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She went up to her room but couldn’t write anything. She could hear the sounds of conversation and laughter from downstairs. At around 10pm, the noise subsided and she heard footsteps on the stairs. There was a knock on her.
It couldn’t be Aiden, right?
She opened the door to find Ethan. How stupid of her to even think it could be Aiden. He wouldn’t come to her room especially when her brother and dad were in the same house. He was probably gone by now.
“Hey, are you okay? You left dinner early and weren’t talking much either,” Ethan said, looking at her with a concerned expression on his face. Her heart melted. She was going to miss her brother when he was gone. She felt tears well up in her eyes. Aurora never cried in front of anyone. She had mastered the art of appearing stronger than she was when her mother had passed away.
“Yeah, just really tired today. I had to complete an article for work,” she said, averting her eyes. Well, it wasn’t all a lie.
“Are you sure there isn’t something else?” Ethan asked again. Aurora steeled herself and put a smile on her face before answering again.
“Yes, I’m fine. Are you all packed or do you need help with anything?”
“I’ve got everything packed, I leave at 10 in the morning.” Ethan said, not prodding the matter any further.
“Alright. I’ll be up on time.” She smiled at her brother.
“I hope you really get a job in New York. Then we could see each other more. Wish dad would move there too.” Ethan sounded sad. They both knew their father was never going to leave this home. The home which he had bought with their mother. They had spent their whole lives in this home.
“You know, he won’t.” Aurora sighed, her heart sinking like it always did when she thought about this.
“Yeah. If only there were more opportunities around here, we wouldn’t have to dream so big.”
“We’ll figure something out. I’m not getting a job offer anyway so it looks like I’m going to be here.” Aurora said, letting out a small half-hearted chuckle. Ethan’s sad eyes looked at her. She knew he didn’t know what to say to her.
“I’ll see you in the morning,” Aurora said again, wanting to end this conversation and to go to bed.
“Alright, sister. Goodnight.” Ethan smiled, closing the door behind him as he left.
Aurora sighed and fell onto the bed. The past few weeks had been disturbing for her. Aiden had shown up in her life at the wrong time. She was supposed to focus on her career not have to spend her time wondering if there could be something more between them. At nights, she couldn’t sleep peacefully. She kept tossing and turning between these thoughts.
She felt guilty for having betrayed her brother. Aiden hadn’t felt guilty that morning. She wondered why. But maybe it was because he knew it wasn’t going to happen again. He was leaving next week and both of them were ignoring each other. She should stop feeling guilty too.
That night she went to sleep, having decided that she would no longer think about Aiden. Soon this chapter would close and he would be gone. She was going to focus on her career from now on. Little did she know, the next day would bring them face to face with each other again.
-
The next morning, Ethan announced that Aiden was going to be dropping him off at the airport which was in the next city. He said that she was welcome to join them and Aiden would drop her back home. It was a two-hour drive to the airport. Aurora had wanted to say no but she couldn’t. She didn’t want to make it awkward or hurt Ethan’s feelings. Their dad had refused to join because travel tired him.
Ethan and Aiden talked all the way to the airport. She looked out of the window, trying to enjoy the views of the green fields in their way. The last time she had visited the city had been with her dad for his dentist appointment and that was two years ago. Every time Aiden spoke, she felt butterflies in her stomach. She was already dreading their journey back when it would be just the two of them.
They dropped Ethan off at the airport, saying their goodbyes. Aurora wanted to cry but she knew she had to control. She couldn’t let them see her get emotional. She didn’t want people to pity her. She could do that herself.
“Do you want to get a bite to eat?” Aiden asked after Ethan had departed. Aurora realized she had not had breakfast that day.
“Sure.” She nodded as she got into the car.
Aiden quietly drove them to a Starbucks. Aurora wasn’t a fan but she wasn’t about to complain. She ordered a breakfast sandwich while Aiden only got black coffee. She detested black coffee. Maybe that was why he was so bitter.
The sexual tension in the car could have been cut with a knife. Both of them remained silent when they began their two-hour journey back home. Aiden connected his phone to the car’s Bluetooth and a soft jazz tune started playing. After about twenty minutes into the drive back home, Aurora started to feel uncomfortable. Deep down, something was bothering her. The silence was bothering her. The sexual tension was bothering her but she couldn’t be sure if he felt the same. She wanted him to talk to her. She wanted him to say something to her, acknowledge her existence, make her feel loved like he had that other night. But he wasn’t saying a word and it was piercing Aurora’s fragile heart.
“What is wrong with you?” She uttered out, surprising herself. She couldn’t take it anymore.
“What?” Aiden looked at her, briefly glancing away from the road.
“Why are you behaving like this after what happened?” Her voice cracked a little. Now, Aurora was starting to feel embarrassed. What the hell was she doing? She couldn’t let him see her like this. But the damage had been done.
Aiden slowed down the car by the side of the road and turned to face her. He looked into her eyes.
