Page 23 of Beautiful Deceptions & Sweet Miseries

There's a crowd of people stopping to watch the interaction, their shocked faces and whispers worrying me. A few people have their cells up, recording. I'm frozen in my place, unsure what to do.

Oliver gets to his feet, glaring at Aaron. "Touch me again and I'll fucking sue you."

Aaron lets out a sarcastic laugh. "Touch my girlfriend again and see what happens."

Before I can defend myself or his words, Aaron grabs my arm, yanking me away from Oliver and the crowd of people. My feet stumble as I struggle to keep up with him, his fingers digging into my skin as he drags me away from the coffee shop.

"Let me go, Aaron! This is ridiculous," I plead, noticing we are heading towards our apartment.

Aaron scoffs, throwing me a dirty look. "I can't believe you, Addison. This behavior lately is getting ludicrous. We're sitting down and talking about this."

I argue, tugging at my arm but it's pointless. Aaron is a strong guy, and I'm no match against him.

We reach the apartment, a few random, lingering neighbors giving us weird looks as Aaron marches us to the apartment. He flings open the door and pulls me inside, slamming the door closed behind us.

I immediately try to put some distance between us, moving to the other side of the living room. My senses are heightened, terrified he's going to hurt me again. But he just stares at me angrily from across the room.

"First, the test results. Then you take off and get drunk. Then you leave with some random guy, and now I catch you out on what I presume is a date! Seriously, Addison? What the fuck is wrong with you?" he snaps.

"Me?" I gasp. "You hit me. I left because of you. You cheated on me. Why would you even think we would stay together after that?"

I swallow hard, waiting for him to cross the distance between us and hit me again. As soon as his feet move, I freeze, tears swelling in my eyes. I let out a sigh of relief as he walks past me into the kitchen and turns the gas stove on. I watch in confusion, wondering if he's going to start cooking or something. I have no idea what he's doing as he refuses to look at me.

Aaron storms into the bedroom, leaving the stove on. I panic for a moment, thinking he's going to try to suffocate me with carbon monoxide but watch as he stomps back out a few seconds later.

I'm in such a state of semi-relief that it takes me a few seconds to realize what Aaron's holding in his hand as he storms past me. My brain connects the dots but my feet aren't quick enough to move.

"Aaron, no!" I cry out in panic.

He pauses, holding my scrapbook above the flames on the stove. His eyes burn into me as tears spill down my cheeks. I'm too scared to move, terrified he will drop it if I try to rush forward.

My scrapbook dangles above the flames awfully close. I've had it since I was a kid – collecting newspaper clippings from local papers and things that interest me, as well as writing in it. It has my college acceptance letter in it, my high school photos with my friends, pictures with my family back home, memories… all my memories in one easily flammable place.

"You've really hurt me, Addison," he says quietly, not at all fazed by my begging, crying eyes.

"I'm sorry," I quickly reply. "Please give me the scrapbook."

Aaron raises an eyebrow at me, not moving. "If I give it back to you, you'll just take it with you. You'll leave again."

"I won't," I beg. "I'll come back. I'll stay, just please give me my book."

He shakes his head. "I don't believe you, Addison. I don't believe a word you say."

Aaron drops the book on the stove back, the flames instantly hugging the book.

"No!" I scream, rushing forward to grab it.

I let out a louder scream when Aaron grabs me around the waist, pulling me back from the flames. I fight against him, probably harder than I ever have before, but I'm not strong enough.

Smoke billows from the burning book, the papers alight as flames engulf it greedily. Sobs break loose from my mouth, my throat dry from my yells and pleas as my entire life goes up in flames – literally.

When the book is at the point of no return, Aaron releases me harshly, letting me stumble forward. I lose my footing, falling onto the kitchen floor. My head hits the cupboard, but I barely feel it as I look up at the black smoke above me.

The smoke alarm starts screeching and Aaron calmly heads over to the sink, filling up a jug with water. He carefully reaches over, turning the gas off before pouring the water over the burning black book.

I curl up on the floor, crying hysterically as Aaron moves around me without so much as a caring glance. He opens the apartment window, using his hand to try to dispel some of the smoke before grabbing a chair from the kitchen table and standing up to reach the smoke alarm. He pulls it from the roof bracket, ripping the battery out and silencing the screeching alarm.

"This is what you get for being so careless, Addison. Actions have consequences," he says casually, putting the chair back in its place.

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