Corrupted hearts || 1

13

CHAPTER THIRTEEN ❦ AURELIA
"Are you kidding?" Vera gaps as we descend along the hallway of the university, we've finished all our classes today, and the relief I feel after it is always satisfying.

Which brings us to the current moment, I've been explaining to both her and Angelina about how Elias offered to help me study, and the expressions on their faces worried me a bit, "Is Elias that evil?" I mutter under my breath, ignoring the stares and murmurs surrounding us.

People apparently haven't moved on from that time he chased me with his Ferrari, yikes, every time I remember that I thought college will be less tortuous and childish than high school I feel disappointed.

And This goddamn girl that hit me with her coffee the first day, Veronica or something, she glares at me every now and then like I killed her child, it's almost pathetic, but it still made this uneasy feeling rise along my skin.

Like my fingers are itching to slam her in the nearest locker and tell her to wake the fuck up, "Not evil, just not the type who offers to tutor someone." Angelina adds calmly, i sigh, "Well, the asshole wants something out of it don't worry." I explain.

Understanding morphs into both their features, "Uh, I don't feel very good about this." Vera murmurs under her breath and I thin my lips in a line as I contemplate what he can actually do, and it's a lot.

However, I'll set some limits with him when we start studying together, he knows that too, Elias isn't the type who plays around, so if he agreed to that then he'll probably stick by his words.

"Holy shit, when did he change his car?" Angelina asks, eyes widening in mesmerization and I follow her trail of gaze, sure enough, my eyes land on Elias, who's now in a new car.

I tilt my head as I inspect it, A Range Rover, this man swims in wealth, Jesus Christ, I approach the car when I see that he's already staring at me, I can sense that a lot of people are watching but I try to ignore them.

His steel gaze darts my way, and I cease to breathe. They say the eyes are the window to the soul, but for Elias, there's...nothing.
It's empty in there.
A dark, bottomless hole.

I force my chin up and look down at him, one hand is on the steering wheel, and the other is resting on his thigh, "Come in, sweetheart." He orders, and while the sweetheart does sound a bit less sarcastic, his voice isn't near being gentle.

I look back at my friends who look surprised, "Sweet-fucking-heart?" Vera exclaims under her breath, confusion clear in her voice, while Angelina smirks, then leans so her lips are centimeters away from my ears, "I think you might be the first one who gets Elias this worked up." I don't feel the victory that's shining in her brown eyes.

I curse under my breath as they both abandon me seconds later, those fucking traitors, "You're making a scene." I widen my eyes as I hold his demonic ones, his smile widens, I don't think I've ever seen a genuine smile on that face of his, and I don't think I ever will.

"The attention is always on me, Aurelia." He says coldly, I narrow my eyes at his arrogant statement, I'm not even surprised by it, so I just huff out a breath and walk towards the passenger seat, get inside, and shut the door with a hard thud.

Elias doesn't look bothered, but I am, four days ago, he found me in the bathroom after he heard me throw up, which I'm almost certain of cause no one else was there, it was clear, however, did he ever speak about the situation? Maybe I should be relieved that he didn't.

But with Elias, I'm not sure what's going on in his fucking mind, what if he's planning something else? Something more painful? He wouldn't do such a thing, would he? I don't know him enough for that but I just hope that he'll keep his mouth shut for a while.

"The Range Rover isn't too small, is it?" He asks, cocking his head to the side as he ruffles a hand through his inked black hair, my lips slowly part as realization falls over me.

"You changed your car for me?" I choke out, heat flushing my cheeks as I feel myself taking a tomato's shade, "Your complaints were giving me a headache." He says or more like lies but I don't take offense as my eyes flit around.

Welcoming in the fancy black leather seats, when my eyes meet his again, I find him already staring at me as if he's enjoying seeing me study his car, it probably feeds his ego.

I sigh, then the engine goes off seconds later, the car ride is silent, but the silence isn't uncomfortable or tense, it's just silence, peaceful and quiet.

*: ❦ *:

"You said limits?" Elias arches his eyebrow, I nod sternly, "Yes, you'll have limits with me, cause well, with all honesty I don't trust you." I state, not embarrassed, he lets out something that sounds like a humorless laugh.

"You shouldn't." He proves my assumptions and I sigh exaggeratedly, "Okay so first off, No making fun of me, no bullying, absolutely no, I don't care if you're a genius or what exactly, but don't ever call me stupid or obnoxious." I mock, but my voice is stern, giving away that I mean every word I just spoke.

He contemplates it for a second before nodding, "Secondly, you need to tell me exactly what you want in return because I don't trust your manipulative intentions, Elias, I don't like being tricked." I clarify.

"Manipulative, ha?" He retorts, I raise a brow, "Don't ha me, you know exactly what I'm talking about." I protest, and he leans back on my couch, while my room isn't exactly small, Elias's dark presence is eating it up.

"Whatever you say, Aurelia." He sighs, his response slightly takes me aback, but I ignore it, "Okay I need to get a lot of work done." I emphasize, placing my notebooks in front of him.

He eyes the cartoonish designs on them and the judgment is all over his features, "What?" I ask, pulling them to me, an adorable bear who wears sunglasses stares back at me.

"He's more beautiful than you." I assure and start opening them as I ignore Elias's stare at me, I bet he just rolled his eyes, "What exactly are you sucking at?" He asks and I grimace, "All?" He questions, raising a brow and I nod.

He sighs, "Don't mind me if I stay over tonight." Sarcasm is clear in his tone as he starts flipping through the pages, I roll my eyes before his words make me pause.

"I need to eat first." He states, his expression not changing one bit, tension prickles through my muscles before I nod, "I think there are leftovers in the fridge." I explain and he nods, stands up then exits my room, I sigh in relief.

I don't know how I feel about this, and I don't know if he'll actually address the situation or not, moments pass as my mind gets the best of me and my thoughts start flowing into a direction that makes my stomach flip.

Elias strolls back inside seconds later, holding two plates, filled with pasta, I gulp as he places one in front of me, I take the fork and start messing up the perfectly cooked pasta, that way it'll look like I'm eating, it's a trick I've learned over the years.

"Thank you for bringing me food," I say gently, not having the energy to joke, he doesn't offer me a reply as he starts eating his food, but his eyes stay on me all the way to the point where I have to force some food down my throat.

"You like pasta?" I ask just to distract him, he contemplates it for a second, then nods, "Don't hate it, you?" This is so unlike him but I don't question it further before I nod, "I like pizza though." I don't know why I admit that, but it's been so long since I ate it in the first place.

Almost years, due to my mother's strict diet, "Yeah? What else?" I don't like where this conversation is going but to distract him from noticing my uneaten food, I answer, truthfully, "It's not a meal, but I really like Cinnabon, and—well I like any chocolate generally, the love of my life." I emphasize and I swear I see a hint of a smile stretching over his face.

And that's how we spend the rest of the night, studying, him almost yelling at me, and then me yelling back, we discuss random stuff every now and then and I sleep that night with one thought revolving around my mind.

Is it possible that Elias and I turn into friends?

A vote is really appreciated.