RUN TO YOU
lea michele
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↻ ◁ II ▷ ↺
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As promised, Warren was already waiting in Nyx's driveway when she arrived.
It wasn't his car that caught her attention first, though, but it was the sleek Tiguan that had pulled in moments after the girl had hastily tossed her bike by the garage.
Confused as to what her mother was doing back home this early, since the evening had just begun, Nyx stopped in her tracks for a short second.
Reminding herself that she still had to chase after what was slipping from her hands with every breath she wasted, the girl continued to walk away from what she knew she had already lost.
"Nyx!" Nova's voice sent a chill down her daughter's spine.
The woman, looking beautifully tired, stepped out of her car and called out to her child, who seemed to be running from her.
It felt strange to be acknowledged after so long.
With her fists clenched at her sides, Nyx turned around without stopping in her tracks.
With a broken smile on her peach lips, she said gently to her mother, "Not now, mom. I have to get to someone who I can count on to stay. . .I'll see you after I come back - if you're still here."
There was no malice in her voice, no hidden jab in her eyes, there was only a plain reflection of everything she'd come to terms with.
Nova watched as her daughter strayed further away from her, feeling a storm of guilt strangling her soul. She feared that she'd lost the tussle for her without even trying to fight.
Especially today, the regret gnawed deeper in coordination with the sadness she felt after having lost half of her world.
Warren opened the door for Nyx and helped her climb into his jeep.
With a concerned furrow in his brows, he asked, "Are you alright? You're scaring me,"
Nyx nodded hurriedly, "Get in and I'll tell you. Please, Warren."
The aureate, sensing the urgency in the girl's tone, shut the passenger's door for her and jogged over to the driver's side before seating himself. He then looked at her expectantly after offering her a bottle of water upon seeing how haywire she looked.
Her cheeks were flushed dangerously, her breaths were short and rapid, and her fingers were trembling ever so slightly as she brought the bottle to her unsteady lips.
"What the hell is going on, Nyx? Is someone bothering you?" Warren asked worriedly, ready to fight for his friend.
Nyx shook her head and confirmed, "I'm ok, I promise."
She then questioned, "Do you know where Azriel will be?"
"He's supposed to be at school, something about a detention," Warren lied, unaware that she already knew about Azriel's counseling sessions.
Nyx adored him for keeping his best friend's business private.
She knew that she'd have to fess up about her sessions too, so she did.
"I take counseling too. We both had an hour together today before he. . .left. I need you to take me to him. I wouldn't have bothered you if it wasn't urgent. Please,"
"I'll do whatever it takes, you'll never be a bother, Nyx. Don't ever say that again," Warren scolded. "Our best guess is that he went home. Hold on, I'll find out,"
He pulled out his cellphone from the pocket of his sweatpants. Dialing a number, he brought it up to his ear and waited a few seconds before speaking.
"Aurora, hey. Is Aze home?"
Nyx began feeling uncertain when the boy didn't hang for the next couple of minutes. His body tensed and with a clenched jaw he ran a hand through to his golden curls.
Whatever Aurora was telling him was resulting in this shift of mood, it scared the nyctophile.
"Nyx and I are on our way, don't tell him, ok? We'll be there," Warren assured before hanging up.
"He got home over an hour ago. Aurora said that he went straight to his room and has locked himself in there since," the aureate summarised his conversation with the halcyon who, for as long as he'd known her, had never sounded so terrified.
As they began driving speedily yet safely, Warren wanted to so badly ask what was wrong after seeing and hearing his friends so worried.
But he didn't want Nyx to relive whatever had happened, so he kept his mouth shut and focused on getting the two of them to where they were meant to be.
Meanwhile, Nyx didn't like the thought of Azriel being locked in a room where, after what she'd hear him say to Jonah, he could do anything without help present to stop him.
Her chest tightened at every thought she gulped down, a void punched its way into her stomach, widening with every moment that seemed as long as eternity.
"I'm scared, Warren. I'm so scared," Nyx confessed distractedly, fiery eyes glazed.
That was all it took for the golden boy to hit the gas harder.
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In no time, Nyx and Warren were driving past the tall iron gates of the Logan abode that Aurora had buzzed open for them.
A bricked home stood in the distance, three-storied and beautiful, as they drove on the pebbled driveway, on either side of which was a large lawn that circled its way to the back of the house. They parked between Azriel's stunning Camaro and the pickup truck that brought back so many memories for Nyx.
Aurora held the teak doors wide open to welcome her friends.
A homely sort of warmth engulfed Nyx in greeting, one that she hadn't caught even a whiff of in her own house.
Fiona and Howard didn't believe in mansions, they didn't like the idea of being so spread out and distant from their children, so they tossed aside suggestions involving anything extravagant and opted for something that fell between an overly large mansion and a suburban home.
Put together, their home was safe, warm, and welcoming.
The halcyon and the nyctophile embraced each other tightly, happy about the instant comfort they felt in spite of the circumstances concerning a certain raven monster.
Warren gave the younger girl a soothing hug too, rubbing her back with his thumb.
Before the trio could make it past the foyer, a cloud of familiar white fluff came pounding delicately in their direction, followed by a foreign ball of fawn fur.
The pair of tiny puppies tumbled over each other as they raced to get to the visitors first.
They approached Warren initially, hopping around him on their little paws and attacking him adorably.
"Hello to my favorite Logans!" the boy grinned happily and knelt, allowing them to lick his open palms.
While the fawn-coloured Chow-Chow stayed for him to pet her, the white Maltese recognized Nyx and pawed over to her, baby eyes looking up at her expectantly, waiting to be given affection.
Nyx smiled at Oreo, ruffling his curly fur and tickling him where he liked it.
"Oreo, Nell! Who wants to go play in the backyard?" Aurora called out to the Logan pups in a child's voice, clapping her palms together to get their attention.
"That's my Nellie. . .go on, Oreo, go play!" she grinned at them, gesturing them away with her arms.
They followed her gentle command and, once again, tumbled over each other while running inside the house and over to the backyard like small, furry balloons.
Once the pair was gone, Nyx asked this Logan about the other one.
Aurora led them further into her home, walking them over to where the staircase was.
"He came home and went straight to his room. Usually, when he comes home he feeds Oreo and Nell, picks on me without forgetting, and if our parents are here he'll let them know he's home. He did no such thing today. After a few minutes of him not coming downstairs, I went up to his room to see if he was alright but he'd already locked it. I thought he needed some time to himself so I let him be. Warren's call, though, worried me,"
Once up the stairs, after walking down a long hallway, the trio stopped at a door.
"Your parents aren't home?" Warren whispered to Aurora, hinting that they were outside Azriel's room.
Aurora shook her head, "They're at work. They'll be back by dinner."
She noticed the disturbed scrunch in Nyx's face as she stared at the door on her right, her mind coming up with all possibilities bad.
"Nyx, don't worry. I know where he'll be," Aurora assured.
She then held up a pair of keys for her friends to see, "They're for his room. He'll probably kill me but. . .I really don't care right now,"
When the door clicked opened, the trio passed each other uncertain glances and prepared themselves for Azriel scolding upon invading his personal space without permission.
However, nothing but silence followed their assumptions.
Opening the door wider, they stepped in one after the other.
The walls resembled the hues of stardust, light grey and calming in color. The bed was neatly made, on either side of which was a nightstand, and one of them was home to three photo frames.
The first photo was of all four Logans smiling at the camera, huddled close to each other. The second was a snap of two-year-old Azriel holding new-born Aurora in his chunky arms, a toothy grin on his baby lips at the arrival of his little sister. The last was a picture of Oreo and Nell snuggled into each other.
Right across from the desk in the corner of the room with a single shelf on top of it, was a matching black bean bag. On the left of the room were two doors leading to the bathroom and the closet, that was all.
It wasn't boringly bland, neither was it messily over-furnished. There were no unnecessary objects or discarded clothes lying around carelessly, no.
It was neat, it was just how the boy wanted his chaotic mind to be - free.
"He's not here," Warren announced the obvious.
Nyx, though, didn't respond immediately.
She was too mesmerized with the constellations on the ceiling. They were the same as hers, mirroring the ones she had back in her room.
She wanted to smile at how they both found comfort in all that was beyond reach.
Walking over to the open window, Aurora revealed, "He often goes up to the roof to clear his head - or, sometimes, to give mom a scare. He's got to be up there,"
Turning around, she gave Nyx a small smile, "He'll talk to you. If Warren and I go out there, he's definitely going to fling one of us off the roof."
Warren stuck his head out the window, checking if it was safe for Nyx to go on.
"It's not that hard to climb. Still, be careful," he instructed, tilting his head as if to ask for confirmation.
Nyx nodded, "Got it."
Warren had been right, the roof wasn't overly tedious to take on - it was triangular, clearly favorable to anyone who wanted to walk on it.
After stepping onto the roof tiles, Nyx held on to the top of the window sill to keep herself balanced. Now all she had to make sure of was to hoist her weight up the right way, otherwise, she'd go falling into too many possible fractures.
Taking a deep breath, the girl placed her hands on the lift of the roof and pressed down it, feeling her feet fly.
Just then, a gust of wind blew past her, startling her and almost making her lose balance.
Aurora gasped and shut her eyes. Warren reached his arms out to catch her even though he couldn't.
It was a relief when nothing happened and Nyx succeeded in climbing up without any damage.
The golden boy and halcyon looked up at her to make sure that she was stable on her feet, proceeding to give her a comforting smile each.
Nyx gave them a thumbs up with both her hands and a small nod before turning around with a gulp.
The Logans' roof was huge, there were parts of it one couldn't even see till they got closer, which is why it took her a few steps forward around it before she finally found what she was looking for.
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