* ' YOU COULD TRY TO TAKE US

yes,  she would prefer that he’s not here right now,  but not for the reasons he thinks.   she’s happy to have this conversation with him…  just not when she has a parade to rehearse for tomorrow,  not when millions will be watching,   not when he has the ability to hurt her still.   it’s just one performance,   sure,  but when has aurora not put her all into something before?   of course,   he doesn’t know about her presence in the christmas parade.    he wouldn’t  —  if he did,  his words wouldn’t be forcing her fists to curl at her sides,   and the coffee wouldn’t be left to cool under the machine as she listens to him.   no,   if he knew,   he wouldn’t dare insinuate that she would cheat on him.   or would he?  he seems to have no regrets about it now.   aurora might have been a bad girlfriend to him,   but the idea that she would ever do such a thing…   

aurora isn’t sure what,exactly,  she’s more mad at.  the fact that he’s come onto her ship to demand answers when he doesn’t really require any?  perhaps.  aurora might feel guilty about how she treated him during their relationship,   but that doesn’t mean she has to answer any of his questions,   especially ones that aren’t at all true.   no…   no,  she’s mad that he would think that she’d stoop low enough to cheat on him,  that she would intentionally hurt him rather than admitting her wrongdoings,   and that boils her blood.   she might have played games,   but games that extended to cheating…    oh,   aurora’s so mad that for a few seconds she simply stares at him,   her jaw clenched,   fire in her amber eyes.

‘    you’re asking me,   ’   aurora says slowly,   angrily,   as if she’s having trouble understanding him,   ‘   if i cheated on you?   ’   the words are spoken through gritted teeth,   the concept so incredulous that aurora wonders,  briefly,   if he’s hit his head,   if he’s been drinking.   ‘    you’ve come to my yacht to…   ’    deep breaths,   aurora.    she presses her lips together as she pushes herself off from the counter,   momentarily distracted by a buzzing from her phone behind her,   and reaches to respond to respond to her messages before she slams it back down on the wooden surface.

‘    no,  tamlin,  i did not cheat on you.   no,  tamlin,   i’m not seeing harry hook.   and since when did you start listening to the auradon times,   anyway?   since when is galen spreading crap that isn’t true?   i can’t believe…   look.   ’     she takes another breath.    ‘    if you’re trying to find reasons where there aren’t any,   stop it.   we didn’t work out.   that’s the end of it.    you can’t just…   you can’t just come back into my life after three months and show up demanding answers,   tamlin.  that’s not how this stuff works.   ’    has she properly answered one of his questions,   though?   no,  she didn’t cheat on him with a pirate she hadn’t even met yet,   but do she and harry have a history?    the answer to that depends on if one night really counts…   and really,   does aurora consider that any of tamlin’s business?

        he   FELT   his temper rising,   as it always did.   it was a short fuse that burnt out   VERY   quickly.  he couldn’t snap nor lash out at her,   he didn’t want to.   he had tried so hard,   given her so much of him,   and she had done nothing but push his buttons.   she hadn’t tried,   how dare she speak to him like this   !   he had loved her and loved her and   LOVED   her,   for months,   he had put up with her machinations of spite.   directly targeted to annoy,   to piss him off and get a reaction,   so they’d fight.   and despite these attacks,   he had stayed,   he had wanted the girl who wore yellow and saw the good in herself;   to see the good in herself   AGAIN   .   but she never came back,   why couldn’t he accept that she wasn’t going to come back   ?

her words brought the   CRUEL   realisation that he was being unfair,   just a little.   his   ANGER   wasn’t unwarranted,   there was a load of emotions in the air that still hung there.   like ancient cobwebs neither of them had dared to brush away,   THEY   misted his sense of reason.   he had no reason to think aurora had cheated on him   -   plus,   she was right,   WHEN   had he ever begun to actually believe the auradon times   ?   they had always been pot stirrers and they always would be.   he    SUPPOSED   he simply wanted a reason for why she couldn’t love him like he had loved loves her.

taking a deep breathe,   he attempted to steady   HIS  focus on reality.   attempted to slow his mind and decrease his rage.   he   MIGHT   have reached out for her,   had he not been able to see the   FURY   displayed across her features.   “   m’sorry   -   i shoulda never insinuated that you would cheat on me.   you...   i just.   i need something to put the blame on for what ya   DID   ,   rora.   something to make   SENSE   of why you incessantly hurt me instead of just telling me you   WEREN’T   interested any longer.   “   he sighed.   thinking over the rest of the words she spoke for another moment,   most of them hadn’t gone in through the rage. 

then...   it was that wording that   IRKED   him.   like he had   WANTED   to break up with her,   like him disappearing for three months was to   PUNISH   her.   like she was the victim.   that wasn’t true.   he disappeared to save himself from anymore humiliation,   from anymore vain and   VINDICTIVE   slights or slander.   he shook his head,   the fuse he just put out was instantly lit again,   and in his eyes,   NORMALLY   ,   pictured as a light green,   almost representative of spring’s rebirth.   the   LIGHT   so frequently there,   appeared dormant,   the green was cut through with lighter shades of blue   -   in turn making the eyes   APPEAR   to be crusting over with ice.   it was an   ICY   cold rage,   VISIBLY   taking hold of his features as he stared at aurora.   he couldn’t even help the slightest upturn of the corner of his mouth into a   SNARL   .  

“   do   NOT   pretend that our breakup was not because of you,   aurora.   do   NOT   pretend that you gave me answers,   or reasons for why ya acted out despite everythin’ of myself i gave you.   i wouldn’t fuckin’ care if you had   MARRIED   someone else already.   but you know what i   FUCKIN   ’   deserve,   actually,   if i wan’ed them.   that would be answers.   what did i do wrong for you   ?   did i offend ya,   embarrass ya,   upset ya,   hurt ya  ?   WAIT   ,   NO   .   that’s what you did to me,   for   MONTHS   .   and i stuck around because i   LOVED   you,   rora.   and i thought i could help,   help you see that ya didn’t need to fall into stupid masks and pretences.   i   SEE   you,   i   KNOW   you.   but   FUCK   YOU   ,   if you’re gonna tell me that i do not deserve your    CANDOUR   now.  and don’t ya look at me and attempt to tell me that i should have gotten my answers in the summer.   i couldn’t take them back then.   why couldn’t you love me,   aurora   ?   what did i do wrong   ?   “   

aurora takes a breath as she closes the sliding door behind him,  but it seems it’s a necessary one:  the statements he rings out irritate her in two ways which also confuse her.   her first reaction is to roll her eyes,   to move over to the coffee machine on the counters which line the living area of the yacht,  to turn her back on him.   not even any small talk —  just straight in with the questions,  no how are you doing’s or what have you been up to’s.   she finds it rude,  to be truthful,   and so she distracts herself with pressing the buttons to make herself ( and him ) hot drinks the way she knows he likes it.

‘   i don’t even get to sit down before you start asking questions,   huh?   ’    she spins and leans against the counter,   well aware that she sounds more hostile than she means to.   that’s how the last few weeks of their relationship ended;  full of hostility,  of irritation,   of her pushing him away.   she doesn’t know how to stop it.   but something clicks in aurora’s mind far too late in regards to what the words that left tamlin’s mouth really mean,   and it’s this realisation that prompts her brows to furrow in a mix of confusion and outrage.    ‘   wait,   galen said what?    i’m not…   ’

she knows that her late reaction will likely mean that tamlin thinks she’s lying to him,   but to aurora’s knowledge,   she’s not seeing anybody.   the closest thing she has to that right now is harry,   and…   and they got off to a rocky start.   sure,   she might be trying desperately to hide how much she truly cares for him,   but that’s not seeing somebody.   the most they’ve spoken since then is through texts in which she’s tried to pretend she’s uninterested,   and a ship tour which ended with a kiss on the cheek and a chaste kiss on the lips,   but…   she hadn’t told galen about that.   she’s told mal,  most certainly,  but she trusts her with her life.   did harry tell galen about their little kiss?   no,   he can’t have.  that doesn’t seem very…   him,   gossiping and such.   has galen been talking about her behind her back?   is somebody she thought was her friend not her friend?

god,  she hates the life that she lives.  full of rumours and confusion and false blame and venom.   she doesn’t understand.   galen’s never been one to tell lies,   not when it concerns aurora;   she considers him a friend.   now she’s confused and upset and…   oh,   she doesn’t like that feeling.   she can already feel the paranoia creeping in,   the anxiety,   and she knows if this gets heated that tears aren’t far off.   this is a bad idea.    aurora forces herself to take a breath,   her eyes closing as she tries to regain some composure.

‘   i’m not seeing anybody,  so i have no idea what you’re talking about.  is this really what you came here for?  to ask if i’m seeing someone?   ’    why would he care?   he ended it with her;  then again,   it’s not like he wanted to…   it’s more like aurora forced him to it with all her games she’d play when she was bored.

        he   WASN’T   jealous.   it had been over for a while,   there was no reason she wasn’t allowed to move on.   as he stood there,   watching her make the coffee,   he convinced himself he was   CHECKING   on her.   just like a friend would,   that’s   ALL   .   making sure that she was certain this was the right choice for him.   the edges of his lips curled upwards as he watched her,   she remembered how he liked it,   then.   it felt strange being here again,   he hadn’t been here since they   BROKE   UP   ,   he glanced around the interior of the yacht.  it was almost like watching memories unfurl as he did so,   thus,   he clasped his hands together.   a means for   COMFORT   ,   trying to coat the anxiety that perhaps this was   NOT   the right thing to do.   

he’d never wanted to cause aurora undue stress   -   he’d loved her,   MORE   than he thought he could love someone. 

but,   he noticed the delay,   the furious   INDIGNATION   in her response.   he had touched a nerve,   so she was lying to him about this.   why couldn’t people just tell him the truth   ?   he didn’t care;   he couldn’t control everything,   especially not people’s   FEELINGS   toward others and himself.   he shakes his head slightly,   “   i figured it would be best just to get it done,   aurora.   neither of us wanna dance around each other,   i’m sure ya would    PREFER   if i weren’t even ‘ere right now,  hmm   ?   “   he narrows his eyes,   ever so slightly,   just to assess her reaction.   he   REALLY   didn’t want her to be lying. 

“   i know what ya must be thinkin’   :   why the hell does he care   ?   right   ?   correct me if i’m wrong but i’m pretty sure i ain’t.   well,   i don’t care if you’re movin’ on,   it’s been like   -   what   -   three months   ?   “   he states,   plainly,   bluntly.   his words might be callous and untruthful but still,   he   WANTS   her to know that he cares about   HER   still.   not her relationships,   nor that she’s a princess   (   he never did   )   he just saw her;   and it’s all he wanted. 

to tamlin : Okay… hope everything is alright?

the last person she expected to be talking to today is tamlin,   especially considering the fact that they haven’t spoken since their breakup.  yet when she opens the door to find him standing before her,   she doesn’t visibly look surprised;  rather,  she looks concerned.whatever tamlin is here for isn’t good,  and she really doesn’t need any stress this close to the christmas parade.  it’s not that tamlin is the person she doesn’t want to deal with,  but they’ve been through so much…   aurora doesn’t want to bring all that up again,   least of all now.  it’s christmas —  one she’d thought she’d be spending with him long ago,  but since their breakup in the summer,   she’s gotten that thought out of head by now.

aurora takes a breath,   barely registering the cold as she takes him in.   ‘   hey,   ’   she greets him.   usually,   tamlin would simply let himself in,  so this feels strange.  wrong. aurora steps aside to allow him entrance,  but she keeps her eyes on him all the while.   ‘   to what do i owe this visit?   ’    

it’s so strange being around him;   she never knows how to act.   he’s seen both sides of her,  has seen the transformation of good girl to bad,  and he knows  all about that mask she puts on.   if she could manage to keep it off when she’s around him,  maybe things could be different…   but they’ve had eight months of trying.   if it hasn’t happened yet,  when will it?

         the look that registered on her face   CONCERNED   him;   he hoped that she would not be angry that he had come so unannounced.   but as he looked at her...   he felt a pang course through his body.   it had been so long since he had stood so close to her,   the last few months,   he had only seen her from a distance or in   TABLOIDS   .   he knew it likely wasn’t the best time to see her,   so close to the holidays,   to   CHRISTMAS   .   a time he had once hoped to share with her.   before the mask she wore now had so rigidly to now the extent he could not see the cracks that must be there.   he still had hope that they were there,   MAYBE   aurora could see the hope in the world like she once did.

but tamlin had to know that was fantastical.   even if he denied it;   he only wanted her to be   HAPPY   .   

        to,   rora   :   hey,   i’m comin’ over.   i just want to talk about somethin’. 

       he very well may have told galen he was ordering takeout and was gonna wait for him to be back.   but...   with the news galen had shared with him.   he hadn’t even been able to   SIT   DOWN   .   was he freaking out   ?   why did he even give a shit over this   ?   you broke up with her,    tam,   you weren’t happy.   but could there possibly   -   no he wouldn’t let himself even think that,   especially not now.   he wasn’t going to  COMPETE   with another.   especially when she wasn’t the girl he had fell in   LOVE   with,   once upon a time.   he wouldn’t   (   he couldn’t   !   )   not to himself,   or to her.   he could never love her   PROPERLY   .

grabbing his leather jacket,   he headed for the door,   his hand hovered above the door for just a moment.   was this stupid   ?   probably.   was he going to do it anyway   ?   yes.   and then the door was open and closed gently behind him.   on his way,   he texted galen again,   just to say he’d be back later,   they’d have food then   -   if he   WANTED   to. 

‘   if you’re going on dates with someone…  does that mean you’re dating?  like capital D?  like monogamous?  even if you’re mostly been,  like,  fucking?   ’   yes,  he has stolen tamlin’s bed from him and no,  he does not seem intent on moving.   he’s that guest that shows up unannounced and makes your home their home,  only galen offers drugs in return.   ‘   i do not understand this dating thing,  man,  and i’ve already had a girlfriend.   ’   FT.   @glaciespeur​