Days of our Haiden (Read 6,338 times)

[gapeach]

What IS Hope thinking?

[ihearthaiden]

This chapter is rated R so I'm linking it.

www.fanfiction.net/s/11613144/22/Days-of-our-Haiden

[gapeach]

Wonder when they are going to say Aiden did this dirty deed!

[ihearthaiden]

Days of our Haiden
Season 1: Episode 23

Before Rafe could read him his Miranda rights and cuff him, Aiden stepped back. “What are you talking about? I don’t even know a Megan, let alone a Megan Arnold.”
Rafe stayed smug. “There’s no use in denying it, Jennings. I saw you with my own eyes trying to strangle her in the park. You probably would have killed her had I not been in the area and stopped you.”
“What the hell are you talking about? Are you actually trying to frame me?” Aiden shook his head. “This is a new low even for you!”
Hearing all the commotion, Hope (clothed in nothing but Aiden’s housecoat) came out of the bathroom to see what the fuss was about. “What on earth is going on out here?” She stopped short when she saw that it was Rafe at the door. “Rafe! I, uh… What are you doing here?” she asked, feeling her cheeks burn hot.
Rafe’s eyes grew big. “What am I doing here? What are you doing here?”
Before Hope could respond, a woman neither Hope nor Aiden had ever seen before appeared beside Rafe. She had nasty purplish red bruises along her throat. She pointed to Aiden. “That’s him! He’s the one who tried to strangle me to death in the park a half hour ago!” She sounded panicked. “Arrest him, Officer! Please!” She turned her attention to Hope. “If it weren’t for this kind officer here, that man would have killed me, I just know it! He was all upset over losing the love of his life, so I offered to buy him a drink. I felt sorry for the guy, you know. We had a couple of drinks, then when we were walking home, he asked me to come back to his place. I am not that type of gal to sleep with a man on the first date, so I politely rejected him. Then, it was like he suddenly snapped! He began to strangle me. I tried to fight him off, but he was too strong! He said he was tired of women rejecting him, and that this time, someone would pay for it.” She latched onto Rafe’s arm as if she were still frightened. “This officer happened to be walking by, saw what was going on, and stopped him! Sadly, he got away but I see that Officer Hernandez found him!”
Hope raised an eyebrow, and crossed her arms over her chest. The woman sounded like an actor in a movie that never made it to the big screen because none of the actors could act. “Oh really?” she asked shooting a look at Rafe.
Rafe was blushing profusely, and looking away, unable to meet anyone’s eyes.
“I’ve never seen this woman before in my life, Hope! This is clearly some sick and twisted plot of Rafe’s to get you away from me. I guess he wasn’t expecting you to be here with me.” Aiden turned his attention to Rafe. “It kind of blows your whole plan to hell, doesn’t it, Rafe?” It was Aiden’s turn to be smug.
Before Rafe could respond, Chase appeared. “Dad, what’s going on?” he asked.
Aiden looked over at him in surprise. “Chase what are you doing here?”
“I couldn’t sleep, so I decided to come over and see how the restaurant date went. I wanted to see if it made Mom jealous. I figured you wouldn’t be sleeping yet since you’re usually up late watching TV in bed for a while before going to sleep.” He nodded at Rafe. “Why is Rafe here, and who is that woman?”
“Rafe and this woman are claiming that I tried to strangle her to death a half hour ago in the park,” Aiden answered.
Chase snorted. “They’re obviously lying. You were at the restaurant tonight and then apparently, you went to bed with mom again.” He scrunched his face at the thought of what he had just said. “Thank God I missed it this time.”
Rafe’s face turned red, only this time with anger. “Excuse me? What do you mean by “went to bed with your mom ‘again’?”
Chase blushed. “I can’t remember why—I think it was because I forgot one of my books. Whatever the reason, I came over Valentine’s Day night. When I got here, I heard a noise. I went to investigate and saw that it was Dad and Hope getting it on. They had left their bedroom door open. I quickly got the hell out of there, though it was too late. I was already officially traumatized. As for today…” Chase nodded at Hope, who looked ready to crawl underneath a rock. “From the looks of it, Mom didn’t just get here. She had to have been with my dad at the time of the supposed strangulation.” He looked at Rafe, and crossed his arms over his chest. “I should have known a dirty cop like you would try to set my dad up to try to keep Hope. Well the joke’s on you! It backfired.” He smirked a smug smirk.
Aiden nodded. “He turned to Hope. Rafe claims he stopped me from strangling her in the park a half hour ago, but were you not with me shortly after we left the restaurant? Were you not with me a half hour ago when I was supposedly strangling this woman?”
Hope sighed. She felt bad that Rafe had to find out this way, but on the other hand, she was so angry with him she could barely speak. “You know I was,” she said to Aiden. She then turned to Megan and nodded her head toward Rafe. “Did he put you up to this?”
Megan hesitated.
Hope raised an eyebrow at her, her arms still crossed over her chest. “You do realize that falsely accusing someone of a crime they did not commit can get you in some serious trouble—maybe even jail time—don’t you? I am a cop, and the man you are falsely accusing is a lawyer. If he decides to press charges against you, you could be arrested for libel and slander—even perjury if it goes to trial.”
Megan looked at Rafe, and her Brooklyn accent suddenly appeared. “Sorry, Rafey. I know I owed you one, but that didn’t include going back to jail! You promised me we wouldn’t get caught!”
Rafe blushed. “We’re officially even. Go back to the car. I’ll be right there.”
Before she left, Megan looked at Aiden and Hope with a shrug. “Sorry. I owed him one.” She then took off down the hall and into the elevator.
Hope angrily turned her attention to Rafe. “So what exactly did you plan on doing?”
Rafe shrugged. “He wouldn’t have gotten convicted without any proof he did it. I just wanted him locked up for the night and the doubt about him put back in your mind. I was just so sick of it! Everywhere I looked there Aiden was, and you didn’t seem to mind one bit! I even saw you two having pizza together the other day. I knew I had to do something.” Rafe nodded toward Hope and Aiden in their robes. “Apparently, I was right to worry.”
“Were those real bruises on her neck?” Aiden asked, his curiosity outweighing his anger now.
Rafe looked away.
“Rafe,” answer him!” Hope ordered, clearly ticked off.
Rafe sighed. “She let me strangle her just enough to bruise her. I took breaks in between. She was never in any real danger. I only pressed hard enough to leave marks.”
Hope shook her head in disbelief. “You’re a piece of work, you know that? Now, I’m taking full blame for the cheating. I should have broken things off with you first. I didn’t mean to fall for Aiden again, but I did. Still, that gave you no right to try to set Aiden up!” Hope pushed her hands against Rafe’s chest causing him to stumble back a bit. “He could press charges on you, you know, and get you kicked off the force for good this time!”
“Yes, he could,” Rafe agreed, hanging his head.
“I’ll let you two finish this conversation in private,” Aiden said. He looked at Rafe. “And Rafe, as much as I’d love to see you get kicked off the force, I know how much being on the force means to you. I don’t like the thought of you being Hope’s partner, but I’m not like you. I’m not going to try to sabotage you just because I can. Your job is safe. I won’t be pressing any charges. Your plan fell through, so no harm done.”
Rafe glanced at him. “I appreciate that, Aiden, but right now, I can’t even stand the sight of you. You and I will never be friends.”
Aiden nodded. “Well, that’s good because I feel the exact same way about you right now, Rafe.” He turned to Chase. “Come on, Chase. Let’s leave them alone to talk.” He followed behind Chase and placed a hand over Chase’s back as Chase walked into the apartment.
Chase stopped midway through the door to look back at Rafe. “Rafe?”
Rafe looked at him. “What?”
Chase grinned. “I could tell from what I saw and heard that Hope was definitely enjoying sex with my dad. You weren’t even a blip on her radar when he was making love to her.”
“Chase!” Hope and Aiden both scolded.
Chase shrugged. “What? It’s true.”
Aiden gently pushed Chase through the doorway the rest of the way, then shut the door behind them, letting Hope and Rafe continue their conversation in private. He secretly liked Chase’s taunting Rafe, but he couldn’t let Hope know that.

*This love came back to me.*

“Let’s go to the stairwell. We don’t need to be waking anyone up by standing in the hallway,” Hope said to Rafe.
Rafe nodded and they headed to the stairs. They sat down on the stairs. The stairs were more like the stairs in a hotel than an apartment complex seeing as they were in their own separate room complete with heavy doors to get in and out. So they had their privacy.
“So, when did this cheating start?” Rafe asked.
Hope sighed. “We kissed on New Year’s. There might have been a kiss before that. I don’t remember. We kissed several times on our date.”
“You lied to me about your date didn’t you? You didn’t just kiss him. You slept with him like Chase said,” Rafe asked, then stated.
Hope nodded. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have cheated. It was a horrible and despicable thing for me to do to you.”
Rafe nodded. “You’re right! It was. I trusted you, Hope! You told me time and time again that I had nothing to worry about with Aiden, but here you were just lying the whole time! I don’t believe you!”
Hope sighed. She knew that even though Rafe owed some apologies of his own, she was still in the wrong about cheating, and needed to apologize to him. “Yes, I should have talked with you and been honest with you about my feelings for Aiden. For me to cheat on you was so very wrong. When I thought you had cheated with Lani, I should have just confronted you instead of running off to sleep with Aiden. I admit to that. Also, I shouldn’t have faked a stomachache tonight. I should have been upfront with you about realizing tonight that my feelings for Aiden were far from over, and that they weren’t going anywhere. I should have had the guts to just tell you that I didn’t want to be with you anymore.”
“How long would you have gone on cheating with Aiden and leading me on?” Rafe asked.
Hope looked at her feet. “I was going to break it off with you tomorrow. I just had to be with Aiden tonight. Seeing him with Lani made me panic. I didn’t want him with her or anyone else! I had to let him know before I lost him.”
Rafe laughed bitterly. “Trust me, he set the whole thing up so he could win you back. Clearly, it worked. You were never in any real danger of losing him. I was the only one in danger of losing.” He noticed her ring was gone. “I see you took the ring off already.”
Hope blushed, and looked at him as she pushed some hair behind her ear. “I’ll give it back to you.”
Rafe nodded, but didn’t say anything.
Hope suddenly remembered that Rafe had done wrong too. She shook her head angrily. “I’m not the only one who did wrong you know. Rafe, I can’t believe you stooped so low as to try to pin another strangulation on Aiden that he didn’t do! I mean, you strangling that woman, whoever the heck she is, just to try to get Aiden back in jail and me away from him? Rafe, are you insane? I know what I did was wrong, but what you did is just as bad if not worse! You could have really ruined his life! Even just an accusation could still look bad for him with the court after what he already did!”
Rafe sighed. “Look, I know it was stupid, all right? I just went crazy when I thought I was going to lose you. You were slipping away from me, Hope. I could feel it! I knew you still had feelings for Aiden no matter how many times you tried to deny it. I could tell by the way you looked at him and talked about him. I could tell by the way you always wanted to be with him! I just needed a plan to fix it—and fast! I knew it was dumb, but it was the only plan I had. I was desperate. So, I called my childhood friend up who owed me a favor. She was willing to do it, so I figured, why not?”
“I never meant to hurt you, Rafe,” Hope said with tears in her eyes. “Especially not after all you’ve done for me. You’ve been more than just my lover. You’ve been such an amazing friend. There aren’t many friends who would do for a friend like you would.”
Rafe nodded. “Yeah, well back at ya. I know I hurt you too, and I’m sorry, Hope. I really am.”
“I hope one day that we can get our friendship back even if it takes time,” Hope said still teary-eyed.
Rafe nodded. “Yeah,” he said quietly. “Me too.” He also had tears in his eyes. “Goodbye, Hope.”
Hope sniffled and wiped the tears from her eyes. “Goodbye, Rafe,” she whispered.
Rafe then left down the stairs.
Hope took a moment to compose herself, then with one last sniffle and eye wipe, she headed back through the doors and down the hall to Aiden’s apartment.

*This love came back to me.*

“I’m so sorry for what Rafe tried to do to you,” Hope said as she took Aiden into her arms. “It’s over between him and me now. For good.”
“It doesn’t matter what Rafe did. All that matters is that we can finally be together,” Aiden said, resting his forehead against hers.
Hope smiled. “Mm, yes we can.”
They kissed.
Chase cleared his throat. “Well, now that I know the date clearly went well, I’ll be going.”
Aiden pulled away from Hope, and turned his attention to Chase. “I really am sorry you had to see what you saw the other night.”
Chase blushed, and looked to the floor. “Can we just all pretend I never saw anything?” He then looked at Hope. “But I am sorry I told Rafe. I didn’t mean to be a rat. I just figured he already knew by now so I might as well rub it in his face even though I wanted to vomit after I said what I said to him.” Chase grinned. “It was worth it so see the smug look on Rafe’s face disappear!”
Aiden laughed, and Hope shot him a look.
Aiden cleared his throat. “I mean, Chase, that wasn’t nice.”
Aiden and Chase both snickered, and Hope rolled her eyes and shook her head.
“That wasn’t nice to taunt Rafe. I was in the wrong not breaking things off with him first. But anyway, I am very sorry for what you had to see your father and me in bed, Chase. And I’m also very embarrassed.” She blushed and looked away.
“Not have as embarrassed as I am, believe me,” Chase muttered.
“It’s late. Will you be staying the night?” Aiden asked Chase.
Chase shook his head. “Are you kidding me? I’ve already seen and heard enough to last me a lifetime, thank you!”
“We’re just going to sleep,” Hope assured Chase as she latched onto Aiden’s arm.
Chase snorted. “Yeah right! I don’t trust you guys. I’ll just see you tomorrow. I’m so out of here!”
Hope and Aiden smirked at each other.
“Well, be careful on the way home. Do you need a ride?” Aiden asked.
“No, I rode my bike. I’ll be fine,” Chase replied.
“Are you sure? Let one of us give you a ride home. We can put the bike in the back seat,” Hope offered.
“I’ll be fine! It’s only a five-minute bike ride back to Joey’s, and it’s well-lit all the way back,” Chase assured her.
Hope hugged him, and kissed the top of his head. “Well, all right. Just text us when you get back to Joey’s.”
“I will,” Chase assured her.
“Goodnight,” Hope said.
“Goodnight,” he said to her.
Aiden took a turn hugging him. “Good night. Petal safely.”
Chase hugged his father back, but rolled his eyes. “Good night. And I will. I’m not a kid anymore. You don’t have to tell me these things.”
“I’m your father. I don’t care how old you get, I will always tell you those things,” Aiden said.
Chase shook his head, but smiled nonetheless.
“Hey, Chase, do you think you could tell Ciara for me that I’m not marrying Rafe anymore and that I’m back with your dad?” Hope asked, only half joking.
Chase snorted. “Yeah right! I don’t have a death wish.” He then smiled. “Does this mean we’re going to be a family again?”
Hope and Aiden smiled at each other, their arms around the other.
“We will if I can help it!” Aiden said.
Hope smiled at Chase. “We’re gonna start off slow and see where it goes.”
Chase shrugged. “I’m willing to wait. I know we will be in the end.” He then left the apartment to head back to Joey’s.
Aiden locked the door behind Chase (and dead bolted and chained it just in case) then took Hope in his arms. He kissed her sweetly on the lips. “She’ll get over it, right?”
Hope raised an eyebrow. “Who, Ciara?”
Aiden nodded. “None other.”
Hope sighed. “She will…eventually. But I don’t want to think about that right now.” She untied his robe.
Aiden raised an eyebrow. “Oh? Well, what do you want to think about then?” he murmured, pulling her closer to him by the waist.
Hope grinned. “How Chase was right not to trust me when I told him that you and I were just going to sleep,” she then purred into his ear.
Aiden moaned then picked Hope, and carried her to his bed.

[gapeach]

Great chapter. Even though I likecthe thought of Rafe & Hope together you have me glad it turned out the way it did!

[ihearthaiden]

Days of our Haiden
Season 1: Episode 24

“I’m so nervous,” Aiden said as he and Hope sat at Pizza Pete’s waiting for Ciara and Chase to arrive. “What if she throws a tantrum right in the middle of the restaurant?”
Hope rolled her eyes, but smirked at Aiden’s wild imagination. “Relax! Pizza always puts her in a good mood. I don’t think she’ll take this as horribly as you think she will. Granted she won’t be thrilled, but she’ll get over it.”
“I hope so,” Aiden said, still unsure. “I don’t think you should have told her you’d be waiting here with Rafe.”
Hope shrugged. “I didn’t tell her Rafe would be here. I just told her that we were all going to have a family night together at Pizza Pete’s come six o’clock. She just assumed that Rafe was part of the ‘we.’”
“Leading her to believe Rafe will be here is basically like telling her he is,” Aiden reasoned.
“Here she comes,” Hope said, ignoring him and watching as Ciara and Chase came into the pizza place together.
Ciara looked around for them, and her eyes got big when she saw Aiden sitting next to Hope instead of Rafe.
“Maybe you should have told her without me,” Aiden said, wishing it wasn’t too late to bolt.
Hope took his hand in hers from under the table. “Relax! She’s my teenage daughter; not a trained assassin. Besides, I need you here for moral support.” She kissed his hand.
“What’s he doing here?” Ciara snapped when she and Chase arrived at the table. “And where’s Rafe?”
Hope sighed. “Ciara, Rafe and I are no longer getting married. I have decided that I want to give Aiden’s and my relationship another chance.”
Ciara slammed her hands down on the table. “How can you give him another chance when he tried to kill you? You’re smarter than that Mom!”
“Ciara, shut up! You know why he did what he did. Anyway, he’s changed now!” Chase snapped.
Ciara whipped around to face Chase. “Don’t tell me to shut up…like ever. And how do you really know he’s changed? That’s what all the criminals say!”
“I know because he’s my dad. I’ve been around him more than you have,” Chase replied.
Ciara crossed her arms over her chest. “Yeah, well he’s always been your dad and you were always around him before, yet you still didn’t see it coming when he tried to kill Mom.”
“If I was a psycho, would I have saved you from that loser who tried to attack you?” Aiden asked her.
Ciara turned her attention to Aiden. “You could have done it just to look good for mom. Heck, for all I know, you could have hired that creep to try to attack me so that you could play the hero!”
“Ciara, don’t be ridiculous!” Hope snapped.
Ciara sighed. “I’m sorry, all right? I don’t really believe that. But I’m still finding it hard to forgive you after what you did to my mom!”
Aiden nodded in understanding. “It’s okay. I’ll never forgive myself, so I can’t expect you to forgive me.”
Ciara’s expression softened a bit, and she sat down at the table across from her mom.
Chase sat down beside her, across from his dad.
“I do appreciate you saving me from that thug. And if you make my mom happy…” Ciara trailed off.
“He does. He makes me so, so very happy!” Hope kissed Aiden’s hand, and she and Aiden smiled at each other. Hope then looked at Ciara. “I love him, Ciara. The heart wants what it wants. I can’t help it. Please make this easier on us all by just accepting it.”
“But I loved Rafe!” Ciara said sadly.
“Then marry him. If he loved mom, he’s sure to love you. You’re like a mini version of her only bitchy,” Chase quipped.
Ciara shot him a look to kill.
Chase laughed, and held up his hands in defense. “I’m kidding!”
“I promise, Ciara, I will never hurt your mother ever again! I love her so much. What I did was despicable, and I am going to spend the rest of my life making it up to her,” Aiden vowed. He kissed Hope’s hand.
Hope smiled lovingly up at him, then turned her attention to Ciara. “Rafe is a wonderful guy, and was a great friend to me. But Ciara, I didn’t love him in the way a fiancé should love her fiancé. I was more in love with the idea of being in love with my good friend than I was actually in love with him. I just never felt the intense sparks with him that I feel with Aiden.”
Ciara sighed. “What about the ring? Can I have it since you’re not going to wear it?”
Hope laughed. Once in a while she still got a little glimpse of eleven-year-old Ciara. “Sorry, but I dropped it off to Rafe at work today. He paid for it; he deserves to have it back.”
“Well, that’s no fun!” Ciara grumbled
“She was going to flush it down the toilet last night, but I stopped her,” Aiden told her.
Ciara raised an eyebrow at Hope. “Really, Mom? Do you know how much that ring must cost? You were just going to flush it down the toilet?”
Hope blushed. “I wasn’t thinking right.”
“Well, at least stopping her is one good thing you did,” Ciara grumbled at Aiden, her arms crossed over her chest. “Not that the ring does any of us any good anymore.”
“Won’t it be awkward being partners with Rafe now?” Chase asked.
Hope shook her head. “Lani is officially his new partner. Apparently, even though Lani has feelings for him, Rafe felt being her partner would be less awkward than being partners with his cheating ex. I can’t say I disagree. He talked to Roman before I even got to work today. JJ is now my new partner. It’s a little weird having such a young partner, but he’s family, and he’s a good cop, so it works out.”
“I think it will be better for everybody involved,” Aiden said gently squeezing her hand.
Hope nodded. “Plus, I know Jen feels better about him being a cop with me as his partner now.”
“Enough with the small talk! I’m starved. Can we please order our pizza now?” Chase asked.
Aiden laughed. “Sure thing!”
They looked over their menus, and when they decided upon what to get, Aiden flagged down their waitress.

*This love came back to me.*

“You got some sauce on your cheek,” Aiden said to Hope.
“I do? Where?” Hope asked.
“Right here.” Aiden gently wiped it away with his thumb then licked it off his thumb.
Chase wrinkled his nose. “Gross!”
“If you think that’s gross, you’re going to think this is disgusting,” Aiden said before pulling a surprised Hope in for a passionate kiss on the lips.
“Ugh! Please, Dad! I’m trying to eat!” Chase complained with a groan.
Hope smiled at Aiden, and kissed him back. “I love you,” she murmured, resting her forehead against his.
“I love you too, my Darling,” Aiden said, gently running the back of his hand over her cheek.
“Ew!” Chase complained.
Ciara sighed as she saw how happy her mom seemed to be with Aiden. She turned her attention to Aiden.
“All right, Aiden, here’s the deal. I will try to accept you being with my mother.” She narrowed her eyes at him. “But if you ever hurt my mother again—even in the slightest way—you’re going to wish you really had died that night for real.”
“Ciara Alice Brady!” Hope scolded.
Ciara shrugged. “I’m just telling him where we stand.” She leaned closer to Aiden, her eyes boring into his. “And they’ll never find your body.”
Hope gasped. “Ciara!”
Aiden chuckled. “Like mother, like daughter.”
Hope shot him an unamused look.
Aiden cleared his throat, and turned his attention to Ciara. “Ciara, I will never hurt your mother again. But if I do, you have my permission to exact any painful revenge on me that you deem necessary.”
Ciara eyed him suspiciously. “I’m going to hold you to that.”
“Oh, I know you will!” Aiden assured her.
Hope kissed Aiden sweetly on the lips, then looked at Ciara. “Aiden makes me so happy, Ciara. If I can forgive him, don’t you think you can too? Especially after he saved you from being attacked?”
Ciara sighed. “I can try. That’s all I can do for now.”
Aiden nodded. “That’s all I ask. Thank you.”
Hope nodded as well. “Yes, thank you, Ciara. You’re a good daughter.”
Ciara smirked. “And don’t you forget it!”
Hope laughed.
They then went back to eating the rest of their dinner, and enjoying their time together as a family, or, in Ciara’s case, tolerating it.
When they finished their dinner, and once the bill and tip were paid, they all stood up and put their coats back on.
“Would it be too much to ask for a family hug?” Chase asked. “I know it’s corny, but…”
Hope grinned, and held her arms out. “I’m all for it!”
Aiden opened his arms as well. “Me too!”
Chase ran into them and hugged his parents. It felt good to be part of a family again.
Ciara hesitated to join them.
“Come on, Ciara. Show us that you’re at least willing to try,” Hope ordered.
Ciara rolled her eyes and sighed, but reluctantly gave in. “Fine,” she said before waling over to join in on the family hug.
Hope and Aiden smile at each other, knowing she’d eventually come around.

*This love came back to me.*

A month later-St. Patrick’s Day…

“I know you told me before you didn’t want to date because we worked together, but you dated Hope even though she was your partner, so there goes that excuse. Now that you and Hope are broken up, what do you say you and I try dating? You said yourself before that any guy would be lucky to have me,” Lani said to Rafe as they ate corned beef sub sandwiches in their patrol car. They were on a stakeout for a drug bust, but so far there had been no action, so they were taking advantage of it by having their dinner.
Rafe glanced at her. “I just got cheated on by Hope. I’m not quite ready to jump back into the dating pool.”
“But it’s been a month,” Lani reasoned.
“I take longer to heal than some. What can I say?” Rafe asked with a shrug.
Lani sighed. “Rafe, tell me the truth. Is it really too soon for you, or am I just someone you will never ever want to be with no matter how much time passes?”
Rafe looked at her, his expression compassionate. “Look… Right now, I’m still hurting, but when I am ready to date, you’ll be the first one I go out with. Heck, you’ll be the only one I go out with if things go well.” He grinned at her.
She grinned at him too. “Promise?”
Rafe nodded and crossed his right index finger over his heart. “Cross my heart.”
“Until then, can we hang out as friends if I promise not to push anything?” Lani asked. “I got front row seats to the Coldplay concert next Friday. I’d love for you to join me—as a platonic friend. No strings attached.”
Rafe thought about it for a moment. “Well, Coldplay is one of my favorite bands.”
“I even sprang for the VIP backstage passes. It would be a shame to let one of them go to waste,” Lani said.
Rafe smiled at her. “Well, in that case, I’ll go. But I’m paying for my own ticket and backstage pass.”
Lani nodded. “Done!”
“I’ll be looking forward to it,” Rafe said.
“Me too,” Lani replied. She smiled at Rafe. “Happy St. Patrick’s Day, Rafe.”
Rafe smiled back at her. “Happy St. Patrick’s Day, Lani.”
They went back to eating their subs and staking out the alley that they were supposed to be watching.

*This love came back to me.*

Hope, Aiden, and the kids were enjoying a nice dinner of corned beef and cabbage—sans the cabbage for the kids who weren’t fans of cabbage. Hope and Aiden had green beers and the kids had green Sprites. The kids were talking excitedly about Claire’s Ireland themed party that was happening in an hour.
“Can Claire stay over our place after the party?” Ciara asked Hope.
“And can Joey stay over too?” Chase chimed in.
“I was hoping you could stay at my place,” Aiden said to Hope. He then murmured in her ear, “After all, what good is St. Patrick’s Day if you can’t get lucky?”
“Please!” Chase said covering his ears. “I’m barely just starting to get what I saw last month out of my head.”
Aiden blushed. “You weren’t supposed to hear that.”
Hope grinned, blushing a little bit herself. She pushed some hair behind her ear. “I don’t know if you four should be alone at the house,” she said to Ciara and Chase.
“Mom, please! We’re going to be seniors at the end of the year. We’re responsible enough!” Ciara begged.
Chase nodded his agreement.
“I don’t know,” Hope said, still hesitant.
Aiden placed an arm around Hope, and gently rubbed her shoulder. “Ah, come on! They’re responsible, as are Claire and Joey. Anyway, if there’s a problem Steve, Shawn, or Roman can stop by.”
Hope sighed.
“Please, Mom?” Ciara pleaded.
“Yes, please, Mom?” Chase chimed in.
They both gave her puppy dog eyes.
“Then we can have some alone time back at my place, just you and me,” Aiden said to Hope gently rubbing her upper left thigh.
Hope bit her bottom lip. “All right, fine.”
Chase and Ciara both cried out in happiness and high-fived.
“Thanks, Mom! You’re the best!” Ciara said.
Chase nodded. “Yes, thanks, Mom.” He nodded at Aiden. “Thanks Dad.”
“Can we head over to the party early since we’re done with our dinner?” Ciara asked.
“I don’t see why not,” Hope agreed.
Aiden nodded. “Go have fun.”
Ciara and Chase thanked them.
Chase then went over and hugged both his parents.
Ciara hugged Hope, then paused as she glanced at Aiden. Finally, she quickly hugged Aiden. “Thanks for talking her into it even though you did have your own gross hidden agenda behind it.”
Aiden grinned, and hugged her back. “You’re welcome!”
The kids then left.
Hope got out of her chair, and sat on Aiden’s lap. She wrapped her arms around him, and softly kissed his lips. “See? I told you she’d come around.”
Aiden smiled, and nuzzled his nose against hers. “Yes, you did.”
“Now, what do you say we pay the check and go ‘get lucky’ as you so crassly put it?” Hope asked him with a grin.
Aiden moaned. “Yes, let’s get out of here. I can’t wait to get into your pot o’ gold,” he murmured, his hand moving to gently caress her aforementioned “pot of gold” over her pants.
Caroline, who for Hope’s sake, had decided he was free to eat at the Brady Pup again even though she still didn’t fully trust him, cleared her throat. “Here’s your check.”
Aiden blushed. “Thank you,” he stammered.
Caroline left.
Hope blushed, and gently swatted his shoulder. “You’re embarrassing! You know that, don’t you?”
“Trust me, Baby, you’re not half as embarrassed as I am,” Aiden said, setting down the money for the bill and tip.
Hope laughed. “Let’s go get lucky, Mr. Jennings.” She kissed him, then took his hand in her own.
He took her hand and grinned. “With pleasure!”
She grinned too, and they kissed softly on the lips.
They then got up and left the pub with their arms around each other, both happy, eager to be alone together, and even more in love with each other than ever before.

[Kpatch]

ihearthaiden , Please post all your chapters here and going forward, not links to an external source.

Please update all chapters here that have links and post the chapters here and delete the link, providing your content is PG13 or lower. Thank you.

[ihearthaiden]

Days of our Haiden
Season 2 Episode 1: Brand New Day

“Come in,” Hope called out as someone knocked on her office door. She was finishing up some paperwork and didn’t bother to look up. She figured it was Roman coming into talk with her about how her current case was going.
Still not looking up she said, “Hey Roman. Before you ask, it’s coming along. Just tying up some lose ends before we’re able to get the APB out on him.”
Suddenly, a bouquet of pink and yellow tulips was held underneath her nose. She smiled, and looked up to see Aiden standing in front of her, looking dapper in a pair of medium-wash blue jeans and a forest green sweater. The bouquet he was holding out to her was tied with a purple silk ribbon.
She smiled, and took the flowers from him. “You remembered by favorite flower.” She closed her eyes as she inhaled the sweet floral aroma.
“Actually, they’re for Bertha, that 80-year-old lady that works at the diner. She likes tulips too. I just came to tell you that it’s over between you and I. Bertha and I have fallen madly in love and are going to run away together to the Pine Oaks retirement home in Florida,” he teased.
Hope smirked. “We’ll, she is quite stunning. I understand. I hope you two are very happy together.” She then grinned. “Come here you!” She stood up and they kissed over her desk.
“Are you free for lunch?” Aiden asked before kissing her again. “I have something special planned for us. It’s slightly chilly out, but it’s not too bad compared to what it has been lately. At least the sun is shining.”
“Mm, I’ll make the time.” Hope said walking around her desk to him. She kissed him again. “Just let me replace the flowers and water in this vase so I can keep these beautiful tulips on my desk.” She smirked at him. “Pine Oaks Retirement home! Is that even a real place?”
Aiden shrugged. “Heck if I know. I just got it off the top of my head.”
Hope laughed. She ditched her now dead flowers that Aiden had gotten her a week ago, then went to refill the vase with fresh water.
As Aiden waited for her, Rafe walked by her office and stopped when he saw Aiden in there.
“Rafe,” Aiden said, nodding his head in a polite hello. He wasn’t Rafe’s biggest fan, but for Hope’s sake, he was civil to him.
“Aiden,” Rafe said nodding slightly as well. “What brings you here?”
“Just taking my beautiful lady out for lunch,” Aiden replied.
“The one you stole from me, you mean?” Rafe asked with a grunt.
“The one I had first. She clearly would rather be with me. It didn’t take her long to come back to my bed once I returned.” Aiden knew he shouldn’t be so cruel. It wasn’t in his nature. But something about Rafe just ticked him off and it was hard to always be civil to him.
Rafe looked like he wanted to attack, but Hope came back in before he could.
“Hey!” She placed a hand over Rafe’s shoulder. “Remember where you are and what you do for a living. You need to learn to handle being provoked better.” She turned her attention to Aiden. “And was that really necessary?” She raised an eyebrow at him and crossed her arms over her chest.
Aiden held his hands up in defense. “You’re right. It was uncalled for.” He looked at Rafe. “I apologize.”
Rafe grunted in response, then mumbled to Hope that he’d see her around. He left.
Hope looked at Aiden.
Aiden blushed. “I’m sorry. I guess I’m still a little annoyed that he pounced on you the second I was gone. Heck, the second Bo was gone for that matter.”
Hope sighed. “I don’t want to talk about my past relationships. She put her vase that was now filled with fresh water and the tulips back on her desk. She then pulled him close and kissed him, her fingers playing with his hair. “Let’s just concentrate on you and me.”
Aiden smiled. “We can do that.”
They kissed some more.
“Where are you taking me?” Hope murmured, resting her forehead against his.
Aiden took her hand. “Come with me and find out.”
They smiled at each other and headed hand-in-hand out of her office and out of the station.

~*This love came back to me.*~

“Hey, loser. Your button’s popping open. Get a larger shirt! Aint no one want to see your flabby ass stomach!”
Jonah automatically looked down at his stomach. Sure enough the new plaid shirt his mother had gotten him had popped a button. Wait. Actually two buttons had popped. The two bottom buttons had popped completely off. Jonah sighed. He had told his mother he needed an extra-large, but his mother insisted that he wasn’t fat and that a medium would fit him just fine. He had sucked it in when buttoning the shirt, but sadly, that trick hadn’t worked long.
Well, he couldn’t go through the rest of school wearing a busted plaid shirt! He headed to his locker and took out the only other shirt he had in there. It wasn’t a gym day, so his PE shirt was at home in the wash. A novelty shirt he had bought just for laughs would have to do. He had brought it to school to show Joey, Chase, and Theo, but now he guessed they’d see it on him instead of him just showing it to them. He shut and locked his locker, then quickly headed to the bathroom to change before Health class.

~*This love came back to me.*~

Lani slammed a flyer down on Rafe’s desk.
Rafe looked down at it. He picked it up and skimmed it. It was a flyer for the upcoming music festival in Chicago that weekend. It featured Cold Play, Radiohead, U2, Aerosmith, and Bon Jovi with a guest appearance by Pink.
Rafe looked up at her, a bushy eyebrow raised. “What’s this?”
Lani rolled her eyes. “It’s a flyer for a music festival. Duh! Can’t you read?” She crossed her arms over her chest and smirked.
Rafe rolled his eyes. “Obviously, but why are you giving it to me?”
“Because I got us two tickets and you are going to go with me,” Lani said matter-of-factly.
Rafe crossed his arms over his chest. “Who says I want to go with you?”
Lani shrugged. “Why wouldn’t you? It’s my treat, we both have off, you’re single now and you promised you’d give me a chance, and you love all those bands.” She raised an eyebrow and nodded toward him. “Need I say more?”
“I don’t really listen to Pink. She’s more of a girl’s artist,” Rafe stated, setting the flier back down.
Lani rolled her eyes. “A girl’s artist? Please! I’ve never heard of such a dumb thing. Anyway, she’s only a guest. I for one love her.”
“Because you’re a girl!” Rafe said with a grin.
Lani shook her head. “No, I love her and just happen to be a girl. So are you coming with me or not?”
Rafe thought about it for a moment. He did love all those bands that would be there. And secretly, Pink wasn’t all that bad. In fact, he did find her songs quite catchy. He nodded. “All right, let’s go. But I’m not letting you treat me.”
Lani smiled. “You can drive us down and pay for all the gas. Then we’ll be even. We’ll go havies on the hotel and Dutch on the food.”
Rafe nodded. “Deal!”
Lani smirked; apparently proud of herself. “I’ll make the hotel reservations once I get home.”
“Just one night and two rooms, all right?” Rafe called out after her as she turned to leave.
“Of course!” she called back, a devious smirk on her face.

~*This love came back to me.*~

“I really don’t see why I need to be blindfolded,” Hope said as Aiden led her by the hand to the place where he had his surprise set up.
“Because it will make it more special if you don’t see it until we’re there. Don’t worry, we’re almost there. Just a few more feet.” Aiden led Hope the rest of the way, then stopped. “All right, we’re here.” He undid her purple silk blindfold, and let her see where he had brought her.
Hope opened her eyes, and gasped when she looked around. “Aiden, it’s so beautiful!”
“Beautiful scenery for my beautiful love,” Aiden replied, kissing her hand.
Hope smiled and blushed, then looked around some more. They were in a beautiful field with the greenest grass Hope had ever seen. The grass was covered in beautiful followers in an array of colors as far as the eye could see.
They were currently standing by a big, beautiful tree covered in pink blossoms that were starting to fall to the ground here and there. “Is that a cherry blossom tree?” Hope asked. She looked over at Aiden who had a picnic basket in his hand with a purple blanket folded on top of it.
Aiden nodded. “I figured we’d have a picnic here.” He set the basket down then took the purple blanket and began to lay it out across the grass under the tree.
Hope helped him lay it out. “Where did you find this place?”
“One of my clients owns this property. They want to build a house on it. They had a problem with the contractors that I helped them take care of. I gave them a discount on my services in exchange for letting me take you on a lunch date here,” Aiden explained. He placed the picnic basket on the blanket and began to take out their food.
“This is so beautiful, and such a romantic gesture. Thank you so much,” Hope said, sitting down and watching as he unloaded a bottle of red wine, two wine glasses, a loaf of bread, a wedge of cheese, a little container of butter, a bottle of ranch dressing, a plastic container containing an iceberg salad, and another container that held soup.
He opened the container up to show her. “I hope you like chicken and Gnocchi.”
She smiled. “I do!” As she watched him take out paper plates, plastic utensils, napkins, and one more container of something yet to be discovered, she shook her head. “How on earth did you fit everything in that basket? Just when I think you’re done, you keep pulling things out!”
Aiden smirked. “If you pack everything just right, you can fit it.”
“Kind of like a puzzle,” Hope said, opening the mystery container to reveal four chocolate-covered strawberries. “Ooh, these look good.”
“Exactly, and yes, they do. I figured they’d be the perfect dessert for us to share.” Aiden leaned over and kissed her cheek.
Hope pushed some hair behind her ears and smiled. “You went through so much trouble to set this up. Again, it’s so romantic. Thank you.”
“Nothing’s too good for my baby,” Aiden told her.
Hope crawled over to him and kissed him softly on the lips, his face between her hands. “Likewise,” she said dreamily.
They stared into each other’s eyes with nothing but love in their eyes. Then, they went to work on eating their lunch.
“It’s slightly chilly, but at least the wind hasn’t picked up. Who would have thought I’d be wearing a sweater in spring?” Hope asked. She was wearing dark-wash blue jeans and a white cowl-neck sweater with black ankle boots. “I feel more dressed for winter than spring.”
“That’s Salem for you. It always feels like we get an extended winter and skip right over spring,” Aiden said as he poured their wine.
“At least we finally got rid of all the snow,” Hope quipped.
“Don’t jinx it,” Aiden quipped in return.
They both laughed.
He set the wine aside then held out his glass. “To us and our second chance on this beautiful spring day.”
Hope grinned. “To us and our second chance on this beautiful spring day,” she agreed.
They clinked glasses and drank up, smiling at each other with love in their eyes for the other.

~*This love came back to me.*~

Jonah walked into Health class with a grin on his face. He could hardly wait to show the boys his new shirt. He knew they would get a kick out of it.
As he headed to his seat, he heard his fellow classmates snickering.
He grinned at them. “Hilarious shirt, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, if you’re five years old,” Becca Thomas who was known for being the senior queen be who thought she ran the school replied. She was snobby to everyone who didn’t fit into her little circle of friends, so Jonah ignored her and sat down in his seat.
“Dude! That shirt is hilarious, Man!” Joey said as he looked at Jonas’s shirt. He nudged Theo. “Dude, look at Jonah’s shirt!”
Theo looked at Jonah’s shirt and burst out laughing.
Claire looked over and smiled slightly. She shook her head. Only Jonah would wear something like that to school. But, in her opinion, that was part of his charm.
Ciara and Chase came into class just then and took their usual seats with Ciara on one side of Claire and Chase on the other side of her behind Jonah.
“Like my shirt?” Jonah asked Chase and Ciara as he stood up and modelled it for them.
Ciara laughed. “You’re crazy!”
Chase laughed so hard he snorted. He high-fived Jonah. “I got to get me a shirt like that!”
Jonah grinned; proud of himself.
Just then, then teacher came in, so they all grew quiet.
Jonah sat back down.
Becca Thomas raised her hand.
“Yes Becca?” Mr. Samuels asked.
“Mr. Samuels, Jonah is wearing a shirt that is kind of inappropriate for school, don’t you think?” Becca asked.
Jonah blushed as Mr. Samuels put on his glasses and looked at Jonah.
The whole class snickered as Mr. Samuel’s read out loud what Jonah’s black t-shirt said in big red letters. “I love to fart.” The shirt had holes all over it as if someone had farted so much they made holes in it.
“Mr. Caldwell, we’re all for self-expression in this school, but don’t you think that shirt is a bit much?” Mr. Samuels asked.
“I’m sorry, Sir. I kind of popped out of my dress shirt I had originally planned to wear today. My mom always insists on buying me shirts two sizes too small. This was all I had here to wear,” Jonah explained.
Mr. Samuels nodded. “Very well, but from now on I suggest you get your mother to start buying you the size you really need.”
The class giggled.
Jonah sank down in his seat a little.
Ciara shot Becca a dirty look. “Snob,” she muttered under her breath.

~*This love came back to me*~

Hope and Aiden lay kissing on the floral grass with Aiden on top of Hope, her hands pinned beneath his above her head.
“I’ve got to get back to work,” she breathed between kisses. She sighed happily. “I wish I could stay here all day with you instead.”
They continued to kiss for a moment more. “Then stay with me. Call in sick or something,” Aiden murmured, his hands down stroking her hair.
They kissed some more and he moved his kisses to her neck.
She tangled her fingers in his hair. “I can’t. I really have to wrap up this case I’m working on. We’ll continued this tonight, I promise.”
Aiden’s lips met with hers again and they kissed just a moment longer. “All right. Can we at least eat our dessert before you have to go?”
Hope sat up and wiped some cherry blossom petals out of her hair. “Of course!”
They smiled at each other, then went to sit back on the blanket.
“I forgot the whipped cream. I always forget something!” Aiden said.
“Don’t worry about it. I’m sure they’ll still be delicious.” Hope took one of the strawberries.
Aiden took a strawberry too, and they held it out to each other’s mouth, feeding the other.
Hope licked her lips. “Mm… Delicious!”
Aiden nodded, licking his own lips. “Really good.”
They finished their strawberry and helped themselves to their second one.
“I wish I had a third one,” Aiden said once he had finished his second strawberry. “I should have brought us more. I was just trying to have room for everything,” Aiden said.
“You’ll have to settle for what’s left on my lips,” Hope, who had just finished her second strawberry purred as she crawled over to him and sat down in his lap.
He moaned, his eyes lowering with love for her. “Mm, something tells me that will make it taste even sweeter.”
“There’s only one way to find out,” Hope murmured, her hand resting against his cheek.
They kissed, their tongues slipping into play with the other’s and tasting any remnants of strawberry the other might have left on them.

~*This love came back to me.*~

“Yes, I will need just one room for this coming weekend. Yes please—two nights. Friday and Saturday night. Perfect! One King-sized bed is more than fine. There’s no couch in the room is there? No? Fantastic! Yes. Also, if available, I’d like a room that is more secluded from everyone else. My boyfriend and I like our privacy. Thank you.” Lani gave the receptionist all the information needed, then thanked her and hung up the phone.
She smiled to herself. Rafe would be thanking her by the end of the weekend. He may not know right now that he wanted to be her boyfriend, but by the end of the weekend, she could guarantee that he would be hers and all hers. She would see to that.

~*This love came back to me.*~

Chase lay back in his seat as he and his classmates were forced to watch some lame DVD about being a parent. He supposed it was supposed to scare them off from wanting to become parents too early in life.
It was so boring. He yawned, and slouched down in his seat even more.
On the DVD, there was this little screaming brat around three or four whining because his mother told him no more cookies. The only cool thing about the kid was that he was wearing these white Converse high-tops. Chase remembered owning a pair of those. He was probably around the boy in the movie’s age when he had them. He obviously didn’t remember much about being that age, but those shoes he remembered because he loved wearing them every day. He couldn’t remember what happened to them. He knew his dad had taken them off him, but then they had never appeared again.
Chase thought back to the last time he remembered wearing them.
His mother. He remembered her smiling at him and tying up his shoes. His mother never smiled unless it was at him.
She sat him down to play with his toys. Yes, he remembered now because he remembered he was tired of playing with the boring old toys he already had. He got up to look around the room. His mother wasn’t paying attention. She left the room and his eyes caught on something shiny and black that looked interesting. He toddled over to it and picked it up. He wasn’t quite sure what it was but it looked way more fun than his other toys…
“Chase!” Claire whispered beside him.
Chase shook from his flashback. “Hm?” He asked.
Claire nodded toward the teacher.
Chase could tell that Mr. Samuel’s had asked him something, but he had no idea what. The DVD had stopped playing, so he guessed it had something to do with what they had just watched.
“I’m sorry, can you repeat the question?” he asked.
“I said, how did you like the DVD? Did it show you that your too young to have children, or did it make you want to have children?” the teacher repeated.
“Me? I don’t think I am anywhere near ready to be a dad right now or if ever,” Chase said.
“And Jessica? What about you?” the teacher asked another student.
This carried on for a few more responses, then they got their homework assignment of writing a one-page essay on why it is best to not have children too soon.
The bell rang, and they were dismissed.
“What does this have to do with Health class anyway? I don’t know about you guys, but I’d much rather write about how babies are made. Wouldn’t that make more sense?” Joey asked.
Theo and Chase snickered, and high-fived him.
Jonah grinned, though he didn’t really know much about that subject. Granted, he knew how babies were made, but he didn’t have any experience in babies or the way they were made.
Claire and Ciara rolled their eyes.
“Chase, where did you go earlier when the teacher first asked you the question?” Claire asked him. “You looked so spaced out.”
“I was just zoning out because that lame DVD was so boring. I wasn’t thinking about anything important,” Chase replied.
As they headed out of class talking about what their senior class prank should be, Chase couldn’t help but think of that earlier memory as a child. There was something more to it. He could feel it. Something just felt off about his memory. However, there was no time to ponder it now. He had English class to get to.

~*This love came back to me.*~

Aiden dropped Hope back off at the station.
Hope took his face between her hands and kissed him passionately. “Thanks for the ride. I’ll see you tonight, Mr. Jennings.” She kissed him again.
“In my bed…” he murmured.
She rested her forehead against his. “That’s always where you mind ends up, isn’t it?”
“Does that bother you?” he teased.
“Not one bit!” Hope said with a grin.
He grinned too, and they kissed some more.
“I’ll call you when I get out of work,” she said.
“Mm, you do that, Baby,” Aiden said, licking his lips.
As Hope got out of the car she smiled at him and blew him a kiss.
He smiled back and pretended to catch it.
She then shut the door and headed back in to work. During lunch, Aiden had told her that he had to decide to either renew his lease, or move somewhere else. His community service was just about over, and he was thinking of getting a place closer to her now. She hadn’t mentioned anything to him because she wanted to talk to Ciara first, but she was thinking about asking him to move in with her. Ciara would be getting a place of her own soon no doubt, and Hope was at Aiden’s most of the time anyway, so she figured that maybe taking the next step wouldn’t be so bad. After all, they had already been living together before he had…
Hope shoo the thought from her head. She trusted him now and she knew that Ciara was finally starting to trust him again too.
Hope touched her lips where Aiden had thoroughly been kissing her all afternoon, and smiled. Yes, she would talk to Ciara right after work.
She walked back into work even happier than she had been before she left it for lunch.

[ihearthaiden]

Days of our Haiden
Season 2 Episode 2: Makin’ Plans

Hope knocked on Ciara’s bedroom door that night. It was after dinner, and Ciara was in her room doing her homework. Hope figured it would be the perfect time to talk to her about Aiden moving in with them.
“Come in,” Ciara called out.
Hope came in and shut the door behind her.
Ciara looked up from her desk. “What’s up?”
“I wanted to talk to you about something,” Hope began. “I know you’re doing your homework, but…”
Ciara shut her book. “I welcome the break! Whomever thought up Algebra is psycho. Now I’m on Algebra 2. It’s a sick, sick world, Mom, when someone creates such a torture device for teenagers to learn.”
Hope laughed. “Oh stop!” She turned serious then. “I wanted to talk to you about something. It involves Aiden.
Ciara’s face paled, and her eyes got wide. “He didn’t ask you to marry him already, did he?”
“What? Did he say something to you?” Hope asked, instantly feeling a bit of butterflies in her stomach. She sat down at the end of Ciara’s bed.
“No. I just thought that maybe that’s what you wanted to talk about. Wait. It’s true. Isn’t it? He proposed.” Ciara looked a little ill.
Hope shook her head. “No! We just got back together two months ago Ciara. My goodness!”
Ciara shrugged. “Well, you’re so madly in love with him. It wouldn’t surprise me.”
Hope sighed. “I was just going to ask how you would feel about him moving in with us.”
Ciara raised an eyebrow at her. “Why?”
“Well, his community service is just about over and his lease is soon up. He thought it would be nice to move closer to me,” Hope explained.
Ciara snorted. “I bet! You know moving in together after only two months of being back together isn’t much better than getting married.”
Hope shot her a look. “It’s far less serious than marriage and you know it! Anyways, I’ve been at his place so often we were practically living together anyway.” She sighed, and looked her daughter in the eyes. “Ciara, you promised you’d try to accept him back into our lives.”
“I have, haven’t I?” Ciara asked, her voice raised. She lowered her voice. “It’s just going to take me a while longer after what he did. Surely you can understand that.”
“If I can forgive him, can’t you?” Hope asked, an eyebrow raised.
“I’m trying,” Ciara replied. “Look. If this is what you really want, then go for it. I’ve been thinking about moving out anyway.”
Hope crossed her arms over her chest. “Excuse me?”
Ciara nodded. “I want some extra cash for my senior year, and I’ve been babysitting Tommy a lot lately. Chad and Abby could really use a nanny so they offered me the guest house rent free for being a live-in nanny.”
Hope opened her mouth to complain, but Ciara cut her off.
“Before you say anything, Abby and Chad already insisted that I stay in school, and have all my homework and studying done before I even think about helping out with Tommy. Abby works during the day, but Chad will be home while I’m in school. In the evening, after I’ve done all my homework and studying, is when I will take care of Tommy,” Ciara explained.
“It’s too much work. I know school is almost out for this year, but your senior year you’re going to be busier than ever. You’ll be too overwhelmed managing school and taking care of a two-year-old,” Hope reasoned.
“I can handle it, Mom. Trust me. If at any time I feel like I can’t handle it, then I promise to quit and move back home. I just want to get the experience of living away from home. I know I’ll get that experience in college, but I want to be prepared for it so that I don’t freak out once I get to college. You know?” Ciara asked.
Hope thought about it for a moment. She sighed. “I don’t trust Chad too much, but I do trust Abigail. I know she wouldn’t do anything to put your well-being at risk.”
Ciara nodded. “Exactly!”
“When would you be moving?” Hope asked.
“I was thinking I’d move there this summer. So, early July; as soon as school’s out,” Ciara replied.
“Well, if this is what you really want…” Hope trailed off.
Ciara nodded. “It is. That way, we both can be happy. I get an income and can get used to living on my own, and you can play house with Aiden. I’m sure Chase will have no problem with that!”
Hope took Ciara’s hand and looked at her with concern. “Baby, are you sure you’re not moving out just to get away from Aiden? Because if you are, there’s no need. I’ll just tell him to keep his current apartment.”
Ciara shook her head. “No. I’ve been wanting to do this since before you even brought up Aiden moving in. I promise.”
Hope sighed. “All right. I’ll let you get back to your Algebra 2 homework then.”
“That’s even worse than Aiden moving in!” Ciara joked.
Hope shook her head. “Very funny!” She smirked as she left Ciara’s room, gently shutting the door behind her.

~*This love came back to me.*~

Lani had the day off and was putting her day to good use. She was at the mall shopping for her weekend with Rafe. If she was going to make him fall for her, she was going to need the ammunition to do so.
The first place she decided to go was of course the most important stop—Bedroom Bliss. She planned on spending most of the weekend with Rafe in bed. They’d go to the music festival and of course out to eat, but other than that she planned on keeping him in bed as long as possible. Sure he was having some reservations about dating her, but as soon as he saw her in her lingerie, she had no doubt he would change his mind and be putty in her hands.
She felt sexiest in red, so she looked for anything red and grabbed it in her size. She planned on trying on everything she found so that she could see exactly how it would look on her body.
She found a hot one-piece that was completely see-thru. She found a two-piece with a zippered crotch on the bottoms and the bra top had straps that strapped across the stomach. There was a vinyl one-piece with a zipper all the way down the front that would allow the body suit to simply fall right off her if unzippered. Finally, she found a two-piece that had a very tiny red piece of material that was supposed to be underwear. The top was a big red bow that covered her breasts and only her breasts.
Into the dressing room she went, trying on each piece of lingerie and admiring herself from every angle. In the end, she couldn’t decide which she looked sexier in, so she decided to buy them all.
After she purchased them, she left for the wine store in the mall. After all, if she couldn’t get Rafe to say yes right away, she’d need a little help. While she was at it, a trip to the pharmacy wouldn’t hurt matters either, she figured. There were some supplies she needed.

~*This love came back to me.*~

Social Studies class was over. The bell had just rung. However, their teacher Mrs. Mathis had just told them all to stay in their seats.
“A summer internship has come up that won’t pay anything but will get you extra credit as well as look very good on your college applications if you take it,” Mrs. Mathis began.
“For what?” Claire asked. Claire was a go-getter and always wanted to improve her grades even though they didn’t need improving.
“As camp counselors at Camps Wanataga and Hakui in New Haven Connecticut. There is a new camping program associated with schools all over the world to place juniors and seniors into camp counselor positions at camps in need of counselors. It starts right after the 4th of July. You will spend one week learning the rules and how to be a counselor, as well as getting the camp ready for campers. Then, you will spend the following week being a counsellor. In exchange for helping out, you will get a ten percent boost to your average this year. It may not seem like a lot but trust me it is.” Mrs. Mathis looked at Joey and Chase, then at some other students who weren’t exactly known for their good grades. “Trust me. Some of you could use the extra credit. There are twelve spots open. You can pick which camp you’d prefer, but its first come first serve. The camps are literally only a canoe trip across the pond away, so it doesn’t make much difference which camp you are assigned to. Those are the two camps our class happened to be assigned to and they are both very nice camps I’ve heard. Sign-up sheet is on my desk. You are dismissed.”
Claire went straight to the sign-up sheet and signed up for Camp Wanataga.
“If my girl’s singing up, then so will I,” Chase said, signing his name under hers.
She smiled at him. “That’s so sweet!”
“I can’t spend two weeks without my girl!” Chase said to her.
Claire pushed some hair behind her ears and smiled, her cheeks tinted pink.
“Ciara, why don’t we sign up? I don’t really need the extra credit, but I’d love to help out kids!” Theo said.
“I was going to help out Chad this summer, but I suppose I could postpone that for two weeks if this is what you really want. I didn’t tell him yes yet anyway,” Ciara replied.
“Do this with me. Please?” Theo begged.
Ciara smiled at him. “You know I can never say no to you.”
Theo grinned, and they signed up together underneath Claire and Chase’s names.
“Well, gosh it sounds like fun! I could use the time away,” Jonah said signing up under Theo’s name.
“Well, clearly I could use the extra credit, and there might be some hot counselors at the neighboring camp. Plus, I’m not spending the summer alone. I’ll do it.” Joey signed up after Jonah, completing the councilor list for Camp Wanataga.
“What about Jade?” Claire asked.
“Eh. We broke up,” Joey said. “She was too clingy.”
Claire rolled her eyes. Joey dated more girls than times he changed his underwear. He always had a lame excuse as to why things ended.
“This is going to be a fun two weeks!” Theo said.
His friends all grinned.
“I think it will!” Ciara agreed, draping an arm around his shoulder. “I can feel it!”

~*This love came back to me.*~

Hope knocked on Aiden’s door.
Aiden opened it up and smiled big when he saw her. “I missed you.”
Hope pulled him close. “You just saw me during lunch.”
“But that was over five hours ago,” Aiden reasoned, wrapping his arms around her waist.
“Good point,” Hope murmured.
They kissed in the doorway a moment until Aiden’s elderly female neighbor across the way cleared her throat. “Get a room.”
“Sorry. Mrs. Campbell,” Aiden said to her.
Mrs. Campbell grunted, then headed into her apartment, shutting the door behind her.
Hope grinned. “Charming old lady.”
Aiden rolled his eyes. She just moved in last month. The old bat belongs in a retirement home; not here. I don’t know where her husband is. He probably died just to get away from her.”
Hope laughed, and playfully swatted his chest. “Stop that! Just because she is a mean old woman doesn’t mean you have to act just as mean.”
“So let’s do something that makes me much nicer then…” Aiden murmured gently rubbing up against her.
Hope smirked. “Not until I get some food in my stomach. Ciara and Chase are out with their friends for dinner, so I figured I’d eat with you. You didn’t eat dinner yet, did you?”
Aiden shook his head. “I was waiting for you.”
Hope took his hand. “Where would you like to go?”
“We can go to the Denny’s that’s just down the street. It’s not fancy, but it’s close. And the sooner we have dinner…” Aiden trailed off and pulled her closer, taking her face between his hands. “The sooner we can come back home for dessert…” He began kissing down the side of her neck as his right hand started to make its way underneath her shirt.
Hope smirked, and grabbed his wrist. “Down boy. We wouldn’t want Mrs. Campbell to come back out and get an eyeful.”
Aiden shrugged as he shut and locked the door. “Why not? It’s probably the only action she’ll ever get to see the rest of her miserable life.”
Hope laughed, and gently shoved him before latching her arm with his. “You’re so bad!”
“Wait until we get back home and I’ll show you just how bad,” Aiden teased in a tone that told Hope exactly what he meant.
Hope blushed, but smiled as she pushed some hair behind her ears.

~*This love came back to me.*~

“Where are you going?”
Jonah winced as he was stopped by his father on the way out the door. “I’m going out to dinner with friends, Dad.”
“Your mother cooked a nice meal here. What’s wrong with her cooking?” Frank Caldwell crossed his arms over his chest.
Jonah sighed. “There’s nothing wrong with Mom’s cooking. I just want to hang out with my friends is all.”
Frank sighed. He then pulled out a twenty dollar bill and handed it to Jonah. “Give me back the change. Next time, tell your mother you’re going out before she goes to all the trouble of making a nice meal for us.”
“Thanks, Dad. I will. I promise.” Jonah then left the house before his mother could find out what was going on and stop him from leaving. He loved his mother, he did. But she always wanted the family to eat healthy foods that he hated. She didn’t any make sense. She bought him clothing two sizes too small insisting that he wasn’t fat, yet at the same time she wanted him to eat 100% healthy so that he would lose weight. He guessed she was embarrassed by his weight. He wasn’t embarrassed by his weight. After all, he’d seen people much bigger than him. Everyone seemed to have the problem with his weight except for himself and his friends. That is why he liked hanging out with them so much. Being with them was the only time he didn’t feel judged.
Jonah shoved the twenty in his pocket and got on his bicycle. His dad wasn’t so bad. He was a little more lenient on him like he was tonight. However, if his mom was around, his father would always back his wife up no matter how unreasonable she was being.
Jonah took off on is bike, eager to meet his friends and forget about his overbearing parents.

~*This love came back to me*~

“There’s something I wanted to talk to you about,” Hope said as they waited for their food.
“A good something or a bad something?” Aiden asked.
“A good something. At least, I hope you think so,” Hope replied.
Aiden’s eyes widened. “Oh my gosh. Hope, are you pregnant?”
Hope scrunched her eyebrows together. “What? No! Oh my gosh, between you and Ciara, you’re both really bad guessers.”
“Then what is it?” Aiden asked.
Hope took out a small box and handed it to Aiden. “Open it.”
Aiden looked at the box suspiciously as if it were going to explode. He then slowly took the lid off. He looked up at her in surprise. “A key?”
Hope smiled and nodded. “To my house. I was wondering, since your community service is almost over, your lease will soon be up, and Mrs. Campbell isn’t exactly the nicest neighbor to have… Aiden, we’re together all the time anyway. I want you to move in with me. I love you, and I want to see you first thing before bed and first thing when I wake up. I hope you feel the same.”
Aiden smiled at her, turning the key around with his fingers. “I do, Baby. You have no idea how much I want that too.”
Hope grinned brightly. “So yes then? You’ll move in with me? This is going to be so much fun! I’m going to love lying in your arms every night until I fall asleep and waking up to being in your arms. I’m gonna love being able to kiss you first thing in the morning, and—“
Aiden cut Hope off. “Hope! Stop. You didn’t let me finish. I really want to move in with you. You have no idea how much I want to, but I can’t. I just can’t.”
Hope’s face fell.
“I’m sorry,” Aiden said quietly, “but you and I both know it’s best that I don’t do that.”
Hope looked at him in confusion, wondering if maybe she thought their relationship was more serious than he did.

[gapeach]

Wow sure wasn't expecting Aiden to say no! Wonder what reason he will give Hope.

[ihearthaiden]

Sorry this is late. I forgot to post it here last week. This chapter is linked due to a sex scene.

www.fanfiction.net/s/11613144/27/Days-of-our-Haiden

[ihearthaiden]

In case you didn't see the post above this, last week's chapter is posted right above this post. I had forgotten to post it last week. My apologies.

Days of our Haiden
Season 2 Episode 4: Bad Day

“Are you sure you don’t mind me moving in early?” Aiden asked Hope as she helped him carry boxes into her house. His lease wasn’t up for two more weeks, but Hope had insisted on him moving in right away. He set his box down on the bedroom floor.
Hope set down the box she was holding, and raised an eyebrow at him. “Are you kidding me?” She pulled him close. “I get to have you in my bed two weeks sooner than planned. Why on earth would I mind?”
He stroked her hair. “I just really don’t want to push anything too fast.”
Hope smirked, then purred into his ear. “Trust me Mr. Jennings, I love it when you push things too fast.”
Aiden blushed at her innuendo. “Baby, I’m being serious. I don’t want to ruin us again.”
“We’re not ruined.” Hope gently stroked Aiden’s cheek with the back of her hand. “Aiden, I promise you, you’re not pushing things too fast. All right? I’m the one who suggested you move in. Remember?”
Aiden nodded. “I know, but—”
Hope cut Aiden off with a finger to his lips. “No buts. Okay?” she said gently. She smiled at him.
He smiled at her too. “All right.”
Hope wrapped her arms around him and kissed him lovingly on the lips, then rested her forehead against his. “I love you, Mr. Jennings. I want you here with me. We spent enough time apart. I don’t want to spend any more time apart.”
“We’ll see if you still think that when I’m hogging the covers and taking up your closet and sink space,” Aiden joked.
Hope smirked. “You’re forgetting I have a double sink in my bathroom. And who says you’re getting any of my closet space? You can have the drawers.”
“Hey, I cannot keep my suits in drawers, thank you!” Aiden played along.
“All right. You can have half the drawers and half the closet,” Hope replied.
“How did I go from having the drawers to myself to having to share them with you?” Aiden asked.
Hope shrugged. “I’m giving up half the closet, so you can give up half the drawers.”
“I can get my own dresser in here then we’ll both have our own drawers. I use the closet solely for my suits, and you use it solely for your dresses, then we’ll have room for everything,” Aiden suggested.
Hope nodded. “I like you drive a hard bargain, but I accept your proposal.” Hope held out her left hand to shake. Then she blushed when she realized how it had sounded and looked. “You know what I mean.”
Aiden smiled, and kissed her cheek. “I do.” He winked at her.
Hope blushed even more. “Let’s go get some lunch, then we can finish getting you moved in.”
Aiden nodded his agreement. “Sounds good! And Hope?”
Hope pushed some hair behind her ear and looked up at him. “Hm?”
Aiden took her hands in his and looked her deeply in the eyes. “I know legally we are still married, but one day I will propose to you again, and when you say yes, it will be the happiest day of my life…”
Hope hid the fact that she was touched to tears. She smiled to cover up. “Who says I’d say yes?” She arched an eyebrow.
Aiden smirked. “Oh you’ll say yes. You know you could never resist me—at least not for long.”
Hope didn’t verbally agree or disagree, but she smiled as Aiden kissed her cheek then led her by the hand to go get some lunch.

~This love came back to me.*~

Lani was so excited. It was finally Friday, and she and Rafe were on their way to the hotel. All she had to do was get over one little hurdle and she knew she would be all set.
“This is going to be so much fun!” Lani said as she and Rafe stopped at a burger joint for lunch. Rafe had driven two and a half hours, and after lunch, she was going to take over the remaining two and a half hours to their hotel in Chicago.
“Yeah, I’m really looking forward to seeing Bon Jovi. Growing up, I always wanted to go see them, but I never had enough money. All my mother would pay for us to see were mariachi bands,” Rafe replied.
Lani raised an eyebrow. “Mariachi bands? Really? Didn’t you get to go to any cool concert growing up?”
Rafe nodded. “Oh yeah. Once I hit my mid-teens and started working, I was able to afford going to shows like Tears for Fears and Soul Asylum. Even so, Bon Jovi was always out of my price range.”
They entered the restaurant and got seated. They ordered their drinks then looked over their menus as they continued their conversation.
“Well, this festival should make up for all the times you missed going to great concerts,” Lani said with a smile at him from across the table.
Rafe smiled at her. “I’m sure it will!”
And after the concert will make up for all the time I had to wait for you while you were too busy messing around with Hope to notice me, Lani silently added, still smiling at him.

~*This love came back to me.*~

“Are you all right?” Ciara asked Jonah at lunchtime. “You haven’t seemed yourself all day today.”
Jonah smiled weakly. “I’m fine. Really. I was a little embarrassed about last night, but it’s cool. I’m over it.” He grinned. “I still had so much fun riding that bull! I wanna do it again if they’ll let me.”
Joey pat him on the shoulder, then sat down next to him. “Next time just don’t ride it after you’ve just eaten.”
Jonah shook his head. “Don’t worry. Lesson learned. So, how did you guys like the movie last night?”
Ciara rolled her eyes. “It was lame. I hate action movies. It’s no fun seeing a bunch of things get blown up.”
“Sure it is!” Chase disagreed.
Joey nodded. “It’s the coolest! I loved the movie. How could you have not liked it?”
“I didn’t like it either. It was lame and boring,” Claire said, shaking her head.
“You’re girls and we’re guys. Of course you’re not going to like it and we are,” Theo reasoned.
“Next time, you’re all sitting through a chick-flick since we had to sit through a boring action film,” Ciara warned the boys.
“Ugh! I’d rather be shot than see a stupid chick-flick!” Joey said.
Chase was instantly taken back to a memory from his childhood again. This one took place around the same time as the memory that kept haunting him had taken place.
“I don’t want that thing in my house!” Aiden snapped at Meredith. “We have a son who is barely four in the house who likes to play with anything he can get his hands on. What made you think getting a gun was a good idea?”
Meredith was drinking a lot of something. Chase didn’t know what it was she was drinking, but he figured she must be really thirsty judging by how much she was drinking. He was thirsty too.
“I need the gun because of you. I know you’re out to get me! You want to turn our son against me! You’re already starting by keeping him away from me all the time,” Meredith snapped.
“You’re being ridiculous, Meredith! I am not trying to turn him against you. I just don’t like him around you when you’re drunk, which is 99 percent of the time lately. And what exactly do you think I want to do to you, Meredith? Hm?” Aiden snapped back.
“You want to murder me. You want me out of the way for good! I know you keep that ax in the closet. You’re going to chop me up when I sleep!” Meredith accused.
Aiden shook his head. “You’re being ridiculous! That ax in there so that I can chop wood to keep us warm in the winter. Or would you rather us all freeze? Anyway, if I were to kill you, I wouldn’t be so messy about it.”
Meredith’s eyes got big. “So you’re going to poison me!”
Aiden sighed. His voice softened. “Meredith, you need help. Please, get some for our son’s sake if not your own or mine.”
“You’re going to poison me. I know you are! You basically just admitted it!” Meredith insisted. “It’s not messy that way!”
Aiden rolled his eyes. “My gosh, Meredith, I was joking! It was a bad joke, all right? I’m sorry! The idea of me trying to kill my wife and the mother of my son is absurd. I’d never kill anybody and you know that!”
Meredith’s eyes grew dark and scary looking to Chase. “I don’t know any such thing, Aiden. You and I don’t get along. We never really did. We were both young, stupid, and desperate for love after both having come off bad breakups. We never should have gotten married just because we had an infatuation for each other and you got me pregnant. Now that we’re both older, you want out of it.”
Aiden shook his head. “You’re wrong.”
Chase shook himself from his memory. At the time, he hadn’t understand a hundred percent what his parents were arguing about, but he knew they were very mad at each other. He knew his mommy was afraid of his dad, and he knew his dad didn’t seem scary to him, so he wondered why his mommy was scared of him.
“Dude, seriously, where do you go lately?”
Chase looked at Ciara upon hearing her voice. “Huh?”
“You space out all the time lately. What’s got you so spacey?” Ciara asked.
Chase shook his head. “Nothing. I just got a lot on my plate with finals coming up and everything.” He took a bite of his sandwich, hoping Ciara would drop it.
Thankfully, Claire pulled out a magazine from her backpack to show her, and Ciara turned her attention to the magazine.
Chase sighed. He didn’t know why these memories were haunting him lately, but he was determined to eventually find out what they meant.

~*This love came back to me.*~

“I still don’t know how I got so lucky to have you in my life again,” Aiden said to Hope as they walked hand-in-hand in the park.
“I ask myself the same thing. How did I get so lucky to have you in my life?” Hope said to him.
“After all I’ve done to you, I find it hard to believe that ‘lucky’ is a word you’d use about being with me,” Aiden said quietly.
Hope stopped him and made him sit down with her on a bench. She set her purse on the other side of her and took his face between her hands. “Look at me. I am the luckiest woman on earth to have a man who loves me as much as you do. Yes, you made a mistake, but we all make mistakes.”
“It was a pretty huge mistake. It was beyond a mistake,” Aiden corrected her. “Hope, I tried to kill you!”
Hope shook her head. “You weren’t in your right mind—just like I wasn’t in my right mind when I tried to kill Bo. Among others…”
“Except for the fact that I don’t have any pills to blame for it,” Aiden stated.
“True, but your son was threatened, and that is just as bad if not worse! I know firsthand what the threat to their child can do to a person. If someone was threatening Ciara’s life like that, I’d do anything I had to do to protect her! So I get it. Please, Aiden. Stop beating yourself up about it.”
Before Aiden could respond, a man wearing dirty looking jeans and a red plaid shirt grabbed Hope’s purse and began to take off with it.
“Stop! Thief!” Hope yelled out, standing immediately to her feet.
Aiden stood up too and ran after the man. He was out of breath, but he kept running anyway, determined not to let the man get away with stealing his woman’s purse! He was vaguely aware of Hope yelling something, but he turned her out. He caught up to the guy, but barely. He grabbed the back of the guy’s shirt, but before Aiden could do anything, the guy turned around and punched him hard in the forehead, literally knocking Aiden backwards down onto the ground.
While Aiden was still startled and holding his head in pain, Hope showed up with her gun and badge. “Freeze! Drop the back and freeze right now or I swear to God I’ll shoot you.”
The man instantly froze and dropped Hope’s bag.
“Lie down on the ground. On your stomach with your hands behind your back. Now,” Hope said coldly.
The man did as told, his hands behind his back.
Hope placed a foot over the back of his neck to stop him from going anywhere, then she took out her cell phone and called Roman for backup.
“The police are on their way,” Hope told the man.
The man tried to squirm.
“Don’t move! Are you forgetting I have a gun and am not afraid to shoot it?” Hope put the gun to his shoulder blade. “Trust me on this one. You wouldn’t be the first person I shot, and you probably won’t be the last.”
Aiden didn’t know if she should be impressed at Hope’s ability as a cop, or embarrassed that he had tried to impress her by taking out the perp only to get knocked onto his butt…literally.
Hope turned her attention to him. “Are you okay, Honey?” Hope asked, glancing over at Aiden.
“Aside from a bruised ego, and a bit of a headache, I’m fine,” Aiden said, sitting up and placing a hand over his head. Normally, he welcomed any pet name she had for him, but now “honey” just seemed condescending to him.
“Lady I’m sorry, all right? I’ve come across hard times and need the money to help feed my family,” the perp stated.
“First off, it’s officer—not lady. Second, I’m not that gullible. I’m a police officer. I’ve heard all the sob stories before. Save it for the judge,” Hope snapped.
Two uniformed officers whom Aiden didn’t recognize then came over and cuffed the perp while Hope told them what happened. They made note of her statement then hauled the perp off to the station.
Hope picked up her purse, then headed over to Aiden. “I want to get you checked out. I believe Kayla’s working today.”
Aiden shook his head. “I’m fine, really.”
Hope raised an eyebrow at him. “Aiden, he punched you in the head so hard you fell backwards. You could have a concussion. You’re getting checked out. End of discussion.” She held out her hand to help Aiden up.
Aiden sighed, and took her hand. He knew there was no arguing with her, so he stopped trying.
“I’m glad you got your purse back. Look at my baby taking on that guy. You were prepared!” Aiden said, smiling weakly at her.
She grinned. “I always carry my badge and gun on me. You never know when you’re going to need to take someone down. As a cop, I’m always prepared. And thank you for trying to take care of it for me. It was sweet.”
Aiden winced. Sweet. Talk about condescending! “I’m just sorry I got knocked on my butt. I should have seen that punch coming.”
Hope pat him on the shoulder. “Don’t worry about it! It’s the thought that counts. Anyway, you did manage to catch him before I did, so that says something right?”
Aiden nodded. “I guess so.”
Hope kissed his cheek. “Come on. I’ll drive you to the hospital. I want to make sure my love is safe and healthy.” She took his hand and led him toward the car.
Aiden followed her, his head down. He felt like he had let Hope down again, and that was definitely not okay with him.

~*This love came back to me*~

Jonah and his friends were all in the gymnasium for the pep rally. The cheerleaders were going to present their new cheers and the basketball team was going to do some practice drills for the big game the following night.
The team’s mascot, Timmy the Warthog, came in to get the crowd riled up. No one ever knew who was in the mascot costume, but Jonah kind of liked it that way. It made Timmy more mysterious, and Jonah, though he wouldn’t even admit this to his friends, liked to pretend the mascot really was a warthog.
After Timmy did some flips and dancing, the cheer leaders came out and began to do their cheers.
Joey whistled and cat-called. He loved the cheerleaders because they were the prettiest seniors in school, and they wore tops and skirts both so short, he was surprise the school even allowed uniforms like those.
Theo was cheering for the team with the rest of the fans, though his eyes were mainly gazing adoringly at Ciara, who was gazing adoringly back at him.
Claire was cheering along with the rest of the fans as well. She tried to get Chase’s attention, but he was too busy playing a game on his phone to notice her.
As for Jonah, he was watching the cheerleaders too, though not in the same way Joey was. Jonah was watching the head cheerleader, who of course happened to be Becca Thomas. He had to wonder why the meanest girls always got ahead in life. It was as if people actually liked when other people were mean to them. Jonah sure didn’t, but others seemed to thrive on it.
Becca did a hurkey, and looked so sweet as she smiled her perfect smile and waved at everybody in the bleachers once she was finished with the cheer. She looked like she was the nicest person on earth. But Jonah knew better.
He looked at the second cheerleader in command, Lauren Schafer. She had long, beautiful chocolate brown hair and big blue eyes. Her skin was so milky white and perfect. She looked like she hadn’t gotten a blemish a day in her life. She was thin and fit and in Jonah’s opinion, could out cheer Becca on Becca’s best day. He didn’t know why Lauren wasn’t head cheerleader. He had never had the courage to speak to Lauren, though he wished he had. She was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. He was afraid to talk to her, for surely someone as perfect and beautiful as she was wouldn’t give him the time of day. Would they?
“And now, for a special treat before the guys come out. I think you all will enjoy this little bit of comedy I filmed last night!” Becca said.
Jonah felt his stomach drop. He suddenly had a feeling of dread and foreboding as he looked up.
A screen rolled down from the wall directly across from the bleachers, and then a video began to play.
Jonah was on the mechanical bull, pumping a fist in the air and holding on tightly with the other hand.
“Get off the bull, Fatty! Don’t break it before the rest of us can try it!” Jason Delemitri’s voice could be heard on the video.
Jonah saw himself look over as he got distracted, then heard himself scream like a girl as he fell off the bull and landed on his stomach before almost simultaneously puking all over the mat as Becca called him a gross, pathetic, fat loser.
The crowd on the bleachers was all laughing now and mocking his girly scream.
Jonah felt his cheeks blush hot. He hadn’t remembered that girly scream coming out of his mouth at the time, but it must have.
Ciara stood up. “Stop laughing, everyone! Can’t you see what a bully Becca is being?”
It was hopeless. No one could hear her over their laughter and mocking screams.
Eventually, the gym teacher and cheerleader coach came out, as well as the principal, and they all broke up the ruckus. Still, the video had been seen, and the damage had been done.
“Are you all right?” Ciara asked, side-hugging Jonah.
“Forget about them. They’re all a bunch of jerks! Who cares what they think?” Claire asked, side-hugging him on the other side.
“Do you want us to kick her butt? I don’t care that she’s a girl. I’ll kick her butt and like it!” Joey asked.
“I’ll help!” Theo offered.
Chase nodded. “We’ll get her and her scumbag friends as well!”
Jonah shook his head. “Don’t even worry about it. The best way to get back to them is to not react at all, and to act like nothing ever happened.”
“Are you sure?” Ciara asked, gently rubbing his back.
Jonah nodded. “Please! So they showed a video of me falling and puking.” He grinned. “It actually is kind of funny now that I’m over the embarrassment.” He laughed.
Ciara, Joey, Theo, Claire, and Chase all laughed too, but it was halfhearted.
Jonah then reenacted his girly scream, and they laughed with him, this time more full heartedly.
It’s better to laugh at myself than to be laughed at, Jonah thought. Though deep down, he was holding back the tears. However, he refused to let them fall before he was alone. The last thing he needed was for people to see him as a weak baby. He was already looked upon as a fat, pathetic, loser. He was not about to give them yet another thing to make fun of.

~*This love came back to me.*~

Lani and Rafe arrived at the hotel.
“Let’s get checked in and situated, then we can get ready for the concert and head over,” Lani suggested.
Rafe nodded his agreement.
Lani went up to the front desk. “Hi! I have a reservation for tonight. We have two rooms under Price. Lani Price to be exact.”
The guy behind the front desk smiled kindly. “No problem.” He looked it up on his computer. “Hm… Is that for two nights? One room?”
“No. It’s two rooms and one night,” Rafe corrected him.
“Hm… I’m sorry, but I’m only seeing one room for two nights,” the guy stated.
“Well, we need two rooms,” Rafe replied.
The guy typed over the keyboard again. “I’m sorry, but because of the festival, we’re booked solid. We only have the one room with one King-sized bed.” He looked up at them.
“I don’t know how that happened. Whomever took my reservation must have misunderstood me or put it in wrong,” Lani said, playing dumb.
“We’re sorry about that,” the guy behind the counter replied.
“Are there any other hotels in the area that we could call?” Rafe asked.
The guy shook his head and winced. “I’m sorry, but because of the festival, I highly doubt it. We all get fully booked every year over festival weekend.”
Rafe sighed. “I guess we have no choice then. Do you have a couch in the room, or do you offer cots?”
Again, the guy shook his head and winced. “I’m sorry, we’re all out of cots, and no, there is no couch in the room you reserved.”
Lani handed the guy her credit card.
“Looks like I’ll be sleeping on the floor then,” Rafe said with a sigh.
Lani smiled to herself. We’ll see about that…

~*This love came back to me*~

“I told you I was fine,” Aiden said when he arrived back home with Hope. Kayla had looked him over. He had no concussion; just a headache.
Hope put her purse down on the table beside the door. “I know, but I wanted to make sure. Sometimes something can be going on with your body that you don’t know about.” She walked over to Aiden and pulled him close to her. “I love you, and it’s my job to take care of you and make sure you’re all right.” She pushed some hair away from his forehead. “Does it hurt?” she asked, gently touching the slight bump on his forehead where he had been punched.
“It’s fine. I just have a slight headache,” Aiden replied. He was embarrassed. Hope shouldn’t have to take care of him. He should be the one taking care of her. Instead, he always ended up letting her down time and time again.
“How about the back of your head? You fell straight back. You’re lucky your head didn’t hit the bench on the way to the ground.” Hope gently rubbed the back of his head.
“Hope, will you stop smothering me? I’m fine, all right?” Aiden snapped.
Hope’s face fell, and Aiden hated himself yet again.
“Baby, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snap at you.” He gently stroked her cheek. “I appreciate you taking care of me. I do.” He kissed her softly on the lips, her face between his hands. “I’m just a little embarrassed about what happened today. The headache doesn’t help matters either.”
Hope smiled weakly. “Let me get you some Tylenol. There is absolutely nothing to be embarrassed about! You’re not trained in defense like I am. I’ve been doing this for years. Anyway, you at least tried to go after him. “My big, strong hero.” Hope kissed his forehead. “I’ll go get those pills and some water for you.” She then ran off to the bathroom before Aiden could offer to get them himself.
Aiden sighed. Even her kissing him on the forehead made him feel belittled.
He walked over to the mantle where Hope still had a picture of Bo setting. He picked up the picture and looked down at it. “I bet you never had any trouble protecting her. Of course not. You’re thee Bo Brady. Cop legend.” He put the picture down just as Hope came back in the room.
Hope handed him a glass of water and two pills. “Let’s get you in bed. We can finish bringing your things over tomorrow.”
“Hope, I’m fine. Thank you.” He took the water and pills from her, and swallowed them down.
Hope took the glass from him. “Kayla said to take it easy. We can spend a lazy day in bed watching movies, and we can even order pizza in tonight. I know you don’t think you need to take it easy, but please. Do it for me?” She bat her eyelashes at him.
Aiden sighed. “All right. Whatever you want.” At least taking it easy was the one thing he could do for her, he figured.
Hope grinned. “Thank you.” She kissed his cheek, then set the glass on the coffee table and took his hand, leading him up the stairs to the bedroom.

[gapeach]

Rafe has no idea what he is up against with Lani.

[ihearthaiden]

Days of our Haiden
Season 2 Episode 5: Flashbacks, Memories, and Dreams

It was now Monday morning, a few days had passed since the purse snatching incident. The perp had gone to jail for snatching Hope’s purse. The event was practically forgotten for Hope. However, for Aiden, it was a different story. He lie in bed, dreaming a dream that to Aiden, was very displeasing.
Hope was tied to a stake in the middle of the desert. She was pleading for someone to help her as a bunch of street thugs started circling around her.
Aiden tried to get to her, but he got stuck in quicksand. “Hope!” he cried out.
“Aiden! Aiden, help me!” she screamed as one of the thugs caught up to her and began to run their hand over her shirt. Another thug ran his hand up her thigh, and another one was kissing her cheek.
“Hope!” Aiden screamed. “You stay away from her!” he yelled to the thugs, who turned around and sneered at him.
“What are you going to do about it? Huh?” the first thug asked. He and his buddies laughed, then went back to pawing at Hope.
After much struggle, Aiden was finally able to pull himself out of the quicksand, but by then Bo was already there, punching the thugs, swinging two of them around—one with each hand, causing the two thugs to collide into each other and get knocked out cold backwards. The third thug came up and tried to punch Bo, but Bo ducked, then kneed the third and final thug hard where it counted, causing the thug to cry out in pain and fall to the ground. Bo roughly pushed all three thugs onto their stomachs, then handcuffed them. He then untied Hope, who fell into his arms.
“Oh, Bo! You saved me! I knew you would!” Hope kissed him passionately on the mouth, then turned to face Aiden with cold eyes. “Why didn’t you help me?”
“Hope, I tried, but the quicksand… I couldn’t get to you on time!” Aiden cried out.
Suddenly, he switched to another dream. Hope was screaming in pain. She was in the woods, lying on the ground with a fallen bolder on her leg. “Aiden! I can’t move my leg! It’s stuck! Please, help me!” she cried out.
“Hold on, Hope! I’m coming!” Aiden ran over to her and tried with all his might to lift the bolder. Try as he might, he couldn’t lift it. He saw a crowbar nearby and tried to lift the bolder with that. He channeled all his adrenaline. If mothers could lift cars off their children due to adrenalin, he could surely lift a bolder off the love of his life’s leg, he figured. No. He tried with every ounce of strength he had in him, but he could not get that bolder to move.
“Aiden, please! Help me! It hurts Aiden! It hurts so badly! I think I broke my leg!” Hope cried.
“Hope, I’m trying! I can’t! I need to go get help,” Aiden said, tears in his own eyes at Hope’s pain.
Suddenly, Rafe appeared out of nowhere. “I’ll get it!”
“Rafe! Please!” Hope pleaded. “My leg hurts so badly! I can’t get the bolder off!”
“I’ll get it, Hope! Don’t worry!” Rafe said. He then lifted the bolder like it was nothing, threw it across the woods, and watched it shatter against a big Red Wood tree. He then picked Hope up in his arms. “Don’t worry, Hope. I’ll get you to the hospital even if I have to carry you the whole way!” Rafe promised.
Hope smiled at him, her arms wrapped around his neck. “My big strong hero!” She then narrowed her eyes at Aiden, and nodded toward him. “He couldn’t even lift the bolder with a crowbar! He’s so weak. He’s always been weak in more ways than one.”
Rafe snarled at Aiden. “I know that’s right!” He and Hope both laughed.
“Some boyfriend you are!” Hope snapped at Aiden. She looked deeply and dreamily into Rafe’s eyes. “Rafe is the one I really need to be with! He can take care of me and protect me.” She shot Aiden a nasty look again. “Unlike you. We’re through Aiden. I wanna be with Rafe now.” She turned to Rafe and they kissed sloppily.
“Don’t worry, Baby. I’ll get you to the hospital and feeling better in no time,” Rafe promised her. “You don’t need loser Aiden anymore.”
“Mm, I feel better already. I never did need Aiden,” Hope said to him.
They both laughed, then kissed some more as Rafe carried her away.
“Baby is my name for her, Rafe! Not yours! How dare you? Hope, you do love me! I can do better! I promise! Just give me another chance. Please! Hope! Don’t leave me! I can do better!” Aiden cried out after her.
“Aiden, wake up!”
“Huh?” Aiden was startled awake at the sound of Hope’s voice. He slowly opened his eyes.
She was in bed with him, wearing nothing but the blanket that was over them. He wasn’t wearing anything but the blanket either.
“You were having a bad, dream, Mr. Jennings. You were screaming at me to not leave you. What on earth did you dream?” Hope asked, concern on her face. She propped herself up on her elbow, and faced him.
Aiden sighed. He didn’t want to lie to her anymore, so he told her about the dreams.
She smirked when he was done explaining. “Why was I tied to a stake in the middle of the desert, and why were street thigs surrounding me in the desert?”
Aiden shrugged. “Dreams don’t make sense sometimes.”
“Well, Bo and Rafe were and are excellent cops. Of course they could save me.” She smirked. “But I don’t think even Rafe could lift a big heavy bolder off my leg without help.”
“It wouldn’t surprise me if he could,” Aiden grumbled.
“Hey.” Hope, gently stroked Aiden’s cheek. “Don’t worry about a stupid dream. I’d never go back to Rafe—not when I have you.” She kissed his cheek. “Even if he did pull a bolder off my leg and carry me to the hospital. She smirked and winked at Aiden, an eyebrow raised.
Aiden sighed. “I know. The dream just got me a little frazzled; that’s all.”
Hope ran her hands over his naked chest and kissed it. “I have to shower and get ready for work. Don’t let it get to you, all right?” She kissed his neck, jaw, and lips. “It was just a silly dream. I’m yours and only yours, and that’s never going to change.” She kissed his neck again. “You have your last day of community service today, right?”
Aiden nodded. “In an hour.”
“Well, then you should get ready too. Tonight we can go out to dinner and celebrate.” She kissed his cheek then climbed out of bed to go to the bathroom and get ready.
Aiden sighed as he watched her disappear into the bathroom. He knew it was just a dream, but it sure didn’t feel like it was. Something had to change, but he wasn’t sure what.

~*This love came back to me.*~

Lani looked up as Rafe arrived at the station.
He blushed, and nodded at her. “Good morning.”
Lani smiled and wished him good morning. “I had fun this weekend.”
“Me too. Excuse me, I have to go finish some paperwork.” Rafe disappeared into his office.
Lani shook her head. He was pretending to not have enjoyed what had happened this weekend, but she knew he had loved every second of it. She thought back to the weekend a few days prior.
They had gotten back from the festival on a high. They had had a blast at the festival, and every single act had been amazing and so incredibly good! Rafe and Lani had danced to Bon Jovi like there was no tomorrow. They even got to meet them, do to Lani flashing her badge…among other things.
They returned to their hotel room slightly intoxicated. They had taken a cab both ways, for they had known they’d be drinking at the festival.
“You live for the fight when it’s all that you’ve got!” they sang together as they opened the door to their hotel room.
Lani shut the door behind them and they laughed.
“So, was Bon Jovi all you dreamed it would be?” Lani asked Rafe with a wink.
Rafe nodded, a big grin on his face. “Are you kidding me? It was even better than I dreamed it would be! I can’t believe you got me in to meet them! Lani, you’re the best!”
Lani grinned. “You know it! I told you all we had to do was flash our badges and we’d get in. Being a cop has its advantages, you know. Cops and security stick together!”
“I think it might have had something to do with you flashing that security guard your breasts,” Rafe noted.
Lani shrugged. “Whatever got us in, right?”
Rafe nodded. “Right!” he grunted.
Lani handed him another beer. She had made sure to bring a lot of beer with them on this trip. “Here. Have another one to celebrate.”
“I think I already had more than enough to drink tonight,” Rafe said with a smirk.
“Ah, come on! I’ll have one too. Just one more for a nightcap,” Lani pushed.
“All right.” Rafe smiled at her and took the beer. He took a long swing.
“I’ll be right back to join you. I have to go to the bathroom first.” Lani took her bag then quickly got changed into her lingerie with the big red bow over the chest. She touched up her makeup and shook out her hair, making herself look as desirable as she could.
When she left the bathroom and revealed herself to Rafe, he set his beer down.
“Woah,” he said.
“I thought we could have a little bit of fun tonight to celebrate meeting Bon Jovi,” she purred.
“Lani, I… We shouldn’t. We came here as just friends. Remember?” Rafe asked.
Lani opened her own beer and downed it all in one long chug. She then set the beer down. “It doesn’t mean we have to leave as just friends, does it?” She slowly sashayed over to Rafe, then whispered in his ear. “Come on. I’ve been waiting on getting with you ever since I came to Salem. You said you’d eventually give me a chance. So why not now?” She ran her hands slowly and seductively down his body. “Don’t you want to feel good? You’ll never know what we could be if you don’t at least try, right? And do you really want to sleep on the hard floor when you could be sharing a nice comfy King-Size bed with me?”
Rafe looked at her as if he were debating, then took one last swig of his beer. Finally, he set the beer down on the table. “What hell? Why not?” he asked.
Lani grinned. “That’s what I’m saying!” She then pounced on him and hey had one memorable, delicious, wonderful, pleasure-filled night. However, in the morning, when she went to kiss him and get some more action, he pulled away and politely told her that the night before shouldn’t have happened. He apologized for letting it happen, and told her he had just been drunk.
“The truth is, Lani, I still have feelings for Hope. I know she is with Aiden now, but my heart is still healing. I’m just not ready for another relationship right now. I’m sorry,” he had told her.
She had told him she understood. The truth was, she didn’t understand. She didn’t understand at all what he saw in that woman.
The rest of the trip had been awkward. He had been friendly, but not as talkative. It was almost as if he weren’t even there. He wanted to leave after second day of the festival, which was during the day. The festival ended at five. They had dinner, then he paid her back the money she had wasted on a second night at the hotel. He had dropped her off at her home, then went home himself. He would return the rental car the following morning. She hadn’t seen him or heard from him again until now.
Lani sighed. “I’m not done with you yet, Rafe,” she muttered. She was tired of him turning her down for that uptight Hope Williams, Brady, Jennings, whatever the heck she technically was. She had given him a chance to be reasonable and fall for her instead of Hope, but he was being stubborn. Well, it was time she kicked things up another notch. Whether he liked it or not, Rafe was going to be hers, and that was that.
“Sorry, Rafe,” she said under her breath. “But I know what’s better for you than you do. You’ll see.”
She smiled, then went onto plotting her next move.

~*This love came back to me.*~

Jonah arrived at school and headed to his locker. He opened it up to get books for his math class, which was his first class of the day. He opened his locker and a large heap of toy bulls fell out.
Suddenly, he heard laughter as Becca, AJ Jake, and Jason all laughed at him.
“How do you like your surprise?” Becca asked.
Jonah shot them a nasty look. “Thanks a lot!”
“What? Don’t you like it?” AJ asked, putting on fake concern. “We just figured those would be easier to ride than that mechanical one.”
Jason and Jake high-fived their best friend.
Students passing by saw the bulls on the floor and snickered. A lot of them began mockingly screaming like a girl.
“How you guys didn’t get expelled for what you did to me at the pep rally is beyond me,” Jonah grumbled.
Becca rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. “Please! Like the principal is really going to expel the head cheerleader and the best basketball players she has.”
“A week’s detention is nothing! I spend most my time in there anyway,” Jason quipped.
Becca laughed. “Plus it’s a great place to make out. We’re barely ever supervised.” She pulled AJ closer to her.
“I know that’s right!” AJ said with a grin before kissing her.
Jonah looked away.
“You better pick up the mess you made before you’re late for class,” Jake said, nodding at the toy bulls as the warning bell sounded.
AJ and crew then took off, still laughing at their little prank.
Jonah sighed, and began gathering up the bulls. He ditched them in the trash can as he daydreamed of what it could be like if he weren’t so weak and pathetic.
He was thin and muscular. He had lost weight and gone back over to AJ and his friends to teach them a lesson.
“Apologize,” he ordered.
“Make us!” AJ sneered in his face.
Becca laughed. “Yeah, make us!”
Jonah cried out in an angry fury and picked AJ up by the shirt. He slammed him down to the ground and shoved one of the bull toys into his mouth. He then stood up and grabbed Jake, who had run over to fight him. Jonah easily picked Jake up and tossed him across the room, into a row of lockers as if Jake had weighed nothing.
“Oh, you’re dead!” Jason said, running over to him.
Jonah opened a locker door and Jason ran right into it, falling backwards onto the floor, now passed out cold from the collision of the locker door and his head.
Jonah whipped around to face Becca. “Can I help you with something?” he asked coldly, his eyes boring into hers as he began cornering her.
“N-N-No,” she stammered, “I-I-I’m good!” She took off down the hall while her boyfriend and friends moaned in pain from the ground.
Jonah grinned as he dumped the last bull in the trashcan and finished his daydream. However, his smile faded when the second bell rang, signaling he was late for math class.
He sighed, then grabbed his math book, and headed up to the principal’s office for a late pass. He figured there was no use in telling the principal what really happened. She favored Becca and her friends since they were jocks. He’d just tell her he had diarrhea and was stuck in the bathroom. It would be embarrassing yes, but it couldn’t be any more embarrassing than the bull incident, he figured. Anyway, at least this way she’d probably take pity on him…

~*This love came back to me.*~

“I hate Mondays. The weekend always goes by way too fast. Now we have a full week to get through again,” Claire complained.
“At least today’s already half over with,” Ciara reasoned.
“True, but we still have four more days to go after today,” Claire. Said. They were all eating their lunch in the cafeteria. Claire took a bite of her turkey and cheese sandwich and looked over at Jonah who was looking at his leafy looking sandwich in disgust. “What is that?” she asked, nodding toward his sandwich.
Jonah sighed. “The most disgusting thing I’ve ever been given to eat. It’s watercress. My mom thinks I should eat healthier.”
“Here. My mom always packs me too much. She thinks I don’t eat enough.” Claire rolled her eyes at the thought of her mother. She then handed Jonah an extra turkey and cheese sandwich that was in her bag. “I swear she thinks I’m anorexic or something. She’s always telling me to eat.”
“Oh my gosh thank you!” Jonah said. He took the sandwich from her and began to eat it like he hadn’t eaten in weeks. He was starving. The non-fat garbage his mother fed him at home just was not cutting it.
“Carrot juice? Really? Please! You can have one of my sodas. I like to have one to drink on the bus ride home, but I’m willing to give it up for you today,” Theo said, handing Jonah a soda bottle.
“Are you sure? I don’t want to take it from you,” Jonah replied.
“Go ahead! It’s not that long of a bus ride anyway,” Theo replied.
“Thanks!” Jonah opened the bottle of ginger ale and it accidentally sprayed all over him.
Joey laughed. “Dude! It looks like it’s raining Champaign on you!”
“Sorry! It must have gotten too shaken up in my backpack,” Theo said.
“I’ll go get some paper towels from the lunch lady,” Ciara said, getting up.
Chase had watched the scene, and when Joey joked about Champaign raining down on Jonah, it triggered a memory…
Meredith was drinking a bottle of Champaign while Chase watched her. He was playing with his toy trucks and wondering why she was so thirsty all the time.
“Champaign is so good, Chase! Just wait until you’re allowed to drink it!” she said to him.
Chase put down his toy truck and walked over to her. “I want to try now!”
Meredith shook her head. “No way. This is a grown up drink!”
Chase had tears in his eyes. He stomped his foot. “I want to try now!” He began to cry.
“Chase! Will you stop crying?” Meredith snapped. “You’re killing my buzz!” She threw her hand down, causing the Champaign to slosh out of the bottle and onto the floor.
Chase saw this, and smiled. “You spilled some, Mommy!” He laughed.
Meredith started to laugh too. “You find that funny, don’t you?” She splashed some more on the floor, only this time on purpose.
“Mommy funny!” Chase said giggling harder.
Meredith began to giggle too. She then splashed some Champaign in the air. “Hey Chase, look! It’s raining Champaign!”
Chase was hysterically laughing now.
Meredith took his hand with her free hand, then began to dance with him, splashing Champaign high up on the air, causing it to drip down over both their heads. “It’s raining Champaign!” she began to sing.
Chase sang and danced a long with her the best his four-year-old self could. “Raining Chahpain,” he sang with her, pronouncing Champaign the best he could.
Just then, Aiden came in, looking incredibly angry. “What the hell are you doing?” he snapped at Meredith.
Meredith narrowed her eyes at him. “Don’t talk that way around our son!”
“Well don’t be drinking around and spilling Champaign on our son!” Aiden snapped. He pulled the bottle away from her. “We were saving this for our anniversary!”
Meredith shrugged. “Oops!” She burped, then blew the fumes in Aiden’s face. “At least you can still smell it.”
Chase giggled. “Daddy! It was raining Chahpain!”
Aiden set the bottle aside, then picked Chase up. “You got sticky drink all in your hair. Let’s go get you cleaned up, okay?”
“Okay, Daddy!” Chase continued to sing the raining Champaign song as Aiden carried him up the stairs.
“I can give him a bath!” Meredith called up the stairs.
“No thanks, Meredith! I think you’ve done more than enough for one night,” Aiden grumbled.
“Chase!”
Chase was started awake from his flashback. He looked at Claire, who was calling his name.
“What?” he snapped, annoyed that someone was always calling him out of his memories.
“I asked if you wanted the rest of my chocolate chip cookies. I can’t eat them all,” Claire said.
“No thanks,” Chase said. He was angry. He wasn’t necessarily angry with Claire. He was just angry in general and he didn’t know why.
“I’ll take them! Thanks,” Jonah said, snatching the cookies and chowing down on them.
Claire looked at him. “You’re welcome.” She then looked at Chase with concern over him having snapped at her.
Chase knew he should apologize to her, but right now he was just too peeved off too even though he didn’t have a reason why. “Excuse me. I have to go to the bathroom,” he said, then getting up to go to the bathroom and get away from the watchful eyes of his girlfriend.

~*This love came back to me.*~

“Tonight’s going to cost a fortune. This place is more expensive than Chez Rouge!” Ciara said as she, Chase, Hope, and Aiden looked over their menus at dinner.
They were at the new French restaurant in down, Sacré Bleu. It was incredibly pricy, but Hope had heard the food was really good, and she wanted to do something special by treating her love to a delicious meal to celebrate the end of his community service. He had finished earlier that day.
“Don’t worry about the prices. We’re here to celebrate Aiden’s finish of community service,” Hope said.
“Which he had to do because he tried to kill you,” Ciara said under her breath.
“Ciara Alice!” Hope snapped.
Aiden shook his head. “No, it’s all right. She’s right. Maybe we shouldn’t be celebrating me being done. In fact, I should still be doing community service for the rest of my life. Nothing could ever make up for what I did.”
Ciara sighed. “Look, I’m sorry. It’s not easy for me, but I’m trying.”
Aiden nodded. “I understand.”
“Twenty bucks for a hamburger and fries? Really?” Chase asked. The restaurant also had American food, which was why Chase had agreed to come there.
Ciara smirked. “Twenty-two if you want cheese on it.”
“Two dollars for cheese? So crazy!” Chase said.
“Order a cheese burger if you want. You can even order dessert after. I don’t mind. It’s my treat!” Hope said.
“Baby, are you sure? I appreciate you wanting to treat us to celebrate, but I’d be happy with Burger King. You know that, right?” Aiden asked.
Hope nodded. “I know. But I want to do this.” She kissed his cheek. “You deserve it for being such a good boy and finishing your community service!”
Aiden winced. He smiled weakly at her. Good boy? It seemed to him that she was talking down to him now more than ever since that day he had gotten knocked onto his butt by that purse snatcher. He sighed. She saw him as a weak little boy, and he didn’t blame her. Well, things were about to change, and he now knew just how to change them! There was no maximum age when it came to joining the police academy in Illinois—not in Salem anyway. If Hope wanted a strong, independent cop as a boyfriend who could take care of himself and her, then that it what he would be!
He grinned. He’d talk to Roman first thing in the morning.

[ihearthaiden]

Days of our Haiden
Season 2 Episode 6: Trouble

“You’re kidding me, right?” Roman asked.
Aiden shook his head. “Not at all. I want to join the police force.”
Roman looked at him cynically. “Does Hope know you want to do this?”
Aiden shook his head. “No. I wanted to talk to you first and get things started.”
“You tried to kill Hope, and you want to be a police officer?” Roman asked, shaking his head.
“I only did that because my son’s life was threatened. It was temporary insanity; and definitely not who I am today. Besides, it never went to trial, so I was never convicted and therefore, I can still be a police officer,” Aiden reasoned.
Roman was still skeptical. “Why do you want to join the police force now, when you’re in your mid-forties? Everyone else joins when they are much younger.”
“I just want a change. I want to help keep the good in this world and the bad out of it.” Aiden replied. “And with all due respect, you’re a lot older than I am and are still one of the best cops around.”
“I’ve had years to perfect my craft,” Roman stated.
“Maybe so, but I can still join if I’d like to. There is no age maximum is there?” Aiden asked.
Roman shook his head. “No, but you’ll have to pass a physical before you can become an officer.”
Aiden shrugged. “Then a physical it is.”
“Actually, before the physical, you’ll have to fill out an application. If we like what we’ll see, then you will have an entrance examination. Then, if you’re still in it, you will have your physical. Let’s just take this one step at a time, all right?” Roman asked.
Aiden nodded. “Anything I have to do, I’ll do it.”
Roman went into his desk and pulled out a stack of papers. He handed it to Aiden. You can take this home and fill it out, then give it to Hope to bring in to us. You do plan on telling her about this, right?”
Aiden nodded. “Of course!” He took the stack from Roman. “Wow. This is a lot to fill out!”
Roman smirked. “You think that’s bad; wait until you see the entrance exam.” He winked at Aiden and pat him on the shoulder, then walked off without another word.
Aiden stared at the stack of papers in his hands and sighed. “Well, I might as well get to work on it!” he said to himself as he headed out of the police station. He knew he had his work cut out for him, but he didn’t care. If Hope liked the strong, hero type, then that was exactly what Hope was going to get!

~*This love came back to me.*~

Jonah came to school smiling for once. He had just received his allowance. For doing extra chores without asking, his father had rewarded him with ten extra dollars! Then, not knowing his father had already given him ten extra dollars, his mother had given him ten dollars for “being a good boy” and doing extra work around the house without being asked to. Normally, Jonah didn’t like doing things like that. It made him feel like stealing. However, it wasn’t his fault if his parents made a mistake. At least, that’s how he was looking at it. He just really wanted to be able to get some new clothing—clothing that would actually fit him correctly and wouldn’t be embarrassing to wear.
“Look at you all happy!” Claire said to him as she showed up at her locker which was right across from his.
Jonah grinned. “My parents gave me my allowance, plus an extra bonus. I’ve been saving up for two months and now I have two-hundred and twenty dollars to spend on new clothes!”
Claire grinned. “Really? I wish I had that much to spend on clothes. My mom makes me put half my allowance into a savings. The other half I spend on mainly makeup. You’re lucky you’re a guy and don’t have to buy makeup. Makeup is expensive!””
“I was kind of hoping that you and Ciara could come to the mall with me after and help me pick out some clothes that would make me look cool!” Jonah said.
Claire grinned. “I’d totally love that, and I know that Ciara would too! I can at least get one outfit for myself when I’m there if nothing else. I mean, a girl can’t go to the mall without buying something, right?”
“It gives you the perfect reason to shop!” Jonah said with a nod.
Claire grinned. “I like the way you think! I gotta get to Trigonometry. Ugh! You are so lucky you don’t have to take that class. My mom insists it will help me get into a better college though so I have to take it.” Claire rolled her eyes. She then smiled at Jonah. “See you in English after!”
Jonah smiled. “See you,” he said with wave.
Jonah counted his money again and was about to put the envelope he kept it in back in his locker, when suddenly, a hand grabbed his wrist—hard.
“What do you have there, Fatso?”
Jonah glared at AJ. “My name’s not Fatso.”
“I’m sorry—Jonah.” The sarcastic tone in the way AJ said his name, showed to Jonah that AJ really wasn’t sorry. AJ nodded at the envelope. “What do you have in there?”
“It’s nothing! It’s just some magazine clippings Theo gave me,” Jonah lied.
“Let me see them then,” AJ ordered.
“You wouldn’t like them. They’re just about one of his video games you find lame,” Jonah continued to lie.
“You’re such a liar! I overheard you talking to Claire. I know it’s money,” AJ said.
“Well, it’s my money—not yours—so it’s none of our concern,” Jonah said, starting to shake a little. He knew where this was going, and he didn’t know how to stop it.
Jonah reached in with his hand that wasn’t still gripping Jonah’s wrist, and he pulled at the envelope.
Jonah held on tightly to it with his freehand. “No! That’s my money! I worked hard to get it! Get your own money!”
AJ removed his hands from Jonah’s wrist and the envelope, and quickly grabbed some of Jonah’s curls. He yanked his head back—hard. He then punched Jonah in the stomach.
Jonah cried out in pain and discomfort. Instinctively, he let go of the envelope. It fell to the floor.
AJ let go of Jonah, and Jonah doubled over in pain, grabbing his stomach. All he could do was watch as AJ quickly snatched up the envelope, and stuffed it in his backpack. “See ya later, Fatso! Thanks for the money!” AJ said, he started to leave. He then turned back to face Jonah. “Oh, and if you tell anyone what just happened, I’ll smash your fat face in, Loser!” AJ shot him a warning look, then took off down the hall.
Jonah knew that was the last he’d ever see of his money, and now he wouldn’t even be able to buy a pair of socks to show for it.
Not many students were in the hall. Most of them were already off to class, or getting one last bathroom break in before class. Those who were in the hallway wouldn’t even meet his eyes. No one would help him. No one wanted to get on AJ’s bad side.
Jonah rubbed his stomach and took a moment to catch his breath again. He hated the feeling of getting the wind knocked out of him.
Once he was able to catch his breath, he stood up straight, grabbed his books, and then shut his locker. He locked it even though he had no reason to now.
He then took off for class, holding back the tears. His father always told him that boys and men weren’t supposed to cry for it showed their weakness, so Jonah always saved his tears for in private. Class was going to start soon, and there was no time to cry in private now. It would have to wait.

~*This love came back to me.*~

Aiden arrived home to start filling out the paperwork. Hope was at work, but she was supposed to come home for lunch so that they could go out together.
He sat down at the kitchen table and looked over the form. He began to fill it out. He noticed the application warned that a background check would be done on him. He didn’t exactly enjoy the thought of his background being looked into, but now everything was out in the open. He had no more secrets. He sighed, worried as he wondered what him having tried to kill Hope could mean for his new career choice. He had never been convicted, but they could still reject his application, he knew. True he had gone temporarily insane due to the threat to his son, but still… That didn’t look good for a police officer. Though, if Hope could put in a good word for him, he knew that that would help a lot.
The door opened and closed. “Aiden? Are you home, my Love?”
Aiden smiled. “I’m in the kitchen!” he called out.
A short moment later, Hope appeared in the kitchen. She set her purse down on the counter and smiled when she saw him. “Hey, are you ready to go out to lunch?”
Aiden nodded, and stood up. He walked over to her and placed his arms around her waist. “That I am.” He kissed her softly on the lips, and she hungrily kissed him back.
When they broke the kiss, she looked over his shoulder, and nodded toward the paper on the desk. “What’s that?” She walked closer to it. “Is that an application to join the police force?” She picked it up, then looked at Aiden in confusion. “Aiden, why are you filling this out?”
“Well, I’ve been thinking about changing careers and joining the police force,” he said simply.
Hope looked at the application, then at him, a slight smirk on her face. “You’re joking, right? Roman gave you one of these so you could play a prank on me.”
Aiden shook his head. “Nope! I really want to join.”
Hope laughed. “Aiden, stop that!”
Again, Aiden shook his head. “I’m being serious, Hope! I wanna join the police force.”
Hope’s smile faltered. “Why? I thought you loved being a lawyer.”
Aiden nodded. “I did, but things change. I want a change in career.”
Hope raised an eyebrow. “So you decided to become a police officer?” It came out as more of a statement than a question.
Aiden nodded. “That’s right!”
“Aiden, you tried to kill me. I may have forgiven you, but the police force may not be so forgiving,” Hope reasoned.
Aiden nodded. “I thought of that, but maybe if you put a good word in for me they’d be willing to overlook it?” He wrapped his arm around her from behind. “Maybe if you remind them that you’ve not only forgiven me, but are still madly in love with me they’d forgive me too?”
Hope hesitated. She put down the application, and Aiden let go of her so that she could turn to face him. “Aiden, are you sure you’re cut out for this? Being a police officer isn’t like it’s shown on the movies and TV. It can be hard work!”
“I’m willing to work hard,” Aiden said with a shrug.
“I know you are, my Love, but it can be physically demanding,” Hope reminded him.
“I know that. Rafe and Bo handled it just fine. So can I,” Aiden said confidently.
“Aiden, Rafe and Bo were much…” Hope trailed off.
“Rafe and Bo were much what? Stronger?” Aiden was hurt. “I can be strong too you know.”
“I’m sure you can, but—“
Aiden cut Hope off. He nodded at her. “You handle it just fine, and you’re a woman!”
Hope just crossed her arms over her chest and shot him a look. “I know you didn’t just insinuate that women aren’t as capable as men!”
Aiden shook his head. “I just meant that men were built to have more strength than women.”
“Not all me and not all women,” Hope narrowed her eyes at Aiden.
“Well, I am! Heck, I was strong enough to attack you wasn’t—" Aiden realized what he had just said in anger, and immediately stopped himself. “I’m sorry! I was just trying to make my point and I used a very bad and inappropriate way of doing so.”
“You think?” Hope snapped; anger flashing in her eyes.
“Look, I said I’m sorry, okay? I never wanted to bring that up again. I just don’t appreciate you laughing at me and having no faith in me when I’m serious about a career choice!” Aiden defended himself.
“And I don’t appreciate you insinuating that men are better than woman at anything,” Hope said coldly.
“I think we should cancel lunch. I’m not hungry anymore,” Aiden grumbled.
“Good idea. I’m suddenly not hungry anymore either,” Hope agreed.
“I should be getting back to work.” Aiden then left the kitchen, and slammed the front door after leaving the house.
Hope sighed, and looked at Aiden’s application. She then set it back down on the table, grabbed her purse, and took off to get something quick for lunch. She wasn’t too hungry, but she knew she had to eat to keep up her strength—her strength that could overpower any man, any time, and any day, she thought angrily.

~*This love came back to me.*~

Lani hid in the shadows of the part of the park that was well known for drug trafficking. She wasn’t on the job. She was on her lunchbreak. She had plans that no one at the police station could ever know about. This was for her own gain. She had business to deal with, and right now it had nothing to do with police work, but just the opposite.
She watched as a guy who looked to be right out of the 90’s grudge fad with his dirty, long blond hair, ripped jeans, and red plaid shirt took money from a pimple-faced kid and handed him a bag of cocaine.
“Pleasure doing business with you,” the guy said as the teen nodded at him, then ran off.
Once the dealer was alone, Lani headed over to him. “Hey. I need you to get me Rohypnol. You know what? Better get me two,” she said confidently.
The guy smirked. “You do know that’s the date rape drug, don’t you?”
Lani nodded, and crossed her arms over her chest. “Of course I do! I’m not an idiot.”
“Well, most women don’t buy that drug. It’s the men who use it; not the other way around. Or are you a lesbian?” the guy laughed.
Lani rolled her eyes. “What I want it for is none of your business! Look, can you get me the goods or not?”
“Oh I can give you the goods! I’ll just need a few hours, and it will cost you a hundred bucks a pill,” he replied.
“That’s robbery!” she snapped.
He shrugged. “Supply and demand, Darling!”
“I’m not your darling,” Lani said coldly. “All right, fine! Have it ready by five-thirty. I don’t get off work until five.”
He shrugged. “Whatever. I’ll be here as long as your two Ben Franklins come with you.”
Again, Lani rolled her eyes. “Don’t worry. You’ll get your money. This better be top quality stuff. If you’re playing me….”
“I’m not. Please don’t insult my reputation!” the guy said, almost sounding angry.
Lani narrowed her eyes at him. “See you at five thirty.” She then took off without looking back.

~*This love came back to me.*~

“Hey, Jonah! Claire told me you want to go shopping for new clothes after school. I’m totally down for that,” Ciara said to Jonah as he entered their History class that day.
Jonah’s face fell, and he sat down in his seat. “I can’t anymore. My parents talked to each other and found out they each gave me ten extra dollars. My mom texted me, mad that I let her give me extra without telling her that my dad already gave me extra. They want the money back.”
Ciara raised an eyebrow. “Just the extra twenty you got though, right? Surely they wouldn’t take away the two months allowance you saved up!”
Jonah blushed. “Just the twenty, but they grounded me for a week, so our trip will have to wait.”
“Oh. Bummer. Well, maybe after your sprung we can go,” Ciara suggested. “You can still have new clothes for camp!”
Jonah put on a smile. “Yeah, that sounds fun,” he said, trying to sound as sincere as possible.
Ciara gave him a sympathetic smile, then turned her attention to Theo.
Jonah sighed. He could only hope she’d forget about it come the end of the week.

~*This love came back to me.*~

Hope came home to a living room full of tulips in a variety of colors. There were purple ones, red ones, pink ones, white ones, orange ones, and yellow ones. There were even dual colored tulips there. There had to have been a good ten dozen tulips that filled the living room.
Aiden walked out of the kitchen with a red rose in his hand and handed it to her. He kissed her on the cheek. “Will you please forgive me for being a chauvinist jerk?” he asked. “And for bringing up that night? My gosh, I sounded like I was bragging that I… It’s unforgivable how I acted.”
Hope set her purse down and smiled. She took the rose from him and sniffed it. “I know you didn’t mean it. It’s not unforgivable. Don’t worry. If anything, I’m the one who’s sorry. I should have taken your career change more seriously. I was just surprised. I thought you loved being a lawyer. You never showed any interest in being a police officer before.”
Aiden nodded. “I know, but lately I’ve just felt called to a change. I really want to become a police officer and learn how to protect people—especially you and the kids.”
Hope kissed him softly on the lips. “That is so sweet of you. If this is really what you want to do, then I will support you a hundred and ten percent. I’ll even help you fill out the application and I’ll put that good word in for you with the board.”
Aiden smiled. “Really?”
Hope grinned. “Really!”
“I love you so much! Thank you,” Aiden said to her. He hugged her.
Hope placed her rose into one of the tulip vases, then pulled Aiden back into the hug. “I’d do anything for you, my Love. And thank you for the flowers. They’re beautiful.”
“Not half as beautiful as you,” Aiden said to her.
Hope took his hands in hers. “Why don’t we go upstairs to the bedroom so that I can thank you properly for all these beautiful flowers?”
Aiden licked his lips, his eyes suddenly filling with desire for her. “And so we can work up an appetite for dinner?”
Hope grinned. “That too!” She laughed as Aiden quickly picked her up.
They were just about to head upstairs when the door opened, and in came Chase.
Aiden set Hope down so as not to gross him out. “Son! Welcome home! You’re not hanging out with your friends today?”
Chase shook his head. “No. I actually wanted to talk to you about something.”
“Oh? About what?” Aiden asked him.
Chase sighed. “It’s about Mom. I’ve been having memories about the last few times I had with her before…before she died.”
Aiden felt his face pale, and he looked at Hope, whose face was also pale.
They both looked back at Chase, hoping he didn’t want to talk about what they thought he wanted to talk about.

~*This love came back to me*~

Lani went back to the park right at 5:30 as planned.
Her dealer saw her, and nodded at her. “Do you got the Benjamins?”
Lani nodded. “I got the Benjamins, but I’m not giving them to you.”
The dealer scoffed at her. “Then I’m not giving you the roofies!”
Lani smirked, and took out her badge from her purse, flashing it at him. “Oh, I think you are!”
He tried to run, but she quickly reached out and grabbed his sleeve.
“Let go of me!” he yelled.
“The way I see it is you get arrested and I get the drugs for free anyway, or you don’t get arrested, and you willingly give me the drugs for free. You didn’t see me, and I didn’t see you,” Lani said simply.
The guy narrowed his eyes at her. “That’s blackmail, and abusing your badge.”
Lani narrowed her eyes right back at him and crossed her arms over her chest. “Do I look like a cop who cares about the rules?”
He scowled, and tossed her the drugs. “Next time you need drugs, go hassle someone else. I’m done with you.”
Lani smirked. “And I’m done with you.”
“Just remember, if I go down, you go down with me,” the dealer snapped before taking off through the woods.
Lani rolled her eyes. She wasn’t scared of him. The last place a druggie would want to go is the police station, and the last person he’d want to talk to is a police officer. She looked at the two roofies. Anyway, she had much bigger fish to try.
She headed home to start putting more of her plan for Rafe into action.