"I guess I really am being held together by tape and glue, huh?" Aurora scoffed, more so to herself than to Wilbur. At this point, the entire night was starting to feel like one big cosmic joke.
It wasn't until she felt Wilbur's arm tense around her that she realized what had escaped her.
"Rori-"
"It's fine, really. You guys weren't wrong." Aurora said while pulling away from the hug. Wilbur's arms, which once felt like stone around her, now slid limply to her sides. She was almost disappointed that he let go so easily.
"I didn't mean to eavesdrop. I was bringing over some snacks for you and Niki when I heard you talking through the door. I didn't even hear my name, but I just got that feeling where you know people are talking about you. I shouldn't have stayed to listen, but I did." Aurora admitted.
Even though the silence in the car was tense, she pushed through. She knew that Wilbur deserved an explanation, regardless of if he asked for it or not. Aurora was sick of letting herself treat people less than they deserved.
"Was that all you heard?" Wilbur asked quietly, the green of his voice mixed with the white fog from the sound of the vents, the colors drifting through the car.
"Jeez, was there more?" Aurora said with a laugh. It really wasn't a funny situation, but maybe her sleep deprived mind was getting the best of her. Her smile faded when she looked over to Wilbur, seeing his pained expression.
"You missed the part where I told Niki that you aren't held together by tape and glue. Where I explained that I haven't met a side of you that I didn't want to get to know." Wilbur sighed, his eyes beginning to dart around nervously. "You missed the part where I told Niki that I'd never be reckless with your heart, and I just hope you're not being reckless with mine." Wilbur finished, shifting in his seat to face forward.
Aurora stared at Wilbur in silence. How could someone that she met a week ago see her more clearly than she sees herself?
"I'm not. At least, I'm not trying to be." Aurora said after a few moments of deliberation.
Wilbur was leaned back in his seat, still facing forward. She could see the tension rise in his forehead, his brows undoubtedly furrowed.
"Being reckless with your heart." Aurora clarified, watching intently as the tension released from Wilbur's face, his eyes fluttering shut. He let out what she could only assume was a sigh of relief.
He sat back up in his seat, twisting his torso to face her again. It hadn't even been five minutes since he last spoke, but she found herself craving to see the green of his voice again. For his sacramento words to tell her everything she wanted to hear.
Wilbur reached out, placing his hand on her cheek. Although her cheeks had felt freezing before from being at the mercy of the elements, she quickly found her temperature matching Wilbur's hand- warmth blossoming on her cheeks from the gesture.
She brought her hand up to hold the back of his, her fingers trailing down to his wrist. Wilbur leaned forward slowly, his hand pulling her face towards his.
"Can I kiss you?" Wilbur asked through an exhale. She couldn't tell what was more intoxicating, his question or finally seeing his voice again.
"Yes." She barely got out in a mumble before leaning forward herself.
Wilbur was clearly surprised by her advancement. Aurora couldn't blame him- until this point, she had yet to initiate anything between them. Wilbur's shock quickly subsided as he returned the kiss.
The kiss didn't feel like it was driven by passion or desire. It didn't feel like something that would quickly escalate to a decision they might regret after getting the sleep they were both lacking.
It felt like comfort. Reassurance. Safety.
As Wilbur wrapped his arms back around her, she didn't feel suffocated by his grip this time. The feeling of arms freezing around her like a statue was no longer present. She felt comfortable, like in this moment, in his arms, nothing could go wrong.
She wasn't even sure when or who broke the kiss, but she felt just as much security hugging Wilbur tightly, her face pressed against his shoulder.
"I don't want to be like this. I want to be someone you can depend on too." She admitted, closing her eyes. It seemed like the kiss was surprisingly the first thing to calm her down since the night began, her adrenaline no longer pumping.
"Having you like this is enough for me." Wilbur said quietly, his hand running through her tangled hair. "Although, if you could run away before 10pm, that would be a lot better for my sleep schedule." Wilbur continued with a laugh, holding onto her a bit more tightly, as if he was afraid she would take the joke wrong and pull away.
Aurora instantly let out a laugh herself, remembering that it was already after 3am and they were currently parked outside of Niki's apartment on the other side of Brighton.
She adjusted her arms around his torso, hugging him a bit tighter before pulling away. Wilbur didn't let her pull away completely this time, his arms staying hooked around her waist. She looked up to Wilbur, a small smiling growing on her face, as she leaned in to kiss his cheek.
Wilbur's face was priceless- wide eyes blinking rapidly and an undeniable blush forming. Aurora leaned back, attempting to get a better look when Wilbur faced away, pulling his arm away from her to hold his hand to his cheek.
"Wil, has no one ever kissed your cheek before?" Aurora asked, doing her best to suppress her laughter. She wasn't laughing to make fun of him by any means, his reaction was just so unexpected.
"People usually can't reach my cheeks to kiss them." Wilbur said snidely, despite the blush still prominent on his face. Aurora let out the laugh she was holding in, thankful when Wilbur let out a small laugh himself and returned his hand to her thigh.
Wilbur put the car in drive, finally getting them back on the road. Aurora leaned back in her seat, resting her hand atop of Wilbur's and closing her eyes for the drive home.
Home.
It seemed like that was the first time she truly felt like Brighton was home- her apartment next door to Wilbur's was home.
Aurora didn't even realize she had fallen asleep until she felt arms wrapping around her back and legs, lifting her out of her seat. Her eyes opened in slow blinks, Wilbur's face coming into view.
"Good morning, sunshine." Wilbur said in a hushed taunt. Aurora let out a muffled laugh into the crook of Wilbur's neck, pulling herself up a bit.
"You're not getting five bucks this time." She responded with just as snarky of a tone, thankful to hear Wilbur's green laugh compete with the sound of navy blue cricket chirps.
"If I recall correctly, you didn't even pay up last time. You're already indebted to me." Wilbur responded while walking backwards to push open the door to their building with his back.
"Well, if I recall correctly, you said you didn't want my 'bucks'." She did her best to imitate Wilbur's accent on the word 'bucks'. Aurora leaned her head to the side, catching a glimpse of Wilbur's smile and headshake.
As Wilbur walked through the empty lobby and into the elevator, Aurora tried to wiggle out of his grasp. When he didn't budge, she used her hands to press against his chest, pushing herself far enough back to look up at him.
"We're almost there, let me have this." Wilbur said with a smile, only looking down to her briefly.
"Have what? A damp American with paint in her hair in your arms" Aurora scoffed, no longer pushing away. She would never admit it aloud, but she was happier than she expected to be when Wilbur fought to continue holding her.
"'Damp American' sounds like a good song title." Wilbur mused, stepping onto the sixth floor.
"First I teach you all the chords that match your voice and now I'm giving you song titles? Who's indebted to who again?" Aurora laughed. Her laughter dwindled as Wilbur walked past his own door without a moment's hesitation.
"I'll split the one pound per thousand streams that Spotify pays with you." Wilbur said sarcastically, stopping in front of her door. "Oh, so a minute ago you were all 'put me down Will-Ber' but now you can't walk?" Wilbur laughed, very poorly attempting a high pitched American accent.
Aurora looked down in silence, placing her feet on the ground. She knew the night would have to end eventually, but it felt like it was just starting to get good- like her and Wilbur were finally getting comfortable with each other again.
"You could invite me in instead of sulking." Wilbur leaned down and whispered when she turned away from him, unlocking her door.
"Actually, I have something I wanted to show you." Aurora paused, suddenly remembering how her evening began with painting Lovejoy's song The Fall. "Will Bee, would you like to come in?" She turned around with a bright smile. Her smile only continued to grow when she saw the shock on Wilbur's face from his joke of a proposal actually being accepted.
"It'll just take a minute, then you can go to bed." She continued, holding the door open for Wilbur. As soon as he stepped through, she started heading towards her painting corner.
As she expected, the paint was still wet in a few areas where the layers had become thick, but she was able to pick it up carefully by the edges.
She turned around to see Wilbur taking off his shoes in her doorway. Something about him making himself welcome despite her insinuating he was free to leave made Aurora's heart beat just a bit faster.
He looked up, his eyes instantly landing on the canvass in her arms. He looked between her and the painting several times before he spoke.
"It's my voice, right?" Wilbur said with a smile as he walked towards her. "It's the same green as the portrait you did of me. Unless I'm just being a narcissist." Wilbur laughed as he looked to her for approval, while leaning over to get a closer look at the painting.
Aurora's smile faded into something much softer, her eyes scanning over Wilbur's features. She didn't often get to see him at her eye level, so she marveled at the sight anytime she was given the opportunity.
"Yeah, it is. This is how I see the song, uh, I think it was called The Fall?" She said quietly, suddenly uninterested in anything other than analyzing every expression on Wilbur's face.
"You were listening to my band?" He said with a grin, peeling his eyes off the painting for the first time in a minute.
"Nevermind, you are just a narcissist." Aurora deflected, turning to set down the painting. Wilbur wrapped his arms around her shoulders pulling her against his chest once the painting was back on the easel.
"And you're a ticking bomb." He said with a laugh. Now that Aurora had more context to the conversation she overheard, she found his comment to be quite funny.
"Psh. You love me." She scoffed, her laugh instantly getting caught in her throat as she remembered the text Wilbur had sent her.
"I think I'm falling in love with you which is absolutely ridiculous because I barely know you"
Based on the way she felt Wilbur's breath stutter against her back, she knew he must've shared the exact same thought. Just before Aurora could change the subject, Wilbur broke the silence first.
"Would it be bad if I did?"
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(2,060 words) ... oh look, its the cover of the book.. fjdkafldk okay i am so sorry for abandoning this book yet again and starting another book which took all my attention away from this (karlnap is so fun though can you blame me?). i finally think i have an ending in mind so the book is almost done at least! if you're still reading this book i love you and im so sorry