Infatuated | Tom Blyth

eleven

Tom and Aurora were laying in bed and were talking about their childhoods for the last couple of hours. Tom had made Aurora laugh multiple times. Tom just adored her, how her eyes lit up when she laughed, how the sunlight hit her face and made her freckles more visible.

"I'm already falling for you" Tom blurted out, watching as Aurora's eyes widened.

"But why?" she asked, looking genuinely confused.

"You're the strongest person I think I've ever met. You're absolutely gorgeous inside and out. God, just the way you carry yourself makes my knees weak" he honestly told her, playing with her hair.

"Tom, I don't think..." Aurora started but Tom shushed her.

"You're not going to change how I feel about you. That's just not possible, stop trying to push me away" Tom said softly.

Aurora sighed, her anxiety was about to get the best of her after what she and Tom had done. She honestly wanted him to leave. She didn't need him witnessing another one of her breakdowns.

"Don't you have anywhere to be today?" she asked nonchalantly, sitting up and removing herself from Tom's hold.

"Nowhere that'd be important enough for me to go" he said softly, sitting up as well.

"I just think I need... for you to go" Aurora mumbled, feeling her anxiety rise in her chest, making her pull on the sleeves of her hoodie.

"Why?" Tom asked softly, seeming sad and confused. He wanted to spend every waking moment with this girl. He felt a bit obsessed, but he didn't really care.

"I uhm... I don't feel so well" Aurora said, her voice cracking at the end of her sentence.

"Well what's wrong? Do you need something?" Tom asked, worriedly putting his arm around Aurora. He always wanted to be touching her.

"N-no. I just don't feel well" Aurora said, panic already rising inside her. She was afraid of everything she'd done with Tom. How could she have been so careless, almost falling for this man?

"Aurora, you're shaking. What's wrong?" Tom asked, taking note of how the girl was jittery and shaking. She gently turned her face towards him by her chin.

"Tom I don't... You shouldn't see me like this" Aurora said, trying to get out of Tom's grasp.

"Aurora, you're panicking again. Stay calm, okay baby?" he softly said, not letting go of Aurora.

"No! You need to go!" Aurora yelled, now full-on panicking, trying to push Tom off of her.

"No, okay? I'm not leaving you like this. Not a fucking chance" Tom said, but let go of Aurora to give her some space, as much as he didn't want to stop holding her, ever.

Aurora started crying hysterically, her hands in her hair. She laid down and pulled the covers on herself, really not wanting this man to see her at her lowest for the second time. She was falling for him, and it'd hurt less if he just left now instead of when he'd learn how broken she was, how she was not worth the trouble.

"Aurora? Is there anything I can do?" Tom asked, feeling terrible. Had he caused this? Did he do something wrong? He so badly wanted to be able to remove all of Aurora's bad memories.

Aurora didn't pay attention to him, just trying to breathe, to not drown. All of the words she'd ever been said came back to her, all of the times she was hit, just for being her. The time her ex told her he hoped she'd die and stop wasting air from people who actually deserved it. She just tried to breathe, to ground herself. That's when she felt Tom get under the covers with her and wrap his strong arms around her, pulling her back to his chest.

"I'm here. It's okay" Tom whispered, laying his head on Aurora's shoulder. Aurora felt herself slowly be able to breathe again. Tom kept petting her hair soothingly.

And what terrified Aurora was how fast this man could ground her. How just his presence and touch could calm her down so fast. And she realized, she was drowning. And he was air.