Hi there! I want to thank you all so much for the comments you left on the last chapter. I really am super happy that you all like it and that you are all commenting. It makes me smile every time that I read a new comment of any of you. This chapter is Aaron centric, and of course deals with the aftermath of the revelation. I hope you will hope like it, and please continue to review and tell me what you think! See you for the next chapter ;)

CHAPTER 7 - Going down

"Miss Espinoza, hello…"

"Speaker Hookstraten, what can I do for you?" Nadia said, surprised to see the Speaker in her office.

"Have you seen Aaron lately?" Kimble asked.

"I haven't. Is there a problem?" Nadia answered, raising an eyebrow.

"He didn't show up this morning and he doesn't answer his phone. He seemed a little off yesterday afternoon, so I'm just wondering if everything is fine…"

It was already ten in the morning and Aaron was nowhere to be found. He was not at work, which was in itself weird enough to be noticeable, but he had not called in sick either.

"Huh… I'll go to his place, see if everything is fine. I'll keep you updated?" Nadia offered, already putting her coat on.

"Yes, thank you Nadia…"

Aaron's cousin left her office quickly, going straight to his apartment. She didn't even take the time to ask her boss, Congresswoman Yoshida, to leave for an hour because she was just too worried for her cousin. Aaron wasn't the type to show up late at work. He wasn't the type not to show up at all. Running up the stairs to the third floor of his apartment, she knocked once, she knocked twice, calling Aaron from the door, but he didn't answer. She knew she had a key somewhere in her purse and rummaged through it for what seemed like an eternity before being able to find it. Opening the door didn't make her worry fade: The blinds were still pulled and empty bottles were lying on the ground.

"Aaron?" Nadia called.

She heard a groan on the couch and walked toward it to find her cousin, not awake and trying to sober up from the enormous amount of alcohol he had drunk the previous evening. He was still wearing his shirt and pants from the previous day, his tie undone. Nadia squatted down next to him, her hand on his arm to try and wake him up.

"Aaron, hey, it's me, Nadia. What is going on?"

Another groan was the only answer she received, so she decided to stand up and clear a bit the mess he had left. Sighing, she started taking the bottles away, counting and realizing that he had drunk much more than she even imagined. Beer, vodka, tequila, he had tried pretty much everything, definitely in need to forget something. When she opened the blinds, she heard him groan again and she walked back toward him, sitting on the armrest of the couch.

"Aaron, you need to wake up. What is going on?"

He finally opened his eyes, but closed them back straightaway as he was blinded by the sun peeking through the windows.

Truth was, Nadia had a pretty good idea of what was going on. She didn't need to know to actually understand what it was all about. He had spent the past few weeks worrying, thinking about Emily's pregnancy and the possibility that he was the father of her baby. They had talked about it several times, she knew what he was feeling, and the state he was in right now was the proof he had finally talked to Emily. And that he was going to be a father.

Aaron rolled on his back, nearly falling off the couch.

"Wanna talk?" she asked.

He groaned again, and she stood up to get some Tylenol and a bottle of water. Coming back, she forced him to take it.

"Drink up, come on."

Aaron finally sat up on the couch, his hand rubbing his face to try and wake up.

"So…" Nadia said, trying to start the conversation.

"I hate her…" he finally spoke.

"You saw her?"

Aaron nodded.

"And she told you you're the father?"

Aaron nodded again.

"I'm sorry…"

Aaron shrugged. He didn't know what to say. Nadia didn't have to feel sorry, of course, it wasn't her fault. But she was feeling compassionate for him. She couldn't even imagine what it was to learn like that you would be a parent in a few months, knowing that you had been lied to for the past few months.

"What are you going to do?" she asked.

"I don't know. Throw her under a bus, literally…" he said, his voice hoarse.

"Aaron…" Nadia scolded.

Of course, Aaron wouldn't. He wasn't even capable of doing such a thing. But the hole in his heart was just too deep right now for him to think about anything else.

"Seth knew…" Aaron murmured.

"What?"

"He knew, and he didn't tell me."

"Well, he works with her, of course he knew that she was pregnant"

Aaron shook his head no.

"No, he knew that it was mine…"

"Oh…"

Nadia didn't know what else to say. She was suddenly stunned. She knew that Aaron and Seth were close, that they were talking often and trying to keep in touch as much as possible now that they were not working together anymore.

"I don't know what hurts the most…" Aaron finally admitted.

Nadia didn't know what to answer, she sat closer to him and put her head on his shoulder.

"Maybe you should take a few days off, go away and think of something else. Don't you think?" Nadia offered.

"To come back and face them all, all these fucking liars…" Aaron grumbled.

"You're gonna have to, at some point…" Nadia commented.

Aaron grumbled again, not wanting to imagine his next meeting with Seth or Emily or anyone at the White House.

"You know what time it is?" Nadia questioned.

"No…"

"It's past eleven… Your boss came to my office cause she was worried you didn't show up."

Aaron sighed. His head was pounding despite the Tylenol his cousin had given him. He was exhausted and couldn't think about work.

"Fuck…" he said.

"Yeah… You should probably call in sick. And take a few days off. You really look like shit anyway…"

Aaron nodded, he didn't even have the courage to respond to Nadia's comment.

After making sure that he was feeling a little better, Nadia decided to leave him alone, but instead of going back to the Capitol, she went straight to the White House. It didn't take her long to get in since she had her Capitol credentials with her and she walked to the Press Secretary's office as soon as security allowed her to get in. By chance, Seth was in his office at the moment, and she just closed the door before letting him any chance to say something.

"How dare you?" she accused.

"Nadia?" Seth raised his head, surprised to see her in his office.

"Why didn't you tell him? You're his friend…" she said sharply.

Seth sighed. Of course he knew what she was referring to.

"I couldn't, it's not my place to tell him the news…"

"Do you know how he's feeling right now? He's a freaking mess. He didn't show up to work this morning and he's definitely in no state of coming to work. I don't think I've ever seen him like that..." Nadia explained.

"Nadia… I did all I could for Emily to tell him sooner…" Seth tried.

"And what would you have done, if she had not told him? Would you have left him in the dark all his life? Huh?"

"Of course not…"

"Honestly Seth, after everything that happened, I thought that you were smarter than to take a side. Especially when it comes to things so important…"

"Nadia…"

"No, I don't want to hear anything. You disappointed me as much as you disappointed him."

Nadia didn't let him answer, she just left his office in a fury, pissed at Seth, worried for Aaron. She texted his cousin to know if he was feeling better, but a sick emoji was just what he answered. She sighed, of course he was sick, he was still sobering up, and he was emotionally a wreck. She didn't have the time to come back to his place, but she decided that she would come back in the evening to take care of him.

Nadia's appearance at the White House made Seth think. He realized that he could probably have done more, even though he was still convinced he couldn't have told Aaron that he was the father of Emily's baby. He was sad for his friend though, of course he was. He hated himself for leaving him in such a bad place. A quick look at the clock made him realize that it was already lunch time and he decided to head out. He went to the takeout not far from the White House where he and Aaron were regulars back in the time he was still the Chief of Staff. Of course, Seth knew where Aaron was living and, his hands full, he decided to make amend to his friend, bringing food over.

"Go away, Nadia…" Aaron yelled when he heard the knock at his door.

"It's me, Seth…" the Press Secretary said, entering his friend's apartment.

Aaron looked up from the couch to see the person he once considered his friend.

"No, just no… Just get out of here, I don't want to see you."

"Aaron…" Seth pleaded, walking toward him.

"You fucking bastard, you above everybody else, you lied to me. How could you?" Aaron spat.

"Can we talk?" Seth offered.

"Did you seriously bring food over? Did you really think that paying for lunch would be enough?"

"Of course not, Aaron…"

Seth sat on a chair next to Aaron.

"I didn't say you could sit."

Seth ignored Aaron's remark and just stayed there.

"I know I should have told you…" Seth started.

Aaron wanted to say something, but Seth cut him short, forcing him to keep quiet.

"It wasn't my place to tell you. I tried to make her talk to you more than once. Ever since I discovered she was pregnant, I tried to make her talk, I tried to make her go to you. You know how stubborn she is, it's not as if she would actually listen to me, or to anyone else actually. She wanted to send Phil again yesterday. Gemma and I forced her to go, Gemma actually took her to your meeting, she waited for her, to be sure that she wouldn't run away. I know, I can say hundreds of time that I am sorry, it won't change a thing, I screwed up. I should have done more, but I couldn't tell you that. It just wasn't my place…"

"How would you have taken it, if you were in my shoes?" Aaron asked.

"As bad as you, probably…" Seth answered honestly.

Aaron didn't answer for a while, just thinking about it.

"Okay, you can stay and eat. But that doesn't mean I forgive you… I'm just hungry." Aaron said after long seconds of silence.

"That's the Aaron I know!" Seth exclaimed, knowing very well that Aaron was always hungry.

Over food, Seth continued to talk a bit and Aaron finally allowed himself to ask questions. Aaron was bitter, angry and sad in the meantime, but having Seth to talk to was feeling good. And Seth was relieved too, that finally he could speak to his friend about everything.

After lunch, Seth left Aaron alone to think, and the Chief Strategist finally decided to call Hookstraten to ask for a few days off. He was feeling a little better, enough to at least have a conversation with his boss. He lied, just saying that he was sick, but truth was that after his behavior yesterday afternoon, she didn't really imagine he could actually lie. He called Ryan, the womanizer he considered his best friend from college, and decided to book a flight to California, where he was living. He desperately needed a break, to think of something else, and to just party very far away from that austere and political town he was living in.