❝Desire, Lust, and Passion are the pigments of life's canvas. Just as an artist acts on inspiration, so too must we, with brushstrokes of physical touch, bring forth the masterpiece of our emotions onto the blank canvas of existence.❞
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Aurelia leans against the elevator wall, listening to her music as she waits for the doors to open. She hums the song as she waits, trying to prepare herself before she sees Andrew or even Elijah. She left early that day to avoid the men, especially after listening in on them. How can she face them? Anytime someone mentions their names, she replays what she heard the night before. It's going to be hard trying to pretend like she doesn't know what they were doing.
Once the elevator door opens, Aurelia steps off, taking her headphones off. The music can still be heard through the headphones as she puts the key in the door and opens it. She silently prays that neither men are present.
However, when she opens it, she sees Elijah leaning against the counter just a few steps away from the living area. He seems to be deep in thought because the man didn't even notice her come in. Aurelia pulls her headphones from around her neck and turns them off. She closes the door behind her, causing the tall male to finally snap back to reality.
"Hey," he greets softly, approaching her with a small grin on his face. "I didn't see you this morning, did you have an early class?"
Aurelia shakes her head as she takes her shoes off. "I wanted to leave early because I wanted to talk to Sunny about the event on Friday. You know, since I'm participating in it."
It was only a white lie.
She did want to talk to Sunny, but she had all day to do so. Aurelia just used that as an excuse so Elijah wouldn't start asking questions to the point she won't be able to lie about what she heard the previous night.
"Oh, right." he chuckles, running his large hands through his hair first, before guiding them down his chest. "Speaking of Friday, I have some good news from your roommate."
Aurelia swallows hard as she tries her hardest not to look at the man's bare chest, the one he had on display. The chest he could easily cover if he just buttoned the last four buttons on shirt. She could see his chest tattoo. It was a quote, but it wasn't a big font.
"French."
She shakes her head and looks up at him. "Huh?"
He pushes off of the counter and approaches her. Elijah lets out a small chuckle before opening his shirt a bit more. "My tattoo? It's French."
"Why-"
She stumbles over her words before she's silent. It is then that she realized that she was caught staring again. Here this man was trying to tell her something important and all she could do is check him out? Was she checking him out? No. He's just distracting.
"I don't mind," he steps closer, causing her voice to get caught in her throat. "How can I be upset with a pretty woman eyeing me down like that."
Aurelia takes a step back, gripping the back of the couch she was standing near. "I don't k-know what you're talking a-about. You were saying? About my new roommate?"
Elijah looks away, laughing softly before crossing his arms. "Nina. My friend, she wants to meet you Friday. After some persuasion and a deal that she would meet you first, she said you can move in with her on Saturday."
Persuasion? Did he mean, sleeping with her?
Her mind instantly went to the events that played out last night, the words Elijah mumbled in that voice. That voice. His voice. Aurelia grips the back of the couch tighter, biting the inside of her cheek. Did he really sleep with someone to get her a room? No. That can't be right. That would be just her feeding into his rumor about getting around. Right?
"Aurelia." Elijah says her name, causing her to swallow air and look him in the eyes.
"Y-Yes?"
He tilts his head and crosses his arms again. "You've been acting a bit weird since you walked in. Are you feeling okay?"
Without warning, Elijah presses the back of his hand against her forehead, and then his figure tips against her neck. She gasps and takes another step back, almost falling over the couch. Almost. The male wraps his arms around her waist, pulling her against his chest.
"I got you." He says softly. "Careful, baby."
Aurelia could feel her heart move from her chest to her throat, and the sound of her breathing gradually picking up. She is so close to him and he's holding on to her tightly. This physical moment causes her to push him back gently before avoiding his eyes. His hand is still touching her exposed waist, causing heat to rise from her toes to her head.
"Do you not want to move on Saturday?" He asks her, causing her to shake her head quickly.
"No." She says, but quickly correct her statement. "No to not wanting to leave, I mean. I want to leave. That's not why I'm acting weird."
"So you agree," he tilts his head again, pulling his hand away and crossing his arms. "You have been weird. Did something happen today? Did Aiden bother you again?"
Aurelia quickly shakes her head again. "No. Everything is fine, I just-"
"What's wrong? Did I say something-"
"I-I..."
Elijah chuckles a bit trying to lighten the mood. "You can tell me Aurelia, I promise I won't judge if it's something bad."
"It's not b-bad... well... I-" she couldn't finish her statement because Elijah kept trying to reassure her, make her comfortable, but he didn't know him saying one simple meaningless word is what caused her to be this overwhelmed, this nervous. She has never felt like this before. Was it even nervousness that got her this way?
"Aurelia, baby-"
"I overheard you and Andrew last night!" She blurts out, cutting the man off.
He looks shocked for a moment, confusion covering his face before it slowly turns to realization. Aurelia covers her mouth, realizing what she had just said, but she exposes herself. She just told this man she overheard him and his partner.
She could see his eyes change, but his expression did not. At that point her nervousness is taking over. Aurelia utters a small apology before grabbing her bag, the one she tossed on the couch when she walked in, and made a straight line to the room.
"Shit." She heard Elijah say before his footsteps followed behind her. "Aurelia, wait!"
Aurelia slams the door close, panting softly as she holds the doorknob. She knows he's on the other side, but she couldn't bring herself to speak about it. What could she possibly say? She couldn't just say she heard almost everything, because that wouldn't be true. She only heard a small portion of it before she kept herself awake all night because she couldn't shake from memory. It was her fault anyway, she deliberately went out her way to eavesdrop.
"Aurelia, I didn't even realize we were that loud." he tried to explain, but it only made it worse. It gave her more to imagine, and she didn't want to imagine it because it made her feel things. Lots of things that she could hardly explain herself.
Silence.
"How much did you hear?" he asks, but his tone seems like he's more embarrassed than she is. "Did you hear everything? Did we... shit, what am I saying."
Aurelia bites her lip before taking a deep breath. There was no point in running away. It was childish for her to run away like that. "Just... a small thing about me."
She tells him before pulling the door open. As she pulls it open, the male falls back into the room, causing her to yelp slightly. He had his hands over his face, as he lay back on the floor. Aurelia sits against the wall beside him, hugging herself as she waits for the male to speak.
Elijah finally uncovers his face and sighs before he looks over. He sits up, looking into her eyes with so much regret. "I'm sorry, Aurelia. I... I should have never brought you up while we were... Shit. No wonder why you were gone. That must've made you uncomfortable having to hear that. I'm so fucking sorry, Aurelia. I'm sorry for everything you heard."
"N-No, It's okay-"
"It's not okay, Aurelia. Especially when it made you uncomfortable." He explains, but he was wrong. She doesn't know what it made her feel, but she didn't feel uncomfortable about it.
Elijah stands up from the floor, and places his hand on hip before rubbing his forehead. "I'm genuinely sorry, Aurelia. Just... let me make a call. I'll be right back, okay?"
Aurelia nods her head and stands from the floor as well, sitting on the bed. She didn't know how to explain herself without making it worse. She really wasn't uncomfortable hearing her name, and even if she was, she would've started with that. As she waits for Elijah's return, she gets a notification from her smart watch, a message from her best friend, Sabrina. It's clear that she's checking in on her, before she could respond, Elijah comes back.
"Thanks, Nina. I appreciate it." He says puts his phone in his pocket.
"What's wrong?" She asks, tilting her head slightly.
"So," he avoids her eyes. "I think you should move in with Nina, early. She said she'd come over to meet you, and tomorrow you can move in."
"Come over? You mean today? And move tomorrow?" She stands up this time. "I can't talk to her today, not after this conversation, and I can't move tomorrow. I have so much to do tomorrow, I'm not sure If I even have time to move my stuff from my old dorm to the new one!"
Elijah sighs. "I didn't think about that."
"Are you doing this because of guilt?" She asks, feeling a bit frustrated that he wants to get rid of her even after she built the courage to even talk about it.
"We had no business sleeping together while you are standing here, I should've never agreed-"
Aurelia bites her lip, trying to not mention how she feels but it was getting hard to hold back. Something she never had issues with before. "I wasn't un-uncomfortable. Okay?"
Elijah's mouth opens to speak but it closes again when she finally tells him how she felt about the whole thing. She spent all day trying to put an image to what she heard, so talking about it would make her get rid of any feelings she has about it. Right?
"I was shocked. Yes. But, I wasn't uncomfortable, Elijah." She tells him bluntly.
The male tilts his head, and all the embarrassment and guilt that covered his face is now all gone. It's like her words washed that all away. However, it was clear that he was still concerned about it.
"But you avoided us, me, all day." He says, making her squeeze her hand in a tight fist, trying to gather more courage to tell how she feels.
"I... I know, but it's not because I was uncomfortable. It was because... I-I don't know." she murmurs, looking down at the floor.
"Did you... like me mentioning you?"
Aurelia flinched a bit, and she didn't look at him. "Did... I like it?"
Elijah steps closer, gripping her chin, tilting her head up. "Did you like what you heard, Aurelia?"
His voice got deeper, and his tone shifted. It sounds just like he did the night before. She looks into his eyes. "I-I..."
"Honey, I'm home." Andrew's voice could be heard from outside the room door, making Aurelia pull away from him and sit on the bed. "Hello?"
Andrew looks into the room and looks in between her and Elijah before leaning against the threshold. "This is interesting."
"I.. have class work to do, so please let me work." Aurelia murmurs, causing Elijah to stare at her with a serious expression before walking out of the room, pulling Andrew along with him.
Aurelia takes a deep breath before tossing herself back onto the bed, sighing out loud before turning over. Her heart is racing fast as she caresses her chin where he touched her. Did she like hearing them? She didn't even think about that possibility, was it because she denied it.
The rest of the evening she stayed locked up in the room, until she was finished with the description and title of her art piece for the Friday's event. She sends it to Sunny, hoping he would like it enough to comment on it. She stands from the bed and walks over to her suitcase and digs in it for something to wear to sleep in. As she pulls out her yellow pajamas, matching set, shorts and tank top, a knock on the room door causes her to turn around.
Andrew walks inside with a slight upset expression on his face. He sighs and walks inside, not waiting for her permission. The male sits on her bed, watching her closely as she resumes finding her things to get in the shower. His staring causes her to drop her socks on the floor.
"Sorry." He says seriously, as she bends over to get her socks.
"It's really fine. You and Elijah d-do not have to worry. Okay?" She explains, making her shrug his shoulders before nodding. He picks up her pajama shorts.
Embarrassed, she snatches them from his grasp and looks away. "W-Was that all you wanted to say?"
"Cute Pjs. I think they're too much for us to handle." He comments, causing Aurelia's heart to beat against her chest and her throat to dry. "Seeing you walk around in that, fuck... I don't think I'll be able to control myself."
"Get out!" She screams, embarrassment covering her face.
He shakes his head. "I don't think I will, Angel."
Aurelia grabs her pillow and throws it at him, but he catches it. She groans out of frustration before taking another pillow to throw at him. After the third pillow, he throws one back at her, hitting her in the chest. Her mouth falls open before she climbs over the bed with a pillow tightly in her grasp and begins swinging it at him.
Andrew moves around the room smoothly, chuckling while blocking her pillow attacks with the two pillows that he had. "Come on, Angel. You know I'm untouchable."
She laughs. "Oh please!"
Aurelia's face frowns up playfully before she kicks her feet out, tripping him as he tries to get around her. The trip caused him to fall back on the bed. Aurelia used this moment to climb on top of him, pinning him down so she could keep him from moving.
After a few seconds, she stops, panting softly from running around. She felt a lot better after running around the room with him, maybe that's really why he showed up, to make her feel better. Andrew drops the pillows and sits up on the bed. She wasn't expecting him to and she wasn't expecting him to run his hands up her waist and pull her closer.
"Do you feel better, Angel?" He asks her, making her swallow down hard before nodding her head. "Elijah wanted me to tell you that he told Nina that she'll meet you the day of an art event or something."
She nods her head. "Thank you for t-telling me."
Andrew grins and rolls them over, pinning her down on the bed. He winks at her before standing from the bed and walking towards the bedroom door. "Remember what I said, Angel. I would love to rip those Pjs off of you."
Aurelia groans and throws the pillow at him just as he closes the door. She smiles a bit, feeling a lot better after goofing off with him, but her mind went to Elijah, how serious he looked about her liking what she heard the night before. It was as if it had been something he had been pondering over. Has he?
When she finds her clothes, Aurelia grabs her shower basket and opens the room door. Once she walks out, she could hear music playing from Elijah's room, assuming it was Andrew dancing again, she walks towards the bathroom door. Before she touches the doorknob, the door swings open and Elijah is there, with his hair wet and a towel wrapped around his waist. She swallows hard as he pushes his hair back while the cigarette hangs from his lips. It wasn't lit, but it seemed like he was getting ready to smoke.
Was it because of her?
"Sorry," he says, walking around her before walking towards his room door. "Did Andrew tell you what I asked?"
Aurelia nods slightly and he turns around, but she didn't like that he told Andrew to tell her rather than him telling her himself. Did their conversation earlier bother him? Did she say something? A lot was running through her head, but she wasn't going to leave this tension like it is.
"Why didn't you tell me yourself, Elijah." She asks him, causing him to stop outside his door, towel still hanging low.
He didn't turn around to look at her, he just continued to walk, opening his door and walking inside. Aurelia frowns a bit. He could've said something, but he just ignored her? She sighs again before walking inside the bathroom and closing the door behind her. Just when her mood was a bit better, he made it worse. Did what she said really make him mad? All she said was that what she heard them do did not make her uncomfortable.
Did he want her to be uncomfortable? Did he want her to feel upset with them when she truly wasn't it. Aurelia couldn't understand him. It doesn't help that he and Andrew are quite secretive. Going through this at this moment makes her realize that living with men, especially men who make her nervous and feel a lot of things, isn't for her. At least that's what she got from all of this.
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