Zula listened carefully and analyzed Sarah's words. Of course, she wants to be with Ron, but there is sothing else that is troubling her… "I don't know if I can trust him."
"Zula, I understand that you don't want to be hurt, but you are hurting already. I'm not saying that you should move into an apartnt with him and act like everything is fine, but if you love him, don't shut him out. Rember why you are together. Rember why you love him. This morning you saw a side of him you didn't see before, and you are in shock, but that does not an that you don't trust him. The two of you are not together for a long ti, and I am confident that there are many things you still need to discover about each other. Every person has many layers. Start with yourself. How are you behaving when you are happy, excited, anxious? It is the sa with Ron. This morning, he thought that it's his stepmother and he was scared. I know that Ron usually is calm and composed, or at least those are the sides of him he is willing to show but under the surface, he is a human with all kinds of emotions. I would not be saying this if I don't believe that he loves you."
Zula smiled ekly. "I know… Thank you."
Sarah hugged Zula. "I hope that you can talk to him. Tell him what is bothering you and be honest. Give him a chance to co with a solution. And one more thing… when you hit a bump like this, don't starve yourself. If you need help figuring out things, talk to soone. I am available."
Zula scooted off the bed and went to the tray with food. Suddenly, she was hungry.
Sarah saw Zula gulp the soup greedily, and she warned her: "Slowly, don't choke on it…" She exhaled. "Seriously, why do you kids worry when you love each other?"
Zula paused her hand with the spoon and looked at Sarah. She understood that there is more behind Sarah's words. "Did Ron do sothing to worry you?"
"He didn't eat today. He is locked up in his room, just as you are." Sarah saw that Zula's face fell, and she added: "Eat and don't worry about him. Aiden is with him…"
Zula nodded and resud her eating, and she really wanted to go to Ron's room and to check on him.
Zula heard Sarah mumble while fiddling on her phone: "If you are so worried about each other, maybe you should talk it out before we do intervention…"
"You are going to sit here while I eat?" Zula guessed.
Sarah confird. "I want to make sure you have at least one al a day. If I see you skipping food again, I will be back. And my second intervention cos with extra scolding."
Zula smiled. It's rare for her to have Sarah only for herself, and knowing that Sarah ca here because she is concerned about Zula, made Zula's heart expand.
…
At the sa ti, in Ron's room.
Aiden is playing on his phone while Ron is eating.
Aiden asked Ron what happened, and Ron told him the short version: he was using the bathroom and Zula opened the door and he had a flashback which made him say so harsh things and that Zula left, and how she does not want to talk to Ron anymore.
After that, Aiden asked Ron to eat and since then, they are sitting in silence.
Aiden got a ssage from Sarah: "I spoke with Zula, she is shaken up due to Ron snapping at her. She doubts if she can trust him again."
Aiden exhaled.
Ron lifted his gaze from the food and looked at Aiden questionably while chewing slowly.
"You ssed up, Ron."
Ron swallowed the food from his mouth with difficulty. "I know."
"No, you don't. You really ssed up."
Ron frowned. "What does that an?"
Aiden thought about the best approach to explain his point to Ron. He decided to use an example.
"Do you trust ?"
Ron nodded in confirmation.
"Let's imagine that we did all this planning related to your father and your stepmother, and then I change my mind. I set them free and I prohibit you from going after them. How would that make you feel?"
"Uhm… horrible."
"Exactly. And what could I do to fix your opinion of ?"
"I don't get it." Ron admitted.
"You trusted , and I betrayed that trust. What do I need to do in order for you to trust again? Or maybe a better question is, will you ever trust again?"
Ron blinked a few tis rapidly while processing Aiden's words, and then he understood: "You are saying that Zula does not trust anymore."
Aiden nodded solemnly. "Every woman has a wall around her, keeping others out. It is for her protection. But when she lets soone in, that exposes her to being hurt. Zula let you in, and that is why what you call a flashback, for her it was a stab in the heart. If it were any other person, that person would brush it off as an episode, but for Zula it's different." Aiden saw that Ron's face fell, but he had to say everything so that Ron understands what he did. "She accepted you and your past, for her, the two of you are a team. The fact that you told her about your past, made her trust you more. Her guard was down, and your blow hit her full force right in the heart. She feels… betrayed."
"I… I didn't an to do it." Ron said weakly.
"But you did. Your state of mind is not an excuse. You didn't treat her as the girl you love, you didn't treat her as an acquaintance or a stranger... You treated her as an enemy. And sotis, regretting it and saying sorry is not enough."
Ron felt like there is not enough oxygen. "Are you saying that I can't fix it?"
"That is not what I said. You have one thing going for you, she loves you. But that does not an she will forgive you."
Ron found Aiden to be confusing. Why can he clearly say if there is a fix or not? "I don't understand. How can I fix it?"
"First, you need to think about what happened and how you would prevent that."
Ron shook his head in disapproval. "What is the point of thinking about the past? I can't take back what happened. I need to fix the current situation."
Aiden didn't agree. "You know that you made a mistake. But if you don't think about it, how will you make sure it does not happen again?" Aiden saw that Ron is looking at him expectantly, and he continued: "If you took a second this morning and controlled your emotions, this would not happen."
"You are saying like it's an easy thing to do."
"I don't expect you to change your way of thinking. But if you paused for one second and took a deep breath when anxiety swelled inside you, you would not be in this ss."
Ron has to admit that Aiden is right. That morning, when he saw the bathroom door opening, if he paused for a second instead of giving in to his fear, he would not lash out. And he and Zula would now be arranging their things and bicker about closet space instead of being thousands of miles apart.
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