Who: Aaron and Mila Where: Home and then the tunnel When: Afternoon, Saturday, July 7th Status: Complete
Mila was feeling a bit out of sorts. That wasn’t unusual, considering her mental state and the fact that she was pregnant. Not to mention she was getting married in a couple of weeks. Her doctor had finally released her from bed rest so long as she took it easy, but Mila was awash in so many things it was starting to feel a bit overwhelming. Today felt a bit different because her mind was focused on only one thing and it was that one thing that made her feel… off. Like someone else had taken hold of her body and mind again and was pushing her toward her doom. Again.
But it wasn’t a completely ominous feeling. It was just strange and yes, maybe a little scary. Even so, the longer she resisted it, the stronger the pull came and finally, Mila didn’t think she could take it anymore. So she wandered downstairs to find Aaron, aware that he was probably going to resist what she planned to tell him. It was a really bad idea, wanting to go back to the tunnel. A really bad idea. But the pull was there and Mila was trying to find a reason for it… maybe it was closure of some kind. God knew they both needed it.
“Hey.” She greeted him with a smile when she found him in the kitchen loading the dishwasher. “Can we talk for a second?”
Aaron was feeling similarly out of sorts. Not with the pregnancy symptoms, of course -- though he had been having some weird food cravings lately and his jeans were fitting a bit tighter, he wasn’t sure what to make of that -- but the other thing. The Cooperdale Tunnel had been on his mind off and on all day, and the later into the afternoon it got, the more tempted he was to just ... go out there. Aaron didn’t know why, really, and he did know it was a horrible idea. Any other day, he would’ve rather eaten broken glass than go back to that place, but something was pulling at him.
To distract himself he’d started doing random chores. Adrian was out of the house for the weekend and Roxy was either working or at Spence’s, he wasn’t sure. It was a good opportunity to clean in his impulsive, scattered way without disturbing anyone. Aaron was deep in thought when he heard Mila’s voice behind him, and he looked around to smile back at her. “Hey, thought you were napping,” he said as he finished putting a stack of plates away. Aaron approached her to kiss her forehead. “Sure, what’s up?”
Standing in front of Aaron now made things a little more difficult to say. Mila could just imagine his reaction and it wasn't a good one. Even so, Mila really wanted to go. She just didn't want to go alone. "I'm going to ask you for a favor and I know it's going to sound insane, but I just feel like it's something I need to do." Mila slipped her arms around Aaron's waist to hold him close. "Will you take me to Cooperdale?" It only then occurred to her that he might think she was possessed again, or suffering from some delusions but Mila hoped Aaron would look into her eyes and see that she was still okay.
Aaron automatically draped his arms around Mila’s shoulders, pressing another kiss to her hair while she was nice and close. He got a weird feeling in his stomach as she started to talk, then his body went a bit stiff when the tunnel name came out of her mouth. It wasn’t just a visceral reaction of mistrust of that place, it was a shock that they were thinking the same thing. Brow furrowing, he did look down into her eyes. Mila looked like herself, the way she was holding him felt right, but some of that old fear did start his heart thumping harder. “What ... what makes you say that?” he asked in a soft murmur, his eyes ticking between hers. His first instinct was to say yes and pull her toward the car now, but Aaron wasn’t sure he trusted that.
Mila felt the tension in Aaron's body immediately, prompting her to tighten her arms around him in a gesture of comfort. But instead of saying no, Aaron was asking questions, so that had to be a good start, right? Mila licked her lips as she sorted through her answer. "I've... just had a strange feeling, like I should go... like I need to do it to get some kind of closure. I don't know if it'll work, exactly, but I just..." Mila took a breath. "It feels important to me. I won't go if you don't want me to. But I'd like to go. I understand if you don't want to..." She trailed off, sounding uncertain. She did want him to go though. Aaron was the person she felt the safest with and if she was going to confront this part of her past, she wanted him by her side.
Of course he didn’t want her to go back there ... didn’t he? Why did he feel uncertain about that? Aaron wasn’t sure. All he really knew was he wanted to go too. He slowly licked his lips and studied her eyes some more. “Yeah,” he said just as slowly, nodding a tiny bit. “You know what’s weird, I’ve been thinkin’ about it today too. The tunnel.” Aaron hadn’t been thinking about it in the context of closure on any conscious level, but maybe that was why it had been on his mind. He still looked fretful though, his concern for Mila able to override the compulsion for the moment. “Aren’t you scared to go?” he murmured. He thought she had to be, who wouldn’t? Aaron was sure scared to go. He hadn’t been able to protect her the first time, what if he failed again?
Okay that was weird. For a second Mila wanted to recoil, to tell him that they definitely shouldn't go, because if they were both having the same feeling, how could that mean anything good? But instead Mila found some of her resolve stiffen, like she could somehow fight back against whatever entity might be tugging at them. "I am scared," she admitted with a faint smile. "Especially if you're feeling the same way I am. But I don't feel the ominous pit in my stomach either, the way I usually do when I think about that place. Maybe we don't even have to get close to it... we could just... go and see if there's a reason we've both been feeling this way." Stupid? Yes, probably. But Mila had a feeling this would bother her all day if they decided to stay away.
He knew on some level it didn’t make sense and it was probably a bad idea. Mila avoided even Seaview like the plague now, and Aaron didn’t blame her for a second. But now, today ... he wanted to see it too. Stand in front of that black mouth that had swallowed and tortured his woman and maybe tell it to fuck off. There was another weird thought lingering in the back of Aaron’s head that the spirit of their miscarried child was somehow still in the tunnel, even if he didn’t believe it was actually possible. Part of him wanted it to know he still thought about what could have been. It was nonsense, but it pulled at his heart anyway. Aaron felt like he couldn’t say no, and not just for Mila’s sake. “Just ... not too close,” he agreed quietly. “And I’m taking a gun.” He knew that probably wouldn’t help anything, but it would make him feel safer.
Mila didn't think a gun would be able to do much if something happened out there, but if it made Aaron feel safer, she wasn't going to say so. She nodded instead and pressed a quick kiss to his lips. "I'm going to go change real quick." She had on a summer dress and if they were going to be walking out to Cooperdale, she wanted shorts and a t-shirt. It wasn't exactly an easy path, or a short walk, and being pregnant, she needed some extra comfort. There was apprehension mixed in with all the emotions she was feeling at the moment, but nothing came close to the fear she had felt in the past, anytime she even thought of the tunnel. Mila just hoped it stayed that way and she didn't have a complete meltdown the closer they got. If that happened, she knew Aaron would take her back home, but right now her curiosity was getting the better of her.
Aaron went upstairs with her to change into a pair of jeans and get his boots on, then pulled a pistol out of his small stash in the closet. He knew Mila wasn’t a big fan, but he knew how to handle them, and kept them around for home defense. Her being pregnant had only increased that instinct to protect his family in Aaron’s mind. Maybe going out to a place that had caused them so much pain was counterintuitive to that, but that pull made it all seem so reasonable. Once Mila was ready, Aaron walked with her to the car. He didn’t really feel the need to say much, his attention honed in on where they were going now that the decision had been made. He was distantly glad that Adrian was out of town, because he probably would’ve had a big problem with this. But he wasn’t here, and Aaron could take care of Mila like he was supposed to. He glanced over at her as he pulled out of the driveway to head to Seaview. “Just a quick look,” he murmured.
Mila settled into the car, her hands clasped tightly in her lap. Her palms were already sweaty. Was this a bad idea? Her brain seemed to jump back and forth in its answer, leaving her feeling a bit apprehensive. But she didn't ask Aaron to pull back into the driveway. Instead, she nodded when he spoke. A quick look. Mila released a slow, steady breath before reaching over to grip Aaron's hand, wanting that bit of physical connection the closer they got to Seaview. She had the same thought that Adrian would probably be upset if he knew what they were doing, but she thought it was pretty obvious that neither she nor Aaron would mention it to her brother. Or Aaron's brothers. There was a slew of people it would probably upset. "After today, I never want to go back there," she murmured, watching the town rush by outside the passenger side window. "I want to pretend like it doesn't exist."
Something in the back of Aaron’s brain itched to know why they wanted to go back there now, why couldn’t they pretend it didn’t exist now ... but it was like he couldn’t quite think about it clearly. He just knew he wanted to go, and Mila wanted to go, and he got the undeniable sense that they would be okay if they did go. He glanced down as Mila took his hand and squeezed hers back gently, settling in further to drive the familiar route to Seaview. Aaron wondered idly if Caden was home, but then decided he would park somewhere out of sight of his brother’s trailer. The last thing he wanted to do was answer any questions about where they were going. “Okay,” he said to Mila. “This is it then, last time for either of us. Pinky swear?” Aaron shifted their hands around to hook their pinkies together.
Mila looked at Aaron with a small smile and tightened her pinky around his. “Pinky swear,” she said, nodding. She could feel their daughter move a bit in her stomach and Mila wondered if the baby could sense her apprehension. She wanted to talk about something else, something that could distract them from what they were driving towards. But her mind seemed to blank out and her throat was a little dry, so Mila simply clung to Aaron’s hand until they were driving into Seaview. Just being there prompted Mila to take a deep breath, her eyes staying averted from their former residence. Mentally she seemed ready for this, but physically her body seemed to want to protest. It couldn’t be easy for Aaron either. So Mila brought their joined hands up to her lips so she could kiss his fingers. “We should park as close to the edge of the woods as we can, so no one we know sees the truck.”
Aaron just gave a soft grunt of agreement as he drove through Seaview, his head swiveling to look as they passed where he used to live, where he’d almost died. His stomach clenched and rolled unpleasantly at the reminder, and he gave Mila’s hand a little squeeze. The lighthearted intent behind pinky swearing had sure dissipated fast. Aaron drove to the back edge of the trailer park, and found a spot that was fairly out of the way. He turned the engine off and just sat there a moment, taking a couple of deep slow breaths. He still felt the pull to go look at the tunnel, but his heart was picking up speed in a bad way, and his palms were suddenly sweaty. Aaron looked over at Mila, his brow furrowed a bit. “Maybe we shouldn’t,” he suggested, quiet and hesitant. He didn’t want to look like a coward in front of his woman, but fuck. The tunnel had been the source of some of the worst things that ever happened to them, why did they want to go back now?
Mila felt as hesitant as Aaron sounded, but there was also the sense that they would be okay. At least from the tunnel itself. The last time she had come to Seaview was when she had discovered Aaron was numbing his pain with pain meds and liquor. There had been a horrible throbbing in her chest the entire time. She didn’t feel that now. Whether or not it meant anything, Mila wasn’t sure. Maybe it was healing. Maybe not. She brought his hand up to her cheek to nuzzle it. “We don’t have to go in there if you don’t want to,” she murmured, her eyes on his face. “But I think we’ll be okay. If we don’t go, I feel like we’ll be thinking about it all day. If we go now… we can put it behind us. Whatever it is.” God, she hoped that was true. She was getting better every day, though she still had moments of doubt. Maybe this was just one more step to moving past everything that had happened.
He was briefly overwhelmed with intense love and admiration for Mila. She was so fucking strong and brave, and Aaron was suddenly so stupidly grateful that she was going to be the mother of his child. He couldn’t have asked for anyone better. It felt easy to be reassured when she was so calm and sure. And she was definitely right about it plaguing them if they didn’t follow through, he could feel that by some instinct. He brushed his thumb against her cheekbone and nodded a bit. “Yeah,” Aaron agreed with a single nod. “Yeah, okay. I think we’ll be okay too.” He was starting to feel like he should have more reservations than he actually had -- Mila’s reassurance made him feel more settled about it inside. He pulled her hand over to kiss her knuckles, then reached for his car door to climb out. He was antsy to get there. Or was it eager? It was a little hard to tell.
As much as the tunnel terrified her, she felt safer with Aaron there. Like they were somehow untouchable when they were together. Obviously that hadn't been the case before, and maybe it was false bravery now, but Mila knew she couldn't do this without him. The woods looked lovely in the summer, but Mila knew how looks could be deceiving. Following Aaron, she took his hand, gripping it tight as they headed up the dirt path into the trees. It was a little disorienting to want to keep walking while another part of her struggled against it. For anyone who didn't know them, it probably just looked like a normal couple taking a normal walk. Mila envied those people. "You know, we should try to decide on a name," she said, keeping her tone light. If she didn't talk, she would start overthinking this and then the panic would set in. Talking about their baby girl... maybe that would ease some of the lingering tension.
Aaron had been more outdoorsy as a younger man, going out camping and fishing and hunting with his buddies, so he had always been pretty comfortable in the woods. But there was something about these woods in particular that made him uneasy. It hadn’t always been that way, but now he wasn’t sure he would ever take another camping trip anywhere in the surrounding area. He told himself again that Mila was right and they would be fine, that tunnel was just that -- a train tunnel, built by people, and nothing bad was going to happen to them just by being near it. Dumb teenagers hung out there all the time, right? They would be okay. He glanced over when she spoke again, the reminder of their daughter yanking him out of his thoughts for a moment. “Oh yeah, of course,” Aaron said, like this was a totally normal setting for that. However, he immediately blanked on all the names that had crossed his mind in the past few weeks. “Uh ... are there any that you like?”
Mila knew some people were obsessed over choosing a name for their soon-to-be baby, but she'd had a hard time with it lately. Maybe it was the fear that Mila could still lose her, or that this could still turn out to be nothing more than a dream and she was still stuck inside the tunnel they were walking towards. "I don't know," she admitted to Aaron with a small, sheepish smile. "When I was little, I named my baby doll Adelina, because of my grandmother. I've always liked Lia too. But... I know those are Italian and Lia is pretty close to my name, and we don't have to do that, if you don't want to. Maybe she's one of those babies that we won't know her name until she's born and we see her for the first time."
If there were superstitions about picking out a name too early or anything, Aaron didn’t know about them. He did know that they could still lose this baby, just like they’d lost the first one. It was depressing to think about, so he tried not to. Fear hadn’t managed to put a damper on his excitement about their baby, but it still woke him up at night sometimes. “Adelina’s pretty,” Aaron said with a nod, his hand still firmly clasping hers. “We can always make a list of a few favorites and try them on her once she’s here.” He’d mostly been watching the path in front of them, but he looked over at Mila with a smile. “Maybe not ‘Lia’ because of Amelia, you know. I always kinda liked ... Daphne. Or Lily. Flower names. She should know she’s beautiful and perfect from the very start.”
Mila smiled. "I like those names too." She also kind of liked the idea of just having a few picked out and then letting their daughter more or less tell them who she was when she was born. "We just have to be careful around my mom or she'll somehow manage to name our baby for us. And it'll be some horrible old fashioned Italian name like...Donata." She pretended to shudder. "No thank you." Mila had once thought of naming any future baby of hers Adrian... or Adriana... because she'd lost her brother. He was alive and home now, but still, the idea was still there. While every tree looked the same to her, the area still felt familiar to her. She was trying to ignore how her heart was beating a bit faster. Clinging to Aaron's hand certainly helped. Since Adrian was on her mind, she glanced at Aaron. "Do you think my brother has a girlfriend he's not telling us about?"
Aaron made a sound that indicated he was on the same page as Mila -- no old-world names that they didn’t love. He had the same sense, that their baby girl would make her preferences known once she was here with them. He already kind of dreaded how hands-on his mother in law was going to try to be with this baby, her first grandchild. Mila’s question surprised a laugh out of him and he looked over at her with raised brows, amused. “Uh ... I ain’t really thought about it, but ... maybe, yeah. Seems like he’s been gone a lot,” Aaron said. Not that he entirely minded, as much as he loved Adrian. Roxy was spending more time at Spence’s too, which meant he and Mila were getting more privacy these days. “You think he really went to Portland alone?” They were almost to the railroad tracks, and it was kind of nice to have something else normal to talk about, like whistling in the dark.
Mila knew her mom would be insanely overbearing and probably trying to push her own parenting techniques on them both, but Mila felt like she and Aaron could handle it. Her dad would try to keep Maria Moretti in line, at least. She would worry about it when she had to worry about it. Talking about Adrian distracted her enough and her lips quirked into a faint smile. "Yeah, he's been gone a lot. It's just a feeling I have that he's up to something and hiding it from me. I don't know if he just doesn't trust me, or he thinks I'll worry or something." Which she would, if it was something dangerous. "I don't know if he went to Portland alone, but he's gone out of town a couple of times now and it just... seems off to me." Mila chewed her bottom lip. "Do you think I'm being paranoid? Should I ask him?"
He squeezed her hand and pulled it up to his lips to kiss the back of it. “Naw, not paranoid ... but I bet it’s nothing to worry about. If it’s a girl, maybe he’s just waiting to see if it’s anything worth talking about first, you know?” Aaron suggested. Adrian had lived rough and lonely for a very long time, it wouldn’t surprise Aaron if he was a little gun shy about jumping into a relationship where he was introducing a woman to his family and everything. Especially considering how their mom was. Aaron’s brothers didn’t really discuss their women much, so he was pretty used to that sort of mystery, but he knew Mila was different with her brother. “Hell, maybe he’s making up for lost time and it’s lots of girls,” he added with a grin. “You don’t tell your little sister about your manwhoring ... I mean, word got around about me, so Kat knew, but still. Ask him if you want, though, I bet he’d be honest if you did.”
Mila had a hard time imagining Adrian dating a lot of women at once... or even sleeping with a lot of women. But maybe it was one woman and maybe it was serious. Or getting serious. Still, she smiled softly at Aaron, aware of how right he was that brothers wouldn't be telling their sisters about their sex life. At least not Adrian, for which she was thankful. But if there was someone, she would love to know. He had his family but she knew he needed more than that. "Oh yes, the infamous Aaron Lucas and all the notches in his belt," she teased. "You were already becoming a legend in high school."
“I’m still a legend at that school,” Aaron joked, puffing his chest out a bit. Obviously that couldn’t be true and he was glad for it. Mila had made an honest man out of him, and he’d lost all interest in any other women. He laughed, though it came out kind of muted. They were still walking toward the most evil place he’d ever known. While his jovial side wanted to grab Mila and tickle her to make her laugh too, that felt like a bit too much whistling in the dark. He kissed her hand again instead and gave it a squeeze. “Adrian’s okay, whatever it is. He seems pretty happy lately. You worry too much.”
Mila didn't doubt that Aaron's reputation in Point Pleasant lived on. She was sure plenty of people were whispering that they were only getting married because Mila was pregnant... not to mention all of the other whispers about how she had tried to kill him. But it didn't matter. Mila didn't care what anyone else thought. No one else really knew what they had been through together. And Adrian did seem happy lately, so that was good. She just wished he would share that happiness with her. She wanted to know what was going on in his life, but it seemed too secretive. "You can't blame me for worrying," she admonished lightly. "I mean... I guess I'm just afraid he'll disappear again. I'm trying to let those fears go. Sometimes it's just hard."
“Yeah, of course, I get that,” Aaron said with a small nod. Sometimes he got afraid that Mila would disappear again. He was willing to bet that Gavin woke up in a cold sweat some nights, unsure of where his kids were. Even outside of their family, too many people in this town had those same anxieties about their loved ones, even if they’d been lucky enough to have them come back. “I just don’t think he’d ever leave you on purpose now ... and anything not on purpose is out of our control, you know? You want me to like, man to man talk to him?” He and Adrian didn’t delve into locker room talk for obvious reasons, but Aaron thought maybe he could nudge some hints out of him about who he’d been spending so much time with.
No, Mila didn't think Adrian would leave her on purpose either. But she worried that he would go off on the weekend, something would happen and she would never know what... or where he went, or with who. It was probably overbearing and too motherly of her, but she felt like she needed to keep an eye on him and make sure he was okay. "No, it's okay," she told Aaron, smiling gratefully that he would ask and be willing to do such a thing. "Maybe I'll talk to him myself. Things may have changed over the years but I was really good at sussing out when my brother was lying. Or maybe he's just waiting for me to ask and he's going to be excited to tell me, if there's anything to tell." Mila shrugged and then took a deeper breath as the mouth of the tunnel came into view. She hadn't been there since the day Adrian found her and now she was wondering why she had decided to come back. "It looks so normal," she murmured.
“Yeah, do that, talk to him,” Aaron murmured, his brain switching gears as soon as he saw the tunnel as well. Any world where Adrian would have exciting romantic news for them seemed pretty far away all of the sudden. His steps slowed to a stop without him really needing to decide to do so, and Aaron’s hand tightened on Mila’s to stop her too. They’d already talked about it, it was going to be okay, he told himself, but his heart was still picking up speed and that nervous-nauseated feeling was blooming in his stomach. There was a weird tug of war going on in his mind and Aaron wasn’t really sure he was thinking clearly for a minute. This was the worst place, it had put Mila through hell and poisoned her mind for a while and Aaron wanted to avoid it forever, but ... but he still wanted to go get a closer look at it. “I don’t know, Mila,” he said, his voice feeling a bit thin in his throat.
Mila clung to Aaron's hand and wondered if her brother would completely freak out that they were back in these woods, staring at that tunnel. For a moment she felt dizzy, like she was going to pass out and wake up back inside the dark mouth, unable to escape. But Mila pushed through it, swallowing hard. While she didn't want Aaron to go through anything traumatic, the hesitation in his voice reassured Mila that she wasn't alone in her worry. "I don't know either," she admitted, glancing his way. Her gaze was quickly drawn back to the tunnel, as if it might sneak up on them if she turned away. But she began to walk again, tugging Aaron gently to come with her. They came to do this, so they would do it and turn around and go home and hopefully put all of it behind them for good.
Part of Aaron wanted to stop, plant his boots and hold on tight to his woman to keep her from being drawn back into that thing, like it was a black hole with its own gravitational pull. He couldn’t though, and if he was being honest he didn’t fully want to. He wanted to face it down and tell it to fuck off, that it was just a big long hole and that was all. It couldn’t hurt them anymore. Even more than all that, he couldn’t let Mila go alone. So he walked forward again as she pulled on him, his feet almost numb in his boots, his eyes locked on the tunnel. As they got closer, Aaron feared for a moment that he might throw up from a spike of fear, but then it passed and the tension in his body seemed to leak out all at once, like a deep unclench. Instead of a big black mouth, the tunnel looked like just a tunnel.
The fact that she wasn't throwing up or running away had to be a good sign, right? Progress? Never mind that her palms were sweaty and her heart was racing. But she told herself that if she could do this, then maybe she could really put it behind her and heal. It was just a tunnel. Stone and concrete. Mila didn't think she could go inside, but she could stand outside and face it down. Mila glanced up at Aaron. "Are you okay?" He didn't look as pale as he had moments before at least. Focusing on Aaron helped her from staring into the tunnel, something deep in her gut she knew she should avoid.
It was a strange sort of shift that he should probably be more wary of, but at the moment it was just a relief for Aaron. Being so afraid was incredibly draining, and he didn’t want to freak out in front of Mila, when she had so much more reason to freak out than he did. He felt like he could breathe easier, and Mila’s earlier words about possibly getting some closure felt more possible. He looked down at her and managed a wan smile as he squeezed her hand again. “Yeah ... yeah, I’m okay. Are you?” he asked. She seemed like she was doing okay too, at least not close to any sort of breakdown, which was reassuring. Out of the two of them, Mila was the one who really needed the concern, in Aaron’s opinion. He glanced into all of that darkness, but only briefly, wanting to stay focused on his fiancee.
The instinct was to say yes, she was fine. But was she? Anxiety was beginning to spike deep inside of her and she tightened her hand around Aaron's. "I think so," she said, needing to pause briefly to clear her throat. "But maybe we should go." They had come, faced down the tunnel and now it felt right to go. Not to linger. Lingering could be bad. Something green and smooth caught her eye and Mila glanced down at two stones hanging out on one of the train tracks leading into the tunnel. They were a greenish hue and looked completely out of place in the weeds and dirt, but... so pretty. "Hey." She let go of Aaron's hand and walked over to pick them both up. "These are pretty, aren't they?"
Aaron had a nagging vague feeling that they weren’t finished when Mila said they should go -- it wasn’t that he was eager to stay and tempt fate, there was just something missing. He was about to request a couple more minutes if she could handle it, but then Mila pulled away and went to bend down to pick something up. Aaron stepped in closer to see, and his eyes widened slightly as he looked at the little stones on Mila’s palm. They were a gorgeous color and a bit pearlescent and Aaron didn’t usually find rocks to be pretty, but these definitely were. “Wow, yeah,” he murmured, reaching for one to pluck it up and feel it between his fingers. He’d momentarily forgotten all about the tunnel. “I’ve never seen ones like this before.”
Considering there were only two stones, so beautiful and sticking out like a sore thumb in the area, Mila should have probably been more wary. A very small part of her wanted to toss them into the tunnel, take Aaron's hand and go back home to put it all behind them. Instead, she offered one to Aaron with a small smile. "Well, if we take anything away from this place, it might as well be something pretty." Maybe it was just a sign that they would be okay. Mila still had that dull throb of uneasiness in her chest and she didn't want to linger too long, but it was like, the longer she stood there, the easier it got.
Aaron held the stone between two fingers and up to the light, admiring the way the sun glinted off of it. He wondered already if they could get the stones made into jewelry -- damn, why hadn’t he found this months ago before he got Mila an engagement ring? It didn’t even occur to him to think that was weird, wanting to keep a part of a place that had fucked them over so badly. It seemed normal at the moment. There was just something about the color that he really really liked. “Yeah, I guess so,” he said with a faint chuckle. Aaron glanced back at the mouth of the tunnel, and felt weirdly neutral about it. He still didn’t want to go in, but it didn’t repel him the same way it had before. He looked at Mila again as he rubbed his thumb against the stone in his hand. “Do you feel better?” he asked, reaching for her free hand with his. Aaron felt ready to go if she was.
Did she feel better? Mila looked away from the stone in her hand to Aaron. She hadn't broken out in a sweat, so that meant something, right? Even so, something tickled at the back of her neck and she stared at Aaron, feeling her heart start to thump a bit harder in her chest. Suddenly she was afraid to look into the tunnel, sure she would see something staring back at her. "Yeah, I feel better," she lied, smiling faintly as she took his hand in hers and held on tight. "I want... I'm ready to go home if you are." And god, she hoped he was. Mila slipped the stone into her back pocket, already starting to move away from the tunnel. "We don't come back, right?" They had already made that promise, but she wanted some reassurance now.
He didn’t feel any pull to stay, like whatever had drawn them there had been taken care of. They’d faced their fear and gotten small pretty rewards for it, so Aaron felt their business there was done forever. “We never come back,” he agreed with confidence, squeezing Mila’s hand as he started to walk away with her. Aaron slipped his own stone into his front pocket, able to feel the warmth of it against his thigh. He didn’t question that Mila felt better, believing her lie, especially since she’d been the one to suggest this excursion in the first place. So Aaron walked away feeling pretty satisfied, even if the whole thing was a little confusing. Like so many other things, it felt easier to just take it at face value and not try to think too hard about it, and Aaron happened to be pretty good at not thinking hard. He was content to put the tunnel behind them and stroll through the woods with his woman again. “Ooh, what about a gem name? Like Jade or Crystal or something?” he asked as it popped into his head, glancing over with a little grin.
Mila tried to quicken their pace without being too obvious about it. She didn’t know why she had wanted to come out there today. What had pushed them both to want this visit? Was it the tunnel? Was that why Aaron had been feeling the same way? Or did she just want closure? Did she get it? It didn’t feel like it, but she was willing to pretend. Aaron looked happy and that’s what she wanted more than anything else. Returning his smile, Mila nodded. “Maybe. I like Jade.” Talking about the baby and her potential name was a good distraction and it kept Mila from wanting to glance over her shoulder to make sure nothing was following them. “I can’t believe we’re getting married in a couple of weeks. Everything feels like it’ll be here so fast… wedding, baby. You’re not feeling overwhelmed, are you?”
It may as well have been any casual walk through the forest for Aaron. Not like they did that very often, but it felt easy to pretty much forget what they were walking away from. Maybe it was easier for him because he hadn’t been out to the tunnel when everything was going down -- Mila had stabbed him at home, so he’d been on the floor bleeding when she’d disappeared into it, and Adrian had been the one to rescue her from the grip of that place. Aaron hadn’t seen her until she was in the hospital. He knew it had scarred her deeper than he could understand, but she seemed okay at the moment, talking about their future, and he didn’t think to question that. “Me? Naw ... I mean, there’s a lot to do, but we’ll get it done,” Aaron said, smiling at her again. “And even if stuff goes wrong, it’ll all be perfect because it’s ours. ... Are you feeling overwhelmed?”
Mila shook her head before pausing and then shrugging. "I mean, maybe a little. It's just a lot to prepare for. I'm excited for it, obviously, but apparently even small weddings take a lot of energy and time." And then they only had a few months before the baby would be there. If Mila stopped to think about it too much, yes, she started to feel overwhelmed. But she knew they would get through it and everything would be great. "I just want everything to go well. My mom is still a little whiny about not having a church wedding and I'm afraid things will be really awful for Roxy, since I'm sure Caden will bring Shan. So it's just the little things, you know?"
Aaron didn’t want to be dismissive of her stress, but he wasn’t worried about that stuff at all. He knew Caden would behave for the sake of the wedding, and everybody else’s feelings about any of it didn’t matter to him. What mattered was he and Mila were getting married and then soon their little family would be complete with the arrival of their daughter. Aaron pulled Mila’s hand up to kiss and nuzzle at the back of it before he gave her a little smile. “It’ll be all right,” he said. “They won’t cause no trouble. The only people’s feelings I give a shit about that day is ours, babe. I just want you to be happy, that’s all. And y’know, if there’s more you want me to do for the wedding, I can, just tell me.” Aaron felt pretty dumb about all of it, but he’d tried to be helpful where he could.
Mila knew Aaron was more concerned about her happiness than anyone else's. But she knew she would feel it if Roxy was unhappy, even though she knew her best friend would put on a happy face regardless. Hopefully Spence was helping her get over Caden once and for all. And god, she hoped Caden didn't flip out if Roxy brought Spence as her date. She knew damn well how the Lucases could get, especially when alcohol was involved. "I appreciate it," she said with a smile, squeezing Aaron's hand. "Most of the big stuff is done. Just make sure you and Gavin have your suits fitted and all that."
“Of course, yeah, it’s early next week, Tuesday I think. It’s in my phone,” Aaron answered easily. He’d made triple sure of that, and he’d made sure it was in Gavin’s and Caden’s phones too. He’d texted them to double-check, probably annoying them, but Aaron didn’t care. He was determined not to fuck up any part of this wedding, it had to be perfect for Mila. Or as perfect as he could make it, anyway -- if he could’ve somehow made Caden and Roxy stay together until after the wedding, he would have, but that was what it was. Aaron was relying on Gavin as his best man and eldest brother to keep the peace, no matter what that took. “It’s gonna be amazing,” he said, giving Mila a sunny smile. “I can’t wait.”
It sounded like he was on top of things, and she appreciated that. Gavin would remember, even if Aaron didn't. She just hoped the wedding day went smoothly and everyone saved the family drama for later. "I can't wait either," she assured him, breathing a little easier the farther from the tunnel they got. They would never go back, even if she woke up again feeling the urge. No more. Bringing Aaron's hand up to her lips, she kissed his fingers. "So Adrian is gone and Roxy is with Spence... should we take advantage of the empty house?" They'd been able to do that a lot more lately, which was really nice.
Aaron believed she meant it, he just hoped her worries about everybody else wouldn’t sour the experience of being a bride for her. Maybe it was weird to truly believe that someone who had almost killed him deserved every happiness in the world, but Aaron supposed that was what love did to a person. Mila hadn’t wanted to hurt him, the tunnel had, and Aaron was more than a little happy to walk away from it forever. He hoped the powers that were in the town would let them keep it that way. Mila’s tone distracted him from thoughts about anything but her and he flashed her a grin. “I mean, duh, yeah,” he said with a grin. “Everybody else is getting laid, we should too.” He didn’t know that about Adrian of course, but Aaron was fairly certain they were right and he was seeing somebody.
Despite the churning in her stomach, Mila laughed. "Yeah, we should too. Definitely." She still felt pretty good and definitely wanted Aaron as much as possible. Mila had a feeling once it got closer to her due date, her body may decide differently so she wanted to take advantage of the time they had now. Everything was going to change soon and while she was excited, she was still feeling some apprehension. But that would go away eventually, right? Just like the tunnel, no longer in sight. As soon as they left Seaview, Mila had no intention of returning if she could help it. "Thank you for coming out here with me," she murmured after a moment. "I know it was a little weird. But I'm glad we did it."
He thought it was actually more than a little weird, it was pretty fucking strange if you thought about it, but Aaron had wanted to come out here too, so he wasn’t putting it all on Mila’s shoulders. He would have come with her regardless, but maybe he would have fought the idea harder if he hadn’t been feeling the same pull. They were off of the tracks and back on the trail now, almost out of the woods all together, so Aaron felt safe enough stopping for a moment. He pulled Mila in close and hugged her gently. “I’ll go with you to the gates of Hell if you want me to,” Aaron murmured close to her ear. He kissed her cheek. “I’m glad we did too, I wanted to go tell that place to fuck off to its face.” So what if he hadn’t actually done that, it still felt something like closure.
"Let's try Heaven first," Mila said with a small smile, leaning into his kiss. She felt like she had already been to Hell and she had no desire to go back... even though it seemed like she had risked that by going back to the tunnel in the first place. But it turned out all right. Nothing happened and she and Aaron were walking away from it unharmed. And Aaron seemed carefree and happy and god, she really wanted that more than anything else. He deserved everything good in life and Mila wanted to be the person to give that to him. Maybe she didn't feel free of that place completely, but it was a good start.