Baby Angel | a poly romance

▸ eighty-three

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Elijah wakes up to a small gasp. He isn't a light sleeper, but when it comes to these two, he finds himself waking up easily. As he slowly sits up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He could feel the weight on his chest lighten. On top of him is Aurelia, her eyes glued to his head and not his face. She tilts her head, and brings her hand up to his hair.

"Your hair..?" She says, making him laugh nervously.

"I... I decided to do something different. Do you like it?" He asks her, watching as her curious expression turns to a huge smile. One that he loves seeing.

""I love it." She kisses his cheek and hugs him tightly, causing him to wrap his arms around, the nerves disappearing. Aurelia sits up again and runs her fingers through it. "I'd love it more if you get it shaped better. When did you do this?"

He shrugs before he murmurs quietly. "After you two went to bed."

Her smile slowly fades as she searches his eyes. After staring into his eyes for a while. Aurelia leans against him, drawing circles on his chest with her finger. He runs his hand up and down her back.

"What's wrong?"

"What happened last night?" she asks him, causing his hand on her back to stop. He didn't know what to tell her. Obviously he will tell her truth, but how would she respond? Both of them will be following Ryan to Germany at the beginning of next year, but part of him doesn't want to go. Especially after the dinner last night. The way Ryan tried to blame all of the dysfunction on his mother as if he's not the blame as well.

"I had a dinner planned for my mother and Ryan to tell me the truth straight up. It felt like I was getting different versions of the same story, and I just wanted the truth. So i can comfortably move on." He tells her, and she hums, listening to what he had to say.

"Ryan showed up with Naomi, and I knew he only did this to piss my mother off. Naomi wasn't invited, yet he brought simply to make a fool out of my mother." He sighs, feeling his anger rise, replaying the night over and over in his head. "His attempt to mock my mother didn't matter. She didn't show up, and when I called her to get an answer of why? Why didn't she come? She never gave an answer. She only insulted me. Blamed me for something and then called me my father."

Aurelia sits up, and cups his cheek. "I'm sorry."

Elijah shakes head, holding her hand. "No. I'm sorry for myself. I spent so many years putting up with it because I love my mom, but I'm done. I decided to step out of my family. I should've done it a long time ago."

Aurelia brushes the tears falling from his face, making him fall in deeper love with her. She kisses him sweetly, before pulling away. "You still have your chosen family."

"Chosen family?" He tilts head.

"The family you picked. Not the one you are born in. You, Drew, Nina, Adrian, Sabrina, Cameron and Desiree are my chosen family." She explains, making him think about it. He chuckles and nods his head.

"You're right, Baby. Thank you." He kisses her again, making her shift a bit on top of him. He notices and sits up more, breaking the kiss for a moment.

"You're moving a lot. Are you okay?" He asks her, looking over the marks he left all over her body. Massaging over the mark on her neck, making her shudder this time.

"It's hard to sit up like this. I'm sore all over." Aurelia giggles embarrassed before hiding her face in his neck. "Drew was right, you should try getting a pound like you did to us last night."

"Sorry, baby, I suppose I did go a bit too hard on you." He kisses her cheek before looking around, noticing that Drew isn't asleep. Before the question to ask him about his whereabouts comes out, he walks in with a bag of food.

"Alright, I got the takeout. Let's–" Drew's eyes widen as they meet gazes. Elijah nervously scratches the back of his neck. "I didn't even notice before. You cut your hair?"

Aurelia reaches for the food, while Drew leans over, running his fingers through it before he grips and pulls his head back. "Still pullable."

Elijah swats his hand away, and shakes his head. He laughs at his antics before watching Aurelia pull out a wrapped burger. He hadn't realized he was hungry until the scent of fresh french-fries and cooked Chicken Burgers filled the room. He grabs the bag from Aurelia and pulls out a burger himself.

"I'm starving too!" Drew protested grabbing the bag from him and taking the large fry and biting into it.

The three of them enjoyed the meal, while talking about what pissed him off and other things retaining him. After their meal, they all spent the rest of the day just cuddling and watching movies, until Aurelia got a call.

"Hi! Cameron!" She says enthusiastically, standing from her spot on the couch slowly, walking with a slight limp to the kitchen to make more popcorn. "Why do you sound like that?"

Elijah looks away from the movie, looking behind the couch where she stood in the kitchen. Her smile is still there, which is a good thing, but her tone didn't seem good.

"Are you okay? What happened?" She says frantically making Andrew pull his eyes from the movie as well. He doesn't know what was happening, but he hopes that she's comfortable enough to tell them when she's ready.

"Cam..." she sighs, and leans against the counter covering her face before turning her back to them. Elijah stands up and walks towards the kitchen, while Drew stops the sound of the microwave, since the popcorn is finished.

"You... you aren't in trouble are you? Were you the one driving?" She asks, while Elijah stands in front of her, while she speaks. "Okay, good. Call me when you get out, okay?"

Once she ends the call, her bottom lip quivers and she hugs him tightly. She cries into his chest, and as he holds her, he could feel her heart racing.

"What happened?" Drew asks, standing beside them, rubbing her back.

"Cameron was in a bad accident." She sniffles. "He said he's fine, but I could hear it in his voice when he lies. He must've been hurt pretty bad."

"Hey, Angel," Andrew comforted her this time. "It's okay. You asked him to call you back, so wait for him to call you back. Don't cry. I'm sure it's not super bad."

Aurelia looks at him and wrap her arms around his neck. He lifts her with ease, and carry her to the couch. Elijah filled the bowl with the popcorn she popped as she talked to Cameron, and return to the couch. This is all he needs. Leaving his family was the best decision he made for himself.

Choosing his chosen family or anything made his heart warm. Elijah's glad she told him about that, now he doesn't feel as shitty as he did before. He feels liberated.

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