You and me | Pacey Witter

seventeen

AFTER THE incident from the birthday party, Aurora had avoided the Leery boy ever since. He tried to apologize but she wasn't ready to forgive him. She walked out of her bedroom when she heard the loud voices arguing downstairs, she couldn't make-out who the other voice had been, but the other was her uncle.

Aurora placed her hand on the railing and began to slowly walk down the staircase. As she made it to the bottom, it felt like all air had left her lungs. Lucas stood by the end of the staircase, and in front of him was her Uncle Joshua, and their dad, arguing in the middle of the living room.

Her eyes flickered back and forth between the two of them before they stayed on Joshua. "Uncle Josh, why is he here?" she questioned, tears of anger began to form in her eyes. "I- I thought you talked to him. I thought he wasn't going to come, why is here?" she asked once again, the tears threatening to spill.

Her father, Tom glanced over at the girl and his eyes widened at how much she had grown. "Wow, you've grown," he said with a hushed tone. He walked over toward the brunette, who slowly stepped back away from him. 

He tried to lean in for a hug, but she shoved him away, "no," she exclaimed. "No! You don't get to do that. It's been five years, of course, I've grown," she told him. "You don't get to come back now, okay? We're happier, and we don't need you to come and ruin that. You chose drugs over us."

Tom frowned at her words, he glanced down at the ground, pressing his tongue against his cheek. He didn't respond, instead he turned back to Joshua, who wore a guilty expression. "You want to tell her the news, or should I?"

Aurora furrowed her eyebrows as she glanced back at her uncle, who wasn't able to meets her eyes. Joshua kept his gaze on the floor in front of him as he sighed, deeply. "Aurora, Tom, is, uh, going to stay with us for a little bit. He said he's changed, and he wants to prove himself."

Aurora finally allowed a tear to roll down her cheek. Her eyes flickered between everyone in the room as she slowly shook her head. "No," she mumbled to herself. "No," she repeated with a shaky tone. "No, we didn't need him then. We sure as hell don't need him now," she told them. "Life is better off without him."

Lucas frowned at her reaction. His gaze stayed toward the ground as he listened to her words, he knew she'd react, badly. Aurora looked over at her uncle with a look of betrayal. "How could you? How could you let him stay here? I told you how I felt, and- and it's like you didn't listen to a single word I said."

Joshua shook his head, "Aurora, that's not true. I listened to you; I promise." He sighed as he looked over at each other. "But I had to give him another chance to redeem himself. You don't need to forgive him until you're ready. We're just going to see how much he's 'changed' and then we'll take things from there."

Aurora didn't respond, instead she shook her head, before she turned around and went back upstairs. Lucas looked back at the two men before he rushed upstairs after his twin. He watched as her bedroom door slammed close.

Lucas softly knocked before he entered the room. He looked down at his sister, her head was buried in a pillow as she curled up with the blanket on her bed. Small cries could be heard leaving her lips, which only made it worse for him.

He walked over and gently sat on the edge of the bed. Lucas looked over at her, as he placed his hand on her ankle. "Aurora, I'm really sorry," he spoke up. "I found out he was coming back a few days ago, and trust me, I'm not thrilled about each other. But the least we could do, is at least try to start over with him," he told the girl. "It's not going to be easy, but it's probably the best thing to do giving the circumstances."

Aurora lifted her face away from the pillow and looked up at her brother, her face was tear stained. "I don't want too," she told him. "I don't want to start getting along with him, and then all of a sudden he leaves again. I hate being hurt by him, and I never want it to happen again, Luke."

Lucas understood how she felt. He didn't want to start over with him either, which made him sound kind of hypercritical, but he needed to tell her that, so he could convince himself that it was the right thing to do as well. All he could do at the moment was there for her though it.

Lucas slowly widened his arms, and Aurora found herself quick to be in her brother's comfort. He wrapped his arms around her neck, and the girl didn't hug back, she just laid her head on his chest, and let out soft cries. His chin rested on top of her head as he closed his eyes shut, tightly, as he frowned.

- - - - - - - - - -

IT WAS late, but not too late. Lucas knew the only other person who could possibly help her with this would be Pacey, so he invited him over. Pacey walked up the staircase and as soon as he made it to her room, he knocked, softly on the door before he gently pushed open her bedroom door.

The sight was something he did not ever want to see. Aurora had now changed into a more comfortable pair of clothing. She was curled up underneath a single blanket, not being able to decide if she was hot or cold. Her face was stained with tears, as she stared blankly at the white wall in front of her.

Pacey walked over to the other side of the bed and slowly laid down beside her. Aurora sighed softly but didn't take her eyes off the wall. "Pace, I really don't want to talk about this anymore, right now."

Aurora felt his gentle touch as he wrapped his arm around her waist. "That's fine. We don't need to talk about it right now," he told the girl with a soft voice. He pressed a soft kiss against the side of her head before he moved her closer to him. "Just get some sleep, okay? Get some rest," he whispered, softly.