Chapter 11:-Not ready to tell

Aaron panted as he made his way across the grass in front of Blackwell; his right arm sheltering Kate as best he could from the rain as it crashed down around him. The sky bellowed with thunder as the black clouds poured rain onto the ground below. It was extremely uncomfortable, being outside in it. Aaron only had one focus on his mind however and that was getting Kate back to her dorm room where she'd be safe.

They quietly but quickly made their way up the stairs, trying not to draw any attention during the late hours of the night. Aaron scanned both sides of the hallway as they hurried down it to Kate's room. The adrenaline had worn off and all Aaron felt now was fatigue and tiredness. The fight had taken a lot out of him and he felt like he would collapse soon but not before getting Kate to the security of her bedroom.

Kate clung to Aaron, trusting him to guide her as the approached her door. She was still in shock of the events that just happened and couldn't wrap her head around seventeen year old Aaron being able to take on and beat three fully grown men. There were so many questions to be answered; the living enigma that was Aaron Heartfield.

Kate opened the door and made her way inside; Aaron followed her in and closed the door behind them before sliding down against it. Once he was on the floor, Aaron let out a sigh of relief and exhaustion as he looked up at the ceiling. His soaking wet clothes clung to his body, making him feel so uncomfortable but due to the lack of energy he head, he wasn't that bothered.

Rather than turning on the main light, Kate turned the two bedside lamps on to illuminate the room. She quickly took her soaking wet cardigan off and discarded it underneath her radiator before turning her desk lamp on. With more light in the room, she slid her shoes off and placed them under her desk and placed her damp socks on top of her cardigan.

"I can leave if you're gonna change" Aaron said as he stood up. His back had started to ache now.

"In the state you're in, there's no chance you're going anywhere" Kate replied as she checked on Alice. "I'd appreciate it if you looked away though"

"Not a problem" Aaron replied as he turned and faced the mirror on Kate's wall. He wondered why it was covered up. Maybe she was in a rush and didn't realise her towel landed on it? Aaron theorised as he stared at it some more. Best leave it there for now, if I move it, it will look like I'm tryna sneak a peek.

Aaron exhaled as he rubbed the back of his neck; he quivered a bit as he touched the wound on his head. He had forgotten about it until now and wasn't too grateful for the reminder. Shit that's gonna leave a mark.

"Ok, you can turn around now" Kate gently informed. She was wearing a hazel-brown dressing gown on top of what Aaron would guess as underwear. He didn't know for sure because he couldn't see but it seemed a bit out of place for Kate to wear nothing other than a dressing gown.

"Safe and sound" Aaron declared as he let out a soft smile. "I'm gonna go now cus these clothes are starting to get uncomfortable and are making me feel cold"

"You can borrow something of mine" Kate chimed in as she threw an old t-shirt and pants that she'd use for sleeping in at Aaron. "You're not leaving until I make sure you're ok"

Aaron's insides lit up as he heard Kate speak; the fact that she cared about him that much was something he wasn't used to seeing and it made him feel happy. "You sure Kate? I'm a big boy and can take care of myself"

"I know you can but I wanna be sure. You made sure I was ok, it's the least I can do" Kate added as she smiled back at Aaron.

Realising he wasn't gonna win, Aaron took of his jacket and shirt before Kate realised what was going on. When she realised what was happening, she turned away and allowed Aaron the privacy he give to her. She couldn't help but think about his torso; it was well toned and also full of bruises. Kate figured some were earned just now but others seemed older, almost like scars. A quick two second glance wasn't enough to be sure so she wouldn't make any assumptions but she had to be sure that there was nothing Aaron needed help with.

"So how do I look?" Aaron asked, causing Kate to turn around. He had a short sleeved black t-shirt that had a rainbow cupcake on the front and a pair of plane white pyjama bottoms that were a few inches too short, leaving his lower shins on display. Kate couldn't help but laugh at the purple fluffy socks he was wearing on his feet. "What, my toes were cold and they were just lying there so I improvised" Aaron blurted out as Kate chuckled over him.

Kate was still shocked and stunned by the events that had followed her dinner date with Aaron. She was still shaking with fear despite being in the sanctuary of her dorm room and having Aaron there to help her. Despite all this, she knew Aaron would need her help just like she needed his.

Kate gestured for Aaron to sit on the square stool that was by the side of her couch as she reluctantly approached her bedroom door. Checking the coast was clear; Kate left her room and crossed the hallway to the bathroom. Aaron sat on the stool as he waited to see what Kate was doing; he was starting to get confused.

A few minutes later, Kate returned to her room with a wet flannel in her hand.

"Face away from me" She stated as she sat on the couch behind Aaron.

She pulled his head in close to her lap and searched through the thick mess that was his hair for the wound that was inflicted upon him. Kate gently dabbed the wet compress on where she could see blood, doing her best to clean it up. Aaron winced slightly for the first few instances but slowly became accustom to its bittersweet feeling.

Aaron was in line with Alice's cage and studied it while Kate cleaned up the back of his head. He was looking for something to take his mind away from the gaping wound that was present at the back of his head. He could feel Kate's gentle left hand at the base of his neck while her right hand went to work on cleaning up the blood from his cut. Her skin felt cold against his but it was something he welcomed. Aaron found an unusual comfort in the idea that Kate was touching him, that her skin was in contact with his own.

"You don't have to do this, you know" Aaron began as a way to break the comfortable silence between the two. "You've seen enough unpleasentries for tonight"

"I know, but I want to" Kate replied "If you weren't there, I'd hate to think what would have happened"

"If I didn't take you out in the first place, nothing would have happened" Aaron sounded upset, yet angry. He blamed himself for what happened. "It was stupid of me to ask you out again so soon, I should have waited"

"Don't you dare think like that" Kate had heard enough; she stood up and walked around so she was standing in front of Aaron. "You've shown me nothing but kindness and compassion in the short week I've known you" Kate knelt down so she was in line with Aaron. She could see the anguish and pain in his eyes. "The times I've spent with you have been marvellous and I wouldn't change them for anything" Kate brought her left hand up and cupped Aaron's cheek before rubbing the solemn tear away from his eye. "You have nothing to be sorry for"

Aaron smiled and placed his right hand on Kate's; he began to stroke it as he let out a meek smile. She was right, he had been so kind to her for no reason other than he wanted to show her good, kind people still existed at Blackwell. True, he had fallen for her along the way but that was more of a reason to avoid her. Aaron hated letting people close as it never ended well for them. He welcomed friendships with people to no end but anything more and whoever he let close wound up getting hurt.

"There's so much I wish I could tell you, Kate. So much that you deserve to know but I just...I don't want you getting hurt" Aaron remarked as he pulled his eyes away from hers.

"I appreciate your concern but if you want me to understand, you'll need to tell me" Kate pleaded as she took hold of both of his hands in hers.

"I know, I know but it's not that simple" Aaron protested as he swallowed hard "I'll try, ok, I'll try and let you know a few things at a time, when the time is right"

"Ok, I understand, that seems fair. I promise I won't tell anyone" Kate said as she offered a friendly smile at Aaron. "Could you at least tell me something now?" Kate asked with mild curiosity. She didn't want to overstep the mark but she needed to know some of what went on in Aaron's life. If she wanted to be there for him and help him, she needed to know what she was helping him with.

Aaron took a deep breath before he started: "Ok, ok, um...I..." Aaron trailed off, almost like he was ashamed.

"It's ok, I'm not one to judge, and you know this" Kate reassured.

"Ok...see my right eye?" Aaron asked, getting a confirming nod from Kate. "It's...uh...it's not real" Was taken aback by what Aaron had said. Hs eye wasn't real? How was that possible, it looked and behaved just like a normal eye?

"Aaron, I don't understand"

"When I was young, I was in an accident that it left me blind in my right eye" Aaron began, Kate understood this was very hard for him to talk about and his facial expression was further proof. "I'm not gonna go into detail, that's another secret for another time but basically, my eye is robotic. I can still see and have full control; it's just not the same eye I was born with. Finding the right colour to mach my other eye was seriously hard" Aaron joked, getting a laugh from Kate.

"If you don't mind me asking, how do you see?" Kate asked, her hands never letting go of Aarons.

"Well, behind my 'lens' there's this tiny little camera that's connected to my retina and optic nerve. The way we see is that an image is broadcast to our retina, flipped upside down and yeah, we can see. As I don't have a lens, the camera picks up the image, displays it to the retina and yeah, I can see. It's all based on electric messages that are sent to my brain, there's a pulse of something like sixty electrodes per second or something. I would take it out and show you but there's this big control chip on the side of my eye that won't allow me to just pull it out" Aaron stated as he pointed to the space between the start of the top of his nose and his eye socket.

Kate was still shocked by what she had just been told; an artificial robotic eye, that was crazy. There's no way someone would have one of those without everyone knowing. "How come there's not more people with those if it works so well?" Kate asked in stunned awe.

"It's experimental technology and a secret for some other time" Aaron said with a wink from his right eye, something he never usually did. "You've poked yourself in the eye before, haven't you, you know that it sort of feels all gooey and shit, yeah?" He asked, getting a confirming nod from Kate.

"Yeah, at it's not the nicest feeling in the world" Kate added with her own little smile.

"Hold your finger out and touch my eye" Aaron began "It won't hurt, I promise...how could it...anyway, go on"

Kate nervously held her left hand up with her index finger extended. Aaron took hold of her wrist and slowly guided her hand closer to his eye. Kate winced at the thought; everything inside her was telling her to pull away, not to drive her finger into Aaron's eye. She closed her eyes and expected to feel something strange, something weird but that wasn't the case.

The end of her finger felt something cold, something metallic and something that defiantly wasn't organic. As she opened her eyes, she was met with Aaron's eye not even flinching as her finger rested against it. He was telling the truth.

What was confusing for Kate was the fact that it looked exactly the same as a normal eye. It was white, black and Blue in all the right places and yet it was all a charade. She had to ask how could man and machine exist in such a way, it was unnatural. Everything that Kate had experienced in life, her religious upbringing was telling her to shun this abomination but all she could do was hug him.

Aaron was confused as to why Kate was hugging him but welcomed it. The warmth of her body made a change from the cold sting of the rain he'd been in. Kate retreated from the hug and looked at Aaron with her loving eyes; she appreciated him opening up to her like this, it made her feel useful and not completely as useless as she had been feeling over the past month.

"Would you mind telling me where those bruises and marks came from?" Kate hesitantly asked as she sat down on the floor opposite Aaron.

Aaron took a deep breath and closed his eyes; this was a big secret, not the biggest but still up there. Aaron exhaled slowly before opening his eyes, he'd decided to let Kate know the bare bones of it, she deserved that much at least.

"I fight, like illegal underground brawls" Aaron regretfully admitted. "I've been doing it for a while now, not long, just a couple of months"

"What?!" Kate exclaimed; the news was extremely shocking and was probably the last thing she'd have expected. Someone as nice and caring as Aaron beating people up for fun wasn't something she could envision. It did explain how he was able to beat those muggers earlier that night however.

"Yeah, that's what I'd have said" Aaron replied as he looked away. He was unable to look Kate in the eye; her sweet, innocent face wouldn't let him. "Don't worry; it's only between the ages of sixteen to eighteen so it's nothing I can't handle...as if that makes it any better. It started off as a way to make a little extra cash but it became more than that. I saw it as life itself; life isn't easy and won't be a breeze. You have to prepare for life, push yourself to take the necessary steps to prepare for the obstacle ahead. For me the fight is life and the training is the preparation"

Kate understood where Aaron was coming from; she saw the method behind his madness but wished there was another way than hurting himself and other people. It just seemed wrong, it seemed like it wasn't Aaron. She never understood why people hurt each other.

"Thank you for talking to me, I know this hasn't been easy for you and I appreciate you telling me of all people" Kate said as so took a-hold of Aaron's hands again, his skin felt cold, almost like he was dead.

"Who else would I tell if not you? Kate, you're like the person I'm the closest with right now. I'd rather spend two seconds talking with you than two hours with anyone else"

Aaron's words made Kate smile, like he always does. She looked at the young boy in front of her who smiled his charismatic smile back at her. She could feel his skin heating up as he spoke about her but took no notice of it.

"You always know what to say, don't you?!" Kate joked as Aaron stood up, gently removing his hands from her grasp.

"What can I say, I must be magic. Now if you don't mind, I'm fucking shattered and wanna lie down and since you won't let me go back to my room, I'll take this glorious looking couch" Aaron made his way to the couch and lied down on it.

He was far too chivalrous to take Kate's own bed so he chose the next best thing. The couch offered steady comfort and Aaron couldn't complain. After the night he'd had, he'd be able to sleep on thumbtacks right about now. Kate's couch felt like a bed fit for a king and Aaron would be able to drift soundly to sleep on it.

Kate did feel somewhat guilty for making Aaron sleep anywhere other than her bed. She felt as if he thought he was any less than her which defiantly wasn't the case. What else could she do?! She couldn't offer him to share her bed with her; that was so unthinkable and such a taboo thing to do. They weren't together or in any form of union so no matter how guilty Kate felt, she knew this was the right thing. Then again, after the Vortex club party, she was already going to hell in the eyes of her family so how much worse could it be?!

As she contemplated the how's and what if's, she ended up floating off to sleep without realising. She was home, she was safe and she owed it all the man sleeping on her couch, wearing her pyjamas.


Wednesday morning was hell for Nathan Prescott; he sat in his Advanced Physics class without any idea what was going on. He was confused and struggled almost every day since the start of the year. He had no idea why he took physics, he could never get his head around it and all the numbers and symbols never made any sense. The equations may as well have been in gibberish, he would never understand them.

Mrs Grant was going around handing out everyone's test papers with their results on the front page. Nathan couldn't care less; he'd probably fucked it up as usual and had no interest in finding out.

When the paper was placed in front of him, he was met with exactly what he thought he'd see: In big red pen was the letter F inside a red circle with the numbers 28/75 written next to it. Nathan just rolled his eyes before resting his chin on the palms of his hands. He really couldn't care less and just wished for the final bell to go so he could ditch this joint.

"Ok, I presume some of you are happy with your test scores while the rest of you are a little disappointed. There will be another test on the 7th of November so I expect you all to study and prepare for it. The test will be on Atomic Physics so you have been warned"

Nathan just twirled a pencil around idly in his right hand; he just wanted to leave the class. He was probably more interested in reading the communist manifesto than his Physics classes and who could blame him. He was doing something that made no sense to him and always confused him at every turn.

The bell rang and everyone scrambled to leave the classroom as fast as possible. Nathan's dreams of escape were dashed when Mrs Grant spoke next:

"Brooke, could you and Mr Prescott stay behind please"

Nathan nearly punched his table in frustration; why was he being held back, he hadn't done anything and here he was, about to have his time wasted when he could be doing something more interesting and that he actually enjoyed.

He approached Mrs Grant's desk as he slung his bag on his bag and placed his hands in the pockets of his letterman jacket. His face still remained uninterested and he looked as if he was on medication due to the lack of expression in his facial features. He chewed his gum idly as Brooke began to speak:

"What can I do for you, Mrs Grant" she sounded way more interested than Nathan ever could.

"Well, Nathan here is failing this class and we've only been here for two months. If he doesn't pass the next modular test, I'm afraid he'll have to be kicked off the course" Mrs Grant said sincerely as she looked up at the two people in front of her.

"I'm standing right here ya know, talk to me, not about me" Nathan interjected; breaking the silence he'd been keeping all lesson.

"Well, what does this have to do with me?" Brooke politely asked as she pushed her glasses up her face.

"Brooke, you're my best student and if anyone can help Mr Prescott pass, it's you" Nathan's eyes widened as he heard Mrs Grant speak, he dreaded to know what was coming next. "I want you to tutor him and get him ready for the next test"

"What, you can't be serious? You're forcing me to spend more time on this bullshit outside of class? No way!" Nathan protested; he was suddenly more awake now.

"Mr Prescott, watch your mouth! I don't care who your father is, If you fail this test, you will fail this class before the New Year" Mrs Grant would not back down and Nathan knew it, she was one tenacious woman.

"Whatever" Nathan said as he waved his hand in dismissal and stormed out. He couldn't believe that just happened, as if he had to do more of the subject he detested.

As Nathan hurried along the corridor, Brooke caught upto him and walked alongside the pissed off rich boy.

"Look, I don't like this either, trust me" She was clearly annoyed by the pre-determined arrangement just as much as he was. "If it was upto me, I'd let your rich ass fail but Mrs Grant said this would affect my G.P.A if I left your ass out to dry so-hey-would you just stop walking!" Brooke called out as she placed her left hand on Nathan's right shoulder, causing him to stop and turn towards her.

"Don't touch me you freak" Nathan exclaimed shaking her hand off in disgust.

"Hey, I'd be a little nicer seeing as I'm the only one that's standing between you and failing Physics" Brooke replied, she was clearly more annoyed with Nathan that she'd originally been.

"Fine...talk" Nathan said in a slightly less hostile tone as he rubbed his forehead with his left hand. He'd had enough of Physics to last him a lifetime.

"Look, Atomic Physics isn't that hard so you should fare a lot better here than say quantum mechanics. If you wanna do this, come to my dorm room at like five tonight and I'll try and help you. If you don't show up, I'm gonna take that as a sign that you don't wanna bother. The decision is yours Nathan, see ya later, maybe" Brooke finished and walked off. The conversation hadn't exactly been pleasant and now she probably would have to spend a few hours a week helping mister entitled stay on his Physics course. Nevertheless, Brooke let out a sigh and headed for the fresh air of the outside.

Nathan just sulked as he walked to his locker; he had a choice to make and he'd have to make it soon. Spend time with some freak he didn't know doing a subject her didn't like or fail Advanced Physics for the entire year. He had until five in the evening to decide what he wanted to do.

This would be a no brainer for some but Nathan was stubborn and he really hated Physics something terrible. Why the fuck did this have to go and happen! He thought as he slammed his locker shut. He had so much to worry about and now with this added on top, he really didn't know how to cope. He was alone and he hated it; Nathan had no one who really got him.

Victoria understood, roughly, what it was like but apart from that, there was no one there to listen to him when he needed it, no one there for him to explain why he's the way he is. He could feel his eyes watering up and realised he needed to get out of sight. This always happened whenever he thought about how lonely he was.

Nathan made a B-line for the boy's restroom and hid inside the end stall, locking the door as he closed it behind him. He sat up on the seat as he brought his legs up under his chin before slowly rocking back and forth. He could see it all: His father disowning him because he failed physics, being known as The Failure his father always made him out to be, becoming a laughing stock that he was so afraid of being. Nathan closed his eyes and let the tears roll down his cheeks.

He made no noise as he bottled it all up inside like he had done so many times before, he was used to it by now. I just want someone to be there for me he thought as he held his legs closer, teardrops now staining his pants and crashing onto his shoes. No one understands, they just think I'm... Nathan trailed off as more tears fell from his eyes. He didn't know where to go from here.


Max sat up in her bed after her morning shower; she'd found out that her English lessons were cancelled until the foreseeable future due to her teacher needing to take medical leave. Rumours were already circling that she was suffering with depression and that she had a breakdown. Needless to say, no morning English meant no anything for Max apart from sleep.

It was nearing half ten when Max decided she'd finally get up and after she had showered and dried herself off, she was already a good while into eleven o'clock.

Max's mind was still full of thoughts of Chloe and what happened between them at her house party. She was so confused and conflicted; the fact that it was Chloe didn't help either. Chloe was supposed to make things easier but how is deciding your feelings for someone easy.

Max had never thought of Chloe as more than...Chloe. Her best friend for more than twelve years and now she was thinking about them being more than friends and it sucked. This wasn't how it was supposed to be; she and Chloe were supposed to be friends, nothing more. Life was so complicated and Max wondered why she was stuck with shitty choices like this.

She had no idea how to feel about Chloe and didn't want to make a premature choice and lead her down the wrong path. Max had to look at how she felt whenever she was with Chloe, how Chloe made her feel and where she could see herself and Chloe doing things only lovers do. Max rubbed at her temples as she thought long and hard about it but she realised it wasn't something she'd be able to decide with thought alone.

The conclusion was that Max would need to spend time with Chloe, doing things as friends and as...something more. It wasn't the outcome Max would have liked but it was the one she was stuck with and she just didn't want to hurt Chloe at all. Max fell back and sunk into her bed as she placed her pillow over her face and let out a muffled scream. Why is everything so difficult? She thought from her position under her pillow.

Max realised that after she was finished with her lessons today, she'd let Aaron know of her choices and see what he thought of her decision to go and see Chloe after school. This wasn't what Max wanted to do but what she had to do. She wished she had an endless supply of time, a way of starting over again if she made a mistake. She realised this wasn't a video game or some shitty story, this was life. Life was never that simple and easy as Max had come to realise.

Things were finally in motion for a lot of people, they just didn't realise that the future of their lives would be starting today...

A/N:-Ok, yeah, I know. This chapter is empty as fuck and I apologise. I originally planned to have this chapter and chapter twelve be one big one but decided by splitting it down the middle, I'd have the start to problems/obstacles in this chapter and have the resolution to all the angsty shit in chapter twelve.

I'll address the elephant in the room right now. Aaron's eye. I'm taking one hell of a leap here and hope you guys don't bite my head off for it. Aaron's eye is actually a key element in his back-story as well as his biggest secret. I won't spoil it but it relates to his family. Take it on the chin and when the time comes, it'll pay off, I promise you. But in the meantime, let me know what you thought of some of the secrets he's spilled and see if you can guess of what's to come. I wanna know how you thought I handled it and if you enjoyed it.

As you can see, the cracks are starting to show in his flawless personality. Whenever he's around Kate, the wall breaks down and she can see the man under the armour, what he's like on the inside. He's still 'Cool Aaron' to everyone else but around Kate, he's more than that. Where will I go from here? There's only one way to find out.

I also what to know what you all thought of the small pilot into the Nathan Prescott plotline that's gonna be taking a bigger role. He'll have his own part to play in the story and I wanna know what you thought of what you've read so far. Be honest, I just wanna know how to improve it because I think you'll like where it goes.

Ah, Max and Chloe, Pricefield. The biggest ship in recent gaming history. I'll leave it to you to figure out where I'm going with it...

You don't wanna miss the next two chapters because they're gonna be spicy, I can tell you now. All I can say is it's not gonna go in the direction you think it will (You don't have to hate me, I hate myself)