AURORA'S POV

The crisp morning air woke me up, creating goosebumps on my skin as I became more aware of my surroundings. Birds chirped around me, and for a moment I had forgotten that I had fallen asleep outside. Or even what had happened last night. It was like a really weird dream that lasted for hours.

With my hands tucked to my chest, I nuzzled into the body that laid next to me as the breeze brushed past us. It was bitterly cold, reminding me that the fall was morphing into the next season of winter. I liked this time of the year, but hated how cold it got. However, the warmth of the person that held me tightly was warming enough to make my heart flutter at this early hour.

But then I realized.

My eyes shot open, but my body stayed still. I blinked hard, looking at the faded out band shirt that my face was nuzzled into. I let out a shallow breath as my head craned up towards the face of the body. Harry had his nose tucked into my hair with his arms wrapped tightly around my torso. For a moment, I forgot that I had even fallen asleep with him. I felt his hot breath that spread onto the scalp of my head, my hand placing onto his chest softly.

I hadn't even noticed that he had given me most of the blankets. He did say that the cold reminded him of home, but I didn't think he was going to give me all of the blankets, leaving him none to spare. I wondered if he was freezing right now, just like how I was.

Memories of last night flooded my brain the more that I laid there, eyes wandering around the body that I was tucked into. Last night was so much fun. I felt so refreshed, but at the same time, I felt a bit hungover. Nothing like acid to cure my foggy brain, but the weed to make it ten times harder to wake up the next morning. It was a reason why I preferred not to smoke on nights that I had classes.

I never wanted to wake up the next morning.

Rubbing my eye with my knuckle, I used my elbow to slowly lift myself up to search around the bed of the truck. Nina and Ryan were still nowhere to be found. A frown etched onto my lips, anxiety suddenly spreading through my chest. What if they really had gotten lost? We tried to find them last night, but it was so dark and each call of their name followed pure silence. I chalked it up to them either having too much fun together, or they were asleep in their own cocoon of leaves.

I felt Harry start to toss from beside me, his large hand resting on my hip as he squeezed it carefully. His eyes were still shut, his lips smacking together. I must've woken him up when I sat up, but I tried to be as careful as I could not to wake him. I didn't even know what time it was, but by the looks of it, it seemed to be early in the morning with the way the sun barely rested over the tops of the trees.

I rested back down into his arms, placing my hand onto his to let him know I was still there, and that I wasn't going anywhere without him. At least, I hadn't planned on it. I had no idea where to start the hunt for Nina and Ryan anyway, so I hoped he would wake up soon so we could start. My brain was still so cluttered and foggy that it was hard to focus on a solid plan to begin with.

We laid there for what seemed like eternity, his fingers brushing alongside my hips carefully as I tried not to fall back asleep in the warmth he invited me into. I was never a morning person, never really claimed to be. I was glad that Harry didn't immediately start talking when he woke up. In fact, he still kept his eyes closed, but he was very much still awake from the movements of his body.

After a few moments, I looked up towards him. He must've felt my eyes on him because a mere second later, one of his eyes popped open to gaze down at me. They were half lidded and full of sleep. He parted his lips, swiping his tongue along the bottom of his lip before nuzzling his nose into my hair.

"Good morning." His voice was heavy, raspy even. My heart thumped at the sudden lowness of his voice, and a smile crept onto my lips as I went back to staring at his faded shirt.

"Nina and Ryan are still gone." I said softly, a sigh following after. I had really wished that Nina wouldn't have run off like that and not come back after nighttime. She knew that it was going to worry me, but I couldn't help it. I barely knew Ryan and only God knew what they had gotten into last night.

"I know." He mumbled sleepily as his finger left their spot on my hip to rub at his sleepy, red eyes. "I'm sure they are around here somewhere."

I bit down onto my lip, contorting my body to turn over onto my back. A huff left my lips as I mustered up the strength to push myself off of my back to sit up. It took a moment for my eyes to adjust, but once they did, I saw the open field where Harry and I had just sprinted in last night. I could even spot out the small leaf pile across the field that was buried deep into the ground from our actions. The green grass glistened with moisture. It had almost looked like something out of a cartoon, and if I stepped into it, my feet would become wet with its nature-like-bath.

I blinked hard. Looking out to the field had all the memories rush back to my mind. Staring at the leaf pile across the field, the actions of us kissing each other desperately came up. I swallowed thickly, placing a hand onto my thigh as my fingers gripped onto my pants. I didn't want this to change things. I liked them the way they were before, and I just hoped that things weren't going to be weird now. Kissing Harry was everything and more, but I couldn't help but feel a ping of regret in the back of my mind.

I shook my head. It wasn't what I needed to think of right now.

I needed to find Nina and Ryan first.

"Nina!" I called out into the field. My voice cracked, reminding me that I hadn't used my full voice just yet. It always seemed to crack in the morning as if I was a pubescent kid. Its raspiness only added onto it. "Nina! Are you out there?"

Zoning into the field, I squinted my eyes as I caught a glimpse of what seemed to be two bodies laying on the grass on a pile of blankets. Using the palms of my hands, I crawled forward towards the end of the truck bed and looked a bit harder.

A body suddenly shot up from the pile, showing a messy haired Nina with a wide smile on her lips. Her original flowers had long been gone, I imagined, with only a singular petal buried in the strands left. I let out a sigh of relief, slumping my shoulders down as I waved towards her. She waved back at me, then pointed towards Ryan who was still laying down on the blankets.

"Good morning! Once I get him up, I'll come over!" She yelled out.

I rolled my eyes playfully before crawling back into the blankets that brought back that familiar warmth. Harry had sat there, dazed, his eyes blank as if he wasn't really thinking much of anything. I wondered if he was okay after last night, and if he was feeling the after effects of the drugs we had taken.

"You okay?" I mumbled softly towards him.

He glanced at me out of the corner of his eye, cracking a small smile before he eased back under the blankets with me. This time he hadn't wrapped his arms around me, instead he rested the back of his head onto the palms of his hands.

"Yeah, just tired." He grumbled. His morning voice– there was something about it that didn't quite match the way he was, but I still found it attractive. Scratchy and deep. Sleepy and slurred.

I hummed in acknowledgement, shutting my eyes for a moment as I soaked in the moment. I could hear the faint rumblings of Nina and Ryan's voices mixing together. Her laughs were always so recognizable that I could swear that I would be able to identify it from miles away. It was infectious, to say the least. I hoped that I would never have to lose the privilege of hearing it.

It only mildly rinsed over the fact that I wanted to scold her for worrying me like that.

"Good morning, my beautiful people!" Nina sing-songed in a giggle.

I sat up on my shoulders, fighting off the grin that dared to spread across my face. It was hard to be mad at someone who only bounced off sunshine the way that she did. While I was sure that I had mascara smeared from the sleep, somehow she never looked a bit out of place. Even her morning hair looked as if it was meant to be like that. Every stray piece that curled in a different pattern from its neighbors was perfectly curated to be that way, I was sure of it.

Even if she did look a mess, her sense of self never seemed to show it.

"Hey, Nina." I heard Harry grumble from beside me, yet to sit up from his comfortable spot.

I bit back another smile as I tried to force myself to sound stern. "You need to learn to keep your phone–" I paused as I tossed the device in her direction, which she caught effortlessly. "On you at all times! Especially when we're out in a field and anything can happen!"

Nina rolled her eyes playfully as she mindlessly scrolled through her notifications that she had missed. "Yes, mom. Please don't ground me." She pouted out a sarcastic lip as she walked closer, leaning her arms on the side of the truck nearest me.

"But it wasn't like I didn't also see you two frollicking around in the field, too. Sure seemed like you guys were having fun." She smirked, pushing herself back off the truck to stand back beside Ryan.

I opened my mouth to rebuttal against her words, but she raised an eyebrow at me as if she wanted me to challenge her.

I had no idea what exactly she had all seen and that made me nervous. I remembered a good percentage of what had happened last night, but maybe there were missing fragments. I definitely didn't want to find out the possibilities of what she had seen in front of anyone else, especially Harry. I didn't need him to see me get flustered over the recollections.

I just really hoped that she hadn't seen the one particular scene that involved the bout of intimacy we shared. I knew she was going to eventually know about it, but it wasn't something I wanted aired out in front of everyone either. I would tell her when I was ready, and hopefully she would actually be surprised.

It only took us about an hour to finally will ourselves to clean up everything. Our rumbling stomachs were the biggest contribution to getting it together. The thought of a hearty meal after all the energy we exerted previously was reason enough for me to quickly gather and fold up all the blankets that were now sprinkled with bits of dead leaves and grass. One of them even had a faint smell of alcohol still lingering within the fabric, but I wasn't surprised.

All in a night's work of having fun, right?

The ride back home was a lot of listening in on the conversation going on in the front seat. It was hard to gauge exactly what was being talked about as I watched Ryan and Nina giggle to themselves. It made my heart warm watching their subtle touches as they spoke, engaging each other physically into the conversation as they joked amongst each other. It was like watching a scene from a movie. This would have been a perfect clip for a montage that played a cute, upbeat song in the background.

I would've watched it, anyway.

But watching them was the only thing that kept my brain occupied from jumping to what all went on last night and led into this morning. The fog of waking up had finally subsided and reality was now in my face. His grip that he had on me throughout the night still lingered on my skin as I continued to think about it. It was like I was afraid of it, but craved it at the same time. I wanted it to happen again, but I was scared to sink deeper than I already found myself sinking into in the first place.

I hated how awkward I felt, sitting there beside Harry as we stayed silent. I could feel his eyes briefly run over to me every now and then, but I would pretend like I didn't notice it. I even noticed his fingers trail closer, as if to be an open invitation for me to welcome in his touch. The only thing I could think to do was sit there on my phone to busy my fingers with typing. It filled me with a lot of guilt quite honestly, but I couldn't help it. It was all I knew what to do.

I wasn't sure how to deal with situations like this. I had hookups before, sure, but this was much different. Hookups didn't mean cuddling afterwards or feeling comfort in the other's touch in general. Feelings were to never be involved, let alone any kind of attachments. The second an attachment is formed, it's like an emotional contract that you can't get out of. It's legally binding. No lawyer could dig you out of that hole. So, in order to never fall down into it, you should never find yourself walking towards it to begin with.

But, when hallucinogens were brought into the equation last night, it was hard to act against what felt natural. Being with him and feeling along his body while he felt along mine felt like the right thing to do. It felt like it was exactly what I was born to do, what he was born to do. I didn't want to stop, but I did. That was the most unnatural feeling I had felt in a long time– not allowing myself access to what felt right.

I just didn't want to come to terms with how it all made me feel, because the moment that it did, everything would change. So, for now, I stayed silent.

"Looks like you have someone not-so-patiently awaiting your arrival." Nina chuckled, pointing towards my window painted with new, wet nose prints.

I hadn't even noticed we got to my apartment until she said that, honestly. But, the sight of Astro sticking her nose against the living room window was enough to shake me from whatever this feeling was. It was like a breath of fresh air from the confusion spinning inside me. It was also nice to see my apartment in its newly refined condition, not met with its earlier mystical destruction.

I hurriedly unbuckled my seat and grabbed my bag, slinging it over my shoulder as I swung the door open.

"I'll see you guys later!" I shouted right before shutting the door behind me.

With my back turned and already walking down the path, I heard Harry's voice from the window.

"Aurora!" He shouted, causing me to spin back around. "What time do you want me to come back so we can go to the planetarium?" His smile curled at the corners with eyes that matched that same sparkle.

God, was it hard to look him in the eyes right now with these feelings going on. Was this on purpose? Was all of this not punishment enough?

I smiled anyway. "Yeah, just give me a bit and we can head over. I'll text you."

I couldn't get into the shower fast enough. I felt really good after last night's trip, but I always felt like I needed a good shower after any kind of outdoor adventure. Something about rolling around in the leaves and dirt just leaves you feeling sticky, yet dry at the same time.

As the hot water hit my skin, my forehead pressed against the wall as I allowed the water to run down my body. This was the first time I had felt calm in a while, but something was eating me away in the back of my mind.

Truth be told, I hadn't dated anyone since I was in Alaska. Before I left for college, my girlfriend at the time, had broken things off with me. I was shocked, to say the least, we had been together all throughout high school. Her reasoning was valid, though, knowing I was going to be in another country going to school and even if we had stayed together—I would have only gotten to visit for the holidays.

It took me a while to get over it. She was my first love after all and ever since then, I hadn't tried to put myself out there. I didn't feel like I needed to.

Except then I met Nina. We actually went on a date around the time I first moved here. At first I had said no, given I was fresh out of a relationship, but Nina was persistent. As she always was, still to this day.

And as you could guess, we were better off friends. It was no hard feelings, and I had absolutely no regrets about how we developed the friendship that we had now. If anything, it was a fun story to remind each other about every now and then.

But since then, I didn't think I had really tried to put myself out there. Sure, I had one night stands, but those were throwaways. Something I didn't have to deal with the next day. They were simple and both parties knew what to expect out of the exchange.

With Harry, it was really different. I liked him, admittedly, but I didn't think I was ready for anything yet. I felt bad in a way, I didn't know if he knew that or if he was feeling something different.

Given that he wasn't from here, that we faced a lot of cultural differences, I didn't know what was going through his mind whenever we were all over each other last night.

I pushed the thoughts to the back of my mind as I rinsed myself off and stepped out of the shower. Wrapping the towel around me, I walked into my bedroom and started pulling out clothes from my closet.

Astro was laying on the bed, her eyes droopy as she let out a huff. Glancing towards her, a small smile spread across my lips. It was a guilty smile. I hated leaving her alone at night, but I made sure she had everything she needed before I left.

Not to mention she had tackled me the minute I walked into the door this morning. I was sure she had a bit of separation anxiety, but I couldn't blame her. She was a shelter dog, so of course she relied on me, and sometimes I felt like I let her down because of it.

Once I got dressed, I slid into the bed with her and wrapped my arms around her furry body.

"I love you, baby." I mumbled to her as I placed kisses around her head and ears. "Who's my good girl? Who's my good girl?!"

Astro started to whine, her tail wagging as her body wiggled in my arms. I let out a laugh, rolling over to my back as she stood up on all fours, staring down at me while she panted. Her tongue hung out, arching her back with her butt in the air before lapping a stripe of saliva up my cheek.

"Gah!" I laughed out, whipping my face to the side as I took my towel from beside me and wiped my face. "Heeeyy, I just washed my face!"

Suddenly, a knock on the door came from the living room. Astro's head whipped towards the noise, a small whine leaving her as she started to make small circles into the bed. Over and over again. I sat up, a frown curved into my lips as I watched her nervously tap around in circles before standing in front of me.

She had never done this before. I could only assume that she was traumatized from the break in that happened a while ago. Which, honestly, made me feel like a shit dog-mom. I should've protected her more, but I didn't. That was my fault.

"It's okay, baby." I told her softly, rubbing her head as I got off the bed. She buried her face into the blankets as I left the room, but I knew she was staring at me while I walked out.

The sun was out. I knew that Harry was coming over, but I hadn't checked my phone since I got home. I had probably just missed his text that he was on his way.

Still, my heart was beating fast as I walked towards the door. When I opened it, there he was. Standing there. At first, his lips were pursed as he stared down at his feet, surely waiting on me to answer. But then, his head popped up to face me. That crooked smile spread across his lips, his curls falling into his face as his eyes crinkled with happiness. He looked like he was fresh out of the shower too, with clothes that were no longer reeking of the outdoors.

"Aurora, hey." Harry said softly, raising his hand to wave at me. "You ready to go?"

"Hey." I half smiled at him. "Yeah, let me grab my things—"

"I'll get it for you!" Harry said quickly with a smile as he stepped into the doorway. I blinked hard, moving to the side as he leaned over to grab my bag by the door.

"Harry, you don't have to do that—"

"No, it's okay." He said with a lopsided smile, placing the strap of the bag over his shoulder. I cleared my throat, my fingers starting to pick at my cuticles as I nodded towards him.

"Okay." I breathed out a laugh. Harry had both mine and his bag on his back as I followed behind him. He looked from over his shoulder, stopping in his tracks to give me time to keep up with his pace.

"Did you have fun last night?" He asked me as I approached him. I glanced towards him out of the side of my eye, giving him a small nod as a shy smile spread across my lips.

"I did." I told him. "Did you?"

"Most certainly." He breathed out a laugh, his ring cladded fingers clutching around the straps of the bag. "I have never done anything like that before. You said it was called acid? I think I would enjoy doing it again if I was invited to do so."

"Yeah, acid." I whispered softly, scanning the area around us. Talking about drugs out in public always made me nervous. I knew we wouldn't get in trouble because we didn't have anything illegal on us, but what if the professor just so happened to be around the corner? I didn't want anyone to know my business, especially when I was in class.

"I just feel so energized today!" He sighed out happily. Harry's smile didn't fade the entire time we walked. His bright green eyes wandered around the streets, watching as birds flew by us or when the leaves on the ground blew from the wind.

I thought it was cute. The way that he always seemed so positive. I wish I could've taken a page from his book on how to look at a cup that was half full instead of half empty. Harry seemed to not let a lot of things get to him. He was bulletproof in that kind of way. It was such a stark contrast compared to him this morning, barely awake yet, too.

We walked for some time quietly. Sometimes Harry would say something and I would hum back to him to let him know I was listening, but for the most part we had stayed pretty silent. It wasn't that long of a walk till we had gotten to the planetarium, walking through the doors where the cool air greeted us.

Today was a busy day today. We had been closed for the last couple of days and usually when we opened back up, there was a flood of people waiting to come watch our shows. I was surprised at how many regulars we had, even if it was the same show they had already seen before. They just loved being here.

We walked past a set of doors, past the employee only sign, and made our way into the break room where we usually put our bags. It was a small room with a set of lockers, and typically nobody ever bothered our stuff, so I felt confident in never buying a lock for the doors.

I opened up my usual locker, turning towards Harry as I stretched my hand out towards him to grab my bag. Harry glanced towards me, letting out a small 'oh' as he shrugged the bag off his back and handed it towards me.

"I wonder what show we are going to do next week." I hummed as I set my bag into my locker before closing it shut. Glancing to the right of me, Harry was standing incredibly close beside me with a shy smile on his lips.

I blinked hard, feeling my cheeks grow hot as I tried to ignore his eyes that bored into my skin. There was a funny feeling in my chest, probably just butterflies from the night before. I had wondered if he was thinking about it while he looked at me with those doe eyes of his.

"Not sure." He said softly, taking a step closer to me. I pressed my lips into a line as my back hit the locker. Harry let out a soft chuckle as he planted his feet in front of me, a sudden touch of his fingertips grazing against my arm made goosebumps rise from my skin.

"Me either." I breathed out, flicking my gaze from his fingers to his eyes. My heart was thumping at his touch. There was a newfound confidence that Harry had, and he was displaying it right in front of me. I didn't know if I had liked it or not, but the only thing that was running through my mind was someone walking in while he was this close to me.

His fingers created a cluster of goosebumps as they delicately ran up my arm, all the way to my clothed shoulders. I let out a shallow breath, parting my lips to say something, but before I could get a word out, his hands cupped the underside of my jaw. He tilted my head back, making me look directly into his eyes before inching closer to my lips.

"H-Harry..." I whispered out softly, my eyes fluttering shut slowly as his lips ghosted against mine. My name left his lips in a dewey tone, leaving my knees to nearly buckle under me before I felt his pink plush lips press against mine. My hands rested by my sides as they formed into a white knuckled fist.

His kiss was slow, and I kissed him back. Feeling his bottom lip lap over mine over and over again while his thumb slowly traced against my jawline. My stomach was on fire, and it felt good–but it also made my thoughts from earlier arise. Was this deep for him? Was it more for him? I didn't want to lead him on. I didn't want to be led on either.

Truthfully, I didn't know what I wanted and I didn't know if this was a conversation I wanted to have with him yet.

But I knew I had to.

I placed my hand against his chest, pulling my head away from him to break the kiss. A rigid breath left my lips as I looked up at his flustered features. He could only smile half-heartedly at me as his eyelashes fluttered.

Gauging the way he was looking at me, I couldn't seem to show any expression at the moment. I gulped down the frog in my throat, shifting the weight onto my other foot as I looked away from him. I felt bad. I was overthinking everything at that moment, wondering if he had been waiting to kiss me since last night.

Including last night, and this morning's actions, things seemed incredibly intimate between us. Something that I hadn't shared with anybody in a really long time. Given I was under the influence, it would only make sense that was the reason why I had let it happen. But now?

"We shouldn't...do this." I whispered out softly, clearing my hoarse throat as I stepped to the side to create some distance between us. Harry's smile wavered into a frown, his hand going from my jaw to the locker as he leaned against it.

"Did I do something wrong? I'm sorry, I just thought..." He stopped himself, his face contorting in confusion before shaking his head. "I don't know what I thought... I think I just wanted to kiss you."

"I don't want you to think that I like you–" My eyes widened for a moment, the minute that the words left me. Averting my gaze towards Harry, his straight shoulders had slumped as his fingers slid down the lockers with a soft breath.

"That's not what I meant." I tried to cover up the mistake, the poor choice of words that left my lips. "I meant, I just–I don't really...want a relationship and I think our friendship is something really unique and fun...I just don't want to ruin that, you know?"

Harry's features dropped suddenly, his lips that were once curved into that lopsided smile now showed a frown so embedded, I thought the smile would never come back. His eyes left mine, shifting around the room as his hand found their way into his pocket. The silence was deafening, almost telling me everything I needed to hear from the still air. He shifted his weight onto his other foot, nodding his head slowly as he straightened his posture.

"Oh." He breathed out, a light chuckle following through as his fingers ran through his thick curls. "I just thought–because you kissed me last night..."

"We were on...acid." I whispered softly, scanning the room slowly. I let out a sigh, pulling my bottom lip into my mouth as my fingers started to pick at my cuticles once more. "I'm sorry if I made you think something differently. It was just a kiss. It's nothing serious...people kiss all the time, but it's...it's different on Earth."

"Okay." He whispered back as he grabbed his folder from the table beside him before shaking it gently towards me. "Sorry I misinterpreted our friendship." His voice was bitter, yet soft at the same time. I didn't think that someone so sweet could sound so harsh.

I turned to follow him out the door. I wanted to say something, but I didn't know what to say either. I didn't know how to make this better. His steps were fast, leaving me to try to catch up to him.

"Harry–!" I tried to call out to him, but the sudden voice behind me made my body still.

"Aurora!"

I sighed out, turning my body around at the person calling my name. Professor Collins stood from behind me with a folder clutched tightly in his hands and a smile spread so wide I could have mistaken him for the Cheshire cat.

"Yes?" I pulled a soft smile on my lips, taking a step towards him. Collins really had a knick for showing up at the worst times, including today.

"Can you come into my office? I have something I want to discuss with you. No worries, though, nothing serious." He gestured towards the other end of the hallway, the opposite way of which I was trying to follow Harry down.

I glanced from behind me, seeing that Harry had already disappeared from the situation. Mentally cursing myself, I wanted to slap myself for even having that kind of conversation with him while we were at work.

"Of course..." I elongated, clutching my hand into a fist as I nodded towards him.

There was no way I was going to be able to appear as out together as I should in front of my boss. I had to at least try, but that was proving more and more difficult as each step I took towards his office—and farther away from my main issue at hand, Harry.

"I may have figured out some findings that I'd like you to look over." Professor Collins said as he jiggled the door with his key. It squawked open, the creaking noise only furthering my uneasiness.

Why would he want me to look over it anyway?

"Sure, what's it about?" I asked with a bout of curiosity. I shut the door behind me as he gestured for me to do so before I sat in front of his desk.

He cleared his throat, taking his glasses from the table and perching them onto the bridge of his nose. The sound of him stacking a pile of papers together was the only thing heard as I waited for him to respond. At one point, I could have sworn I could even hear the clock ticking behind me.

"The star—or stars, rather." He replied with a bluntness in his tone. His eyes were busy tracing over whatever was typed on the computer screen in front of him now.

"Any particular stars?" I spoke up through the noise of him typing more information into his device.

He paused his fingers against the keyboard for a moment as he briefly glanced at me from the corner of his eye. If I didn't know any better, I would have imagined his next words to revolve around me getting out of his office immediately.

The look of annoyance didn't last long as he swiveled his chair closer to my view. He had a smile on his face, and I was grateful for his patience with me. Maybe he could tell I wasn't completely myself right now. I sure as hell didn't feel like it anyway.

"The backwards shooting stars, Aurora." He replied with a slight chuckle, slipping his glasses back off of his nose and onto his desk, as if to get a better view of me.

"Oh, right. Sorry." I paused as I searched between his eyes, trying to read what he was thinking. All I got was a slight look of confusion, and I assumed it was due to my newfound awkward demeanor.

"Are you feeling alright?" He questioned with an eyebrow raised with concern. "You been sleeping okay?" His hands clasped together in front of him as they rested on the desk.

I didn't like the focus now being on me. It was actually the complete opposite that I wanted, and I needed to find a way to shift it back to the original topic. The quicker I could do that, the quicker I could leave and go find where Harry ran off to.

"No, yeah, I'm okay." I reassured with a faint smile. "Didn't sleep much last night I suppose, but it's nothing a nap can't fix."

He looked closely at me without much of an expression before finally seeing a faint curl in his lips. I almost breathed out a sigh of relief when he shifted back into his chair, looking back at the sheets of paper he was just busied with.

"Definitely do that then. Don't want to see you fall behind with your coursework or other responsibilities." He stopped for a moment as he looked back at me. "Not many students have the amount of responsibilities on your back, as well as the amount of opportunities that go along with it. Just be mindful of that."

"Of course, thank you." I shifted uncomfortably in my seat as I gestured towards what he was holding. "Was there new information found about it?"

He let out a sigh, and I was unsure if it was an exasperated one or one with relief that I finally seemed on board with the topic.

"Seemingly. Although, I have yet to share the information I have gathered. I wanted you to look over it with me and hear your thoughts."

My eyes widened momentarily, only further confused by his choice in picking me to give my opinion. My brain would have had a hard enough comprehending everything going on on a normal day, let alone this day — this time.

"Me? Why me?" I asked with my eyebrows scrunched, searching for answers.

"Why not? You're one of the top in your class, one of my trusted employees, and one with a natural born talent regarding the science of the stars. Do you not find yourself capable?" He asked, crossing a leg over his other.

I had never paid much attention to what he wore, let alone that he had a wedding band wrapped around his finger. It glared back at me as it clung tightly to his clothed knee, bouncing along with his foot.

"No—I mean, yes. I am capable. I just thought you would go to someone else for something so important. I would be honored to look it over." I stumbled, trying not to let the worry eat at me.

Did he know it was Harry? Was that why he wanted me to look it over? Force me to tell him what I knew? Or was this just a test to see how confident I was in my work? I was really hoping for neither, considering how badly I had already messed up this meeting.

"Great. Feel free to read this over." He said as he tilted the sheets in my direction for me to grab.

I took it with a slight shake to my fingers, and fortunately it looked to go unnoticed as Collins adjusted himself back into his desk chair.

My eyes scanned over the document quickly, trying to prepare myself for whatever it was he was going to say. I needed to prepare how I was going to reply to the news— especially if he was right about everything.

God, did I hope for him to be wrong.

"I think I've finally been able to track them. I was able to set up multiple locations with astronomical tracking devices. They have expensive views that cover a great amount of the viewable sky view." His eyes glared closely back at me, probably to gauge my reaction. There was his own twinkle of excitement shining from his eyes that made a smile, albeit nervous smile, spread across my own face.

"Really?" I sat up straighter, momentarily forgetting anything that had happened the past couple of days. All that consumed me was worry in the back of my mind. How much could have seen with all of that equipment? I had never heard of anything like it.

"Indeed." He gushed, pushing his computer monitor to face me.

Staring back at me from his screen was a multitude of shots, all lined up into rows. It was blurry but pixelated enough to distinguish what I was looking at.

Each image was a shot of the shooting star—Harry flying back down to Earth.

My eyes were glued to the screen as I tried to make out as much detail as I could. Even with just the specks of light that the camera provided, I was still in so much awe.

"It's beautiful." I accidentally spurt aloud.

I switched my intense glare to the professor, who was chuckling lightly to himself.

"Yes, mysterious scientific findings are always something of beauty, whether destructive or not." He nodded his head in triumph. It almost made me feel bad, knowing that I had the answers he was so desperate to find.

I let him have his moment, though. To be fair, I still wasn't all that sure of what he knew.

"If you look at the time stamps, it shows a pattern. See here?" He pointed a finger towards the bottom corners of each individual photo. "Approximately every 70 to 80 hours this phenomenon occurs."

I blinked hard, remembering very well of Harry's departure he had every three days. His absence had grown more and more recognizable with each time he had to leave it seemed.

I desperately wanted to dig on how much Collins knew about it, but I was scared that the more questions I asked, the more questions that would be turned in my own direction.

"What do you think?" He finally asked, filling in the silence.

"Oh, I— That's an amazing finding. What do you plan to do with it?" I did my best to even out my tone as to not show any sense of worry or anything out of the ordinary. I had to act excited which was the last thing I was.

"I'm going to continue to find more information before I go public with these findings. The last thing I need are more scientists clogging up Yellowstone and disrupting what I've worked so hard on. This will be our secret, correct?" He looked at me with a slight raise of his eyebrow. I wasn't sure if he was trying to seem intimidating, but he was doing a good job at it regardless.

"Our secret, yes. Which..." I trailed off for a moment, wanting to tread on the topic carefully. "What did you need me for? You seem much more ahead of the game than I would be. I don't know how I could be helpful."

For a moment I almost wished I knew nothing about Harry's true star form. That way I could have felt the true excitement that this news could've brought me. The Aurora I was before meeting Harry would have bursted at the seams with this information. She would have already jumped out of her chair, ready to run out the door and tell Nina about it.

But that wasn't the Aurora I needed to be right then. I needed to be the Aurora that helped protect Harry considering all he had done for me. It was the least I could do. Keeping his form secret was crucial.

"Some of the operating systems need manual assistance. It will help the quality of these photos and I'll ever be able to get video of the occurrence. Granted, it will have to happen in the perfect spot for the equipment to capture it, but I have faith that you will do great with this task." He grinned lightly.

He reached into one of his drawers, pulling out an envelope that had my name on it. It had his scraggly handwriting that I always had a hard time reading. This was probably the clearest I had ever seen and understood what was written. There was even a little loop at the end of the last "A".

Silently thanking him with a nod, I left the office as fast as I could. This was bad. This was really bad. If he was tracking the stars, then that means that Harry was in more danger–not just with the light guardians, but now with actual humans.

I was scared to think about what would happen if Collins found out about Harry. I didn't know what would happen, to say the truth, but I do know that it wouldn't be good. Harry trusted me with the secret that he was a star-being, and yet here I was–working with Collins to trace down the backwards star.

The backwards star that was Harry.

I needed to divert his attention,and fast. Before he finds out about Harry.

I swallowed the nerves down, shaking my head to myself as I made my way into the main room of the planetarium where everyone else sat. I was quiet, the room filled with people as the presentation played through the speakers. For once, I wasn't interested in listening. I was more so looking for Harry who had to be in here.

I skimmed over the crowd, and all exit points, and still could not find him. I let out a stressed sigh, running my fingers through my thick hair before turning on my heel to leave. I didn't know how I was going to tell him, but it needed to be soon. Maybe today wasn't a good day to say anything, not with what happened this morning.

I knew I had done enough damage.

After my shift, I couldn't find Harry. I don't know if he had left without me, or if he was hiding–so I walked home by myself. I remember when I used to take these walks with Harry and he always used to fill the silence with his ramblings, and how I used to find them annoying when I first met him, but now I wish that he was here to fill the silence.

I felt like a dick. Leave it to me to ruin every friendship, or potential relationship I've ever had, or will have.

The walk home was boring, and it left me feeling cold on the inside. Part of me hoped that I would run into him on the way home, but that didn't happen. Before I knew it, I was unlocking my door to my apartment and getting bombarded by Astro at the door.

For the first time, I shrugged her off and set my stuff down on the table before heading straight to the kitchen. The only thing that could make me feel better was a good meal. One of my favorites that my mom used to make. It always made me feel like home when I ate it, even if it wasn't half as good as she usually made it.

A home made soup.

She used to make it for me whenever I didn't feel good, whether it was being sick or just in a bad mood.

Although, while I was cooking, the only thing I could think of was Harry. I felt scared. Scared that I may have messed things up between the both of us, or hopefully at the least damaged a little bit of trust. I would rather damage the trust we have than to lose him forever.

I was battling with myself on the inside, and even the smells of sweet soup couldn't bring me back home this time. I knew that I needed another person's perspective from this, so I called Nina. Even hesitantly. I knew she was going to put on a whole speech about it, and she was going to say everything that I already knew, but I think I just needed a push.

The phone trilled a few times, before she finally picked up.

"What's up?!" Nina said, surely a large smile spread across her lips. I could hear it in her voice.

"Hey..." I trailed off with a sigh as I put my face into my hands.

"Uh oh, what's wrong?" Nina retorted back.

"I'm so stupid, Nina." I whined out, throwing my head back as if I was going to scream 'why me?!' or, 'why do I keep doing this to myself?!'

"Okay, first of all, you're not." Nina stopped my personal insults instantly. "Secondly, what happened?"

"What didn't happen?" I scolded myself, pressing a palm to my forehead as I hit myself multiple times against the head lightly. "I'm the worst kind of person. Okay, so uh... me and Harry kissed last night."

"Okay."

"Okay?"

"Do you really expect me to be shocked? You act like I haven't seen you give that boy googly eyes all night." Nina cackled out.

"Ugh, whatever." I rolled my eyes. "Anyways, I'm just saying...we kissed and um...this morning we went to work and he kissed me again. Like, at first I was like okay this is...fine? I guess, but at the same time, I think that I–"

"Do not tell me you are fighting with your feelings over this boy." Nina said sternly. "It is obvious that you like him, Aurora. Why are you doing this to yourself? If you like him, then just tell him."

"It's not that simple, asshole. I can't just–" I stopped myself, sighing out. "It's not that. I just don't know if I...am ready for something like that. My ex really did a number on me. She was everything I wanted and more. I thought we were going to get married, and then we didn't. I still feel like I'm emotionally recovering from that."

"Did he say anything about a relationship to you?"

"No..."

"Then why are you suddenly jumping to thinking about relationships? You didn't have a problem grinding all over Brandon's dick that one night, so what's the difference now?" Nina scolded, her voice was more harsh to get her point across.

"Because I like him, Nina!" The words left my lips faster than I could stop them. I blinked hard, looking down at the phone when the silence started to string through. "Because...he's so nice, Nina. He's so smart, so considerate. Emotional. He is the most human I have seen anybody in a really long time. He doesn't bury his face into a phone, or try to–fucking mansplain things to me. He just–is the most vulnerable person I have ever met, and I like him so much..." I whispered out as I batted tears that blurred my vision.

"It scares me." I whispered shakily.

"Aurora..." Nina said softer. "If you like him so much, then why don't you tell him? Ryan and I saw the way he was looking at you last night. You don't look at friends the way he was looking at you...I want you to be happy, honey, but you need to be honest with yourself, and honest with him. If you keep getting scared with every person you grow an emotional connection with, then you will never know if it works out in the end. Harry may work out, or he won't. Isn't that a chance you're willing to take?"

Her words rang true, and I secretly hated it. I almost took it as an insult, but I knew it was coming from a place of love. Since me and my ex broke up, I felt like everything after that has just been emotionless sex and pushing away anybody that comes close to me. I've been scared to get my heart broken again, but if I were to get my heart broken from anybody, I would want it to be by Harry. I liked him. I really, really liked him, and that was something that I could no longer deny.

"I have to go." I suddenly said as I picked up the phone.

"Where?" Nina suddenly squealed.

"I'm doing what I should've done a while ago." I said before hanging the phone up, not letting her speak another word.

I shoved the phone into my pocket, rushing towards the front door as I scooped up my keys and jacket on the way out. I felt like my heart was bursting, like this was some cliché rom-com that I was starring in. This was my main character moment. I could see it in my head.

This was the part in the movie where I fled to the man of my dreams to spill my guts. Take a sharp knife and carve out my heart, and hand it to him on a silver platter and say: "This is yours. It's always been yours."

The cold wind brushed past me as I ran past the strangers on the sidewalks. They looked at me, out of script. A smile etched onto my lips, they must've thought I was on my way to the airport to chase down the love of my life and tell them that they can't leave. That I need them here and they are making a big mistake by going.

I was getting funny looks, but I didn't care. I wasn't running like it was a hobby, and people knew that. Nobody in their right minds would be running in vans with jeans and a sweater on. I was running with a purpose, and although my anxiety was trying to replace the way my chest was feeling–the adrenaline was overtaking every doubt I had.

When I rounded myself around the corner of Harry's street, I could taste him on my lips. I could feel his fingers burning into my skin. Everything leading up to this moment was flooding through my mind, all the memories we made together thus far. I felt like this was the part when the rain started to pour down to soak me in my own emotions while I got on my knees to recite some shitty Shakespeare poem that I memorized from eighth grade.

I didn't think about it. I jumped up his steps, standing as close as I could to the door before knocking on it hard, and faster than I would like to admit. I didn't notice the small layer of sweat that spread across my forehead until my heart started to slow down. I quickly wiped the sweat with my sleeve, letting in a deep breath as I waited for Harry to answer. Hopefully with open arms.

A click was heard, and I immediately took a step back. My breathing was still heavy, and it was very apparent that I just ran three blocks to get here. I closed my eyes for a moment, and when I opened them back up there he was.

Harry stood there. Wearing that faded band shirt that was too big, and sweatpants that were really baggy on him. His brows pinched, confusion spread across his face as he etched his eyes all over me.

"Aurora? What are you...are you okay?" Harry opened the door more, eyes wandering the surroundings. "Did you run here? Why are you perspiring?"

"Harry, I–" I breathed out hard, waving a hand in front of my face before bending over to take a deep breath. "I gotta...I gotta talk to you."

"Oh." He pursed his lips, taking a step back from the door before swinging the door wider. "Come in."

I gulped down thickly, taking in deep breaths through my nose as I walked into his house. I regret wearing this jacket now, and I shed it off before holding it to my chest tightly. Harry closed the door behind me, taking small steps towards the kitchen as I settled in the room.

"Water? It's all I have..." Harry trailed off softly as he ran some water from the tap into a glass. I nodded quickly, whispering a small thank you to him. He nodded towards me, setting the glass down onto the table before taking a step back to look over me.

I took a few good gulps of the water, trying to ignore the tension in the room. Suddenly I didn't feel like the main character anymore, and I didn't feel like I had a right to gush my feelings out to him after what I said this morning.

"I'm sorry." I started out with a sigh, pushing the stray hairs back that stood from my head. "I'm sorry for what I said this morning. If I hurt your feelings, that really wasn't my intention. I feel like shit about what happened, and I just had to come talk to you."

Harry slithered his hands into his pocket, nodding carefully as he listened to my plea. His lips pursed as he avoided eye contact with me, which hurt enough. I felt the sting in my chest, and it didn't feel good at all.

"That's okay, Aurora." He said quietly. "As I said this morning, I misinterpreted our friendship. That was my fault–"

"You didn't." I interjected, taking a step towards him as my desperate eyes searched around his face for emotion. "You didn't and that's why I feel like shit. What you think about us is true. I'm just a fucking idiot, and I can't–I couldn't bring myself to terms with that, but I brought myself to the realization tonight."

Harry's eyes slowly panned downwards to mine. Finally meeting my gaze, his face softened as he looked down at my distraught emotions that splayed across my face. I swallowed the frog in my throat, pushing back the feeling that I was going to choke on all the emotions and words that tried to spill from my lips.

I needed to say it. Out loud. I needed my Bella and Edward moment. Well, instead of one of us confessing that we were a vampire–it was much worse than that. I was going to be vulnerable, which is something that I didn't think I could ever do again.

"I like you, Harry." I whispered out shakily. The words were vomit, and I felt my throat burn at the taste of them. My anxiety thumped through my chest, fingers gripping tightly on my jacket as I tried to steady my feet. "I like you a lot. I just don't know if I want a relationship right now, but I want to figure it out. I really, really like you."

Harry's eyes slightly widened, almost making him take a step back, but he planted his feet back onto the ground firmly. The only thing that I could do was stand here and wait for him to accept it and tell me the same thing, or reject me. Say that he doesn't want to get hurt. Say that it was against his mission to be here with me, and that he wasn't allowed to like me.

Harry was a man that went by the rules, and I prayed to whatever god was out there that he would break one of them tonight. I knew that it was against everything his father told him, but I needed this.

I needed him.

He took a step closer to me, hands slithering out of his pockets to snake up my arms carefully. I took a step towards him, easing into his embrace as his fingers caressed both sides of my face. I fluttered my eyes shut, feeling Harry's hot breath on my lips before they met each other for the third time in twenty-four hours. I inhaled sharply, letting go of my jacket to drop to the floor before wrapping my arms tightly around his neck.

We were impossibly close with one another, lips meshing with one another as we kissed in the only way we knew how. It was full of all of our truths, all of our emotions that we were scared to say before. He didn't need to say anything because I could taste it on him. He liked me too, and that was something he couldn't deny.

My fingers got lost into his curls, squeezing my eyes shut as we smacked against one another. His thumbs stroked against my skin, and I felt my knees nearly buckle once again. The way he had a hold over me, and I was letting him. I was letting him take me over, my whole soul and being. I wanted him to hurt me, and love me, in the most suffocating way possible.

When he pulled away from the kiss, I felt myself nearly melt into a puddle of mush to the floor. I looked up at him, watching as he rolled his lips into his mouth with a slight smirk.

"I really like you too, Aurora." He whispered softly back to me, booping my nose with the tip of his finger. "This is, perhaps, one of the best confessions that I've ever heard before."

I chuckled lightly, shaking my head as I pulled him into a hug tightly. Nuzzling my nose into his chest, he wrapped his large arms around me as he rubbed my back carefully.

"I forgive you." He added. "I was worried that I made things...uh...weird?"

"No, no." I sighed out. "You didn't. You made them wonderful, and I'm glad it happened. I really am sorry, again, really."

"Stop apologizing." He said softly as his nose nuzzled into my hair before looking down at me. "I'm just happy we share the same feelings. You have no idea how this makes me feel. My heart feels like it's going to burst out of it's cage. I've never felt this way before, although it's a bit uncomfortable, might I add."

"It happens–" I said softly, pushing his curls from his face slowly. "Because I feel the same way."

"And this is a good thing?" Harry asked softly with a tilt of his head.

"It's a really good thing." I whispered back to him with a smile.