Try hard // L.H.

Chapter 46

The plane ride back home was long and mostly silent

Aurora slept with her head against my shoulder most of the time

Her eyes had been heavy with restlessness and dark circles from all the stress. As soon as the trial was over I could tell all she wanted to do was sleep

So when we were on the plane I put my arm around her, she kissed my cheek and cuddled up on my shoulder and she was out within a minute

After Aaron was found guilty, we didn't really talk about it

We went back to the hotel, we all got something to eat and got our things packed for our flight home

Earlier this morning we had said goodbye to Danielle, who was driving the three hours back to where aurora used to live

"I'm going to miss you so much" Aurora told her as they hugged each other tightly

"I'm going to miss you too" Dani smiled, tears brimming in her eyes

"Thank you so much for coming" she told her best friend, tears appearing in her eyes as well

"What are best friends for?" She told her, they broke up there hug and stood there with their hands locked "I'm glad they got him"

"Me too" she said softly

"Take care of yourself okay?" Dani asked her

"I will" Aurora nodded and smiled. That smile made my heart feel a little lighter, maybe everything would be okay

_

Auroras POV

It seemed strange walking into my bedroom again, Even though it had only been about three weeks since I'd been here.

I knew jet lag was going to be a bitch, which I why I'd told Luke I just wanted to go to bed, insisting I'd be okay.

I made it a point to unpack all my bags and put everything where it had been before, put on my sleep clothes and curl into bed. Just like normal

I wanted things to feel normal again

I had to admit my mind was the most relaxed it had been in weeks, it was such an indescribable relief

The only thing that bothered me was that I never got to talk to Sarah. Her parents had taken her straight out of the room and out the front doors as fast as possible.

I didn't feel like it was my place to try to find her, I knew she probably didn't want to talk to me about it, or anyone.

I just hoped that she would be okay. I also knew that Aaron getting sent to prison didn't completely solve the situation. Even though it was a relief he wouldn't do this again, I knew what happened was going to haunt Sarah, much worse than me.

My phone buzzed on the night stand next to my bed

It was a text from Luke, it was just a kiss face

"What a dork" I mumbled, but I was smiling, I appreciated the dorky text at a time like this. So I sent one back.

Things would get back to normal. I knew they would.

_

The next morning felt like it was in slow motion

I woke up and spent a long time scrolling through my phone till my eyes adjusted to the light. Showered. Then Went downstairs and ate cereal in my pj's while watching  the recordings of my shows I missed

By the time my sleepiness was gone I thought I had wasted a lot of the day. When in reality it was only eleven. It was a quiet time, alone with myself

That's when I decided really wanted the opposite of quiet

So I obviously called Luke

"Do you thing we could get everyone together today? Go somewhere?" I asked him over the phone

"Yeah, I think they'd be up for it" Luke said "you get dressed and come over while I text the boys okay?" He added

"Okay, I'll be over in 10"

I went upstairs and fixed my hair, changed my clothes and put on some makeup and sent a quick text to Addison

"emergency friend time needed. You in?" It only took her about a minute to answer

"Obviously! Who do you think I am?"

"Silly me. Get Meredith and Angela, if they boys haven't already" I told her

"Will do!" And I could almost hear the way she would have say it in person

Freshly done up, I went down the stairs and quickly stuck my head in the kitchen to tell my parents I was going out with everyone. I just heard them yell their "Okay's" as I was already headed towards the door

Liz answered the door when I got to Luke's house and she looked happy to see me and opened her arms for a hug, which I gladly accepted

"Hi,honey" she said with a big smile

"Hi, Liz" I said, after her constant insisting not to call her Mrs. Hemmings because it made her feel old, it seemed easy now

"How are you?" She asked

"Fine, thank you" I nodded, it wasn't a lie, I felt more fine then I had a few days ago

"Luke's upstairs, go on ahead" Liz told me gesturing towards the stairs

"Thank you" I told her, but before I got to the stairs I was stopped by a small voice

"Aurora!" I saw Ben came bounding in from the kitchen, where he must have heard me. He ran straight into my arms

"Well, hello Benjamin" I laughed and gave him a hug

"You're back! Luke said you were back, you were gone for a long time. Did you have fun on your vacation?" He rambled off all the questions in what seemed like one breath. I didn't really know how to answer those questions with out lying, but before I could, Liz saved me

"Ben, I'm sure Aurora can tell you about it another time" she told him, grabbing his hand

"Thank you" I mouthed to her and she simply nodded

"I'll see you later okay buddy? I gotta go see your brother" said pointing to the stairs

"Okay" Ben nodded "mom can I have a cookie?" He asked

"Sure sweetheart" she lead him into the kitchen and I started for upstairs

_

I know this isn't very long, this is sort of just a filler. I'll update more later

Xoxo