“Have you read this book yet? The ending was such a shock to read!” A jubilant voice recommended long orange locks cascading down her small figure, a polished golden necklace hanging from her neck, accenting the orange knitwear that she had chosen to wear.


    An interested hum sounded out from her right, a larger figure’s slender left arm draped over the girl’s shoulder.


    A similar golden necklace adorned his figure as he mumbled the book’s title, as if he were attempting to remember if he’d read such a book.


    “I’ll add it to my reading list.” He responded, emerald orbs lingering upon the female’s figure for a few seconds too long, his cheeks growing slightly red, resulting in a few giggles erupting from the girl.


    Chloe leaned closer towards Aaron, nestling her neck below his as she slightly tilted her head upwards, looking directly towards the boy.


    “After all this time, you still get flustered over me? How reassuring. I thought you’d have gotten bored of me by this point.” She jokingly pouted, sending a light fist towards his stomach in a fit of mock rage.


    Aaron’s lips bent upwards into a small smile as he faked a shocked expression, “As if.”


    The boy’s gaze once again lingered upon her figure, the taller of the two slowly leaning in towards the other.


    Chloe expectantly closed her eyes, calmly waiting in the darkness.


    “Aaron… I lov-“


    “Chloe? Why are you in my bed?” A confused voice queried, grappling the small girl away from her dreams.


    Slowly blinking her eyes open, a strong smell assaulting her senses, aiding in waking her up.


    The small girl groaned and tilted her head upwards, unconsciously tightening her grasp on the warm pillow she’d grabbed at some point in her sleep.


    But the ‘pillow’ resisted her compression, the warm and course texture hinting that the thing she’d been clinging to was anything but a ‘pillow’.


    Looking upwards, her gaze aligned with two worried emerald orbs, eyelids still droopy from his sleep.


    Aaron’s orbs ventured further down the girl’s figure, his gaze completely halting, causing Chloe to think that steam might literally come out of his ears like it did in cartoons.


    “Why… How… Whaaa?” He puzzledly rambled, face reddening even further when he realised the sensation he was feeling on his chest hadn’t been that of the sheets he’d slept in.


    Even if his duvet did sometimes cling to him in the mornings, one thing they didn’t do was radiate warmth.


    The orange-haired girl’s lips turned upwards, forming a bountiful smile of the kind the boy hadn’t seen before.


    “You’re in my bed, silly. Gosh, was I so bad that you subconsciously forgot about our first time? Or more accurately, times?” Chloe teased, squeezing his body even tighter than before.


    Aaron’s mouth opened and then closed repeatedly, looking as if he’d forgotten how to speak entirely.


    But then his expression hardened, his gaze rising towards Chloe’s face as he gently pushed her away, cautious of where he put his hands.


    “I… Lea… Chloe… You know that I have a girlfriend... This was a mista-“ Aaron attempted to explain but was cut short.


    “He’s trying to run away.” A deep voice resounded within her mind, its tone dead serious and heavy.


    Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    Resisting his pushing with all her feeble might, the small orange girl’s lips formed a firm line as her remaining golden orb solemnly bore into Aaron’s.


    “What? I was a mistake? You take your best friend to bed and then say it was all a mistake afterwards?” Chloe monotonously spoke, sending a shiver up the boy’s spine, never having before seen his best friend using such an expression.


    Aaron paused, unsure of how to proceed.


    “Don’t let him get away.” The voice once again declared, its message reverberating within the small girl’s skull, endlessly on repeat.


    Wincing slightly due to the headache that the voice caused, Chloe once again spoke, leaving Aaron no chance to respond.


    “Aaron. Aaron… I love you. I’ve always loved you. Didn’t you tell me? You told me! You said that ‘We’ll always be together’! Don’t leave me!“ The orange-haired girl begged, digging her head further into his chest, unwilling to look him in the eye any longer.


    The black-haired boy’s expression scrunched up in pain upon hearing Chloe’s words. Unconsciously tightening his grasp upon his crying best friend, he slowly gathered his breath and spoke.


    “I’m sorry.” He coolly stated.


    “No! No, No, No! NO! You… You can’t leave m-“ Chloe screeched, her nails digging into his skin, drawing blood.


    Staving off the wave of pain he felt, Aaron continued.


    “If it wasn’t for Lea then… this… I… I would have been able to love you back. But I ca-“


    “SHE’S DEAD! SHE’S DEAD, AARON!” Chloe spat out in a fit of rage, the voice in her head going haywire as her surroundings started to turn red.


    The black-haired boy’s countenance became heavily confused after hearing such a statement, a small frown sported upon his face.


    “You idiot! If he finds out you killed that bitch, then he’ll really leave you forever! Then you’ll have nothing!” The voice hurriedly barked, hurriedly taking control over the small girl’s body, embarking on a fruitless journey to attempt to salvage the situation.


    Chloe’s body started to shiver, as if she had broken out into a fit of cries and was simultaneously scared of what she was about to say.


    “I mean, just think about it, Aaron! We both haven’t heard about her for two weeks, and her parents have filed a missing person’s report! We both know that her relationship with her parents is pretty rocky, so the report is understandable, but surely she would have told us if she was gonna disappear for two weeks!” The small girl rambled on, as if she had been possessed by some demon that was frantically attempting to fulfil her role as damage control.


    Aaron seemed to recoil from her logical words, attempting to find some sort of loophole within them. But before he could think any longer, Chloe began to speak once again.


    “Something must have happened to her. Something ba-“


    “SHUT UP!” Aaron growled, having already withdrew his arms to support his aching head.


    Chloe flinched from his aggressive outburst but refused to let go of her grasp on his body, rather tightening it.


    Sensing her scared state, Aaron let out a guilty sigh as his emerald orbs bore into her long orange locks.


    But the anger he felt hadn’t fully subsided yet.


    “Do you honestly think I haven’t yet thought of such a possibility? That she might be out there, all alone, with nobody to help her in her time of need?”


    “And yes. She might… have died. I hope that she hasn’t. I hope with all my being that that isn’t the case. But I’ve long accepted such a possibility.” He continued, his voice tainted with sadness.


    “I will replace Lea. You’ll love me like you did her. You’ll see.” Chloe blurted out, now completely facing Aaron, slowly drawing near him by the second.


    Mentally tired out from his unplanned outburst, Aaron couldn’t find the energy to repel her.


    Perhaps some part of him didn’t want to turn her away.


    Maybe it was because of the newfound terror of what would happen if he did.


    When Aaron first looked at Chloe after waking up, he’d been initially… distracted. But not any longer.


    And when the small girl distanced herself to meet his eyes, he saw everything.


    Such a sight shattered his will to resist.


    The broken girl grew near to him, gripping his shoulders tightly as she forcefully pressed her lips upon his, as if she were scared that she’d be pushed away.


    But the pleasant feeling was immediately dismissed by the black-haired boy.


    What seemed to be hundreds of horrific cuts and scars covered Chloe’s bare figure.


    Even worse was that her injuries seemed to be grouped into two camps.


    The first were deliberately disfiguring, all of them looking incredibly excruciatingly painful to bear. He could guess that the psychopathic bastard had caused those.


    And the rest were small lines that seemed to have been inflicted with a blade, each cut having narrowly avoided being fatal.


    Aaron had seen those types of wounds before.


    On the corpse of someone who he held very dear.


    And just the thought that the small orange-haired girl might be even slightly similar to that person petrified him.


    So much so that he was willing to let Chloe do whatever she wanted to him.


    Now that Lea had disappeared from his life, he didn’t know if he could handle losing his small, orange-haired best friend.