Chapter 28: Soothing Voice
"No, I don't want Nora back," Davian announced.
Declan and Jaxon smiled in satisfaction, and Aurora had a confused look on her face. She was half-expecting Davian to say yes.
"That decides it!" Nina clapped her hands in excitement. "The majority is against Nora joining, so Cillian—"
"Yes, I will inform the LM board. But," Cillian looked at the band members and warned, "you guys shouldn't make any comments on the situation before LM makes an official statement. It wouldn't look good on LM."
"How long will it take for LM to release the statement?" Declan inquired, scrutinizing Cillian's expression as if he sensed something was off.
"They will do it as soon as possible after I let them know. You guys should be patient," Cillian lied. "Anyway, I have to go to the venue for tonight's performance. Nina, you inform Tiana as well that she shouldn't release any statements."
"Yes, okay, Cillian," Nina abided and went to inform Tiana.
"Finally, soon the fan war between Aura and Nora fans will calm down," Jaxon chirped happily. "Let me go see how Tiana is trying to put out fires." With that, he merrily dashed to Nina's room where Tiana was working.
Despite finding Cillian's actions a little suspicious, Declan decided not to think too much about it and go read a book.
Davian was also about to get up from the couch when Aurora asked, "Hey, Davian, why do you not want Nora back? I thought you two didn't have any harsh feelings."
Davian glanced at Aurora and sat back down. "Frankly, I don't want the band to have five members. That just doesn't sound right to me."
Aurora twitched her lips in amusement and remarked, "That's not the real reason, Davian. Tell me the truth."
Davian couldn't help but chuckle lightly. She really knew him well. "Okay, honestly... I don't want Nora back because you have heard what others say about her, right? And they are not wrong. Nora's ego is too inflated at the moment. So I don't want her to come into our band and cause problems. We already have enough on our plates. Besides," he looked into her eyes, "I don't want fans comparing you two."
Aurora opened her mouth to protest, but he added, "Yes, I know you said you don't care. But let's be honest. Nobody likes being compared. And there are bound to be Nora fans who would bash you for no reason—just like they are doing now. I don't want this to be a regular scenario." He confessed, "I don't want anybody saying anything bad about you."
Aurora felt her heart react to his kind, sincere words, and immediately looked away. "I don't get why we two would be compared. Just because we are both girls?" She frowned.
"That's not the case, Aura. I mean, if I left the band and someone new joined it, even if that person isn't exactly my replacement, the fans would still compare the two of us. So I don't think gender has anything to do with it. It's just the timing of it all. Nora left, and that's when you came into our lives. And..."
Aurora hummed, absorbing his words.
"And I am glad you did," Davian finished talking, making Aurora's heart feel warm, unsure whether it resonated with her romantic feelings anymore or not.
"Thank you for saying that," Aurora mumbled, giving him a faint smile. "Anyway, I think I am going to take a nap now."
"Isn't Ariel working in your room, though? She has music on, if I am correct," Davian said.
"Oh, yeah," Aurora let out and pouted. "Then, maybe I will just take a nap here on the couch."
"Why don't you go to our room and sleep there? Dee is just there, most probably with his nose buried in a book or studying. Pretty sure he can do that here," he suggested.
"That would be great, thanks." Aurora got up and headed to the boys' room, while Davian couldn't help but stare at her retreating back, a lingering look of affection in his eyes, while wishing he could have talked to her longer.
Once Aurora reached the boys' door, she gave a light knock.
As Declan gave permission to enter the room, Aurora poked her head inside and asked sheepishly, "Mind if I take a nap in here?"
Declan put down the magazine in his hand and shot her a smile. "You are most welcome to. I will go to the living room."
"What are you reading?" Aurora asked as Declan was actually reading a thin magazine, not a thick novel, which was out of the norm for him.
"Oh, just a trendy magazine. I always keep track of fashion trends," Declan shrugged casually, not wanting to reveal he was reading the romance section in the magazine in order to figure out his chances with Ariel.
Aurora narrowed her eyes at him in suspicion but didn't say anything as Declan put the magazine in a drawer and grabbed one of his regular thick books from the shelf.
He was on his way out of the room as Aurora was getting into one of the beds when he asked, "Aura, can you give me your phone?"
"Huh? Why?" she asked.
"So that you don't check social media before napping," Declan reasoned and held out his hand.
"Why do you know me so well?" Aurora groaned and obeyed him before covering herself with the comforter, and he chuckled.
Before Declan finally exited the room, he made a comment that left Aurora's cheek flushing, "Just so you know, that is Davian's bed."
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Declan came out of the room and found Jaxon and Tiana on the living room couch, sitting side by side, and making comments like, "Let's report this person for making such a stupid comment on Aura," and "Yes, we can make multiple accounts to report them. They will pay for writing such malicious comments against our sweet Aura."
Declan shook his head hopelessly, already getting the hint of what these two were up to. They were deleting hateful comments on Aurora on social media, and at the same time, flirting with each other. Because look at how close they were sitting.
Declan sighed, feeling a little bit jealous that he couldn't be like that with Ariel.
Suddenly, as if he realized where his thoughts were heading to, he brushed them off. He had decided to be positive about Ariel and wait for her, so he couldn't let himself get disheartened.
If he remained sincere and steadfast, surely, he could get her to reciprocate his feelings one day. Maybe not any time soon. But a boy can only dream, right?
Setting that aside, he didn't want to be around these two goofballs, blissfully unaware and giddy in their happy bubble. He would feel the urge to smack Jaxon.
So, without wasting another moment, he knocked on the girls' room.
The door flew open, and there Ariel stood in front of him, with a pair of scissors in her mouth, a ribbon wrapped around her wrist, a pencil in her bun, and some white pearls in her palm. She looked a little messy but still beautiful and cute.
"Sorry, is this a bad time?" he asked sheepishly.
Ariel was about to speak but stopped realizing the scissor in her mouth. Before she could get to it, Declan reached out and pulled it out, smiling with a hint of tease.
"Uh, no. It's not a bad time," Ariel started rambling in a rush. "A sudden idea just struck me and I thought this ribbon would look great with— anyway, that's not important. Did you need something, Dee?"
Declan chuckled and asked, "Do you mind if I sit in the corner and read a book?"
"No, but why?" she asked in amusement.
"Aura is sleeping in our room, and there's a pair of annoying love birds in the living room," Declan said playfully, "Besides, I'm pretty sure Davian is occupying the practice room at the moment. Therefore, I am in urgent need of a reading shelter."
Ariel laughed lightly. "Well, then. Come on in. I just hope my music doesn't bother your reading."
"Good thing I like your taste in music then," he teased and entered the room.
"Well, I am flattered." Ariel closed the door and went back to her work in a flurry.
Meanwhile, Declan made a beeline for the couch in the corner of the room and plopped on it before opening his book.
But before he could even read a word, his eyes got attracted to Ariel—so focused and sincerely hard at work. He couldn't help but keep staring, already a goner who gave up on trying to get in a single sentence.
Ariel, laser-focused as usual, still felt the weight of Declan's shameless gaze. "Um, what are you looking at?" she asked, her tone laced with nervousness as she probably knew the answer.
"You."
One simple word from his mouth and that was all it took for Ariel's stomach to erupt into a dance of butterflies.
"Dee—Dee, why... Why are you so straight forward all of a sudden? You should hesitate a little in such cases." She lowered her eyes back to the piece of dress she was working on, unable to tolerate the intensity of his gaze.
"Well, I have got nothing to hide. You know my feelings. So, I don't see why I should have hesitated," he shrugged.
"If you are going to be like this—"
"Then what?" he interrupted her. "You are going to kick me out of this room?" His tone was playful, and she knew he was teasing her, and yet, she couldn't stop herself from feeling embarrassed from his straight-forward approach.
"Yes," she responded, trying to sound nonchalant.
"Okay, then. I will do the staring in moderation," he quipped.
"Dee!" she hollered, getting annoyed, as she felt flustered.
"Fine, fine," Declan burst into a mirthful laughter that made her get lost in his visuals. "I will try to concentrate on my book. Please don't come at me with those scissors."
At his remark, she realized she was pointing the scissors at him like she wanted to stab him with it. "Oh," she mumbled, "I didn't mean to."
"It's okay. Even if you want to stab me with a pair of scissors, I will happily accept it," he chimed in.
"Where did you learn to say such cheesy stuff?" She turned off her music and shot him a flat look.
"I have tried most of the genres of books, and romance was one of them. So, I picked up a line or two from there," he claimed, and she chuckled.
"Really? What other genres did you experiment with?" she asked curiously.
Declan closed his book completely and started telling his stories as Ariel continued to work while listening to him.
That day, she learned one new thing: music wasn't the only thing that soothed her during work, Declan's voice also had the same effect on her.