CH: 006 - First Confession

{Chapter: 006 - First Confession}

Over the past few days, Aiden found himself drawn to Daisy in a way he hadn't expected. At first, his interest had been strategic—a means to an end, a way to slip into SHIELD's world through her. Of course, it didn't hurt that she was stunningly beautiful, with an alluring figure that naturally caught his eye. It was only natural for a man to admire a woman like that.

But now… it was different.

Somewhere along the line, his intentions had shifted. What had started as curiosity, attraction, and opportunity had transformed into something deeper. He wanted her. Not just as a stepping stone, not as a passing fling, but as something more. And he wasn't the only one who felt it. He could see it in her eyes, in the way she lingered a little too long, the way she stole glances when she thought he wasn't looking.

Yet, despite the tension, the teasing, the long nights filled with unspoken words and unfulfilled possibilities, they had never crossed that invisible line. They danced around it, flirting with the idea of something more, but neither had dared to take the plunge.

The two did not have a clear relationship status yet and there was no breakthrough in the line between friendship and relationship. It can be said that both were good friends with some budding feelings which were growing.

Happy times are always short, Daisy's car was now fixed. Once the car was repaired, Daisy had no reason to continue living with Aiden.

Aiden knew Daisy was a hacker and also a member of the Rising Tide organization. To put it bluntly, she wasn't a lawful person and she never told him her identity. Obviously, she had some concerns or maybe fear about his reaction to this news. Aiden also felt that Daisy was very curious about his identity; he didn't believe that Daisy did not investigate him.

However, Daisy has never asked for clarification on his identity, pretending to not know. Therefore, Aiden wanted to know whether Daisy was just enjoying this period of time or seriously interested in him. The main thing was Aiden himself liked Daisy, so naturally he would not let her go!

"Creak...!"

Aiden sat on the couch, watching as she emerged from her bedroom, bag in hand. She hesitated at the doorway, her fingers tightening slightly around the strap of her bag. There was something in her expression—reluctance, uncertainty… maybe even regret.

She doesn't want to leave.

"So…" Aiden's voice was calm, but his eyes burned into hers. "You're really leaving?"

Daisy exhaled, forcing a smile. "Yeah… The car's ready, and I can't just keep relying on you. I have things to do, and—" She stopped, as if the words were suddenly too hard to say.

She didn't want to go. He knew it. She knew it.

For someone like her, someone who had spent most of her life alone, attachment didn't come easy. But once she let someone in… letting go was even harder.

Aiden leaned back, studying her for a moment before speaking. His voice was steady, but there was an unmistakable intensity in his tone.

"Before you go, there's something I need to say."

Daisy glanced at him, caught off guard by the sudden seriousness in his voice. She hesitated, then set her bag down and walked over, sitting beside him.

Aiden took a deep breath, his usual casual demeanor giving way to something more raw, more vulnerable. "I've never been in love before," he admitted. "Maybe because I've always been a bit of a flirt. I see a beautiful woman, and I naturally feel drawn to her—it's just instincts, hormones, whatever you want to call it. But that's all it's ever been."

His eyes locked onto hers, and his voice dropped to something softer, more intimate.

"But then… I met you."

Daisy felt her heart pound.

"These past few days with you, I realized something. I don't just want to admire you from a distance. I don't just want to flirt and leave it at that." His lips curved into a small, almost self-deprecating smile. "I like you, Daisy. And I'm not the type to say things I don't mean. So, Daisy, will you be my girlfriend?"

There it was. The confession. The moment.

Daisy's breath hitched. She hadn't expected this—hadn't dared to hope. Her heart soared at his words, but just as quickly, reality came crashing down.

"Aiden, I…" She bit her lip, looking away. "I like you too, I really do. But…"

"But what?" Aiden leaned closer, his voice dropping to a husky whisper. "If you like me, then why not stay?"

Daisy swallowed hard. She wanted to. God, she wanted to. But she couldn't.

"You don't understand," she murmured. "I can't be with you because… because of what I do. I—"

Aiden gently lifted her chin, making her look at him. "Daisy," he said, his voice slow and deliberate, "I don't care what you do. I care about you."

Her resolve wavered.

For the first time in a long time, Daisy Johnson—the hacker, the rebel, the girl who never let anyone get too close—was at a loss for words.

Daisy's heart pounded in her chest. The words felt like knives in her throat as she tried to speak, as if saying them aloud would make them real.

"Aiden, I…" She hesitated, biting her lip, her fingers gripping the strap of her bag so tightly that her knuckles turned white. She swallowed hard before finally forcing the words out.

"Actually, I like you too."

Aiden's expression flickered with something—relief, anticipation—but then Daisy's next words shattered it.

"But… I'm sorry. I can't be with you."

The silence between them was deafening.

Aiden tilted his head slightly, watching her with those piercing eyes of his, unreadable and intense. "Why?"

Daisy clenched her jaw, forcing herself to look away. "Because I—" She stopped herself. How could she even begin to explain?

Because I'm a hacker? Because she lived in the shadows, spent her nights tearing apart government secrets, exposing the truth that people in power wanted to stay buried? Because she was already walking a dangerous line, and letting Aiden in would only pull him into her world—a world where trust was a luxury, and attachments were weaknesses?

No, she couldn't do that to him.

She had a mission. A purpose.

She wasn't just some rogue hacker stirring up trouble for the fun of it—she was playing a high-stakes game, provoking SHIELD, forcing their attention on her. She wanted them to come after her. Because once she was inside, once she had their trust, she could finally uncover the truth about her past… about who she really was.

Although she suspected that Aiden's identity shouldn't be that simple, this was only her speculation and she doesn't want to implicate Aiden because of her job.

Aiden's voice was soft, but it carried the weight of something unshakable. "Daisy."

She turned back toward him, her resolve slipping when she saw the way he looked at her.

"I know you have your concerns," he murmured. "I could feel it these past few days—like you were always holding something back. I've been hesitating to tell you too, but my situation… it's not so simple either."

Daisy frowned slightly. "What do you mean?"

Aiden exhaled, running a hand through his hair. "I'm from Hong Kong… at least, that's what I know. But my memories—" He paused, his jaw tightening. "They're incomplete. There are gaps, pieces missing. I woke up one day, and suddenly, everything from before was… just gone. I was like a lost child, wandering without direction, not knowing where to go or what to do."

Daisy inhaled sharply. He lost his memories?

She hadn't expected this. Hadn't imagined the weight he carried.

Aiden's eyes softened as he looked at her, and his lips curled into a slow, almost teasing smile. "And then I met you."

Her breath hitched.

"You made me realize something," he continued, his voice lower now, more intimate. "That maybe life wasn't just about finding the past. Maybe… it was about finding a future worth living for."

Daisy felt her chest tighten, her pulse quicken. This man—this infuriating, mysterious, undeniably charming man—was looking at her like she was the only thing that mattered in the world.

"Aiden…"

He reached for her hand, his touch warm, his grip firm yet gentle. "I don't care about what came before. The past is just that—the past." He leaned in slightly, his voice a husky whisper. "But the future…? That's something I want to build with you."

Daisy's heart skipped a beat.

She had spent so long running, so long keeping people at a distance, so long convincing herself that attachments were dangerous. But Aiden wasn't just anybody.

And damn it, he was making it very, very hard to say no.

Aiden wove a tale of lost memories, a fabricated past that felt almost real as the words left his lips. A small pang of guilt gnawed at him—lying to Skye, spinning a falsehood so seamlessly—but what choice did he have? Could he truly tell her the truth?

Should he confess that he was a Transmigrator, an outsider who had fallen into this world like ink spilled onto a page? Should he tell her that everything—the streets she walked, the sky she admired, the very life she cherished—was nothing more than fiction in another existence?

How could he possibly explain that she was merely a character in a story, a puppet dancing on strings pulled by unseen hands, her fate scribbled by writers who dictated her joys and sorrows with the stroke of a pen? That there were infinite versions of her, scattered across countless realities, each living a slightly different life, each unaware of the other?

And beyond even that—beyond the confines of this singular existence—there were beings who transcended the multiverse itself, entities so powerful that they shaped entire realities like a sculptor molding clay. To them, gods were nothing but children playing with ephemeral toys.

'"We are all just stories, waiting to be told,"' Aiden mused internally, recalling an old quote he once read. '"But what happens when the storyteller steps into his own tale?"'

The truth was too cruel, too incomprehensible. And so, he swallowed it down, choosing instead the gentler lie. Some truths were never meant to be spoken. Some illusions were better left unbroken.

'It created a Deadpool that killed everyone.'

At that time he knew that even if Daisy liked him, It'll possibly break her physique.

And Aiden? He was aiming for something much, much bigger.

Because he didn't just want to survive in this world. He wanted to own it.

And for that, he needed power.

Not just brute strength or supernatural abilities—but influence, intelligence, and the right people at his side.

Daisy was one of those people.

It wasn't just her ability as an Inhuman, her power to manipulate vibrations that could shatter mountains and crumble steel. It was her mind. Her skills.

She was a hacker unlike any other, someone who could tear through the digital walls of SHIELD, HYDRA, or even Stark Industries with nothing but a keyboard and a wicked grin.

And Aiden? He needed that.

He needed her.

But he didn't just want Daisy for what she could do.

He wanted her, period.

And that was the dangerous part.

As if sensing the shift in his thoughts, Daisy took a deep breath, steadying herself before finally saying, "Actually, I have some secrets to tell you too."

Aiden raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "Oh?"

"I'm a hacker," she admitted, watching him closely. "A very resourceful one."

Aiden smirked. "I know."

Daisy narrowed her eyes. "Let me finish." She crossed her arms. "I just joined a group called 'Rising Tide.' It's… complicated. But the important thing is, if you stay close to me, you might get implicated."

Aiden chuckled, low and smooth, the sound sending an involuntary shiver through Daisy.

"Rest assured," he murmured, reaching out to tuck a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "I'll protect you."

His fingers lingered, tracing the shell of her ear ever so lightly, and Daisy had to resist the urge to shudder at the intimate touch.

"But," he continued, his voice dropping even lower, his gaze locking onto hers, "have you considered that maybe… just maybe… I'm the one implicating you?"

Daisy's breath hitched.

"Because," Aiden went on, his thumb now tracing along her jawline, slow and deliberate, "SHIELD might already have their eyes on me."

Daisy stiffened. "What do you mean?"

Aiden leaned in, close enough that she could feel the heat of his breath against her lips. "I mean… before I met you, I had an encounter with Black Widow."

Daisy's eyes widened. "Wait. THE Black Widow? Natasha Romanoff?"

Aiden smirked. "The very one."

Her mind raced. "Why would she be following you?"

Aiden tilted his head slightly, considering her. Then, after a long, tantalizing pause, he simply murmured—

"Maybe… because of my ability."

Daisy exhaled sharply, her heart pounding, her fingers curling into the fabric of her shirt.

This man… What the hell was he?

*****

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