Run, Girl (If You Can)

Chapter 134: You're Welcome, Aiden

Keeley couldn't help but laugh at Aiden's desperate texts when she was heading to the lab after class. He seemed so panicked. Was Aaron still so terrifying? She hadn't seen that side of him since their senior year of high school.

And here she thought he had gone completely soft.

Whatever, she could perform a favor between friends. Coaxing Aaron would work in her favor as well since she didn't want to deal with all of the ice during one of her limited breaks from work. They were supposed to help her relax.

Sure enough, Aaron showed up with a bag of Chinese takeout and a distinctly frozen aura two hours later.

She smiled brightly at him and gave him a longer hug than usual—ten seconds instead of two. "Thanks! This looks delicious. You're my hero!"

Was it over the top? Yes. But it worked. He thawed considerably.

"I'm glad you like it," he said gruffly.

Her status as his favorite person had its uses even though she still wasn't quite sure what to make of it. Keeley had been shocked when he said that originally but after a few days to think she accepted her fate.

She already knew she was his best friend; it wasn't such a huge leap to favorite person. This wouldn't last forever. In the meantime, she could try to enjoy the attention.

"Did you have a rough day at work?" she asked sympathetically, trying to appease him further.

"I hate dealing with idiots and having things kept from me. Today I dealt with both."

Keeley reached up and patted his head. "Hang in there."

Any remaining ice vanished when she did that. Mission accomplished. You're welcome, Aiden!

How had the most implacable person she knew become so easy to satisfy? It was one of the world's greatest mysteries. At least she knew how to work him now. This knowledge would have helped so much in her second senior year of high school.

"How's the research coming?" he asked.

"Pretty well! The first batch of test mice haven't died yet so that's a good sign."

Confusion flickered across his face. "Do they die often?"

"Unfortunately. They're being injected with unfamiliar things; sometimes they don't react well."

"That's…kind of terrible."

The thought of Aaron Hale feeling bad for lab mice when he didn't even care about (what seemed like) all human beings aside from her was hilarious. This reminded her oddly of her conversation with Ryan the other day over dinner.

"Yes but would you rather we kill people? We have to test things somehow."

"You have a point. Well, I'm glad things are working out alright. How much longer do you have to finish your research?"

"Not sure. All I know is that my dissertation is due about a year from now and I have to have time to finish writing everything once the research is done," Keeley sighed. She didn't even want to think about how much writing was left to do.

This time he reached out to pat her head and repeated her words back to her. "Hang in there."

She gave him a wry smile. "You think you're real funny, don't you?"

"No but I'm working on it."

"Why?"

"Because you like to laugh," he said as if it were the simplest thing in the world.

Her heart ached. He…really liked her. This wasn't fair at all. Why couldn't this Aaron and her Aaron have been swapped? Then everybody in both timelines would have been happy.

No, that wasn't entirely true. There was still Lacy Knighton to contend with. Plus the fact that her in-laws had hated her and resented her presence from day one.

She and Aaron weren't meant to have a happy ending so why did they have to meet again at all? Fate was playing a cruel trick on both of them. Keeley once loved Aaron with all her heart but didn't anymore and now he had a stupid crush on her. Absolutely ridiculous.

As much as she wished it weren't true, she couldn't deny it anymore. Aaron totally liked her.

Why else would he calm down just from a few simple words when Aiden (who, admittedly, was a drama queen but still) was in fear for his life?

She still didn't understand why. It made no sense that Aaron hadn't liked her when she was sincere with him but did now that she treated him so poorly most of the time.

He had shown her more emotion in the past four months of being friendly with him than he showed during the last four years of their miserable marriage. It wasn't his fault though—he didn't know how inconsistent he was being.

"I need to get back to work. Thanks again for the food. See you tomorrow?" she asked, attempting to plaster a smile on her face.

Aaron nodded. "I'll be here. Take care, Keeley."

"Yeah. You too."

When he was like this, she really thought it was too bad she had no positive emotions left to spare for him. He was actually pretty sweet. Sweet was a word she never would have applied to her husband in a million years.

She almost wished that the personality of this Aaron could be transplanted into a normal person so she could enjoy it more before realizing how stupid that was. Who wouldn't like being treated like the most important person in the world? But this was nothing but a fleeting moment.

He might act different but his life hadn't changed. Even her Aaron wasn't too bad, even if he wasn't particularly warm or considerate, before his parents got involved after their marriage. She wouldn't step foot into that world again for all the sweetness in the universe.

It sucked that she was even considering the possibility; it meant the niceness was getting to her. How could it not after so many years of being shunned by the one who was supposed to love her?

They had the same face, voice, and name. All of this started because he took care of her when she was sick. If he hadn't been nice just that once she would have gone on hating him without any interference.

Now she wasn't sure how she felt. The hatred was reserved for the original Aaron. As for the current one…she had to admit she didn't mind him as a person.

Keeley had gotten used to him. In a way, she even relied on him. He was her friend in the way her husband never had been.

She didn't and couldn't love him but she could appreciate him as a person. That was the problem. It would have been so much easier to continue hating him.