Run, Girl (If You Can)

Chapter 220: It's Different With You

Keeley's heart nearly stopped when she heard the sound of her dad coming home. Maybe if they stayed very quiet they could sneak out when he wasn't looking. Oh, screw it. She would tell part of the truth—Aaron was helping her move to her new place.

He thought they were friends; it wasn't like he would question it. As long as Aaron wasn't stupid enough to spill the beans it would be fine.

"Follow my lead," she hissed as they walked out of her bedroom with boxes in hand.

She set hers down on the kitchen table and greeted her father with a hug. "Hi Dad! How was work? I'm moving most of my stuff over to my new place today and Aaron offered to help."

Robert smiled at them, utterly unsuspicious, as he released her from the hug. "Work was about the same as usual. Good to see you, son. It's awfully nice of you to help her out like this."

"It's my pleasure, sir," he said respectfully.

"Do you need any help bringing things downstairs?"

Keeley shook her head. "Nope, this is the last of it. We're on kind of a tight schedule but I'll come see you on Sunday, okay?"

"You better," he said in a mock stern voice. "We have important things to do."

Though his voice was teasing, his eyes were sad. Sunday was the anniversary of her mom's and Kaleb's deaths. He didn't want to be alone that day. They always went to the graves together.

She hugged him tightly again. "I know. I'll be here bright and early. Love you."

"Love you too."

Keeley heaved a sigh of relief when they were back down to the car. That was close. She wiped her forehead with the back of her hand after setting down her box in the back seat.

"What's on Sunday?" Aaron asked.

She avoided the question. She didn't really want to talk about it.

"I always go see my dad on Sundays."

The drive back to his place was silent again and they struggled bringing all of the boxes up but eventually everything made it into the apartment. The doorman was definitely suspicious of her now if he hadn't already been before. She wanted to sink into the floor when she caught his gaze.

Keeley began unpacking the kitchen things first. If she was going to survive eating here, she needed things like her electric mixer and various baking instruments.

She frowned, staring at the remaining contents of the box. What should she do with her plates, bowls, cups, and silverware? Aaron had his own. Would there be space for both?

She decided to deal with that problem later. Right now she would just put the things he didn't have into the cupboards. Everything else could stay in the box and chill in the closet of the guest room she had been using.

"Do you need any help?" he asked.

"No, I've got it. Thanks though."

This was getting awkward. Should she try to establish some ground rules with him now? This was his house and she didn't want to overstep any bounds but she also didn't want to get taken advantage of.

"Hey, Aaron? Do you um…want me to pay rent or anything?"

"Don't insult me," he said coldly.

How exactly was offering to pay rent insulting? Rich people were weird. She didn't like taking advantage of his guilt towards her so she wanted to try and equal things out.

"Then what do you want from me in exchange for staying here? I won't do anything weird but I feel like I should do something."

He thought about it a moment. "Whenever you cook something, I want some. That's all."

Seriously, that's it? Keeley had been cooking for herself consistently over the summer but once school started again she would be living off of sandwiches, takeout, and microwave meals. He definitely wouldn't want the microwave meals.

"You sure? That seems like a pretty small trade in comparison. I mean, I get to use your TV and your amazing bath tub."

"You said you would help me decorate this place better. That's something too."

Right, she had forgotten about that. She felt a little bit better about this deal already.

"Just let me know if there's anything you want me to do—or don't want me to do. This is your house, after all. I'm just a guest."

He frowned but chose not to say whatever was on the tip of his tongue. He spoke up again a minute later but she was pretty sure it wasn't what he originally planned to say.

"Just…don't bring any guys over here. That's all I ask."

Keeley snorted. That definitely wouldn't be happening. Her only guy friend was history.

"That won't be a problem."

"I know you've had Ryan over at your apartment before," Aaron said darkly.

Was he jealous? Seriously? Had all of the awkward encounters between those two during the wedding process been because they were both jealous? It seemed straightforward in hindsight. She should have realized it sooner.

She sighed. "Ryan and I aren't friends anymore. I recently found out that he likes me and I can't continue on knowing that. I'm too busy to hang out with people much during the semester anyway; I doubt I'll even be able to invite Valentina over."

He stared at her with an unfathomable expression on his face. It was making her self-conscious.

"What?" she whined.

"You dropped someone you've been close friends with for over six years just because he told you he liked you?"

"Well it sounds terrible when you put it that way…"

What other option did she have though? She would have felt too awkward being around him. He had been acting weird around her lately anyway and it was making her uncomfortable. Now that she knew his feelings, those strange actions made a lot more sense.

Aaron was still scrutinizing her. "What about me then?"

"Huh?"

"You know I'm in love with you so why are you here?"

He was an odd exception. She couldn't seem to shake him anyway. Hadn't her motto regarding Aaron in this life always been 'if you can't beat 'em, join 'em'?

"It's different with you…we're both the only ones who remember our past life. We have to look out for each other," Keeley explained.

His posture relaxed a bit. "Right. Anyway, you still have unpacking to do…I'll leave you alone. Let me know if you need anything."

That was it? He let that go surprisingly fast. She really thought he would keep hounding her about it.

"Okay. Once I'm done I'll get dinner started. I was thinking of making fettuccini alfredo."

Aaron showed her a soft expression even though it wasn't quite a smile. "Sounds good."

He turned and disappeared up the stairs, leaving her alone. Living here was going to be so stressful. Keeley was stressed out already.