongue,
"And if you keep doing that I'll bite it" he said still looking over her hand making sure he had cleaned it up enough,
"I can't sit still with you fussing over me like this, my hands are fine" Aelin moaned as she tried to pull away her hand but Rowan held on to it tightly.
"With the way you prod them they'll never heal" this time he looked up at her and was hit with the full force of the puppy dog eyes.
"No, that won't work this time around, sit still." He ordered looking her dead in the face, she screwed up her face and poked her tongue out again Rowan lunged for her tongue with his mouth, but missed as Aelin leaned backwards too quickly and let out a squeal. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her back to him using his free hand he slipped it around her waist so she couldn't move.
She smiled at him,
"If you want a kiss so bad Rowan then take one." She challenged him as she moved her face closer to his; he kept hold of her stare watching the hunger flash in her eyes. He pulled her waist closer to him and moved his face even closer to hers they were nose to nose now still staring deep in each other's eyes.
He couldn't take it anymore and pressed his lips against hers, they were soft and smooth as they let the passion that had been building up the last couple of days take over, she slipped her wrist free and put her arms around his neck pulling him closer to her, she felt like she couldn't get enough. Rowan teased her mouth and tongue with his and when she returned the favour he gently bit down on her tongue, he pulled away and smiled at her.
"I told you I'd bite it." He grinned at her and she just smiled back they were totally lost in each other, when they heard giggles coming from behind Rowan.
"Took you two long enough" Lysandra and Manon said in unison as they hunched over clutching their stomachs because they were holding on to the laughter.
"I guess you two are finally a couple now" Aedion shouted across the gym, Rowan turned back to Aelin who had blushed a deep shade of pink.
"Well are we?" She managed to get out as she looked at him, he smiled and pulled her in for another kiss, this time when he pulled away she was left breathless.
"Does that answer your question?" He smiled at her and continued to bandage her hands...
