life goes on (just more painful than before)-Aidan

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"Sit. Good girl! Lay down....roll over....very good, Bumblebee!" Mallory got on her knees and gave the pug a treat. "Good doggie!" she praised the puppy, before standing up and looking to the owner with a smile. "That's the last of the domestic tricks. Is there anything else? I can leash break him, teach him to pick up things, I can even have him jump in the bathtub on command to get a bath," she offered.

"Maybe another time. I'm impressed! What's your name again, young lady?" the woman asked with a smile.

"Mallory Isaacs. I volunteer at the shelter along with providing training sessions so just ask for Mallory and I'll be here."

"Thank you so much! Come on, Bumblebee!" the lady picked up her dog and left the room.

Mallory sighed and swept the floor. Why did pugs shed so much anyways? Mallory looked around and over at the picture of Voltaire and Aidan she had on the wall. The teenager smiled faintly. Sometimes she wondered if she would ever see her prince charming again. She looked at her watch before walking to a puppy and letting him out of his cage. Someday, that was going to be her puppy. Putting him on the floor, she turned on her radio "dance, Blaze, dance!" she said with a giggle as she watched her dog hop on his hind feet. When he jumped on her and wagged his tail, she screamed and laughed "no, get off me!" she laughed as he licked her face

[Aidan Del Rossi]

"Shh.. Shh... Wait for it. Wait." Aidan whispered, his hand resting above his dog's head as the two stood in the doorway, just after the woman with her dog had left. The radio was loud enough to mask his footsteps or Voltaire's panting. God, that dog was loud when he breathed. He closed his mouth though and with a smirk, Aidan waited before unclicking his leash and saying quickly. "Go!" Immediately, the dog rushed towards Mallory and barked loudly, not in an aggressive way at all. It was a playful greeting, immediately dropping to his forepaws, tail wagging. Aidan laughed from the doorway. He missed Mallory, he really did. There weren't a lot of choices in where he was right now and he wouldn't have chosen a different option. Someone needed to be there to make sure that Marco didn't build a coffin and bury himself in his work until he suffocated. That was what he did when he was in pain. He worked and took care of everything else that didn't involve the problem and Aidan felt like he could be there to add some balance. Plus, most of the kids were with Ben, and Aidan didn't want to see him alone. There were a lot of reasons why he could do that and why he should. And as far as he knew, Mallory understood that. He couldn't ask for much more than that. Really, he was grateful. Because he loved her to death. Really.

"Man, I think you're dog has better dance moves than me!" He pouted playfully. Of course, that wasn't hard to do. Aidan wasn't much of a dancer, he was kind of a dork, so everything he did was playful and goofy. When he danced it was usually for a laugh or two. But, why not? People didn't smile half as much as they should. Everyone had their problems and Aidan had plenty himself, but really, his coping mechanism was with laughter and goofing off. The boy was a clown and anyone that knew him would get that pretty fast. It was unchangeable with him. Aidan couldn't control it or change it. But, he really didn't want to either. So, he stood there, waiting for her to look to him. He thought it might be a good surprise. Aidan didn't even call first. He thought it might cheapen the experience.

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Mallory stood and danced with her dog when she heard Voltaire. She looked down, amazed at the dog. "Voltaire? How did you-" and that was when she heard his voice. Mallory looked over, tears brimming in her eyes. She had missed him so much! Of course, she understood why he left. But that didn't make being away from him any easier. Without a word, she put Blaze back in his cage and ran to her boyfriend.

Her arms wrapped around his neck, Mallory greeted Aidan with a longing kiss. She moaned softly; she had missed the way he kissed her. She didn't want to break it, but tears were fogging her glasses and blurring her vision, so she pulled away and took them off, looking down as she cried. She didn't mean to cry, and she didn't want to. But looking at him, made her miss him that much more. And she knew that at the end of the day, he was going to leave again.

[Aidan Del Rossi]

At the end of the day, Aidan would be gone again. It didn’t cross his mind too much, but he knew that it wasn’t coming back forever. Eventually, he assumed that he would, or at least for a more extended period of time. Aidan’s little world, however, wasn’t in tip top shape. And he knew Mallory understood that. Even Aidan, a boy with limited maturity and responsibility understood that there were some things that came first. Sometimes, hanging out with your girlfriend couldn’t happen because your family was going through a chaotic schism and you had to stay one side to keep part of it from sinking. Family had to come first and it didn’t make him care for Mallory any less. That was a ridiculous idea. Aidan was given very little credit for the things that he did understand (mostly his own fault, because he didn’t talk about what he did or didn’t get). He understood exactly where he had to be, no question about it. And he understood why. He also knew that the whole split bothered him one hundred times more than he ever told. It was a burden on him too and no one would ever know, because Aidan was good with optimism. His smiles weren’t fake. They were pure and genuine. It just wasn’t the extent to what he was capable of feeling. Actually, Marco knew that. Aidan had talked it over with him once before, but as far as everyone else was concerned, Aidan wasn’t letting it drive him down. People had to be stronger than that.
He laughed when she hugged him and not because it was funny. There was nothing hilarious about Mallory hugging him. It was a happy, excited laugh, and the kind that came out when that build up finally had its release. She was crying, yet, he doubted it was all from pure sadness. God, he hoped she wasn’t grieving because he showed up. Talk about a rainy parade. He squeezed her against him, kissing her back fully before pulling away with that grin showing off two rows of teeth. “Hey, it can’t be that traumatic seeing me! Seriously.” He teased, knowing that he wasn’t. But he was hoping that they could have fun before he left. He knew tears might be spent, but he was never the best with them. He knew he couldn’t guess when the next time he was going to be in Toronto was going to be so he was going to make the most of it.

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Mallory laughed a little through her tears when he joked about seeing him being traumatic. "I'm sorry! I just missed you. So much." She hugged him again as her tears calmed and she kissed his cheek. When she looked back up in those big, sweet eyes, she couldn't help but smile. Being with him again made her feel like everything was okay again. Even though okay would not be the word she would have used. But there was no way she was going to tell him everything that had happened since he left. He was smiling, and his smile made her smile. She hadn't smiled in a while, and wanted to keep it.

She could hear her name being called from the other room, and looked towards it, chewing on her bottom lip. It wasn't so much of a nervous habit as it was something she tended to do when she was thinking. Smiling bigger, she took his hands. "Let's get out of here," she suggested. Yes, she was supposed to be there but she chose to be with her boyfriend. After all, it wasn't like she got to see him every day! "Come on Voltaire!" she called the dog before starting to lead the two out the back door.

[Aidan Del Rossi]

Aidan laughed again; the moment made it contagious and he couldn't help it. He squeezed her closer in the next hug and shook his head. "It's okay, I missed you too." And he really had missed her. There was absolutely no lie in that. Even though things hadn't been too bad for him, he still missed being around. The two of them clicked in a way that he couldn't have with anyone else and he cared so much about her. He missed hanging out and talking and just being able to spend time with her. But, that could change now. Because, he was home and he wanted to be able to pick up right where they left off. He didn't know how possible it was, but he could hope that they were going to be exactly the same as they used to be. He didn't see any reason why they wouldn't have been, after all.

Her suggestion caused his grin to grow and he nodded. "Totally, come on." He followed and as Voltaire came to them, he paused only to click the leash back on the dog before he walked out with her. "Are you allowed to go?" He asked, although if she wasn't, he didn't mind that either. He would gladly go with her even if it meant that she wasn't supposed to. He was hoping that she wouldn't be stuck there, because it'd been too long and they had a ton of catching up to do.

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Was she supposed to leave? Mallory gave him a guilty look as her hand rested on the handle of the back door. "No," she admitted. "But I don't care. I don't think they'll fire me from volunteering. Besides, it's been a million years." Ok, so it hadn't been quite that long. But Mallory hadn't seen him in a very long time...like, almost a month. And in teenage years, that equated a million years. After all, this was her boyfriend. If anyone else left and came back a month later, she'd probably be excited to see them, but she wouldn't be this excited, and she wouldn't leave the shelter. Aidan got special treatment, as he should. "Let's go pick up some burgers, and go to the lighthouse on the islands or something. Get away, and just talk." God, talking never sounded so good as it did right now.

There was so much to talk about, too. A lot had happened in that past month, at home and at school both. Nesse had moved in, and then there was the fact that she discovered that her mom wasn't actually dead. She wasn't sure how she thought about that just yet. She hadn't really taken the time to figure out if she even wanted a relationship with her mother. Then at school, they had new a new teacher, JJ was apparently the valedictorian, and of course, everyone at school new what had happened to Hannah and Megan, though Mallory wasn't going to bring it up unless Aidan did. If it was her, she wouldn't want to talk about it. It was horrible, but she was sure he dealt with it enough at home. When he was with her, he should be able to leave behind any stress or worries. Of course, if he brought it up, she would listen to him and comfort him. Because, that was what a good girlfriend did.