Chapter 14 A Special Intervention

Who knew that selling stuff could be so satisfying? Aria felt her heart well with joy when she got the notifications that someone decided to buy her stuff. Seriously, it was such an amazing feeling, much better than anything she could remember feeling before. She felt unstoppable, invincible. She felt as if the universe was bending its own rules in order for her to get her way.

As such, she sighed a content sigh and collapsed onto her couch. She patted the seat beside her, sort of as a way to wish the piece of furniture farewell. She thought about the money that was going to come in, so hard that she could practically see the golden sheen of the coins resting in her hands already. Yeah, things were going well. Before she even knew it, she would get all the money she needed, and Jackie would be out of her aunt and uncle's house in no time at all.

Aria smiled at that. She had a hunch that her sister would be exhilarated to find out that she had a way out of her crappy situation. Oh man, Aria could already imagine her smile. She hadn't really seen Jackie do a lot of smiling since she met her, or at the very least, her smiles weren't as big as they could've been. As such, imagining a huge, overjoyed smile on Jackie's face was such a special treat for Aria. It was an even more delightful experience than imagining her incoming money. Sure, imagining the latter was still very nice for her, but Jackie's smile was so beautiful and optimistic in her mind's eye that she desperately wanted to see it. She wanted to see it, and she would stop at nothing to turn the dream into reality. Nothing at all.

Aria smiled a smile of her own and let out another sigh, this one some much more content than her previous one. After a little bit of sitting around, she decided to go make herself a cup of coffee. As she walked over to the kitchen, she wondered what else she could sell. Her coffee mugs? Some of them had been pretty expensive to begin with. Would they sell for the same amount she bought them for? Maybe. But… wait, would people really want used coffee mugs? Would they be willing to drink from a cup that Aria had put to her lips? Would they want mugs that had someone else's saliva all over the rim?

Honestly, Aria wasn't so sure. So, as she poured her coffee into her mug, she decided that she didn't want to do that. Even if she was sure that she could sell the mugs, she realized that they wouldn't make a lot of money. Or at least, not as much money as the couch and the computer. And sure, there was a saying that every little penny counts. But… no, no, Aria wasn't going to depart with her mugs.

She could, however, depart with her coffee table, she thought as she made her way back into the living room. And this wasn't just because she thought it could sell for a decent amount; she thought it was ugly. It was one of the first things she bought when she moved into this house, and… well, she has since grown, and her tastes have changed as well. So, she was more than eager to depart with the coffee table. She would sell it to someone who had the same terrible taste that her younger self had. She would sell it, getting it out of her house and out of her mind forever.

Aria chuckled to herself, raising the mug to her lips as she did. This… this was all going well. Much better than she had originally expected going in. Jackie would be free in no time. There wasn't a single thing that could ruin Aria's day now.

Knock knock knock.

Aria blinked, turning her head toward the door. She went over and opened it, a smile growing on her face when she saw who it was.

"Hi Ludwig!"

Ludwig frowned. "Hi. May I come in?" When Aria let him into the house, he stood in place for a second. Aria saw him shaking his head to, which ignited some form of concern in her.

"Would you like some coffee?" she asked him. "I just made some."

"No," Ludwig responded. He walked into the living room, taking a deep breath and turning to Aria when he got to the couch. "Listen, we need to talk."

Oh no, Aria thought. That phrase hardly ever preceded a pleasant conversation. Now feeling cautious, Aria stepped toward Ludwig with a furrowed brow. "About what? Is everything okay?"

Ludwig didn't even hesitate before giving Aria one of the deepest frowns she had ever seen. "I saw your post on Shellbook." Now it was him who had the furrowed brow (although there was some disbelief and questioning mixed in with his concern). "You're selling your stuff?"

Aria nodded. "Yeah." She stood up straight, looking Ludwig right in the eye. "I am."

Ludwig's jaw dropped a little. He looked at the couch again for a brief second. "Uh… may I ask why?"

Aria let out a breath of relief. This was fine. Ludwig wasn't going to feel bad for long; as soon as she revealed her reasoning to him, he and her would certainly see eye to eye. So, with this thought in mind, she explained the situation to him. She didn't mince words, nor did she leave anything out. She expected him to look understanding when she finished, so she was a little surprised to see that his frown got deeper.

"So you're doing this to help Jackie?"

Aria's insides squirmed a little at his tone. "Uh… yeah, I am. I mean… she needs help. She needs to get out of that house ASAP." Aria walked closer to him, placing her coffee mug down on the coffee table. "I felt that helping her was necessary. Wouldn't you agree?"

Ludwig hesitated. He ran his hand through his hair, not saying anything for the better part of a minute. Aria's insides churned as a consequence.

"I… I agree," he said. "I mean, it's understandable that you wouldn't want to leave her in a crappy situation. But…"

Aria raised an eyebrow as he hesitated again. "But what?"

Ludwig cringed. He looked her right in the eye. "Why didn't you ask me for help? I'm the Prince of the Koopa Kingdom Aria; I could've given her more than enough money."

Aria frowned. "Well… I felt that this was something I needed to do by myself."

"Why?" Ludwig asked. "You literally have the answer right in front of you. Why didn't you take advantage of it?"

Aria bit her lip. "Because…" she shook her head, taking a step forward. "Look, I don't know if you'll be able to understand this necessarily, but sometimes, people want to accomplish stuff by their own merits. Taking the easy way out is considered a way of cheating, a way of not truly earning what they want out of life."

There was a silence for a minute before Ludwig responded. "I… I can understand that. But…" he hesitated again.

"But what?" Aria asked, on some level dreading what it was that he possibly had to say.

Ludwig let out a breath. "But you're selling stuff that you need!" He gestured toward the couch. "If you have to sell something like a couch or a laptop, that means that you don't have the resources to do what you want to do all by yourself!" He looked Aria in the eye again. "Wouldn't it… you know, wouldn't it make more sense to not depart with your possessions and get help from your boyfriend? Your boyfriend who is more than willing to help in anyway he can?"

Another silence. Aria recited his points in her head. On some level, they made her feel a tad bit foolish. However, that wasn't the most prominent emotion in her head at the moment. That emotion would have to be her anger.

"Look," she said, now using an extra stern tone. "This isn't your battle. This isn't your fight. It's mine. Jackie is my sister, so it's my duty to be there for her…"

"I understand that," Ludwig cut in. "Believe me Aria, nobody understands that viewpoint better than I do." He took a step forward. "But why go out of your way to take the most difficult route possible? It doesn't make sense!"

"It makes perfect sense!" Aria retorted. She did this with a raised voice, something that made Ludwig back away from her a little bit. "I'd sell my entire house if it means that Jackie could be happy! And like I said, Jackie's happiness is something I want to earn for myself. I want to do this all on my own." She gripped her hand into a fist. "Can't you understand that?"

Ludwig put his head in his hands. "I can… but it doesn't make sense!"

"Why not?" Now Aria was getting really angry. "I'm more than capable of doing things by myself!"

"I don't doubt that, but…"

"But nothing!" Aria stared at him, her face growing warm. "I don't need your help, Ludwig! And you know, you saying that it doesn't make sense for me not to ask for it doesn't make feel good."

"That wasn't my…!" he stopped, putting his head into his hands again. "Aria, please, can we try to think of this logically for a second?"

"I AM thinking logically!" Aria glared at him now. She grit her teeth, gripped her hand into a fist. "I'm doing what I can to the best of my ability! And in this world, sometimes that is the best a person can do!" Her breathing was now speeding up. "Why can't you see that? It should make perfect sense to you!" She gripped her hand into a fist again. "Or are you too busy living in an elegant castle and having life handed to you on a silver platter to realize that?"

Ludwig did a double take, actually looking hurt for a second. Just as suddenly as the expression appeared, however, it disappeared and was replaced by a wickedly high amount of blue flames erupting from his body. "Aria, I'm just trying to help; reorient you to the situation! What is wrong with you; why can't you see that?"

"Nothing is wrong with me! And I can't see that because that's not what you're doing! To me, it sounds like you're saying that I'm not capable of solving my own problems!"

"THAT'S NOT WHAT…!" He growled. "That's not what I'm saying at all! Those words never once came out of my mouth! It's almost like you want to be mad at me!" He shook his head before glaring at her. "I'm not trying to be confrontational! Believe me, I would never go out of my way to be confrontational with you, nor would I try to undermine you."

"Except that's exactly what you're doing! You said that what I'm doing doesn't make sense! Why not? It's just stuff, Ludwig! It's just stuff that can easily be replaced!" She shook her head, looking away from him as bile rose to her throat. "My sister's happiness and safety are much more important to me that a silly couch or an inconsequential computer. If you can't see that… well…." she felt the sentence rising in her throat, in a manner not too dissimilar to vomit. "Maybe you're just spoiled!"

That made Ludwig's jaw drop. He stared at Aria for a minute, so many layers of hurt appearing in his eyes. All the while, Aria stared at him with crossed arms, feeling all sorts of resentment towards him.

"You… you…" Blue flames erupted around him for a brief second before disappearing as he shook his head. "You know what? This conversation is going nowhere." He turned toward the door, gripping his hand into a fist as he clearly tried to keep the flames down (a battle that he was clearly losing). "Fine! Fine, sell all your things! Sell your house for all I care! If you wind up homeless, that'll be okay! At least you'll be fighting your own battles!"

"Darn right!" Aria shouted back.

Ludwig held back a growl before slamming the door behind him. Aria kept her eyes locked on it for a couple of seconds, all the while anger took over her mind and made every last inch of her body feel warm. A sour flavor filled her mouth as well. Or at least, it did until something occurred to Aria. Something that made the anger dissipate and made tears form.

This was her and Ludwig's first fight.

That realization was… awful. Sure, to some, it may not seem like a big deal. No couple is perfect; everyone gets in a fight every once in a while. But considering this was Aria's first boyfriend, who she really liked and wanted to keep around for as long as possible…

Oh, what did this mean for their relationship? Did Aria just screw things up for them? She did just call Ludwig spoiled. She did say his upbringing made it so that he wouldn't understand a person's everyday problems…

Aria swallowed some tears. She picked her coffee mug back up, hoping that the flavor would help her feel better. Unfortunately, it didn't. The tears came down at a harder rate, making her question everything that had happened in the last ten minutes.

"What have I done?" she whispered to herself.

AN: Hey everyone. I just wanted to say that I would really appreciate some feedback on this chapter in particular. I don't usually write argument scenes, especially arguments between boyfriend and girlfriend. So, I'm kind of worried that this one is… well, I'm worried that I made Aria go to far. What do you guys think? Please let me know; any feedback would be very helpful for the future.