A/N: Thanks for the reviews for the previous chapter! Sorry it took me awhile to update this story. I realized it's been almost three months since I last posted. I hope you all are still reading this story. Anyway… here is the eighth chapter.
Disclaimer: I only own Elaina, Charles and Lois.
A week had gone by, and Aaron still had not returned to school. His classmates were starting to worry about him.
"He's never been gone, this long," Jason said, as he and the rest of the class sat under the jungle gym, during recess.
"Has anyone noticed he's been acting really weird, lately," asked Spencer. "Like he's afraid of something or someone."
"If you mean Mr. Benson… then no, I don't think that's weird," said Derek. "Everyone's afraid of him."
"No, I mean someone else, other than Mr. Benson," Spencer explained. "Don't you think it's strange that he didn't want to go home, the other day, when he arrived to the classroom, late?"
"Maybe there's a scary ghost in his house," suggested Penelope. "And that's why he doesn't want to go home?"
"Speaking of scary ghosts," Emily, who was dangling from the jungle gym, upside down, began to speak. "one time, I woke up in the middle of the night, to get a glass of chocolate syrup, I saw a very scary ghost."
"You saw a ghost? What did you do," Kate was eager to know.
"I bravely stood there and yelled, "Get out of my house!"," Emily shouted at the top of her lungs, as she did a flip from the jungle gym and landed safely on both her feet. "but… turns out, it wasn't a ghost, after all. It was just my great aunt, Ebony… in a white face mask. I forgot that she and my great uncle Abner were staying there, for the weekend. Boy, was she mad at me! I mean, is it really my fault that she can't tell the difference between a light switch and an electrical fence? No, no it is not."
"How can you drink chocolate syrup," Tara asked.
Emily looked at Tara, as if she had spoke in some unknown foreign language. "Um… You get a cup, pour an entire bottle of chocolate syrup into it and place a straw into the glass. I mean, how else are you gonna drink it?"
"I just thought… You know what? Never mind," Tara was about to say something, but decided against it. "Forget that I asked."
"We have to figure out, what's wrong with Aaron," David said, going back to the subject of their classmate and friend.
"I live across the street from him. I can always ask my parents, if I could go over to his house, today. I might be able to find out what's wrong with him," Elle suggested.
"I'm having a birthday party, next week and I was gonna pass out the invitations, today," said Clyde. "I'll just give Aaron's invitation to you, Elle, and you can give it to him, okay?"
"Okay," Elle agreed.
Later, that afternoon, Elle was laying on her stomach, on the living room floor, coloring a picture of a pretty princess. Her father, Robert was sitting in his favorite chair, reading the newspaper. Her mother, Elaina had gone to the grocery store, to pick up a few things.
Suddenly remembering the invitations, that were upstairs, in her book bag, Elle quickly rose to her feet and hurried to her bedroom. Robert couldn't help but wonder, what that was all about. "Hey princess, where's the fire," he jokingly called out.
Ignoring his question, Elle returned to the living room, with the two invitations. "Daddy, my friend Clyde is having a birthday party, next weekend," she began. "And he wanted to know if I could give Aaron's invitation to him? Aaron wasn't at school today," she explained, before Robert could even ask. "He hasn't been in school, since last week."
A look of concerned had appeared on Robert's face. "Since last week? I hope he's alright," he said.
"Me too, daddy," said Elle. "So, can I give this invitation to him?" She held one of the invitations up.
"Yes, you may," Robert answered.
"Thanks, daddy," Elle kissed the side of her father's face, before hurrying out the front door.
"Be sure to look both ways, before you cross the street," Robert reminded his daughter.
"I will," Elle promised.
Elle rung the doorbell of the Hotchner home and waited patiently for someone to answer the door. She began to tap her foot, not out of boredom. It was just something she would occasionally do, while she was waiting for something or someone. About a moment later, she was greeted by Aaron. Her face turned pale, when she saw his face.
"Aaron, what, what happened to your face," she asked. Aaron's bottom lip was split and his left eye was swollen and bruised.
Desperately wanting to tell his friend, the truth, but knowing he'd get in trouble for it, Aaron decided to lie. "Oh, hey Elle," he began. "I'm okay. I just tripped and fell onto one of Sean's toys. He's always leaving them lying around, everywhere," he forced out a fake laugh.
Elle also let out a forced laugh, as she had a feeling that her friend wasn't telling her the truth. "Clyde's having a birthday party, next week and he wanted me to give this to you," she held up the invitation.
"Thank you," Aaron took the invitation from Elle.
"You're welcome," said Elle. There was a moment of silence between the two. "Aaron, can I ask you something?"
"Yeah, sure."
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. I told you, I tripped and fell onto one of Sean's toys."
"No, I mean… It's just that you've been out of school since last week and you've been acting strange, lately. Like, you're afraid of someone or something," Elle explained to her friend. "If something's wrong, my daddy's a police officer. He can help you."
Tears were beginning to well up, in Aaron eyes, but he quickly blinked them away. "I'm fine, I promise. I've just been sick, this past week," he lied. "I promise I'll be back to school, soon."
Elle was hesitant to believe him. She felt there was more to his story, than he was telling. She sighed deeply and said, "Okay, but just remember… If you ever need any help, don't be afraid to ask."
Aaron gave a small smile. "Okay, thanks Elle.
Robert had just finished reading the last page of the newspaper, when Elle returned. As he placed the newspaper on the glass coffee table, he could tell by the worried expression on his daughter's face, something is wrong. This caused him to become concern.
"Hey Princess, what's wrong," he asked.
"Daddy, I think someone's hurting Aaron."
"You think someone's hurting Aaron," Robert repeated what his daughter said. "What do you mean? Did you see someone hurt him?"
"No, but when he answered the door, his bottom lip was bleeding and he had a black eye. He told me that he tripped over one of his little brother's toys," Elle explained.
"Well, maybe he did," Robert said, in more of a hopeful tone.
"No, daddy. I don't think he did. I think he's lying about it," said Elle. "He's been acting really strange, lately. Almost like he's afraid of something or someone."
Later that evening, as Elaina was cooking dinner and Elle and Robert were setting the table, Robert's mind kept going back to the conversation, he had with his daughter, earlier. "Hey, you think you two will be able to manage all this work, for a few moments," he asked. "I'd like to pay the Hotchner's a visit, for a few moments. See how they're doing."
Elaina smiled at her husband and said, "I think Elle and I will be just fine," she then gave her husband a quick kiss.
Robert made his way, across the street, to the Hotchner house. After ringing the doorbell, he was greeted by Lois. "Good evening, Robert," she smiled politely. "Can I help you with something?"
"Good evening to you too, Lois," Robert returned a smile. "I hope I'm not bothering you, but…"
"Oh, no. You're not bothering me, at all," Lois politely interrupted him. "I was just serving dinner to my family."
"Well, in that case, this will only take a moment," Robert promised. "You see, my little girl, Elle has been very concerned about Aaron, lately. Is everything okay, here?"
Lois desperately wanted to tell him, "No. No, everything was not okay.", and she was about to, until… a voice came up, behind her and answered for her. "Everything's fine here," Charles said. "Lois, why don't you go check on the boys?"
"You're right. I better make sure they aren't doing something they shouldn't be," Lois walked away, leaving the two men alone.
"Well, is Aaron alright," Robert asked.
"Aaron," Charles was taken aback by Robert's question. "Why do you want to know about the well being of my son?"
"I'm sorry… It's just that my daughter said he hasn't been in school for a week, now. And she has been really worried about him."
"He has the stomach flu," Charles lied. "And I don't think you or any of the other parents would want him spreading it around to his classmates."
Robert could sense the hostility in Charles' voice, but he stood his ground. "I'm sorry to hear that. I hope he feels better soon. I just got one more thing to ask you… How did Aaron end up with a black eye and split lip?"
Charles was silent for a moment. He then folded his arms acrossed his chest and said, "My son is a very clumsy child. He tripped over the rug, in the living room and hit his face on the corner of the coffee table.
"Oh, that's interesting," said Robert.
"And how's that," Charles asked.
"You see, my daughter told me that he told her that he fell onto one of his little brother's toys. I have a feeling both you and him are lying. You're lying to protect yourself. And Aaron is lying because he doesn't want to make you mad," Robert could see that Charles was getting angry, but he continued. "If you're abusing him, you better pray I never find out about it because there will be hell to pay. Understand?"
"I think it's time, you get off my porch," Charles demanded.
"You have a good evening, Charles," Robert said with a smirk as he turned and walked away.
Charles slammed the door shut and marched into the dining room, where his wife and children were sitting at the table, waiting for him. Their food had been untouched. They weren't allowed to start eating, until he was sitting down at the table. Charles marched over to Aaron, picked up his plate and threw it across the room, hitting the wall.
End of chapter eight. I'd really appreciate some reviews. This was a bit of a cliffhanger ending because the aftermath will pick up, in the next chapter.