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Aiden was worried.
Since Jake won immunity in the lie detector challenge, he is the most likely to get targeted by the villain alliance. He wanted to feel confident, but knowing how Ally has been acting recently really stressed him out. He didn’t want to think that she would flip, but he didn’t know what to think right now.
Regardless, one thing is certain. He and his alliance are targeting Riya this night.
—
The elimination ceremony never failed to worry Aiden. The feeling of not knowing whether you will be targeted or not, whether your entire game will be burned into ashes or not always unnerved him. But he had hope this time. Hope that his alliance would stick together this time.
As the final remaining contestants took their seats in front of the fire, Kristal began, smirking confidently.
“Another all-star is about to have their dreams crushed! It never gets old. Get voting!” Kristal exclaimed, voice laced with enthusiasm.
Because the order of the contestants voting is always alphabetically, Aiden goes up first. While walking towards the voting booth, his brain is filled with a thousand different voices all screaming at him, tensing him. His time on All-Stars was miserable, but maybe things are finally going to get better now.
He didn’t even realize how much he was shaking until he picked up the pen. Upon noticing, he took a deep breath, calming himself down, before writing down Riya’s name. He couldn’t help but smirk at the thought of his arch-nemesis wallowing in shock upon her name being read 4 times. But best to not get excited just yet. The e-boy inserted his vote into the urn before turning back to the seating area. He passed by Ally, who had a panicking expression on her face which worried Aiden, but he didn’t think much of it.
The rest of the voting was a blur to him. He was stuck in his head, replaying everything that had led up to this very moment. Before he could finish however, Kristal cut his thoughts off.
“Before I read the votes, if you have an immunity totem and would like to play it, now would be the time to do so.”
Aiden knew who had the idol. He looked at Connor and Jake, who were eyeing each other with conflict visible. They silently decided to not use their idol. After all, there should be no point, right? They outnumbered the villains 4-3.
Kristal smirks at the remaining contestants, before pulling the vote urn to herself, a wicked smile forming.
“Okay. Once the votes are read the decision is final. I’ll read the votes.”
The hostess placed her hand inside the urn, before pulling out the first vote.
“Riya.”
The mentioned actress barely reacted, expecting this. Kristal pulled out the second vote.
“Aiden”
Aiden’s stress started bubbling up. He was the target, just as expected.
“Riya.”
Riya glared angrily towards Connor, who just smirked in her direction.
“Aiden. That’s two votes Riya. Two votes Aiden. Three votes left.”
Aiden held his arms close to his chest. Please, just once, let him have a victory in this show.
“Riya.”
The actress’ cold resolve broke, with fear forming in her eyes.
“Aiden. That’s three votes Riya. Three votes Aiden. One vote left.”
The e-boy’s heart was beating as fast as it even could. It all came down to this. One last vote. It should be Riya. It should’ve been Riya. He was shaking, hands clutching at his sleeves so hard he could feel his arms aching.
Kristal slowly took out the final vote from the urn.
“The 12th person voted out of Disventure Camp All-Stars is……”
The entire outside world stopped existing to Aiden. The only thing that mattered to him now was whose name is on that last vote. He came so far, overcame so much bullshit thrown at him, it can’t just end here.
But it did.
Kristal flipped over the final vote with a snarky grin, saying the one word the e-boy didn’t want to hear at this moment.
“Aiden.”
Aiden’s entire world collapses right before his eyes. Aiden. How?! How was he the one eliminated?! That would mean 4 votes against him, which is only possible if someone-
…
Oh.
Oh.
The realization hit Aiden like a trainwreck. He quickly stood up and exclaimed
“What?! Who flipped?!”
He knew the question was pointless. It was obvious. He didn’t vote himself, Jake is his best friend still in the game and Connor was really pushing voting Riya off.
Ally smirked, relishing in the despair of the heroes, before nonchalantly replying with “I did. I flipped.”
Jake got immediately infuriated at it “What? Why?!”
Ally shrugged at that, not even bothering to show a little bit of regret. “I had to do what’s best for me. Plus, let’s be real, you deserved it Aiden.”
That genuinely bewildered Aiden. What did he even do? Stand up for himself? Respect his boundaries? Be friends with Jake??? He had no idea, yet Ally said it as if it was obvious. His mind raced as he asked Ally, voice laced with anger and shock.
“Huh? What did I do?”
Ally, still not fazed by whatever just happened, calmly replied “You never bothered making me feel included. You never offered to even just talk about anything. All I was too you was an extra vote. You had it coming. Enjoy the bus ride.”
Aiden was in shock. Actual, undeniable, bewilderment. Ally backstabbed him… Because he wasn’t friends with her? Because he didn’t go out of his fucking way to beg a person who was never shown any interest in becoming friends with him?! He could hear Riya snickering, but that bitch was at the back of his mind now.
After everything he faced, from losing his boyfriend and best friend right as the game started, to being peer pressured into kissing Tom, to having his boundaries constantly breached so that Ellie could relish in Jake’s misery, to being roped into a conflict with the aforementioned blue-haired man, to when things were finally starting to look better lose both of his two new friends because Ellie’s obsessive girlfriend couldn’t handle any criticism towards her, to when finally, his alliance was outnumbering the villains, to be backstabbed by ALLY?!
Aiden had reached his breaking point. He had enough. He couldn’t handle keeping his emotions inside of him locked away. He had to release them. His rage took over his entire body, now being only able to spew words that came straight from his heart.
“I wonder how James is feeling right now. His pathetic boyfriend disappointing him yet again. What a sha-”
Ally didn’t get to finish that sentence. She was just adding fuel to a fire she didn’t know was burning. And for Aiden, the fire had just boiled over.
“You know what’s funny Ally?” Aiden shot out, voice laced with venom and pure rage. The remaining 6 campers as well as Kristal all looked at him with intrigue and confusion. Regardless, Aiden continued.
“That you expect me to baby you like a fucking 4 year old who can’t actually even attempt to make friends. You never ONCE approached me or fucking attempted to bond with me. You never ONCE tried to talk with ME about anything. And now you are sitting here, trying to paint me as the bad guy because I didn’t fucking fall to my knees and begged you for friendship.”
Ally was at a loss for words. She didn’t expect her girlboss edit moment to turn 180 for her. She could barely utter anything out. The only thing she could do is look Aiden dead in the eyes as he spewed nothing but the truth. And she hated that. She tried to defend herself, but could only manage to stutter out a weak
“N-No but that’s-”
Aiden did not let her finish. He just kept on ranting, each word cutting deeper than the last.
“You are so GODDAMN pathetic that you can’t do anything else other than make video game references or pull a victim card on everyone. Oooh look at me im Ally i argue with my boyfriend and i never own up to my mistakes!!! ignore that i wrote a song about dissing him poor little me!! ignore i provoked jake and left him with a bear he is the bad guy and im just innocent!!”
Tears began forming at the corners of Ally’s eyes. She just wanted it to stop. She just wanted Aiden to stop ranting and just go. Whimpering, she begged Aiden to stop but Aiden wasn’t listening, as the e-boy was finally letting out so many weeks of pent up emotions.
“I have no fucking idea how Hunter even puts up with you on a daily basis because talking with you feels like a fucking chore. Fucking Yul would be a better partner than you because at least he is honest while you keep hiding behind your victim card.”
Ally couldn’t handle it anymore. Tears started streaming down her eyes as she started sobbing into her hands. All she could whimper out what pleads for him to stop, saying she is sorry and that she just wanted to be liked. Aiden's expression transformed from anger to one of guilt. He looked down at Ally, sobbing into the palms of her hands, before looking up at the remaining contestants, all throwing him dirty looks. He sighed. He didn't bother apologizing. He knew that would be pointless.
He turned around, slowly walking towards the bus stop. He felt ashamed of himself. He knew there was truth to what he said but he was definitely too harsh. His heart was still beating from adrenaline, but he was scared. Scared of whatever version of Aiden formed for those few moments after he was eliminated. He wasn't that man. He's not like him. Tears began forming in his eyes, his mind overthinking. What if everyone hates him for that chastising? What if everything he built for those 22 years of his life would come crashing down? He knew better. Knew better to not believe that. He knew his mind was just playing with him.
He finally reached the bus stop. He sat down, alone, with his red eyes finally letting go of the tears gathering behind his eyes. He didn’t even bother hiding it anymore. He knew he had no right to be sad after his outburst. He knows he doesn’t deserve any sympathy. But it still hurts. It still hurts knowing all of the pain he felt during his time on All-Stars will be swept under the rug because of one singular outburst. People will never see him as anything other than James’ boyfriend and Lake’s best friend. He knows he will never do anything that will make someone proud of him. That’s just his fate. To live a regular life and to not be remember-
“Hey man… You okay?”
His thoughts were stopped by Jake, who was approaching the bench Aiden was sitting on. Aiden wanted to lie. Wanted to pretend he is fine, that nothing is wrong. But he was too tired for that.
“No… I’m not…”
Jake’s expression turned to one of sympathy as he took a seat next to him. Both of the men didn’t know what to say at that moment. Aiden was just fidgeting with his finger, trying to stop his tears from falling down his face. After a few minutes, Jake finally spoke up.
“So… About that… You know…”
Aiden knew. And he didn’t know how to defend himself.
“I-I don’t know… It’s just that… I’ve been dealing with so much shit throughout the past few weeks a-and when things seem like they are getting better I always get fucked with… I just… I couldn’t hold it in anymore. I’m sorry…”
Jake gave him a sympathetic look before rubbing his shoulder. He wanted to comfort his friend, but just didn’t know how.
“While what you said to Ally was unhinged… I understand how you feel…”
Aiden looked up at the taller man beside him, eyes filled with regret but confusion. Jake continued.
“For a long time I hated my life as well. I lived with my parents until I was 26, and they hated my guts ever since I came out. I felt like a disappointment. Like I was incapable of doing anything good. I-It really took a toll on my mental health. I had no one to support me apart from my grandma, but her health rapidly deteriorated and I lost the only person who ever made me feel like someone.”
Aiden’s tears were falling quicker now, with Jake joining him in silently crying.
“Why are you telling me this…?”
Jake shrugged. “I guess I just wanted to say we are in the same boat.” the blue haired man stopped for a second, wrapping his arm around the bi-color haired man’s shoulders. “Hey… Even if everyone hates you for your lashing out at Ally, which was justified in my opinion, you can always count on me. Remember that.”
Aiden’s tears continued rolling but his miserable face had been replaced with a small, but genuine smile.
“T-Thanks Jake… You have no idea how much this means to me…”
Jake smiled in response before slowly frowning, having noticed the approaching bus of losers in the distance. He looked at Aiden, before the two men embraced each other one last time before Aiden had to go. As Aiden slowly let go, he gave Jake one last grateful smile before boarding the bus. He was still sad and angry after what happened at his elimination, but at least he knew he had a friend who would support him no matter what.
Fin