Dusk [sequel to Aurora] - HS AU

Chapter 1

And I don't wanna be lonely
Was hoping you'd come home
I don't care if it's a lie

Song: ilomilo, by Billie Eilish

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FIJI

2020, July 1st, Wednesday | 8 p.m

Aster's P.O.V:

Today was one of the hard ones.

It's not only that I've had a full day, walking around under the burning hot sun, talking to people and having yet another emotionally draining conversation that seemed to suck all the energy from my body.

I mean, that part was, too, draining as fuck, but it's not the worse I've got on my day.

The thing is, I'm starting to get impatient, and I know I can't. It's not fair, with nobody involved in this mess. I came to this country with a clear objective in mind, and I'm not leaving before I manage to fulfill it, it doesn't matter how long it takes.

But boy, I really wish it was a little bit faster.

I know it's a lot to take, but there's only a finite combination of possibilities one can think about, right?

Ugh, I don't even want to think about it. Makes me angry, and then guilty for being angry.

On the other hand, I reckon that I may be this irritated because Harry skipped our Facetime call today. Something about having lunch with Penny or whatever, he didn't even give me too much of a heads up, only texting me saying he couldn't talk and then not answering my calls.

Add this other annoying fact to the pile sitting on the back of my brain - Harry and Penny are kind of a thing now.

I mean, not a romantic one, but you get my point. They're close.

It all happened a little while after Erin, my little brother, was born a healthy and beautiful baby boy. It was around 4 weeks ago, and I'll admit it, honestly to good - the moment I saw his cute little face on the picture Penny sent me, was the first time ever since I've got here that I seriously considered dropping everything and flying back to New York. I just wanted to protect him from any evil our father could ever do, he is too little, too precious, to ever have to deal with the Devil we call dad.

But then, only a couple of weeks later, I've learned Erin isn't the one in danger, at least not for the time being.

It's Penny.

She called me in the middle of the night around 10 days after Erin was born. It was the middle of the night in New York, which means around dinner time here in Fiji. She was whispering, her voice tight with tears and so completely filled with desperation, I could almost feel her pain through the phone.

Apparently, ever since they got home from the hospital, my father has been forcing Penny to stay apart from Erin, only giving her a couple of hours a day to feed him. Every time she would hold him, she was being guarded by one of my father's gooms or himself. He has been telling everyone Penny is suffering postpartum depression and that she cannot be around the baby unsupervised.

He convinced everyone Penny might be a danger to their own baby.

The possibility of that being true never even crossed my mind. After all, it doesn't matter that I have no idea what his intentions are, at this point I know my father well enough to be a hundred percent sure Penny is the victim here. I don't believe she has postpartum depression not even for a second - this is all my father's deeds.