Jayden (POV):
"How are you feeling?" Aurora broke the silence.
After leaving the house Aurora and I had taken a walk around The Avery's large backyard. Large was probably an understatement; their backyard was more like their own little forest. About 50 feet away from the main house were two smaller houses. Aurora had explained that Dylan's parents and in-laws shared the two houses, along with Gabriela, Claire, Wilder and his family. According to Aurora Claire, Wilder, Raine and River all shared one house whereas Gabriela, Astrid, Jenny, Harley, Scarlet, Charlie, Reese, Margot and Everette shared the other.
"I'm okay, I'm just not used to being away from my mum. I honestly didn't expect to miss her this much, especially since we are heading back tomorrow." I sighed as I wondered what my mum might be up to right now.
"You know that's normal right? I mean you haven't traveled without her before. Honestly it would be a little odd if you didn't miss her." Aurora said, giving me a playful shove.
"I know I know, it's always just been me and mum for the most part. Until Sophie came along, I could tell that mum was lonely. The only time she smiled was when she and I would do something together. I was thinking earlier that she probably would have enjoyed coming along. She really doesn't get out that much unless someone from the castle accompanies her." I sighed as I turned to face Aurora.
The look on Aurora's face however caught me off guard. Her eyes were hardened slightly, it was only for a split second but I didn't miss it. I had noticed since she had arrived at the castle that every time I had talked about my mum her body would stiffen slightly. It was almost imperceivable, I however always seemed to notice the small things that other people didn't catch. It was starting to bother me slightly that she had such a negative reaction towards my mum. Clearly there was something that had happened between the two of them for her to react like that.
"Can I ask you something?" I asked gently.
"Of course anything" Aurora moved towards a nearby bench to take a seat. She waved for me to sit beside her.
"What happened between you and my mum?" I asked, as I rested my head against her shoulder I could feel her muscles tense beneath me.
"What do you mean?" She asked quietly.
"Your body stiffens every time I mention her, even right now your muscles are so tense." I nuzzled my face into the crook of her neck hoping to release some of her tension.
She didn't respond right away, in fact we sat in silence for a few minutes. In those few minutes of silence I could physically feel her thinking. It was like she didn't know what to say or if she should say it. There were a few instances where I could feel her start to say something but would immediately snap her mouth shut each time. For a moment I thought she was going to speak but our attention was pulled behind us due to the sound of approaching footsteps. We both turned to look behind us, both Jasmine and Violet were walking towards us. Which in hindsight was crazy since I was positive Jasmine disliked Violet.
"Are you two okay?" Jasmine asked as she approached the bench.
"Yeah I was just feeling a little homesick, Aurora suggested getting some fresh air." I hated being the cause of Jasmine's worrying.
"W-We weren't interrupting a-anything were we?" Violet cut in softly, causing Jazz to roll her eyes.
"Actually I was attempting to pry some information out of Aurora." I chuckled as I bumped my shoulder against Aurora.
"What information would that be?" Violet said with a quirked brow.
"Just wanted to know why my mum makes her so tense." I said with a shrug.
