Not a Fan (Wilbur Soot)

Wilbur

"That's chocolate chip guy." Aurora said with a small smile, looking back up to the photo.

"Wilbur.." Aurora spoke quietly to herself, her smile growing as she looked up at the familiar green voiced stranger. 

"Wait- you don't mean the guy you met in the grocery store, do you?" Niki questioned, looking between Aurora and the photo. 

"That's definitely him. He was tall, had curly brown hair, big brown eyes, and a smile that-" Aurora cut herself off, remembering that they were still live in front of thousands of people. The monitor popped up with a notification as the chat moved so furiously she couldn't even read any of it. 

"Oh, Tommy just raided us! Hi to all of Tommy's viewers!" Niki said quickly, barely looking at her monitor. She was much more interested in the blush she noticed creeping onto her friend's cheeks. 

"What does raided mean?" Aurora questioned. She had already figured it out but was desperate to change the topic. 

"It means that Tommy ended his stream and sent all his viewers to us." Niki explained. "But go back, something about Wil's smile?" Her voice conveyed a teasing tone, a smirk ever so evident on her face. 

"Oh, nothing. I-I just, recognized it. He smiled at me in the store." Aurora talked quietly, averting her gaze from Niki and the screen. 

"Well, he's over all the time so I'm sure you two will meet eventually." Niki said with a smile. Although she found it endearing how flustered Aurora was, she didn't want to make her more uncomfortable. "Well now that we have lots of new viewers, how about we switch to a game instead of chatting?" Niki suggested. 

"Oh, I don't really know how to play any games. I'd be happy to just watch though!" Aurora smiled, thankful Niki had moved passed talking about chocolate chi- Wilbur.  

"Let's make you a minecraft account then! You can even code your own skin." Niki smiled, already pulling up the game. 

The two worked on creating Aurora's character, showing the chat how to code, and getting her comfortable with the controls. 

"There we go! You'll be a pro in no time!" Niki assured as Aurora fumbled with her inventory, trying to make armor. 

"I don't know about that, you'll probably need to give me a few more lessons." Aurora laughed. 

"Want to try playing bed wars?" Niki asked, loading up her second monitor. 

"Crap." Aurora muttered, looking down at her phone. Her entire home screen was covered in notifications of missed texts, calls, and voicemails from her mother. 

"Something wrong?" Niki asked, trying to look over to Aurora's phone. 

"Not necessarily. I think I actually need to head home now though. Thank you for saving from my neighbor and teaching me how to play minecraft. I'll get it loaded on my computer when I get home, I promise!" Aurora said, already standing. 

"Oh- and uh, bye, chat?" Aurora questioned, looking to Niki for approval. Niki giggled at her friend's concerned face. 

"Chat, tell Rori bye!" Niki said, a laugh still mixed in with her words. The chat erupted in goodbyes and crying faces. Niki gave Aurora a thumbs up in approval, signaling it was fine for her to leave. 

"Bye Niki! I'll text you later!" Aurora rushed, already putting on her shoes at the door. 

She was thankful the bus was already outside as she left the building. The rain was heavy today and she didn't want to have to wait outside for long. 

Aurora ignored the messages and voicemails, dialing her mom. 

"Aurora Jennings." Her mom's red voice was sharp and stern. 

"Hi mom." Aurora sighed, already not looking forward to the conversation. 

"How come I haven't heard from you?" Her tone was unchanged. 

"I've been with Niki. We've just been catching up and hanging out. I'm really enjoying myself mom. Things are good for me here." She tried to calm her mom. 

"Are you taking your medication? The doctor said you shouldn't be changing your routine too much and this is definitely a major change." Her mom asked. Aurora bit down hard on the inside of her cheek as she remembered her impulsive decision to dump her medication down the toilet- literally. 

"I already have a routine going here, mom. Please, don't worry about me. Things are going to be better from now on." She casually avoided answering her mother's question, hoping her response would suffice. 

"I'm always going to worry. I know things were especially hard for you after-"

"Mom, I have to go. I'm on the bus and my stop is coming up. I'll send you photos of my apartment later, sound good?" Aurora interrupted, not wanting to hear anything more her mom had to say. 

"Okay honey, I love y-" 

Aurora hung up. She already had a less than ideal start to her day and she had worked so hard to turn it around. She wasn't going to let her mom bring her back down. 

Aurora stood quickly, walking to the front of the bus as it pulled up around the a corner, still a few stops away from her building. She didn't have an umbrella, yet again, but she didn't care. Part of her wanted to feel the way the cold rain soaked through her clothes, chilling her to the bone. At least it meant she was feeling something. 

She walked slowly to her building, finding comfort in the goosebumps that raised on her skin. She turned the final corner, the sidewalks deserted, not a person in sight. There was a just one black car running, pulled up to the sidewalk right in front of her building's door. The windows were nearly completely fogged up with steam. 

She made her way up to her apartment, deciding to take the stairs for once. She regretted her decision by the time she got to the third floor but pushed though. Her wet clothes felt like weights tied around her. 

She opened the door to her floor, shocked to see a small container sat in front of her door. She walked over quickly, picking it up. 

Best when warm with tea - 608B 

Aurora scoffed despite the smile on her face. Maybe her neighbor wasn't too bad after all. She made her way inside, setting down the container and her purse. She only had one thing on her mind and it was a hot bath. Anything to melt away the stress from her phone call with her mom and restore the warmth to her body. 

After some much needed self care, Aurora emerged from the bathroom in an oversized t-shirt and sweatpants, her hair still wrapped in a towel. She looked over to the peace offering, opening the container.

Inside was a small ramekin with bread pudding. She laughed lightly, wondering if he had decided to make a stereotypical English dessert to counter her American one. She placed it into the microwave while setting up her kettle, following the instructions to enjoy it with warm with tea. 

"Oh my god, yes." Aurora mumbled, her mouth full with the hot gooey bread pudding. She walked over to her window ledge, looking out her window. The warmth from the ramekin in her hand, the steaming tea beside her, and her skin still tingling from her hot bath contrasted nicely with the cold and dreary scenery outside. 

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(1,230 words)