My Enigma

Chapter Twenty-Nine

AURORAS POV

The moment I stepped through the door, the silence greeted me like an old, tired friend. No shoes kicked off at the entrance. No music drifting down from Levi's room. Just me, the creak of the wooden floor beneath my sneakers, and the muffled hum of the refrigerator.

Grief didn't always scream. Sometimes, it whispered.

I dropped my bag by the stairs and leaned against the wall, shutting my eyes for a moment. School had drained me not just the classes or the eyes that kept flicking toward me with a kind of hesitant sympathy, but everything else.

Luke.

Connor.

Planning the pep rally.

Levi.

I let out a deep breath and pushed off the wall, heading straight to the kitchen to grab a glass of water. My fingers curled tightly around the glass, cold seeping into my skin as I tried to steady myself. I still hadn't figured out what I was supposed to say at this rally : a celebration, a memorial, a tribute whatever it was, it was for Levi. And somehow, I had to speak for him. About him.

I was exhausted just thinking about it.

My phone buzzed on the counter. I glanced down.

Connor.

Hey. Can I call?

From him being super mad at me and not talking to me, to texts like these. Oh how far we have come.

My heart did a quiet, strange little flip. Not the kind it used to do around Luke. This was gentler. Familiar. Like the sound of rain tapping on your window late at night.

I stared at the screen for a second too long before typing back:

Sure.

Seconds later, it lit up again — Incoming call: Connor.

I answered on the second ring, leaning my hip against the counter.

"Hey," I said softly.

"Hey, Rory."

His voice was low, easy but careful. I knew that tone. It was the way he always used to speak when he thought I was too close to the edge. After Levi died, that tone returned, like muscle memory.

"Long day?" he asked.

I laughed without humor. "That obvious?"

"Well, you sound like someone who needs pancakes and ten uninterrupted hours of sleep."

"God, yes." I smiled faintly, letting the warmth of his voice ground me. "And maybe a whole new brain."

"What's wrong with your current one?"

"It won't stop running in circles," I said. "I keep thinking about the rally. What to say. What not to say. What if I mess it up, you know? What if it's not enough?"

Connor was quiet for a moment. "You won't mess it up. You knew Levi better than anyone. You'll speak from the heart, and that's enough."

My throat tightened. "I don't know if I can speak from the heart, Connor. It still hurts too much."

"That's why it'll be perfect," he said gently. "Because it's real. And that's what people need to hear."

I blinked hard, biting my lower lip.

We sat in the quiet for a second. It wasn't uncomfortable. Just... weighted. Then he added, "Do you want help? With the speech?"

"Would you?"