late nights || aurora & naveed
aurora
for a moment aurora could pretend it had always been like this. that there was never a time where they hadnât been happy. that there was never a time when they had been fighting, months and months spent ignoring each other. for a moment aurora could imagine that it had been just now when he had told her he loved her, and she had said it back straight away. that it hadnât been over a month ago inside a closet, that she hadnât run away like a child spooked by a dream. but that wasnât the case. and as much as she wished it had happened that way, all smooth and fairy tale-like, it hadnât. but nothing with the two of them had ever been conventional. no, straight from the start it had all been by chance. where would she have been now if he hadnât shown up all those years ago to watch her race? would they still have found each other? would she have been in the arms of another? fast forward, then. what if that night at the charity gala when they were dancing, bodies pressed closer than they had ever been, he hadnât pulled back? what if he hadnât gazed into her eyes, expression unreadable, and kissed her? would they still be here now? or perhaps a better question would be what would have happened if aurora hadnât fought it. instead, what if she had accepted the fact that the very moment his lips pressed against her for that first time, something had flashed within her. it was a simple moment, a warm stirring of her chest. one moment he was looking at her and the next he was kissing her, and all she was thinking was oh, this is something. but sheâd reacted in the complete opposite way. she ran away like a fool, like a coward. sheâd yelled at him for ruining their friendship, allowed him to blame himself for making such a careless mistake when the whole time she knew it was something sheâd been hoping heâd do for months. because at first, yes, it was friendship. a real friendship like sheâd never known before. a friendship with someone compassionate and thoughtful, a friendship with someone who kept the bed warm. but sheâd fallen for him already, before that night he first kissed her sheâd already known it. sheâd never admit it, but she had known it. aurora didnât know when it had happenedâ if naveed were to ask her to pinpoint the day she knew she was in love, the girl would never be able to answer. one day everything was normal and the next sheâs looking at him, really looking at him. and like a bullet in the back it all hits her, how stupidly in love with this boy she was. but aurora had never told him, and because of that it didnât matter. so even further forward, then. to those long months spent apart. to the way his absence in her life felt like something physical, and ache she could not heal. not with all the drugs and alcohol in the world, not with the foreign streets of every city they visited. there was nothing aurora could do to stop herself from missing him, from noticing the way the bed felt empty without him there. and then even further down the road, then. to that moment when theyâd both been drunk to the point of giddiness. to that evening she spent kissing him for the first time since the dance, too intoxicated to stop herself from acting on her feelings. but she had left then, too. after waking up in his bed she hadnât stayed, she hadnât let him see her. aurora left without a trace, letting the boy believe it was all a dream. sheâd convinced herself she was doing him a favor, sparing him from being with such a horrible person. but in return sheâd made herself even more miserable, unable to cope with the fact that she was already stupidly in love. and then even further forward to the moment that had changed it all. that childish dare that landed the both of them in a closet, lips locked in an act of passion. sheâd never forget the way he looked at her, eyes wild, as if it was the first time heâd ever set eyes on her. when he told her he loved her she had felt her heart jump into her throat, both in unadulterated fear and happiness. and so she had ran again, as if running from him could have solved it all. as if pushing him away, pushing her own feelings away, could erase the fact that sheâd spent months wishing sheâd had the courage and the audacity to have told him those three same words. if aurora had spared them those torturous months apart, if she had told him she loved him from the moment she knew, would they have been as happy as they were now? or would they have gotten together only to fall apart, another mistake aurora was no doubt bound to make in the future causing them to split? or would they be like this forever, two people irrevocably in love? maybe all the what ifâs in the world would mean something to aurora later, but as for now she wanted nothing to do with those kind of thoughts. all she wanted to do was focus on the here, the fact that she told him she loved him ad sheâd meant it. the fact that now they were together for the first time in months, and she was happier than sheâd ever been in her entire life. âi learn new things about you everyday, nav. any more secret addictions i should know about?â she teased, eyes alight in mirth. âoh totally, thereâs nobody else in this room you can cuddle with to keep warm. what a cold and lonely night it will be for you.â aurora played along, unable to keep from grinning. once she was kissing him it was hard to stop, the way his body felt against hers more addicting than anything sheâd ever gotten high off of. control was never auroraâs strong suit, but around naveed it was even harder. against his hands she melted, in awe at his ability to turn a forest fire like her into nothing but running water. lying next to him she let out a laugh, fingertips brushing the side of his face. âoh, iâve noticed.â she shot back with a smirk, unable to help herself. aurora was smiling again as she obliged to his command, sitting up so she could retrieve the shirt heâd lent her and slip it over her head. the damn thing smelled like himâ and like any female protagonist in a romance film, it made her beam just that much brighter. this is what itâs supposed to feel like, she decided. this is the feeling people fight so hard for. as soon as he yawned she was doing the same, not having realized just how tired she herself was without taking away the distraction of his lips on hers. aurora crawled into the spot next to him, lifting the sheets above them both before resting her against his chest. it only felt natural to curl up against him, their bodies fitting perfectly together for the first time in months. the girl wanted to grab his hands, to hold his face between her fingers and look at him. she wanted to promise him that it would always be like this. she wanted to ask him to never leave her, to keep on loving her for as long as they had. instead she continued to lay there, listening to the steady beat of his heart, the gentle rise and fall of his chest every time he drew a breath relaxing her. âi love you so much, naveed khan.â she stated after a moment with a soft intensity, eyes fluttering shut in an attempt to induce sleep. âi promise iâll stay.â
the world had a funny way of placing things right where they belong. one minute youâre lying on your bed, sofa -- wherever, thinking of the worst thatâs yet to come. the pain surrounding your heart wasnât forever, thatâs what they told you. thatâs what everyone tells you -- itâs universal, right? whatever was happening in the world didnât amount to a heartache, at least that was the advice from his sister. heartaches, to naveed they were weak. he let even the simplest ache consume him until it wrapped around him completely and rendered him useless on the floor. he hadnât given much thought into letting things as such consume him, he just let it happen. he let the worst take him and distort him in such a way he loses a piece of him every time. naveed never thought much about how to approach someone, it was all natural. natural in a way that talking to people and finding them likable wasnât the biggest or the worst thing in his world; it wasnât like riding a bike or taking your first steps but the flow of the smallest stream in a forest. no one noticed how he falls for everyone he meets, whether itâs because of their knowledge, their charm or the complete vibe they gave off -- he fell for it all. even for the smallest amount of infatuation found its way out of him and latching onto the other. he was hard to shake it off the boy. he was always bright and up about wanting to meet new people, aurora was no exception. naveed could have easily talked to anyone in the crowd that night, easily could have found himself falling for someone else among a crowd of illegal drag race goers. but it was the brunette with her hair flying behind her from the slight wind picking up that night, it was the stoic faced, eyes like daggers that had caught his eye.  like anyone, theyâd run like hell around aurora. hell, naveed endured months of  âsheâs clearly blunt why do you hang with her?â âher? too mean for me.â âsheâs a bit rudeâ, on the ship but that was the beauty. he was selfish, he loved that he got the side she refused to show with anyone else. while everyone had their image of aurora markos, he had his own and he was damn glad he had an image of a huge softy with a smile that set his heart on fire and his mind exploding with thoughts. while she had been blunt with her peers, she only reminded him that there was always good in people despite what front they present. although naveed hardly ever listened to that idea, the good in people -- but he was always shocked and slightly surprised when the kindness was paid forward, to him at least. for majority of his upbringing, before the fall out, hazel eyes were bright and bursting with the desire of wanting to run around and make himself known; to push himself into peopleâs lives and soften them up to him but that image only sunk and flipped a complete 360 when his fatherâs heart had been broken by someone who he could trust more than blood. naveed saw that as a crack in the image he built for people. people were cruel, theyâre all capable of performing horrible duties. whoâs to say he wouldnât either? whoâs to say everyone you meet isnât the worst, whoâs to say that you wonât be left behind after a high. the crack along the image grew when his world came tumbling down after putting his own trust in someone elses hands only for them to walk out on him. his picture perfect world built up in his mind shattered completely and it took years for his heart to rebuild after that. being with cora was a different story, he wasnât going to lie though -- there were times where he had to tell himself it wasnât fake that what they shared was real. it was hard to come back after a long drop, naveed had always said. but he was making it up and only continued when he met aurora. naveed had walked out on aurora before she could, that was the sole reasoning. break her heart before she broke yours. break anyoneâs before they could ever do that to you ever again. he knew it was horrible, it made him feel like complete garbage to do it but he said he wouldnât and he had, once more at the dance. break their heart before they break yours. he wanted to kick himself for it but why was he so broken when she walked out on him after he told her he loves her? why was it so shocking for naveed khan, had been the one to walk out on her  twice. it hurt, it was like reopening an old wound with the feelings pouring out onto the floor and he couldnât figure out whether or not to let it pour out until someone came along and fixed it again or force himself to gather himself up and stop with putting his heart in the wrong place; he figured to let the wound bleed. it was a good decision on his part, at least, she came back. she came to his door, she left a smile on his face, she picked up the bandage and placed it over the broken part. she was the healer in his mess of scattered broken shards of his heart.  he was smiling, as if that were rare when it came to naveed ali khan. anyone could compliment him and heâd be beaming brighter than the sun but this was the love of his life. or so he assumed, who cared? love was in the moment, he was going to sit in it until it consumed every part of him. he smiled like he had never before, this was what love was -- this was the smile heâd wake up to ten am breakfast calls from his parents and see the vibe between them shared between the smallest glances and the mirroring grins. this is what naveed had been waiting for. his cheeks could have hurt, easily of course? but no. naveed could smile for days on end and it wouldnât leave even the smallest ache on his face. they were joking together, they were acting like a couple without even stating as so. he wanted to hear her talk until he grew tired of it, until the only silence he wanted from was from her. until his heart was ready to burst behind his chest cavity and itâd be okay with him -- it would mean something this time. âthe only secret you should know about is my secret beanie baby collection.â he slipped into bed beside her, curling up at her side as if it were the most natural reflex. âiâm kidding about that collection, that isnât real.â he said. naveed reached behind him to prop up the pillow behind him to give him the slightest leverage. his fingers brush up against her hand, tapping each finger with his index until he picked up the hand and slipped his into hers. he admired the skin on skin contact; there was something so intimate about hand holding that left shivers running down his back and goosebumps to rise along his arms. his necked craned to catch the sight of her from his angle. the tone was evident, she was falling asleep and he could have used some himself but he had never felt more alive in that moment. perhaps heâd fall asleep soon after but not now, he wanted to enjoy every moment given. he brings up their hands, kissing each knuckle. this was different, this wasnât after her rogue fights -- this was his aurora, this was his girl. this is was love. âi love you too.â he said, leaning down with his cheek resting upon her head. âi love you so much more.â his tone was soft whisper, breathy even. he places a kiss atop her head. this was the beginning of a journey.












