Aaron"s headache got so bad by the time they reached his apartment building that once Keeley parked in the underground lot she had to wrap her arm around his waist to support him. It didn"t work very well because he was half a foot taller but she did her best while holding the to-go boxes.
"Why are you doing this?" he asked dully.
"Shh! Don"t talk; it"ll make your head hurt worse."
"That sounds made up."
"I said to shush so shus.h.!.+" she said sternly as she turned his elevator key for him.
The movement of the elevator felt funny since his eyes were closed and his head was leaned against the wall. Ugh. This was the worst headache of either of his lives. Stupid paintball.
Keeley ordered him to go change into his pajamas and get into bed while she got an ice pack from the freezer. He complied without any fuss. All he wanted to do was sleep.
"Are you sure the doctor said you were fine?" she asked as she walked into his bedroom and gently pressed the ice pack against his face. "I don"t think dizziness and headaches are normal for a black eye."
"Yes, he checked for a concussion and things like that. I just have to deal with it."
"Is your vision okay? You aren"t having any problems seeing things?"
Why did she suddenly seem like a fretting housewife? It made him feel warm inside even though it made his confusion worse.
"Yes. But you didn"t answer my question from earlier. Why are you taking care of me?"
She went quiet for a moment before replying. "Because n.o.body else does. Everyone deserves to be taken care of when they don"t feel well."
It wasn"t the answer he was expecting but he very nearly smiled. Of course that was how she would think—she was a kind and loving person. Even towards people she didn"t like if they were in genuine need.
Aaron had never told her how much he appreciated her kindness in his first life. He was fiercely independent back then but she still found ways to make him feel cared for.
If he told her now it probably wouldn"t have the same effect but he still wanted her to know. The time to keep things to himself was over.
"Hey, Keeley?"
"Yeah?"
"You"re the kindest, most caring person I"ve ever met. I"ve always appreciated that about you. I thought you should know," he said sincerely.
He opened his non-ice-pack-covered eye to gauge her reaction. Disbelief was written all over her face. "Seriously?"
"Seriously. You"re the only person who has ever shown me genuine kindness without expecting anything in return. It was one of the first things about you that made an impression on me."
Keeley"s expression softened and she ran a hand through her hair. She seemed almost embarra.s.sed. "I didn"t realize you paid attention to things like that back then."
How could he not? It was how she slowly started worming her way into his heart. Her genuine kindness and desire to share what little she had with him had affected him in a way nothing else ever had up to that point.
"I paid attention to more than you thought but I didn"t know how to express such things at the time," Aaron admitted. "But that was initially what got me interested in you. I had never met anyone like you before."
"…you"re a lot softer than you let on, aren"t you?" she asked in an unfathomable tone, her back turned to him. "I think you"ve had enough ice, get some sleep."
"Are you leaving?"
She stopped and rested her hand on the doorframe. "No. I"ll stay here until you wake up to make sure you don"t die or something."
He sighed contentedly and shut his eyes as he heard the door click shut. He hadn"t been taken care of like this in a long, long time. Keeley, as always, was his angel even if she was a bit rougher around the edges now.
===
Keeley regretted fussing so much the moment he started talking about the past. Why did he have to get all sentimental on her? The past was dead. Nothing would change it.
But to think! All these years she had wondered why he bothered with her in the first place. It was because she was nice to him?! How horribly lonely and desperate for human interaction must he have been?
Her heart broke a little for that seventeen-year-old boy who had never experienced regular human kindness before meeting her. He said he wasn"t good at expressing things like that…what else hadn"t he told her?
It didn"t matter. She had to squash those thoughts like a bug. Aaron was no good for her.
They had come to a sort of weird mutual understanding that they had to look out for each other after all they had been through but that was where she drew the line. She really did only stay because she was worried his injury was more serious than it looked. It was dangerous for people living alone to be sick without anyone checking up on them.
She took her container of leftovers, which were still warm due to the Styrofoam, and headed to the TV room to see if there was anything decent recorded. It turned out that Aaron had recorded a wide variety of reality shows.
Her heart constricted a little. All of these had been recorded post Valentine"s weekend fiasco according to the timestamps. He kept recording things he thought she might like even after she told him she never wanted to see him again.
Why? Why would he do that? Misplaced hope?
His feelings may have been more genuine than she thought. He seemed so sad when he asked if she was going to stay. Did it really matter that much to him?
Keeley had so many questions she couldn"t ask if she wanted to let Aaron go. Because if she did, she could easily fall back into old patterns. She didn"t want that. She wouldn"t give up her dreams or dignity for him again, no matter how sad and lonely he seemed.
But oh, she couldn"t deny it hurt. He wasn"t a robot after all. His emotions were simply buried so deep that they required a lot of excavation.
She tried pus.h.i.+ng these thoughts out of her head and focusing on the cooking compet.i.tion show she turned on. All she had to do was wait for him to wake up and her obligation to make sure he was okay would be fulfilled.