How He Saved Her

Chapter Seventeen

Oliver

Waking up in the morning and finding Aurora sitting in the kitchen is something I've come to enjoy far more than I'd like to admit. She looks cute with her hair tied back in a bun and in the matching pajama set I bought for her. As I watch her closely, a smile takes over my face. I know what this translates to: mine. She looks like mine sitting at the table talking to my mom while absentmindedly caressing a pancake on her plate. 

I walk over to her and place a gentle hand on her eye from behind. I feel her flinch under my touch and retract my hand quick. I lean down and press a kiss on the side of her head and whisper,"I'm sorry, principessa." It genuinely hurt when I saw her flinch at my unannounced touch. She is still nursing a fear and I've come to play with it unintentionally.

I walk around to her and instead of frowning, she smiles softly at me. She moves a hand up and waves at me, and I try not to swoon at the sight. Hot. I glance at my mom and feel my cheek warm at the thought. My mom scolds me when I try to grab a plate and says,"You've got school, if you wanted food you should have woken up earlier." 

I frown and my mom only shakes her head and turns away. 

"Can I go to school, too?", I hear her voice suddenly more closer to me and turn around to find her approaching me. She reaches out a hand to touch my arm and I let her wrap her delicate hand around it.

"Are you sure?", my mom asks and she nods leaning close to me, her head resting on my arm. "Well, if you're sure", my mom shrugs,"Your head still bother you?" 

Aurora shrugs,"I've gone to school in much more pain." I wince at her words and my mind flashes to all of the mornings I picked her up from school, her shoulders were slumped and she had a frown on her face. I should've known. I should've seen all the sign. I don't regret giving Aurora her privacy, but I should've seen it.

"After school, I was thinking of stopping by my house and grabbing a few things. He won't be there until thirty minutes later", she says quietly. 

"I can't risk that", my mom says and I nod with her. 

"I'll skip practice for the beginning and drive you there", I say to her and she nods appreciatingly at me. My mom places a hand on her hip and still frowns. "I'm coming with you. He hurt you so bad, Rory. I'm letting letting anything happen to you." 

"I agree", I add agreeing with my mom and Aurora's eyes fill with tears. I take a step back but she only digs her face into the crook of my arm. "Are you having cold feet?" I ask her and she shakes her head. 

"You guys are too nice", she says softly and I melt at her words. She is coming close to tears at the expense of us being kind, decent. 

"It's hardly bare minimum", I say to her and she shakes her head again. She looks up at me and stands on her tip toes and says,"Thank you." I nod at her and she leans up and places a kiss close to my lip. I like the feeling of her lips on my face, it makes my stomach flutter with something I've never felt before.

She turns to my mom,"Thank you also. I uh I've never known someone who could welcome a complete stranger to their home." I wipe the tear off of her face and take notice that her eyes are a much lighter shade of green today. 

"My son cares for you; I care for you then", and with that my mom signals for me to head upstairs to change. I grab Aurora's hand and lead her up to my room. Once I get in, I grab a change of clothes and say,"Go get ready. Come back to my room and I'll see what I can do about your outfit." 

"Okay", she says and walks out of the room. I head to my bathroom and do my routine. I change into clothes and walk out to find Aurora standing next to my bed running hand through her hair. I close the distance between us and lean down to kiss her, suddenly wanting to feel her against me. She tastes of fresh mint and I want to kiss her deeply, but she places a hand on my chest. I pull away and look down at her. 

I walk away with a hand running down the length of her hair toward my closet. I sift through my clothes to come up shorts on bottoms but find  a soft green shirt. I hand it to her but she looks up at me and places her hand on my chest again. Can she feel my rapid heartbeats? 

"I like your shirt better", she whispers and is that a tone I haven't heard in her voice before? Is she flirting with me? The soft tone of her voice and the way her smile deepens at the end tells me I'm right. 

"Yeah?", I whisper to her taunting her. She nods, biting her bottom lip. "Well what are you going to do about it?", I say, bold. Her hands find the hem of my shirt and she starts lifting it up over my torso. I watch her in amusement as she pulls it over my arms and over my head. She fists up the shirt and leans in and places a gentle kiss on my chest, making my muscles tense up. 

"Aurora", I whisper her name sounding breathless. 

"There you go", she says before throwing me the shirt I offered her. I catch it and throw it over my head and my arms. When I look at her I find that the shirt I'm wearing is the same shade as her eyes. I smirk at her and she smiles. I know that she wanted me to wear it to match her eyes and I'm not complaining, I love it.

A knock on the door pulls my attention off of the girl in front of me. I find my mom standing at the doorway with a pair of leggings in her hand. "The dryer shrunk these so I'm guessing it'll fit." Aurora walks over to her and takes the pants out of her hand. 

She glances back at me and says,"I'll see you in the car?" I nod and she walks out of the room to change. 

♡•♡•♡•♡

Aurora manages to survive the school day without a backpack. She was so worried that the teachers would yell at her, but she found out that a notebook and a pencil is all she needs. How does she think a lot of the kids pass school nowadays?  After school, I find my coach and inform him of my expected tardiness. He lets me off on a warning and I grab Aurora's hand and head to my car. 

Aurora looks out the window for most of the ride and I look at her when I pull into her driveway. There isn't another car parked there but that doesn't stop her from fidgeting with the sleeve of her shirtsleeve. We wait for my mom and when I see her car pull up, Aurora flinches. 

"My mom", I whisper to her and she nods even though her eyes are still wild. I open our doors and the both of us walk out. My mom gets out of the car too and with my hand in hers, I lead her to the porch. Her hands are shaky as she uses the lock to open the door. I wish I could calm her but this isn't something that I could fix. This was caused by years of abuse and that's not something that disappears within a second. 

She let's out a shaky breath and opens the door wide. She walks into the house and I feel my heart clench for her. She takes a few steps in, finds the spot she was laying on and turns back to me so abruptly I'm surprised. 

"Get me out of here", she whispers and buries her head in my chest, all of her body weight on me. I put a hand on her waist and pull her out of the house. She looks up at me and says,"I thought I was strong enough for it." Tears are rapidly falling out of her eyes and I can't wipe fast enough for them to not fall. 

"Mom, go in there. Get all her clothes, she is never stepping in here again", I say to her and Aurora sobs louder in my chest. I run a hand through her hair and whisper sweet nothings in her hair.

"Principessa. We'll never let you go in there", I say to her and she claws at my shirt, wanting to believe me. "I promise", I say and feel her nod against my chest. My mom gets back a few moments later with three bags full of stuff. She also has a backpack perched on her shoulders. 

"I'm sorry", my mom whispers and walks to her car. She throws the bags in the trunk and turns to us. 

"Come on, Rory, let's get you away from here. Nolan, you're going to be okay at practice today?", she says and I nod not realizing a tear has slipped out of my eye. My heart hurts for the girl in my arms. With a last sniffle, she walks out of my arm and toward my mom. My mom immediately places a hand on her shoulder and leads her into the passenger side door. I watch as Aurora glances at her house one last time before sobbing once more. 

I wipe my face and get into my own car before I break down in front of her. The urge to make her dad hurt is so strong as I drive down to the school with my hands fisted tightly on the steering wheel.