Cruel Summer | Jason Dilaurentis

The Funeral

It was at times like this Aurora wished she had a family.

Standing alone outside of the church , staring at her phone, desperately trying to avoid the pitiful stares from the rest of the funeral goers. Her blue eyes read over the email she had gotten a few minutes ago.

TO: Aurora Jenkins

We aren't going to make it.

Six words. That was all her mother decided she was worth, of course she had anticipated they wouldn't come, they never did. But in the back of her mind, there was always hope, especially on a day like today. Aurora had wished that her parents would show up for her just this once.

She almost felt foolish for thinking that she would have anybody to support her, yet it was one of the hardest days of her life, if they were ever going to show up for her, it should have been for this.

It felt foreign to be so aware of every emotion she felt, the harsh reality of sobriety was hitting her hard, the urge to call her dealer was like an unrelenting itch from a bug bite, begging to be scratched.

You're doing this for Ali.

That was her mantra today, for once in her life, she would not run away from her ghosts. She had promised herself that she would not touch any drugs. So she began to slowly walk through the door the grand door creaking as she pushed against it. Hundreds of eyes turned towards her as she made her way down the aisle, but she didn't falter until she was stood before the haunting image of her smiling best friend.

It felt like she was frozen, no matter how hard she tried to turn her eyes away from the picture, she couldn't. She was in a trance until the wooden floor creaked next to her, and her gaze moved from her best friend to...

His eyes were nearly identical to Alison's.

The same colour and oval shape, only his eyes held such a deep sorrow that contrasted his sister's bright, mischievous expression. How could two siblings be so different but so similar, they were like day and night, one could not exist without the other, they prospered when opposite. Yet twice a day at sunrise and sunset they met in harmony and bonded, forming a beautiful display of colour.

It was obvious that the light of day had been taken away. The dark circle under his eyes proved that the darkness of night had taken over, the stars had burnt out and all that was left was a void of sadness.

It pained Aurora to see him this way.

Their eyes met, just like they always used to, but their were no fireworks or butterflies this time, only a miserable understanding of the other's pain. Words were caught in each of their throats. What were they mean to say? Should they shout and cry, should they awkwardly embrace as a sign of support? Or should she just walk away?

Three deep breathes and then; "I-"

"Aurora, my darling girl!" The shaky voice of Jessica Dilaurentis cut off any of the sound about to come out of her mouth. The scent of sweet perfume engulfed her as she was pulled into the woman's arms.

"Mrs Dilaurentis, how are you?" In response, her best friend's mother only tightened the hug, clinging to the girl that reminded her so much of Alison.

"We thought the other girls should sit up front with us," Aurora hadn't even notice the four girls who had been spectating the entire scene, "Please, take a seat."

The blonde awkwardly shuffled into the seat next to Aria, greeting the girls with a small smile, as soon as she was settled, she felt a him sit down next to her, their knees almost touching.

Before she thought to much about how close their bodies were , a flask was shoved into her hands by Hanna, and Aurora once again found herself frozen. The lid was already open, allowing the intoxicating scent of liquor to waft towards her, it would be so easy to just lift the drink up to her lips but- No.

You promised. 

"No thanks." Her voice was light, but the weight of those words was difficult to ignore. Four shocked faces turned towards her, Aurora Jenkins had never turned down free alcohol before, she claimed that it would be a waste. Yet here she was, denying the one thing she usually used to cope.

Before any of the girls could comment, the priest started his prayer and drew the attention away from her. Aurora released a breath as she felt the pressure fall away, her heart was beating faster than it had been five minutes ago and she felt her body start to shake, she couldn't breathe. Why couldn't she breathe?

She jumped at the feeling of a cold hand sliding into to hers, a calloused thumb began drawing circles onto her skin, she fixated on the calming gesture of comfort the man next to her was giving and suddenly everything was clear again.

She could not bring herself to tear her hand away from his, she couldn't bear to let go again, even though he deserves to feel what she felt. She was never able to let go of him.

In fact she held on tighter as she felt her phone vibrate through the material of her black dress, squeezing his hand as if it was her lifeline. In her gut she knew who that message was from, and she was too much of a coward to look at it in his presence. She would never let him find out if she could help it. She didn't want to scare him away again.

Aurora felt her stomach sink as she realised that despite her hardest efforts to avoid alcohol, she had broken her promise the second she walked through those doors.

Because Jason Dilaurentis had always been her favourite drug.

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Short chapter but finally wrote a bit of Jaurora so yay!

Word count: 1010