There was a pause…
A long one.
Neither of them spoke.
It was hard for Arwen to decipher what Aiden was thinking on the other end of the call.
She wanted to complain —to ask him why he hadn't shared his struggles. But then again … he had never hidden anything from her. He had said it all. Could she really accuse him of doing so now?
She wanted to be mad at him.
But how could she be, when he still took ti to check on her every single day, even when he barely had ti for himself?
Her heart softened.
So instead of complaining, instead of getting upset, she chose a different approach.
As the silence stretched between them, she finally answered the question she had posed.
"The best way to hide sothing … is to not hide it at all." Her voice was gentle yet firm. "But even so, that changes nothing. Because in the end, nothing hides forever. You know that, right?"
Aiden humd softly from the other side. "I know. But there is also another facet to this. Have you heard of that?" he asked.
Arwen's brows furrowed as she studied her reflection in the mirror. "What?"
"Not everything on the surface is real," Aiden said, his voice calm —too calm.
Arwen didn't understand. Her fingers tightened around her phone. "What do you an?"
And even though Aiden wasn't in front of her, she could still feel the slight smirk tugging at his lips.
But why?
She wasn't asking sothing trivial. His words carried weight, a deeper aning that eluded her. If that was the case, shouldn't she ask him to explain so that she could understand it better?
"What I an is that the dia thrives on speculation," Aiden continued smoothly. "They can't report the truth until it's handed to them."
Even though he has put it in the simplest words, it still took Arwen a mont to process them.
Her gaze remained locked on her own reflection, and slowly, her expression shifted.
"So … you are saying the situation isn't as chaotic as they are making them seem?"
A brief pause followed before she heard Aiden respond.
"Have I ever lied to you?"
"You don't," she shot back imdiately. "You just downplay things as if they don't matter."
"That's maybe because nothing seems important when compared to you."
"Aiden Winslow!"
A soft chuckle rumbled through the phone. But Aiden said nothing else.
Silence stretched between them again, but this ti, it felt different. He wasn't trying to defend himself —he was simply there, willing to take whatever she threw at him.
Arwen took a slow breath, her chest tightening.
"I want you to tell everything," she finally said, her voice laced with quiet determination. "Exactly as it is. No sugarcoating. No brushing it aside. I don't expect you to hide anything from . If you are wounded, show your wounds bare. If anything, I want to be the one to heal them. I don't want to just sit here, protected from everything. I want to be there to protect you too. I —"
"Shush!"
Before she could say another word, Aiden silenced her with a single breath.
Arwen frowned. "Aiden, I am being serious —"
"Although your tears aren't ugly," he murmured, his voice as soothing as a lullaby, "I can't bear to see them lacing your srizing eyes. Can you help wipe them away first?"
Arwen's breath caught in her throat.
Her fingers trembled slightly as she blinked and looked at herself in the mirror.
That was when she realized —
Tears were brimming in her gaze.
She hadn't noticed them fall.
She hadn't raised her voice … hadn't choked on her words. And yet, he knew.
How?
How did he know her so well … always?
And yet she knew nothing …
She swallowed hard. "You —"
"Wipe them away, Moon," Aiden cooed gently. "Then we can talk."
Arwen lifted a shaky hand and dabbed the tears from her gaze.
"Am I expecting too much?" her voice was as small it could be when she spoke.
They started this relationship without any emotional foundation and now she was seeking every emotion from it … Hasn't her expectations grown a little too much?
Will he be willing to fulfil them?
He holds no reason to … but still hoped that he did.
But even if she hoped, that doesn't make her forget that he was not obliged to.
Therefore, she decided that if he refused, she wouldn't force him. She would let herself be heartbroken, but wouldn't compel him for sothing.
"I am expecting to share your struggles and pains as you share your happiness. Is it too much for to expect."
"It's not."
His reply ca without hesitation, firm and unwavering. "As long as you expect sothing from , it's never too much."
"But, Moon … this isn't about you expecting too much from . It's about you underestimating yourself when it cos to ."
Arwen stilled.
Underestimating herself?
Her brows furrowed as she tried to think back. Had she? When?
"How am I underestimating myself?" she asked, waiting for Aiden to explain.
And he didn't make her wait long.
"You are underestimating yourself if you think I could ever hide from you."
Arwen's breath hitched.
Aiden's voice was slow, deliberate. Each work seed to wrap sound her like a whisper of truth.
"Only you hold the power to find ," he continued, his tone deep with emotion. "Even in the darkest part of my life, even when I wasn't able to say a word … you still found . So tell , Moon —how do you think I could ever hide from you?"
Arwen's fingers curled into her pal. Her thoughts couldn't move past his words.
She had found him ... even in the darkest part of his life?
His words sounded as though they were ant for the future, but strangely ... she felt as though he was speaking about the past.
Is it just an illusion? Or, had they truly shared a past that she no longer rembers?
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