among the fallen leaves

Chapter Five

"You do know that I'm a faster runner than you, right Aurelia?" Hunter yelled as the auburn-hair girl ran from the seaweed he had been trying to throw on her head. He gave her a few seconds before chasing after her, the green, slime-covered mess held out in front of him on a stick. It had been less than an hour since they reached the house, and the two were already making the entire coast hate them.

As he caught up with her, he decided to throw the seaweed into the water, instead making her think that the stick was what she had been running from. All Ines and Holly heard from inside the house was a high-pitched scream that came from Aurelia, and loud, echoing laughter coming from Hunter. Aurelia slapped his arm, her hands cold from the November air.

"Hunter Brooks, that was so incredibly rude of you," she said breathlessly, the bitter air filling her lungs as she stood still to catch her breath. He still stood there, laughing uncontrollably, trying to get out a sentence to which Aurelia could only decipher the words "you...seen ...face...comedy..."

She walked back towards the house, taking a moment to look at the way it stood. It was on the top of a small hill, the beach right below it, waves crashing on the shore due to the strong winds that day. It was bright white, as many oceanside houses tend to be, and very much a mansion she always imagined her mother lived in. The inside she had only seen for a moment before going to explore the outside with Hunter; it had white and black checkered marble floors and a grand staircase going up the center of the entryway. It wasn't anything she was used to—she knew she would have trouble at night with the ocean noise. She knew people liked the sound of waves, but she was used to the quiet of the forest with the occasional sound from an owl or wolf.

"Aurelia Rayne, you are seventeen years old, I should not have to tell you to keep it down out there," Ines yelled from the kitchen window.

"Sorry mom, Hunter was chasing me around with seaweed on a stick and it was gross," the girl yelled back; her mother simply shaking her head and sighing, knowing there was nothing she could do about the two.

* * *

The day went by quickly after that, each of the guests in their designated rooms. Aurelia was in one of the rooms facing the ocean, her mother finding that fitting for her since she frequently found her daughter reading by the window. It was just barely past midnight when Aurelia had found herself knocking on Hunter's door. It was almost as if he knew she was going to do that because he was up and at the door before she finished tapping on it.

"Is there something you need?" He answered the door, a playfully uninterested taint to his words as he gave her a blank stare. She just shook her head, smiling as she hugged him. He caved and smiled into her hair, pulling them through the door and closing it. She walked over to the window, staring out at the side of the house, the yard barely visible in the nighttime, the moon just barely coming through the clouds.

"I'm bored. And I can't sleep. And I want to go walk around outside," she said plainly, not turning around.

"Well, 'Relia, you know you can't do that. It's not safe here; we don't know the area or who else lives on this part of the coast." He explained, sitting at the large wooden desk in the corner of the room a few feet away from where she stood. She simply nodded her head as if to acknowledge his comment before continuing her argument.

"But what if we go together, then I'll have you just in case anything happens you can run inside and get help," she turned to face him, continuing, "that's why I came to get you, cause I'm too scared to go alone, but if you're with me, then nothing's going to happen."

"You know that's not true; you're the clumsiest person I know, no matter what I do, you'll find some way to endanger yourself." He laughed quietly at the mean look she gave him.

Somehow, the girl convinced him, and they ended up going out to the backyard, the sand cold and wind rushing through their messy nighttime hair. Aurelia loved this time of night when no one was awake; she could wander around, the darkness making everything more exciting to see.

"Aurelia, don't go too far please, it's really dark." Hunter whisper-yelled from the top of the stairs on the hill; she was already close to the bottom, already able to feel the spray of the water as it crashed on the shoreline.

"It's not that dark out, Hunter, just use the flashlight we brought!" She replied, facing the beach again and continuing her walk down. Before she knew it, Hunter was trailing behind her with a flashlight, the dim white-yellow glow looking eerie against the damp sand and perylene green water.

"What are you even looking for," Hunter said after a few minutes of Aurelia looking like she had been searching for something in particular. "I don't think we should be all the way out here, what if someone sees us and tells your mom, she'll freak out, you know that!" The boy said frustratedly.

"Stop being such a baby, Hunter Brooks, nothing's going to happen to us!" She continued walking, her feet reaching the water eventually, making her jump almost seven feet in the air from how cold it actually was, "I take that back, we might freeze." She laughed when she bent down slightly to take some water into her hands and throw it at Hunter's arm.

"Hey! That's super cold, 'Relia." He cracked a smile, doing the same to her. After about an hour of the two freezing, they decided to head back inside the home, Hunter lighting the living room fireplace almost immediately as Aurelia went upstairs to change. By now, it was almost morning; the sun had just begun to peek through the darkness of the sky. The enormous windows of the room let in the early signs of light as Hunter sat on the floor by the fireplace; right before he could get worried about where she was, he caught a glimpse at Aurelia walking down the main staircase, glowing golden colors framing her, and wondered how she wasn't an angel sent from God.

He also wondered how the girl wasn't even the slightest bit tired after the long trip and the night they had running around outside. Hunter still couldn't figure out how she had convinced him to go out there in the middle of the night like two thieves in love, addicted to middle-of-the-night crime and each other. He caught himself red-handed feeling that same heart-aching, mind and body-numbing longing for her. When did this become a thing? He wondered while she made her way over to him, smiling; her smile hadn't changed much since they were younger, Hunter noticed. She never wore braces, never went through an 'awkward' phase with retainers, she was just herself. Never-changing, always-loving. Her.

"Ah," Hunter said quietly, "I see you found my stash of sweatshirts," He tugged lightly on the sleeve of his forest-green sweatshirt fitting comfortably on her. Her cheeks turned a light shade of red when she sat down next to him by the fire.

"I just kind of went into your closet and it practically called my name," Aurelia turned her head, Hunter resting his arm comfortably across her shoulders. She continued, "plus, it's one of my favorite colors, so it made a pretty compelling argument." She yawned, pulling the hood over her messy hair. Hunter only smiled, he never minded when she wore his things. As cliché as he believed it was, he loved seeing her in such a natural state.

"Hunter," Aurelia began, turning her head upwards to look at him. It was at this point that he thought she might confess some long-believed love for him, and he would finally get the chance to kiss her face and every square inch of her until she couldn't breathe properly, but instead, all that he heard through his wild thoughts was, "we smell like dead fish." 

A/N: I suck at updating but I hope you liked the new chapter! I lol'd about the dead fish part sorry bout that. I swear they'll kiss or something soon, but I'm not making any promises that Aurelia won't kick him for that or something lmao anyways I've started school again so hopefully now that I have homework I don't wanna do I'll be updating more frequently :))

btw I love you all so much!  Thank you for reading!!! xx

<3