Xavier couldn't help but stare after Aurora's retreating figure as she walked away. She looked absolutely stunning—the word "stunning" couldn't even describe how beautiful she looked.

She was absolutely gorgeous.

And he could tell he wasn't the only one thinking that. Men were turning their heads to glance at the innocent beauty who obliviously did not notice—her only goal at the moment was to find the restroom. He felt a burning feeling arise within him when he caught them staring. It was a feeling he had never felt before.

Was it jealousy?

He wasn't too sure.

He wasn't expecting Aurora to be at the gala tonight. The other night, he had wanted to ask her to accompany him—or be his date. But it looked like Liam had beat him to it.

Xavier couldn't help but wonder if Liam had done this on purpose to annoy him. When he approached the two, there was a knowing smirk plastered on Liam's face. That idiot wasn't even trying to hide it.

He felt their stares on him as he watched Aurora disappear when she turned the corner.

"What?"

"Why didn't you tell me that you two met?" Asked Maddie, giving her brother a slight glare. To think, she was even going to introduce the two one day in the very near future, praying that they fall in love and make beautiful babies.

Seems like she doesn't need to introduce them anymore.

"I didn't know you two knew each other," shrugged Xavier.

"I talk about her all the time!" Exclaimed Maddie. "Do you not pay attention to what I say during our weekly family dinners?"

Whenever their family would get together every week, Maddie would constantly talk about her best friend whom she called "Rory". Xavier felt like an idiot as he had never put two and two together.

Xavier didn't reply, causing Lucas to snort. All three men knew when Maddie went on about something, she went on. And occasionally, for hours.

"You guys have weekly family dinners? And you don't invite me?" Pouted Liam.

"They're called family dinners for a reason," Lucas smirked, rubbing more salt into his wound.

"But, you're not family. How come you get invited, and I don't."

"I'm practically family since I am dating Maddie."

"That's not fair. I'm protesting."

"You're an idiot."

Xavier silently watched his best friends continue to bicker, while Maddie rolled her eyes in annoyance. She continued to glare at her brother, waiting for him to speak up.

Maddie continued. "Are you serious? You really don't pay attention?" The exasperated expression on her face morphed into pout. "Babe, do you pay attention whenever I talk?"

Lucas' eyes grew wide with panic as he stopped arguing with Liam and mouthed the word 'help'. Liam shrugged, acting like he didn't see anything.

If only he was invited to the weekly dinners.

"Um- of course I do, baby," stammered Lucas, not wanting to meet his girlfriend's eyes. He quickly grabbed a glass of champagne off of a passing waiter's tray and gulped it down.

"This is why I am glad to be single," muttered Liam, not helping the situation at all.

"Okay, let me test you, then. What did I say-"

"I didn't even know Aurora and Rory were the same people," interrupted Xavier, not wanting to see his best friend get mauled by his sister. Lucas let out a sigh of relief, feeling thankful for the interruption. "Wait, Lucas you knew Aurora?"

"Yeah, she's been Maddie's best friend since forever." Lucas said that as if he wasn't stating the obvious.

Xavier sighed and closed his eyes in annoyance. "I meant to ask if you knew they were the same people."

"If I did, I would have told you, man."

Xavier's eyebrows scrunched in confusion as he thought back to their conversation when Lucas had told Xavier about his phone call with Liam. "But Liam told you about her."

"He never mentioned her name," shrugged Lucas. "But, you know who would have known..."

The three of them turned to look at Liam who looked like a deer caught in the headlights.

"You all look very lovely on this fine evening," said Liam, letting out an awkward laugh. "Fine. I knew it was the same Aurora. I just... thought you would need a little push."

Both Knight siblings glared at Liam. For different reasons.

"And you didn't bother telling me?" Maddie half shrieked, sending a punch to Liam's arm.

Liam rubbed his arm and turned to look at Lucas."Control your woman!"

Lucas shrugged. "Not my problem, man."

"Both of you are idiots," Xavier rolled his eyes, causing the two to protest.

Maddie let out another annoyed sigh, shifting her attention back to Xavier. "What's going on between the two of you?"

"Nothing," Xavier's reply was rather quick, causing Maddie's eyebrow to raise. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, if it concerns my best friend, I would like to know."

"He's in love with her," blurted Liam, causing Xavier to send him a deadly glare. If looks could kill, Liam would definitely be dead by now.

"Really?" Maddie all but squealed, causing all three men to grimace. Lucas stepped away from his girlfriend, not wanting to lose his hearing.

Maddie continued, not giving Xavier a chance to speak up.

"Just, don't hurt her. She can't go through that again."

The last part she had said quietly, but all of them had caught onto what she said. Lucas immediately knew what she was talking about and nodded, agreeing with his girlfriend.

Xavier looked at the two with confusion. "What do you mean again?"

Maddie simply gave her brother a sad smile and grabbed Lucas' hand. "Let's go to our seats."

Liam gave Xavier a small shrug and trailed after the couple. Xavier was left with many questions swirling in his head.

❤︎ ❤︎ ❤︎

Snap out of it, Aurora.

But she couldn't.

Her eyes were already welling up with tears that she couldn't control.

Taking a shaky breath, she closed her eyes in an attempt to stop the tears gathering in her eyes from breaking free.

But, once the first tear fell, the rest followed in a continuous stream down her face. Brick by brick her walls that she built up strong throughout the past two years came crashing down.

Aurora stood staring at herself in the bathroom mirror— questioning herself, doubting herself as her tears continued to fall.

2 years.

2 years of working on herself and her confidence, yet literally within 2 minutes, she was left broken once again.

She was weak.

And she knew it.

There would always be a part of her that held that doubt—a part of her that no one could fix.

She suddenly felt her face heat up with beads of sweat forming on her forehead. A ringing sound filled her ears and she shook her head in distress. Black spots began to fill her vision as the room around her began to spin. Aurora gripped the sink in an attempt to steady herself.

She took a couple deep breaths to calm herself down. She couldn't go down this path again, not when the last time this happened was 2 years ago. She heard Connor's voice in her head.

Breathe Rory.

Take 10 deep breaths Rory—you can do it.

A couple seconds later, Aurora opened her eyes. The black spots had cleared up and she no longer felt like she was spinning.

She was exhausted and all she wanted to do was go home.

Aurora carefully dabbed her face, trying to get rid of any traces of tears. She quickly touched up her makeup and glanced at herself through the mirror.

She smiled.

It was a fake one.

No one would see the broken girl inside of her, drowning in her own self- doubt and worth.

Giving herself small words of meaningless encouragement, she made her way out of the restroom. But before she could make it a couple steps out of the restroom, a voice stopped her.

"Hey, I think it's about to start soon- have you been crying?" Xavier stood outside the restroom door with his back against the wall.

He pushed himself off the wall and began searching her face for answers. Unable to meet his gaze, she quickly looked down at the floor.

"What happened? Are you alright?" His frantic voice asked as he gently tilted her chin up, making their eyes lock. "Did Cynthia say something to you? I saw her walk out of the restroom a couple minutes ago."

So the woman's name was Cynthia.

Again, he received no reply.

"Sweetheart," He was now cupping her cheek. "Please answer me."

Tears were threatening to fall again as she took his hand and removed it from her face, She saw a hurt flash through his eyes when she stepped away from him.

Taking a shaky breath, her voice came out in a broken whisper. "I think we should stop this- whatever this is."

"What are you talking about, sweetheart?" His gentle voice asked almost immediately, taking a step towards her.

"We come from completely different worlds," She kept her gaze on the ground as she took another step back. "I'll never be good enough for you."

"What are you talking about, Aurora?" Xavier asked, not completely understanding what she was talking about. "Help me understand."

"You know what I'm talking about Xavier."

"I don't," His voice was coming out harsher than he had implied. "What the fuck happened while you were in the restroom?"

Aurora found herself flinching at the curse word. Unable to reply, she stepped around him, almost making it to the hallway that led to the ballroom.

Xavier quickly grabbed her arm, stopping her from leaving.

"Don't walk away from this, sweetheart."

He could hear the despair in his voice, but at this point, he didn't care. All he cared about was the woman who was about to leave him— leave before he could even have her.

"I won't be good enough for you," repeated Aurora. She stayed turned around, not wanting to meet his intense gaze that was focused on her back. "You deserve someone who will make you happy."

"You need to give yourself more credit," Taking a calming breath, he brought his voice back to a gentle tone. "You're the only one who can make me smile genuinely."

"I can't give you anything."

"I don't want anything from you."

"You should be happy."

"But you're the one who makes me happy." There was a hint of frustration in his voice.

Aurora shook her head. "I don't believe you."

Before Xavier could reply, an announcement disrupted them. "Can everyone make their way back to their seats, the event is about to begin."

Aurora gently pried his hand off. "We should head back."

With that, Aurora made her way back into the grand ballroom, not giving him another glance.

She spotted Liam, Maddie, and Lucas seated at a round table with Liam's parents. She took a seat in between Maddie and Liam, greeting Liam's parents with a smile.

"Are you alright babe?" Asked Maddie, immediately noticing that something was off with Aurora.

Xavier took a seat next to Lucas soon after Aurora.

"I'm alright," muttered Aurora, not meeting the eyes that were on her. Maddie looked back and forth between her brother, who was intensely looking at Aurora, and best friend, who was doing everything she could to avoid his gaze.

"You sure you're okay?" Asked Liam.

She gave him a small smile that did not reach her eyes.

As the host took the stage, Aurora found herself unable to focus on his words. Each second that passed, her mind was filling up with negative thoughts. She could feel Xavier's gaze on her as she maintained her focus on the stage.

It wasn't until Xavier was called up to the stage to give a speech that Aurora broke her gaze and looked down on her lap.

She couldn't bare to look at him right now without crying.

"I'm not feeling too well right now," said Aurora, quiet enough so that only her friends could hear. "I'll going to head home early."

"But-" Maddie stopped when she saw the sadness in Aurora's eyes. She shook her head and gave Aurora's hand a gentle squeeze.

Lucas looked at her wide eyed, knowing that Liam drove her. "How are you going to get home?"

"Do you want me to give you a ride?" Asked Liam, looking concerned.

Aurora shook her head. "I'll just call an Uber. You guys stay here and enjoy."

She began to stand, making sure she was slightly crouched so she wouldn't block anyones view.

"Get home safe," Maddie said, giving her best friend a sad smile and a small hug. "Text me when you get home."

"I will. Love you guys," Aurora returned the hug and bid goodbye to Liam's parents. She slowly made her way towards the exit.

She couldn't help but take one last look at the stage. is eyes locked onto Aurora's causing her steps to slightly falter. His steady voice was unwavering as he continued to stare at her. Aurora quickly turned back around and scurried out of the ballroom.

Xavier watched as she disappeared through the doors as continued to deliver a speech that he had practically memorized. His voice remained emotionless, but all he could think about at the moment was Aurora.

He didn't even get the chance to talk to her after the gala like he had planned.

To ask her to give him a chance.

A chance to show her that he meant what he said.

❤︎ ❤︎ ❤︎

So, this chapter was a lot harder to write compared to my other chapters. I'm not completely satisfied with it and I kept going back to edit it over and over again, so I'm really sorry for the slight delay. Also, this was a sad chapter, but please bare with me!! Things will get better in the next couple chapters, so stay tuned!

Thank you so much for taking the time out of your day to read my story. I can't even begin to tell you how much I appreciate all of you readers. Never in a million years did I ever imagine anyone actually reading what I'm writing and now I'm already at over 400 reads. I also really appreciate the votes and comments- I love love love reading your comments so please continue to let me know what you think! Thank you again, loves. Stay safe and have a great day <3