Chapter 21

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"You're doing very well with running, Aurora," my mom slowly said beside him and crossed her arms. "Isn't she, Dave?" She looked up at my dad, addressing him by his first name.

He nodded as he adjusted the cuffs on his crisp white button-up. His head of almost-grey brown hair shook back and forth slightly. "Very. We're proud of you, Aura."

I would say I inherited most of my features from my father: his green eyes and light brown hair. I didn't inherit much from my mother except for her golden-tan skin and her nose, I guess.

My eyes widened at their sudden appearance. I knew they were arriving today, but I didn't think our reunion would be at my track practice.

I looked back over my shoulder to see Cooper jogging over to me, and Xander escaping the clutches of Mckenna to follow behind him.

"Good to see you guys again, Mrs. and Mr. White," Cooper enthusiastically said to them and gave them side hugs. A bright smile was painted on his face, showing off his perfectly straight teeth. "This guy here," Cooper said, slapping Xander on the back, "is Xander."

"Nice to meet you, Xander," my mother greeted with a tilted chin, her hazel eyes judging his every action. "I have no clue what's going on in Aurora's life since she never seems to call, but I guess she's just... busy."

"Well you never seem to answer, but that's probably due to your being busy also." I narrowed my eyes at her.

Xander slightly smiled as he ignored my passive aggressive outburst and shook both their hands, trying to diffuse the stiff silence. "The pleasure is all mine." He flashed them his award-winning smile as he pushed a stray hair out of his eyes, making my heart stop momentarily.

"Boyfriend?" My mother asked me with a raised eyebrow.

My jaw dropped and my eyes widened to the size of saucepans as I looked at Xander. "No! No, no. Just a friend."

"Well, not yet," Cooper laughed, prompting me to slap the back of his neck.

"We have things to discuss," my dad said quietly, looking at me. Although he was a quiet person, it gave more a reason to anybody to listen when he talks. And when he did say something, it was always taken seriously, even if it wasn't.

I nodded and played with the two black hairties wrapped around my wrist.

"How about we go to dinner? I saw some Italian place down the street which looked nice," Cooper suggested. Of course he invited himself to our dinner, that was Cooper for you.

My mother nodded at the suggestion before looking at me. "Your friends can come if you want, but you'll know what the topic will be."

So here we were, at that Italian place. I had to practically force Xander into my parents' car and Cooper gladly got in, wanting free food.

"Cooper, your Italian impression is atrocious." I shook my head and dabbed the corner of my mouth with a napkin to clean off some spaghetti sauce.

"Pshh, that was the best thing I've ever seen!" My mother said with an elegant but wide grin as Cooper nodded his head in faux pride.

Xander had been awkwardly twirling his pasta onto his fork for our time being here. Huh, I never would've thought that Xander would be shy in front of my parents.

"So, when're you guys leaving?" I asked, bringing the conversation to fade out.

My father looked up from his plate, the dim lights accentuating his aging wrinkles. "Don't be like that, Aura."

I shook my head. "I'm just asking. I mean, you guys never stay longer than one night."

"We have work we need to attend to," my mother jumped in, her voice was stern.

"So you're leaving tomorrow."

"Tonight, actually," my mother said quietly. She hated being in the wrong, so even if she knew she wasn't right, she'd act as if she was.

"Oh."

"What did Dean Richardson say to you?" Cooper's voice filled the stiff silence.

"We already know what happened, and he's getting suspended for four weeks. And it's going on his permanent record," my father answered as he filled out the check, his reading glasses perched on his nose.

I nodded with furrowed brows.

"Don't you think he should be suspended for longer?" Xander spoke up for the first time since the beginning of dinner. A source of conviction was behind his words.

"I mean, he was intoxicated-"

"He tried assaulting Aurora. And hasn't that already happened? What would you have done if nobody was there to stop him?"

"Xander..." I soothed, tightly grasping his large, calloused hands in my tiny ones under the table. "Calm down, okay?"

My mother sighed and rubbed her forehead, the topic being too heavy for her fragile little head. "You were the one who left all those bruises all over him, aren't you?"

Cooper turned serious for a moment as he peaked up in concern. "I did too. And with all due respect, Mrs. White, we did what we had to do to keep Aurora safe."

"It's understandable," my mom said with a nod before moving onto a topic just as bad. "How's therapy going? It's costing us a lot, you know."

"It's going pretty well, but Dr. Bruno isn't prescribing me anymore sleep medication," I explained, shrugging my shoulders as I fixed my eyes on the napkin on the table.

"That's ridiculous-"

"It's okay, mom. I'm doing better, I'm almost good."

"Well, that's great, sweetie," she said, a soothing smile on her face.

I nodded, making eye contact with a nervous-looking Xander in the process."It is."

***

"Bye, Aura!" I heard my dad shout across the parking lot as he and my mother plopped down in their red BMW, my dad's dream car. "We'll call you when we get home!"

I slapped on my widest smile for them and added a wave.

"That was fun," Cooper laughed as we made our way to our dorm building. Obviously the dinner was more awkward and stiff than fun. "Well, the free food was fun."

I chuckled. "Xander was super awkward the entire time. That was the most fun part, I would say."

"Hey! Your parents are intimidating!"

I scoffed and hit his arm. "You used to be intimidating! You've gone soft, Kings."

"Gosh, gem, stop feeling me up!" He swung his head back as his laughter echoed through the empty hallway. My heartbeat couldn't resist the way his golden hair fell in front of his face as his lips parted to form a smile that was made of the same gold as his hair. As he laughed, his facial expression morphed from a usual stoic one to a carefree one.

"Ew, all this coupley-stuff makes me want to barf," Cooper gagged as he went down another hallway to his dorm that he shared with Joey. "Bye, lovebirds!"

I rolled my eyes. "See you, Coop!"

He looked over his shoulder with his usual grin and sent us a wave, and as soon as he left, Xander and I were enveloped in still silence. Looking up at the blond-haired boy, I understood I had to ask and clear the air now. If there was one thing the man standing next to me now was, it was that I deserved better than to be left in the dark.

"Alexander?" I whispered, causing him to come to a halt in our walking. He and I both knew what I was going to ask was serious, and the atmosphere turned to a still one. One where the silence was fragile. But not fragile like a flower, fragile like glass, willing to shatter if it's in the wrong hands. 

"When are you going to tell me about your past, Alexander?" I breathed. I directly my gaze up at him. It had been something I was thinking about on the daily, and I couldn't help myself but asking him now that it was only us.

He looked down to his sneakers and rubbed his neck before averting his grey eyes back to mine. "I-I'm sorry, gem. I don't know what you want me to say."

I narrowed my eyes at him, suddenly aware of what he was saying. Shaking my head back and forth slightly, I said, "I've told you everything about myself. I've told you things that not even Cooper knows about. You practically forced me to tell you-"

And before I could even finish the sentence, his chapped lips had already landed on mine. This one wasn't like our last kiss, it was simply desperate, vigorous even. Flashbacks threatened to arise in the back of my head, but the confused thoughts of my relationship with Xander was forcing them away. I had enough on my mind.

With his perfectly aligned teeth tugging at my lip, his fingers intertwined with my hair as he messily licked my bottom lip, asking for entrance. I found my arms slithering around his neck to push myself closer to him. It was as if we couldn't have enough.

After a short 10 seconds of desperate holding, he untangled his hands and pulled away before landing a chaste kiss on the tip of my nose before leaning his forehead on mine.

"I'm sorry, gem. I really am."

The buzz of our kiss left my head a mess. He was a drug. And I was simply addicted to his hoarse chuckles and kisses. I've had only a short taste of them, but I was already hooked.

"It's okay- wait." A realization snapped into my head. "Is this just a game to you?" I said as my arms fell limp by my sides. "Whatever this is, is like playing tag. Always chasing each other, yet we don't even know how we got here. This is not okay, Alexander. You tell me how I deserve more than to be left in the dark. Practice what you preach for God's sake."

A crease visibly deepened between his eyebrows. "Listen, I-I'm not good for you, Aurora. I'm not good for anyone," he averted his eyes from the wall behind me to my eyes, "but I can't help but need you."

"But you kissed me. Three times! You don't just kiss random people then never bring the topic up. I've told you everything about me, but you? You haven't told me shit."

"If I tell you about my past," he stepped closer to cup my face with his hands, as if he was fearful of me disappearing into thin air, "you're going to leave."

"I-I can't do this anymore! I can't keep playing these childish games with you!"

"Then let's put the games to an end." He backed me up against the wall and the dim light of the deserted hallway outlined all his sharp features. The sight reminded me of how he made the light visible when it seemed darkness was completely engulfing me. "You wanna play Tag? I'm it. I am it for you."

"No, Alexander, no," I firmly stated as I shook his hands off me and pushed him back. "You don't need me, Alexander. You just want what you think is going to fix your life of mansions and Corvettes."

He opened his mouth to defend himself, but I cut him off. "You basically forced me to tell you about my fücked up past, and you can't even tell me about yours?"

"Goddammit, can't you see I'm trying!" He shouted, leaning forward. "Once you realize that I'm actually a monster, you're just going to flee! I-I'm trying to tell you, gem. I don't just want you, I need you." His voice cracked on the last sentence.

This was an argument of passion combined with caged up anger and rage and confusion.

"If you need me as much as you say you do," I spun on my heel to make my way to my room before saying over my shoulder, "don't let me go."

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