#c:aurora

Aurora Eades wasn’t somebody he had ever expected to see after her graduation. More than once when he was a child she had stepped in and stopped the more opportunistic students from being cruel, from targeting him with pranks and jokes. It was something he still thought about, mainly because his response to her protection had never been gratitude. He had pushed her away, embarrassed and ashamed of the way he was being treated. And now she was here, standing before him again. He knew he wouldn’t be able to hide his shock. “You’re Aurora Eades... aren’t you?” He asked, laughing breathlessly at the ridiculous question. “I thought I might never see you again.” @auroraeades​

“Ah, you said bars weren’t your scene but I didn’t know that meant swanky uptown New York parties were.” Carson commented as he came to rest next to a semi-familiar woman. He could remember the mortification on that pretty face only a few nights before when he made the scene that she wouldn’t in the middle of the Ace. “You findin’ the company better tonight then at least?” He asked.

After dropping off Julianna with her mom first thing out, Aaron stood there.

The frame was familiar, but the picture was rearranged. For the most part, No Names’ was left with debris and equipment scattered about. Some completely ruined by the water. However, on the right, the wall had been completely uprooted, taking the chunk of the ceiling attached to it, but as they say...

The sun always shines after the storm.

The cool breeze swept across his skin, and the smell of freshly cut grass was in the air. Yet, even that scent came from a place of distress. It’s how he should’ve felt. Running on no sleep, it had been a long night at the hospital because of his dad, but he didn’t know how to feel this. It could’ve been the last straw, yet somehow it seemed minuscule after the whirlwind of emotions hours ago. It put some things into perspective. It was either that, or...he needed some sleep. 

Either way, if there was anything his military days taught him, it was the art of conflict resolution, and this was a situation he had some control of.

First things first, he started by recording the damage. When that was done, he phoned in a few of his employees to help out if they weren’t dealing with their own worries, and in one of those phone calls, he reached out to Aurora. She wasn’t an employee of his, but he made it a routine at No Names for her to bring baked goods and coffee from Mama Kay’s once a week for his staff. In return, he’d give her a discount on her membership. He first checked in with her to see if they were even open before ordering for everyone. He, especially, needed coffee, so he asked her to bring in the strongest caffeinated drink they had to offer. 

Only about three others were in the gym cleaning by the time she made it, and Aaron couldn’t have been more relieved to see her. Slumping down on one of the boxing ring steps, he slouched against the corner. "You’re a lifesaver...Feel free to set it—” he went to pat the canvas of the ring right beside him, feeling too lazy to finish that sentence. It was the closest thing they had to a table at the moment. "...How was the drive here?"

Adrian set a cup of coffee down on Aurora’s nightstand before he reclaimed his spot next to her on the marshmallow soft bed. It was impossible for him to sleep in after waking up before sunrise the past few weeks, not to mention the asshole’s texts were burned into his brain from the night before. He settled in next to Aurora, lightly tracing his fingers across her arm in odd shaped patterns and placing a kiss on her shoulder. If only there was a way to hit pause on these moments and live in them forever. Every brush of her skin left his fingertips burning, a chill running down his spine that he wasn’t sure was from desire or fear of losing her. “Are you awake?” he purred into her ear, knowing that it was earlier than she would’ve chosen to get up on her own.  @auroraminett