Rebirth - 4. Chapter 4: Crashing In The Moment

Sage stood outside the Gym, in the large trophy area and grabbed Aries by the arm. "Hey."

"What?" Aries turned around.

"Where were you yesterday?" She asked.

"Solving Mr. O'Ryan's past life murder, if or when you hear that Adam O'Kane's murder has been solved, I did it." He grinned.

"And just how did you do that?" Her eyes widened and she crossed her arms, a plastic shopping bag in her hand.

"To them...I'm Shane...an angel, sent from Jesus Christ to urge them to confess, to save them from a sure fire eternity in hell." Aries grinned.

"That is so you...and so brilliant." Sage lifted the bag. "Mr. Braden is skipping again today."

"So? Who's covering for him this time?"

"Your teacher crush...Ian." She grinned and waved the bag at him. "And I knew ahead of time. Mr. Braden took his wife on a trip..." She looked away. "..somewhere, picture something fancy." She looked at him again. "Anyway, I took the liberty of buying you some new gym clothes." She shoved the bag at him.

Aries took the bag and looked inside and started to laugh, then shook his head. "No way...no fucking way. Not even I could get away with this...just no...no."

"You don't have a choice, giving Jay your digits, that was a mistake, he robbed you." Sage laughed and walked around him and into the Gym.

Aries turned around and his eyes widened. "Sage...this is so wrong!"

"I can't help what he does!" Sage threw her back pack in the corner with all the rest as Aries followed her. "All I know is that Jay said he was robbing your gym locker and to buy you something awesome. Then I found out from Nash that Mr. Braden was going on a trip and that Ian was covering the class because Nash was bitching that he would suck..."

"Wait! What?!" Aries dropped his back pack in horror. "First...when did you start talking to Nash? And...now he's in our gym group? The day you get me this?!" He held out the plastic bag. "After Jay robs me?!" He looked up. "This is my punishment for identity theft..."

Sage's eyebrows lifted. "Uh...Nash was assigned my partner on a history project, that sucks. And he was moved into this group because his group was over crowded and he didn't want to be moved into study hall."

"Perfect, the jock doesn't want to be moved into study hall, sitting down would be too damn hard for him." Aries said in a mocking tone. "I'm just going to skip, this is all Jay's fault." He started to turn around.

"You can't!" Sage ran over to grab his arm.

"Talking about me?" Nash had just walked in when Aries turned around.

"Ooo...so soap opera like, he walks in just in time to hear me saying something about him." Aries eyes widened. "Can ya move? My days gone to shit times ten."

Nash looked up at Sage, who had a pleading expression, he then looked at Aries. "Hope I didn't cause all of it."

"You give yourself too much credit." He walked around Nash just as Ian walked in.

"Are you leaving?" Ian asked.

"Yep, I'm ditching, you know I do that, give me detention, whatever, my days gone to hell, as ironic as that is." Aries then stormed out of the gym.

Ian looked at Nash. "Do you know where the basketballs are?"

"Pretty familiar with the place." Nash nodded.

"Have everyone do that for the period...and please no trouble." Ian then headed off after Aries.

Nash looked at Sage and grinned. "Want to run class with me?"

Sage sighed. "So much for that." She sat down on one of the bottom bleachers and looked at Nash. "So long as you're the assistant. I'm the Queen B, if you know what I mean."

"Fine by me." Nash grinned.

"Aries!" Ian called out.

He stopped in the hall right by the door to the court yard and turned half way around, his eyes intense with a bitter anger, as if he wanted to explode, but he wouldn't.

"What happened?" Ian asked when he caught up.

"Oh, lets see, Jay robs my gym locker...and then Sage gets me new gym clothes that would ruin my reputation forever, but now shes hanging out with Nash, so should that be a surprise? Though her explanation is that he was assigned her history partner, whatever the case, if she were going to be mean to me, why would Jay help?"

Ian watched him and walked around to better look at him. "Is he closer to her?"

"Not supposed to be, we are friends with benefits, at least we were, until now." Aries frowned.

Ian grabbed Aries by the shoulders and lightly shook him to draw his attention, once he had eye contact, he spoke. "That is exactly what I was trying to tell you. Just because you, what? Have sex? Doesn't mean he owes you anything, it's shallow, it's superficial, like you said. Do you even entirely understand what those things mean? It means that if your entire world is based on that, it can get turned upside down, people turn on the flip of a coin, they change. Just because he has sex with you doesn't mean he owes you anything, he hasn't put anything in it but just a round of good times that he can take and go somewhere else."

"What are you saying? What does that have to do with anything you told me?" Aries asked.

"If he loved you, sure, he could still betray you, but when feelings are involved, it's less likely that he would. That's why people get older and they get involved...and they fall in love, and it might not always work out the first few times, eventually it happens. You have to take that risk, or you stay in a world like this...where things like that...happen. You and Nash are like yin and yang, yet Sage flips to his side, doesn't seem like she belongs there, does it?"

Aries shook his head. "No, it doesn't."

"Well, in a shallow, superficial, world...we all just wear masks of who we want to be, we can change our masks at any time, loyalty, friendship, none of that exists, it's all just a good time, fun, like you wanted, but it's not fun when it gets turned on you, is it?"

He looked up at Ian. "So my world is broken, I learned that the hard way. What do I do now?"

Ian briefly smiled and then it faded. "I would love to tell you, but if I did, that would only be imprinting Adam's wants...and my wants...onto you. So, all I can say...is you have to trust yourself, and your feelings, you have to feel, to know what to do."

"I don't know then, Shane lead me as far as I went and...that was it." Aries stepped closer. "I did have flashbacks. I remembered singing on stage, then finding Adam in the parking lot, I didn't remember any audio, though."

Ian looked at Aries, curiously. "Just what exactly did you do?"

"You will find out." He placed a hand on Ian's chest and then leaned up, his other hand moved up, finger tips brushing the under side of his chin as his eyes closed and his lips pressed to Ian's, kissing him.

Ian gasped in a breath of air as their lips met and he eased forward and wrapped his arms around Aries and then spun around and lifted him up onto the wide window-sill that was about waist high.

Aries deepened the kiss, his legs parting once he was sat on the window-sill and he grabbed Ian's shirt and pulled him closer and pushed his tongue forward and into the young and handsome teachers mouth.

Ian could just about get lost in this, he wanted to, and he almost did, this was the furthest Aries has let him go, and he believed if they were somewhere a little more discreet, they might even have made love. To his disappointment however, he remembered that they were in the school, in a hallway none the less. He pulled back and broke the kiss, his eyes opened and he gazed at Aries. "Why?"

Aries opened his eyes. "Why what?"

"Why do this to me here, knowing we shouldn't even be kissing?" Ian asked.

"I don't know...it just happens." He said, still clutching Ian's shirt.

"Would we have...made love?" Ian asked.

"I don't know, maybe." Aries sighed, his hands relaxing and drifting down Ian's chest before falling away completely.

Ian took a step back. "I think we both know what's going to happen, eventually, we come closer and closer."

"You think you want that." Aries looked up at Ian. "But it could cause you more trouble than you ever want. Suppose someone saw us? Think of the trouble you would be in..."

"I know I want that."

"Don't you see it?" Aries slid away from the window and stepped closer to Ian.

"First...we're in a time where you're a jock, I'm an outcast...and being gay was unthinkable, now...we're in a time where being gay is okay, I'm not a jock, but I'm popular and confident enough. Sad thing is...you're a teacher...and I'm a student, both lifetimes, in some way or another, we had to hide us. If we were together now...the school could never find out." Aries shook his head. "Ironic, huh?"

Ian stared at Aries as he thought about it and then he looked off to the side. "Pretty decent comparisons, thing is...at least we could be together, now. At least people in the streets aren't a threat, random people."

"Yeah, but...technology is a threat, anyone who knows us or sees us anywhere, can film, take pictures, get proof, we don't have to even be seen near the school for them to find out. Wouldn't Nash love for that to happen." Aries pulled out a piece of gum and unwrapped it, shoving it into his mouth.

"You should go, take time, think...but this..." He took Aries hand and placed it over his own heart. "Don't let this feeling go, not this feeling, this moment, don't let it go yet."

Aries felt Ian's heart beat and then slowly pulled his hand away. "I never said anything, never promised anything, I just...wanted you." He looked down and walked off down the hall.

Ian walked through the door and took his coat off, throwing it across the arm of the couch.

"Hey, babe. Look at the news, they solved a cold case." Amber turned the stove off and walked over to the bar and leaned forward, looking at the big screen mounted on the wall in the living room above the fire place.

"Hi.." Ian then looked over at the television, stepping further inside.

"The murder of Adam O'Kane, aged 17, back in 1969, a cold case has been reportedly solved, should evidence pan out, along with the willing confessions of the three supposed murderers after 45 years." The news reporter spoke.

"Oh my god!" Amber stood upright when Adam's picture came up on the screen. "Ian! That's you!" Her eyes widened. "I could pull out a photo album and you would look just like that! Oh my god!"

Ian's eyes widened. What had Aries done?!

"Ironically the three men who confessed were three men identified by a witness who found the victim shortly before he died, deceased singer Shane Lyndon who hung himself three years later, indicating in a final note that all of his songs referencing a lover were about someone named Adam." The woman went on reporting.

Ian's eyes widened when a picture of Shane was posted, they used the picture from the website that he had shown Aries. He looked over at Amber.

"Now you know who it is!" Amber looked at Ian, almost not being able to draw in a breath. "You were being for real, it was real, and they murdered you!"

"One of the men, Max Kenton was quoted as saying that Shane Lyndon came to them as an angel and told them that Jesus Christ wanted them to confess for salvation. He also claims to be the one that had the knife that was used to stab Mr. O'Kane. We will report any further information as we learn..."

Ian's eyes widened and he grabbed the remote and turned the television off.

"I thought you were lying!" Amber pointed at him. "I was so sure!"

Ian started pacing the living room. "Amber...this is not good." He looked at her. "What happens to the people that have seen that picture, then they look at me? Doesn't take the police and an age progression program to figure it out!"

Amber stared at him. "Well, how did that happen anyway? If we all were reborn like that, wouldn't we know it?"

"Don't ask me...maybe something happened in the cosmos, along the ghostly plane, or in heaven...somewhere through the fabric of existence, hell, I don't fucking know. That's not the issue, this is the issue." He placed his hands on his cheeks. "People are going to see me."

"Well, it's likely not national." Amber waved her hand. "Maybe we can just move away, yeah?"

"We don't even have this house paid for, you want to foreclose on it?" Ian fell onto the couch.

Amber rushed over and sat beside him. "Maybe you can tell people you uh...had plastic surgery to do that." She got up on her knees and started rubbing his shoulders.

Ian covered his face with his hands as it ran through his mind what could possibly happen to Aries, the spitting image of Shane. He should of known better than to let the teen run off and do something that was so top secret regarding Shane.

"I need some time, a minute? I...have to make a call." Ian said.

"Sure, I'll..set the table for dinner." Amber climbed off the couch and headed towards the kitchen.

Ian stood up and headed off down the hall and into his office and shut the door. He sat at his computer. "How do I..." He trailed off and then typed in Aries name into his search and found his StreamUp page.

"So...yeah, I had my best friend betray me and...my friends with benefits, betray me worse. Fool me once, shame on you, twice, ya know where that shame goes." Aries looked down, watching the text in the chat scroll, mostly positive messages. "You guys always support me, wish I could be where all of you are, much love."

Ian watched Aries and then typed into the chat.

Guest34059: Call me.

Aries' eyebrows lifted. "Oh, Guest, hi." He grinned and laughed for a split second. "Well, your name isn't very telling. What's your number?" He read the number given. "A local..." He nodded and grabbed his phone and waved it at the camera. "I'm calling."

Ian sighed and watched Aries dial his number and he grabbed his phone and answered after the first ring. "Aries!" He answered, alarmed.

"Ian? That was you?" He looked back at the computer. "Uh...sorry crowd, I thought Guest was a fan, this is uh...personal, don't abuse his number, love you all, night!" Aries then slammed his laptop shut. "Shouldn't of caught me off guard like that, change your number just in case you get a zillion calls."

"Might anyway." Ian said. "Your little Touched By An Angel, I am Shane, act, got Adam and Shane's picture on the news. We'll be recognized in no time. Did you not even consider any of that?!"

"I wasn't able to see it, our news channel went all snow when it mentioned the cold case, we never saw pictures of anyone, odd thing, rest of our channels worked." Aries said.

"Well, it happened, and people won't have a hard time recognizing us, especially you, Angel Shane." Ian closed his eyes. "We're blown right out of the water."

"Hey, I couldn't help it, Shane wanted them caught...and I got them caught." Aries stood up. "I'm sure it wasn't national, I can just run away, not like I have anything here left, no friends, a dope head mom, a step dad that rapes me, although he hasn't lately."

"Yeah, and you went back there to put on your show." Ian said, angry and frustrated. "And what about me, am I not something?"

"Come with me, we'll do Thelma and Louise." Aries paced his room.

"And what? Drive off the Grand Canyon and hope for a third go? Maybe Aries won't be so..." Ian trailed off.

"So what? Stupid? Dumb? Maybe he won't be such an idiot?!" He fell down on his bed. "I just did what Shane made me want to do. Do you have any better control of Adam? The hallway says no..."

"I want to pick you up tomorrow, we'll go out of town, figure this out." Ian paused. "You haven't gotten calls from...anyone? Jay? Sage? They bother to watch the news?"

"If they don't...I'm sure their parents might, if they did, they are probably freaking out." Aries shrugged. "No phone calls."

Ian nodded. "Then...what if, and this is a far desperate theory, whatever made us come together again, like this, fate, destiny, whatever, it intervened and snowed out all of the televisions?"

Aries looked up. "Then how come you could see it?"

Ian looked at the door to his office, faintly hearing Amber humming off down the hall. "There is a reason, and I'll explain that tomorrow when I pick you up."

Aries laid back. "Okay, tomorrow, school time...I'll catch the bus and then..meet you in the parking lot."

"Sounds like a plan." Ian looked down. "Night." He hung up and then went to program Aries' number into his phone. "I could see it because Amber had to see it, so now if she ever sees you, who knows what will happen." He mumbled.

Aries woke up when he heard his Skype ring, seeing it was still dark, he sat up and opened his laptop at the foot of his bed, seeing it was Riley. "Oh, hey."

"Were you sleeping? You were, I'm sorry."

"No, it's okay." Aries reached over and turned a small lamp on, it was attached to the wall and shined a faint glow across the bed, enough to light it up, but not to hurt his eyes or light the entire room, just the space around his bed.

"I was just bored, wanted someone to talk to, a little...lonely, I guess." Riley sat back in his computer chair.

"I know the feeling."

"You? Aries? How?"

"It can happen to anyone." He looked at Riley and grinned, a soft laugh escaping. "Had my best friend betray me, my friends with benefits help her, they tried to help my biggest enemy prank me and yet..." He sighed. "Come up with some complicated story. Oh, I'm just talking to him because he's my history partner, it's not my choice. Jay robbed your gym locker so I could make you cross dress for gym to look sexy for your teacher crush, I think it'd be awesome, it's all innocent."

Riley's eyebrows lifted. "Sounds like a Mean Girls movie." He couldn't help but to laugh. "I'm sorry, just when you get mixed up into that stuff." He took a deep breath and sighed.

"Okay, laugh it up, I guess it's funny when you hear it." Aries grinned.

"You're Aries The Zodiac...coolest internet person I know, I love to hear you ramble and talk and...I think you have a fire that...you could just...blow everyone away, all by yourself."

"I wouldn't know where to even begin. I wouldn't know if it was even worth it. I mean, what's popularity by yourself? What is winning and beating them all, by yourself? By going out there and becoming the greatest, you essentially lose at the same time because you become so great and you do it all alone that it doesn't matter to anyone, in fact they may even hate you for it because you pushed them all down to do it. So wouldn't it just be better in the end just to...let go?"

"Aries...that is a very twisted and tricky theory, very Alice In Wonderland." Riley shook his head. "But, I guess it's really true, I mean it's an extreme, you go to win so hard you get the same results as if you did nothing at all."

He nodded. "My point, I could go and show them all down, where would I be? Right where I am now, no admiration for it." Aries shrugged. "Unless in some twisted way, they respected me for showing them down, but if I have to play a game and beat them for that, do I even want it? Not really."

"Well, you still have me, thirty minute drive or not, I'll make it for you." He smiled.

"That's sweet." Aries smiled. "Tomorrow though, I'm taking my own trip, don't know what will happen, but we'll see."

"I should let you get some rest then. I was just up and lonely and..I thought of you." Riley shrugged. "Figured you might be up." He laughed. "I watched the recording of your last live feed tonight. Who's Ian?"

"Teacher crush. If his number is drifting through peoples messages, please don't call it. I didn't even mean to say his name. I was surprised he was Guest."

"Oh, he was under a Guest name? No wonder it caught you off guard like that." Riley grinned.

"God, I hope people don't terrorize him." He grinned, trying not to laugh.

Riley laughed. "I'm going to let you go...night."

Aries' eyebrows lifted. "Looks like you got company...night!" He shut his laptop. "Ugh...kinda scary looking." He turned off the lamp and laid down.

Riley turned around and looked up at his dad. "What are you doing in here?"

Byron placed a hand on the back of the chair. "I heard voices, I wanted to see who was on here." He looked at the screen. "So, who was the blonde? Very nice looking."

"And very...not merchandise." Riley exited Skype. "He's my friend." He stood up. "And that's all you're going to know."

Byron placed his hand on Riley's shoulder with a firm grip. "Is it?"

"Sadly for you, I don't know where he lives, we met at a McDonalds then went off, it was fun, we talked. So, if you want to hook me up to your lousy home bought lie detector that you don't even know how to read..." Riley stared at his dad with an intense gaze.

"Maybe I'll find him my own way." Byron shoved Riley back into the chair and turned around, walking out of his sons room.

"You're a nasty fuck!" Riley screamed after him and then he flinched when Byron slammed the door.

Amber was in the kitchen, grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge when she heard Ian's phone vibrate on the counter where it was connected to it's charger on a wall outlet. She turned around and walked over to it and sat the bottle down, seeing it was an unknown caller.

"Hello?" Amber answered.

"You sure don't sound like an Ian." A guy said over the phone, a girl laughing in the background.

"That's because this isn't Ian, this is his wife, Amber, who are you?"

The guy started to laugh loudly and the girl grabbed the phone. "You know your husband talks to Aries?" She asked.

"Aries? Who the hell is Aries? And who are you?" Amber asked, getting frustrated.

"Aries The Zodiac, look it up on StreamUp...and check out the latest video, you'll see where your husband asks him to call. Seriously, check it out." The guy and the girl laugh and hang up.

Amber pulled the phone away from her ear and then opened the search box and started looking it up. Once she found the site, the screen was to small to really see the screen shots of each video, however upon tapping on the latest video with her finger, it blew up to full screen and her eyes widened. "That's Shane Lyndon." She said, immediately recognizing him from the news.

"So...yeah, I had my best friend betray me and...my friends with benefits, betray me worse. Fool me once, shame on you, twice, ya know where that shame goes." Aries looked down. "You guys always support me, wish I could be where all of you are, much love."

"Ian? That was you?" He looked back at the computer. "Uh...sorry crowd, I thought Guest was a fan, this is uh...personal, don't abuse his number, love you all, night!" Aries then slammed his laptop shut.

Amber stood there in shock when the video ended, forcing herself to draw in a breath after several moments. "Oh my god." She exited the website and then went into Ian's call history and saw Aries labeled in it. She tapped his name and brought the phone to her ear.

Aries heard his phone ring and was barely asleep as he pushed himself up. "Fate doesn't want me to sleep tonight..." He grabbed his phone. "...Ian." He answered the phone. "Funny, I was just talking about fate."

"Maybe you better let me in on those little talks...Aries." Amber said in an angered tone.

"Who is this?"

"This is Ian's wife, you little slut, and I want to know what you're trying to do with my husband."

"Woah!" He climbed out of the bed and walked to his door, flipping his light switch on. "Hold up now, where do you get that I'm a slut?!"

"From your little video, whoring yourself on the net for attention." Amber shook her head. "Kind of sad really, of all the lives to reincarnate..."

Aries laughed. "Seriously? I do it for fun and people are entertained. Why don't you toss your television out the window and all the attention whores that pop up on it?!"

"We're getting off topic. So is that how it worked? You both got reincarnated to...what? Be together again? Did you have dreams too?"

"Actually, I never remembered anything until I met those old fucking men, now all I remember is the night Adam was killed, without sound, by the way. I don't even get to hear myself sing!"

Amber started laughing. "Your lover dies and you worry about remembering yourself singing?! Conceited little bitch!"

"Adam was not my lover! I am Aries, not Shane! Understand?!" He looked up.

"What's going on?!" Keith screamed from his bedroom with Kristy.

"Nothing Keith, I'm just on the phone! Go back to bed!" Aries said.

"Uh oh...going to get in trouble with the parents?" Amber grinned.

"Please, they don't care what I do. In fact, if you knew what he does, you wouldn't be making fun of it, but I wouldn't give you the satisfaction of knowing or the chance to pity me for a second." He frowned.

Ian walked around the bar. "What is all the screaming?"

"Lets put this on speaker." Amber laid the phone down and hit speaker phone. "Got your boy on the phone, Ian. Some of his fans don't love him back so much and called your number...and told me where to go...to find him."

Ian's eyes widened. "Aries?"

"I don't have anything to say." Aries sat on his bed. "You should have told me about her. As much as I've been betrayed today, I've been going around not knowing the truth."

Amber looked up. "Huh. Funny, not on your side...but you kind of took the words right out of my mouth."

"It was complicated..." He looked up at Amber. "No one saw the news, everyones televisions got snowed out. The only reason you saw it was because...you were meant to find out about him."

Amber slowly nodded. "Right...so I'd step aside and exit stage left?"

Ian looked towards the floor.

"Why don't I just ask you what you truly want, Ian?" Amber stared at him.

"The truth?"

"Would be nice for once." Amber grinned and nodded, crossing her arms.

Ian took a deep breath. "Adam wants Aries who is Aries and well, Shane, in a way. It's complicated...but it's like...pieces of them were left behind in us, little pieces of their souls...and they can only affect so much, kinda like ghosts, sometimes...if they come up with enough energy, they can knock something over."

Amber nodded. "Okay, yada, yada, you aren't technically them but they affect you, I get it, go on."

"Well, because of Adam's affects on me and...Shane's affects on Aries, we have been drawn into...moments. And believe me when I say in Aries defense, he was highly resistant, he hates emotions, he hates feelings, he wanted nothing to do with it, but Shane pushed, then it started to affect our feelings." Ian explained.

"So, you want him, because Adam and Shane tried to be together through...the two of you, it...uh..forced you two together and...well, ya tried on the shoes with the socks and the four just mesh so well, right?" Amber nodded, laughing sarcastically.

"I told myself if Aries wouldn't love me back, I wouldn't give you up." Ian said.

"Even better! I was back up!" Amber clapped and then walked around the counter and headed for the stairs. "Invite him over to spend the night! If you don't like a cold bed! I'm taking our daughter to a hotel!" She screamed.

"Amber! It's the middle of the night!" Ian called out.

"Go to hell, Ian!" Amber screamed and headed off down the hall.

Ian sighed and looked at the phone. "Aries?"

"You would of left your wife and daughter for me?" He asked.

"That's what I said.." Ian sighed.

"I'm sorry, I know you probably need one of us to be supportive while I hear your life falling apart right this minute, I just...I'm shocked." He looked down. "Ian, I'm sorry."

"No, I was stupid for putting my number on the internet." Ian shook his head. "This had to happen though, she was allowed to see the news for a reason. Our path was meant to be...cleared."

"I really just..want to sleep, will you be okay tonight? I'll...come if you insist...but, I just want to sleep."

"Aries, just sleep...and sleep peacefully, I want to imagine that innocent face, tomorrow I'll get to see you."

"Ian...I love you..." He shrugged. "Sorry, still feels fake saying that, I tried, for you. Maybe...I'll eventually really feel it."

Ian smiled. "I think you're just shocked, thanks for trying, but don't say it until you're ready. Go to sleep." He hung up.

Aries sighed and got up and turned his light off and fell back into bed, thinking about the hell Amber is going to put him through. He closed his eyes and went to sleep.

"Aries!" Sage called out as she chased him down the hall.

"What do you want?" He stopped and turned around. "I'm not staying, I'm just...never mind." He shook his head. "So what do you want? You already betrayed me."

"Is that what you honestly think?" Sage grabbed Aries' hand and pulled him into the library and down the first aisle, so they could have some privacy. "I was being honest, I wanted you to have fun. Honestly...it was just a tanktop and some boy shorts, that was it, and Jay took your clothes because...well, it was a very bad way of trying to push you, it was a mistake. Nash is a total coincidence...and the only reason I'm even nice to him at all is when he's nice to me, and he was civil with you. If he fucked with me or you...or Jay, I'd be the first one wanting to kick his ass."

Aries sighed, crossing his arms.

"You know how I am, hot and cold, nice and mean, how I treat you today depends on how you treat me. You get that, the only ones that get passes on that are you and Jay." Sage stared at him. "You want to know something that I've never told anyone before?"

"What is it?" Aries asked.

Sage stepped forward and grabbed his shoulders and shoved him back into the book case on the back wall and pressed her lips to his in a heated kiss. She held his shoulders, pinning him there, kissing him roughly and passionately, yet it only lasted a little more than a moment before she broke the kiss and then shoved away from him, stepping back.

"And that...was not a friendship kiss." She shook her head. "I've crushed on you since the sixth grade...but I never thought you would like me back. You never looked at me that way, and then, when I finally got the courage to tell you freshmen year, I had news, you had news...thank God I told you to go first when you told me about you and Jay, saved me from total humiliation."

Aries' eyes widened when the kiss was broken and he stared at her as she confessed how she felt. "That's...what you wanted to tell me...but then you never did. You just said...you were happy for us and then..rushed out, said you had to be home."

"What else could I say? Sometimes...it hurts to be around you, especially when Jay is there. Why do you think it's so easy for me to just get ditched when you two run off? It's a relief. I've barely ever gotten any time alone with you, he gets all that, unless you're just all by yourself altogether, which is all you seem to do anymore."

Aries looked off to the side, knowing he had to meet Ian, yet not knowing how to deal with this situation. "Sage..." He looked at her, tears forming. "Honestly...I have so much on me right now I don't even know what to do with. I'm supposed to meet Ian right now, he had to come on my live stream to get me to call him because we didn't have each others numbers. He was under guest, so when I called and heard him, I blurted out his name."

"I begged people not to abuse his number, they did anyway, his wife looked me up, found me, knew everything about the reincarnations, knew I was Shane, said she was going away and taking his daughter." He slowly shook his head. "Now this...and I feel like, I know that...it should all matter, and it all does, and...I want to give all of it my time, but it's all crashing within the same moment..."

Sage slowly nodded. "Go..." She looked up at him. "I wouldn't be a good friend to you if I tried to tear you apart with demands. I trust you enough that...when you get back, you will talk this out with me and give me the time."

"Are you serious?" He asked, shocked.

"I'm serious, this can wait, not like a little more time can't pass, it's waited since sixth grade, mostly because of me. So..how can I expect you to tear yourself apart trying to decide what to deal with just because now I happened to decide to have the guts?" She nodded. "Go."

Aries nodded. "Thank you...and I promise, we'll talk when I get back." He took a deep breath and then rushed out of the library and went through his call history and hit Ian's number, he needed to program it.

"Hello? Aries, where are you?" Ian asked.

"Just running a little late, on my way to the front parking lot now, just stay in your car, don't get out, we don't need anyone seeing us hopping in the car together and driving away." He said.

"In the drivers seat, I'll be here." Ian then hung the phone up, it was mounted on the dash board, though he had been ready to grab it and head inside just seconds before he got Aries' call.

Aries sat in the passenger seat as Ian pulled onto the interstate and then he finally looked up. "So..what happened with your wife?"

"She took our daughter and...went to a hotel, just like she said she was, then she came home this morning, just to prepare my coffee in my to go mug, acted nice, said it was ready, then took the cap off and threw it in my face. Told me that while I was taking a shower that she was on her way to consult with a divorce lawyer." Ian explained.

Aries' eyes widened. "And where did she leave the kid?"

"I guess she was in the car, I didn't get a chance to look." Ian frowned.

"Sorry that happened." He looked down. "I just keep thinking if you had a chance to handle it yourself...maybe..."

"Stop blaming yourself, I knew how she could be. Amber can be the sweetest person in the world from an eyes view, and she really can be in a way, but when something really hits her, she reacts to it ten times more emotionally than someone else would. Then she can be really belligerent." Ian shook his head.

Aries grinned. "She called me a slut, then said I was an attention whore."

"Doesn't surprise me." Ian said, looking over at Aries for a second.

"Then she said of all the people in the world to reincarnate." He shook his head and crossed his arms, glancing out of the window. "All because I had a live stream. Not like I strip on it." His eyebrows lifted. "I did promise to once...but that's not the point. I like expressing myself to people, and they listen, and they care. It's nice...and it's fun."

"She was just blowing off steam and throwing the first thing about you, the only thing, she knew about you, that she could. She doesn't know you, the live stream was all she had, she didn't have any other ammo to throw at you."

"True." Aries looked at Ian. "Here's the irony, past life...you get murdered, I go on to be a success, I only die by my choice. This life, one mistake is made, like before, and you again pay for it, and I get away scott free."

"Okay, comparing our past lives is awful now." Ian laughed. "I wish...we could remember further back, beyond the mistake and the murder..."

"Speaking of that, I got called a conceited bitch because I mentioned the only flashbacks I had, and complained, for a second, that I couldn't even hear myself sing, that there was no audio in my flashbacks, which...that comment was the last one I made, an addition to my main point."

"Well, sing now, if you could sing then, you are practically Shane's body reborn, you should be able to do it now."

Aries nodded. "I can...and sometimes I sing with my brothers band, in return, he helps me with his professional equipment to do covers for YouTube videos, sometimes I write my own songs too." He shrugged. "I just wanted to remember what I was singing that night."

"Wish I could tell you." Ian shrugged. "Unfortunately, not so."

Aries nodded and rolled down the window and bent his arm at the elbow on the edge of the window of the car and rested his jaw on his arm, letting the wind blow his hair. He stared at himself in the side mirror and grinned. "I like watching what the wind does...it's just some little fun car thing to do."

"We'll be there soon." Ian said. "I just...wanted to get us..away." He took a deep breath, staring out at the road.

Aries' eyes shifted down and over towards Ian. "So...what is the purpose of the trip now? All the cookies have been stolen from the jar."

"Right.." Ian nodded. "I'm sorry, I kinda still expected you to go regardless." He looked at Aries briefly. "I..just wanted to be with you...and I forgot, you don't want to be with me." He looked at the road. "Should I turn around?"

Aries pulled his head back in from the window. "Did you...want to finish the hallway?"

"You put a person on the spot right away, huh?"

"It's how you get the answers, quick and straight away." He stared at Ian.

"Do...you?"

"The classic find out what I want first." Aries grinned. "That means you will agree with whatever I say."

"Can you blame me for being afraid?" Ian looked over at him with a pained expression. "I don't want to hurt you."

He stared at Ian. "I've...never gone off with a guy that wasn't into friends with benefits terms, you're all about being deep and emotional, that makes me feel vulnerable and...scared, because it means that..I would have to go to that level with you, open up." He looked down and shrugged. "I'm going into this without plans or intentions."

"Maybe that's the best way to go into it." Ian said. "Most rooms come with two beds...so it could go either way, however we feel." Ian shook his head. "The hallway wasn't a plan, you kissing me, I know as resistant as you are, you've never planned a single one. That's the thing about this whole thing, nothing is planned. So...we go, unplanned."

"Unplanned." Aries nodded and looked out at the road and the sunset.

Byron went through Riley's computer history, since his son was at school and all, his lock certainly wasn't a match for the strongly built and heavy set man. "Here we go...jack pot." He clicked on a link in Riley's bookmarks. "Aries The Zodiac...StreamUp."

The man looked over the video's, wondering which one of the recorded live feeds he wanted to check out. He then clicked on one.

Aries smiled and lifted his shoulder in a shrug. "Hi, guys! It's Aries The Zodiac, tuning in with some big news." He laughed, looking down, clearly at the chat box. "Hi Raven, BadBoy290, Miss Cleopatra...I like that one, she was a bitch, in a cool way! Someone needs to come in here and be Aphrodite, tell one of your friends!"

Byron sat back, enjoying the sight before his eyes.

"And everyone else, hello! So anyway! I'm heading up to Colorado Springs with my bro, Gemini, and his band, The Zodiac Brothers, and we got a gig, if you want to see yours truly, you totally have to show up, we have people spreading the word and putting up flyers everywhere, so finding the place won't be rough at all." He laughed.

"Anyway, because I love you guys so much, it would be so fucking awesome to meet as many of you as I can after the gig, you know I'm always talking about wanting to be where all of you are!" Aries smiled. "I love all of you too." He said, in response to the chat. "So, here's a cheap and inexpensive project, if you have just a white tee shirt and one of those...big, fat, permanent markers laying around, just write my name as big as you can on it! Aries The Zodiac! Oh! And put "Fan" right beneath it." He quoted his fingers. "I will spot all of you out...and run off the stage and come get all of you!" He laughed.

Byron quietly laughed to himself, holding the laughter within as he watched Aries and he slowly shook his head. "No wonder Riley likes you so much...fucking perfect."

"I'm serious, we'll find the nearest club in town, and when they shut down, we'll have enough booze to party till the sun comes up." He laughed. "Till then...I got to jet, show up, as many as you can, I want to have a good time!" The video then ended.

"Five months ago." Byron shook his head and then went back to the home page and clicked on the Facebook, going through to see what all was available to see. Mostly everything was private. "Huh...become a friend to see? Little attention whore, aren't you?" He frowned, knowing Aries would never accept him after seeing him on Riley's Skype, this would prove to be a road block.