«Salt air, and the rust on your door, I never needed anything more. Whispers of "are you sure?" "Never have I ever before".»
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Never in a million years, Charles had imagined he would be in such a situation. If he talked to himself, to Charles from the beginning of the year, and tried to explain to him that now, as he opened his eyes and tried to avoid the blinding sunlight, he would be staring at Aurora laying next to him — the same Aurora he barely paid attention to — breathing calmly with parted lips and closed eyes, he would think it was a joke. A funny, slightly weird, and fucked up joke.
However, all his current self could do was smile as he looked at her sleeping next to him. Her bed was far smaller than his, but he wouldn't complain about it since it gave him the possibility of being closer. Aurora laid on her stomach, cheek pressed to her pillow and Charles swore he had never seen someone look so peaceful while sleeping. His hand reached to brush a strand of loose hair from her face, and for a moment she slightly scrunched her nose, but soon enough her relaxed breathing kept its pace. His chest — his heart — felt heavy, because he could stay there his whole life with her. Just silently looking at her while she rested in the arms of Morpheus.
But as Charles had learned, nothing was ever just as he desired and he confirmed that as his phone started buzzing from the bedside table next to his side of the bed. He rolled his eyes before trying to get out of bed, making sure to do it as quietly as possible to avoid waking Aurora up. It reminded him how uncomfortable it was to sleep fully clothed, especially with jeans, but he managed to make it out of the bed and only caused Aurora to nuzzle even more against her pillow. It was like everything she did just caused his affection for her to grow even more, if it wasn't for the constant buzzing he would've kept staring at her for longer than what the average person would consider normal.
His expression turned into a grimace as soon as he saw the name on the screen. Charles took the phone and gave Aurora one last glance before making his way out of her room and into the living room to properly answer the call.
"Where are you?" There wasn't a greeting or anything, just straight to the point. Charles chuckled.
"Hey, Andrea. I'm alright." He ran a hand through his face, trying to awaken a bit more. "Nice hearing your voice."
His trainer huffed, but Charles could hear a faint laugh. "We have training in a bit, but you haven't answered any of my messages. Just wanted to make sure you're alive."
"Oh," Charles smiled, his eyes darting to Aurora's bedroom door. "About training..." He let the words trail off, waiting for Andrea to pick the situation.
It didn't take a lot for his trainer to understand. "What is it? Are you okay?" There was genuine concern in his voice. Charles felt a bit guilty about it.
"I can't train today, I'm in Italy." It wasn't weird, he spent a fair amount of time in Italy. "Sorry for not letting you know before." I took an impulsive decision and it turned out better than I expected, Charles wanted to say.
"That's alright." He couldn't see him but Charles knew Andrea was smiling. "It's not work-related, is it? You're on summer break."
"Well, I'm in Maranello." It wasn't like Andrea needed a lot of information. "So you know."
"Getting quite close to the staff I see." Charles smiled. Not that Andrea knew anything about Aurora, but surely he had to have picked something.
His eyes were glued to her door. It felt a bit pathetic, in a way Charles was perfectly fine with. "They are pretty nice." Pretty and nice, his brain repeated.
