My Fake Boyfriend

Depleting Esteem

I was a little scared staying over at anyone's house.

This was the first time I've done this. Besides, I was a little on the edge. I mean, I didn't even know if Aaron was okay with this. He didn't say anything about being okay with me staying the night.

"Excellent!" Sam chirped happily before gesturing to the stairs with a hand.

"Well, none of the guest bedrooms are cleaned out yet so I assume you won't mind sleeping in Aaron's room?" she questioned, and I blushed at how direct she was. At this, Aaron took his attention off his phone, which he had spent the previous minutes texting on, and looked at his Mum.

"What?" he asked, confusion in his tone and Sam scoffed loudly.

"Get off that phone already and show Alexis where she'll be staying," she said with an eye roll. When Aaron didn't get up, she moved over to him and started ushering him out of his seat.

"Go on! Show her to your room!"

With that, she was off into the kitchen, scrubbing the dishes. I asked her if she needed help, but she told me I had helped enough and that was that.

With her gone, Aaron raised his eyebrows, confused by what had just occurred.

"Okay?" he drawled before he let out a sigh, putting his phone in his back pocket and moving towards the stairs. In turn, I just stood there awkwardly; I didn't know what to do. Was I supposed to start following him, or just stand here until I'm told where to go? How did this usually work for others?

"You coming or what?" Aaron said from his position on the stairs, the top half of his body turned as he looked at me and I merely frowned at his words.

"Well, a little instruction would be nice," I grumbled and, instead of responding, he sighed before turning his body fully to the front and running up the stairs.

I followed slowly, thinking about how his behaviour had done a complete 180. I knew it was just an act for his Mum, but I had hoped we could still be civil despite it all. I thought back to the argument in the cafe and I wondered if he was still mad about the cruel words I had sent to him. It was true that he had apologised but I had not, but nor did I feel the need to. My brain was hurting from all the thinking, and my head was throbbing.

All I wanted to do was lie down and go to sleep.

I came to the door I had seen Aaron go into and I briefly thought of what his room looked like. There had been a saying I had seen once that denoted that the appearance of someone's room was a clear indicator of the individual's nature. I hadn't been able to test the theory as I never had the chance to sleep over at other people's houses.

Shaking my head free of thoughts, I took a deep breath and opened the door.

The room was not at all what I had expected. I had expected a pigsty with trinkets of his conquests hung all over the draws and bed.

That was nowhere near.

The room was clean. Not neat, but clean as though no one went in it, and I briefly wondered how he had maintained such a large area. The walls were cream, and nothing was on them. Nothing except for the TV that hung from the wall that faced his bed: the bed was on one side of the room and on the other side was a desk.

I mentally scoffed at the ironic sight when he hardly even attended classes.

It had a laptop on it and a pencil jar. The wall opposite the door had a big window, giving us a nice view of the other nice homes he lived near.

There were some wardrobes near the window, probably containing his clothes and a bathroom attached to his bedroom. In the far corner, there was a small sofa with cushions on it and I let out an awestruck sigh. This was not what I was expecting.

This room was big and clean and was not messy as I had thought it would be.

It was nothing like Aaron.

"Are you gonna come in or are you just gonna stand in the doorway?" Aaron said suddenly, his tone bored, and I recoiled slightly at his tone, feeling the questions fill me with his words. I wanted to ask what had happened to his mood, but I chose to leave it, thinking he was probably tired.

Besides, I was only helping him out; the animosity we held for each other was irrelevant. I had said that, and I would stick by it.

I walked in slowly and, only then, did I realise that Aaron was shirtless in joggers. He must have removed his top whilst I came up the stairs slowly and I turned my eyes away to look at anything else but him. But I couldn't help but take a curious peek.

His body was lean, muscular and a little tanned. A chain hung around his neck, resting on his chest and his black hair was tousled as usual. He then yawned and stretched his arms out in a tired motion. This action made me pay attention to his arms, his muscles flexing with every movement.

I blushed crimson, looking away from his body. I cleared my throat awkwardly and grabbed a pillow from his bed, tossing it onto the sofa.

"What are you doing?" he questioned, eyebrow raised and, in response I looked at him bluntly and stated in a 'duh' tone.

"Going to bed?" I said, sounding as though I didn't

even know the answer myself. He rolled his eyes.

"I meant with the cushion."

"Well," I started, "I thought you were going to sleep on the bed, so I put a cushion here so I can-"

"You're not sleeping on the sofa," he stated firmly, leaving no room for argument. He picked up the cushion and put it back in its original space.

"You're sleeping on the bed," he finished, and I tensed at his words before shaking my head roughly.

"No, no, it's fine, Aaron. I'm fine," I insisted, heading towards the sofa, but Aaron blocked my path, his arms folded. I had to hold his gaze to stop from looking at his tanned torso.

"Lexi, I'm not taking no for an answer," he finalised before moving towards the bathroom. I conceded then because the close proximity of a shirtless male was too much to even compete with.

"Oh, but Aaron?" I called meekly and he stopped in his tracks, turning to me.

"Yeah?" he grunted, and I gestured down at my attire.

"Do you have anything comfortable to sleep in?" I asked, eyeing the dress. He looked at my clothes. I would have expected him to suggest that I sleep in nothing as it seemed like something he would say, but he didn't, and to say I was shocked was an understatement. Instead, he looked at the clothes I was wearing in an assessing manner before sighing in resignation, grabbing a hoodie and some short from his wardrobe and tossing it over to me.

"Wear these. I'm gonna go to the bathroom."

And with that he was out the door. I looked at the hoodie. It was grey and had 'Aaron Walker' written in black font at the back. I sighed before throwing my old clothes and putting the new ones on. I laughed when the shorts looked like three quarter pyjamas due to the height difference.

I looked at myself in the mirror then, smiling at the hoodie that was too big for my form. The end of it stopped mid-thigh and the shorts mid-shin. I quite liked the smell of the clothes; it smelled of scented pine and washing detergent. I sniffed the smell again a few times before brushing my hair out of my face and into a relaxed bun.

I turned when Aaron exited the bathroom, and he wordlessly offered me a toothbrush which I took gratefully before making my way into my bathroom. There, I did my business before making my way into the room.

Aaron wasn't there, probably downstairs with his mom. I jumped into the bed, pulling the sheets up to my neck. I was rolling in and out of consciousness when I heard the door open then shut. It was Aaron. I didn't have to even open my eyes to know that.

I was too comfy to say goodnight, so I just stayed there. I heard some ruffling and then silence. I smiled slightly. It was sweet of Aaron to offer the bed to me. I mean, the sofa did not look that comfy.

I turned around to offer him a 'thanks' for but turned around only to find nothing-

I sat up straight, eyes searching the room, until I saw a mop of black hair on the sofa. He was lying down on a cushion. No blanket. The moonlight hit his body and I gazed away slightly in fear of feeling perverted for staring too long. I shook my head and concentrated on thoughts that mattered like why was he lying on the sofa? I wasn't going to let him be uncomfortable for the sake of me; it wouldn't be fair to him.

"Aaron?" I whispered, to which he responded with a soft 'hmm'.

"I didn't want you sleeping on the sofa or to give up the bed for me. There's enough space here for you," I answered, gesturing to his bed to which Aaron lifted his head slightly, his eyes piercing through me in a way that made me fidget.

"Not when you're there," he said simply before relaxing back into the cushion and angling his body the other way. I could hear his breathing slowing after a while, but sleep couldn't find its way to me.

Again, I was offended by his words. I didn't expect him to sleep next to me nor did I want him to, but his words had hurt.

Not when you're there.

As though I was too bad to be around. I already wasn't too fond of myself, and his words were just the cherry on the cake. I wanted to ask more questions to quash the anxiety, but I remained silent. I didn't feel sleepy after that. I just stayed lying there. Thinking.

Was I really so bad Aaron didn't even want to be around me?