Endless || Jonah Marais ✓

♪ NINE ♪

"Let's go on this ride!" Aurora exclaims, bouncing up to the nearest ride. "No, wait. Let's go on this one! Or this one!"

Jack, Callie, Jonah, Aurora, Carmen, and Zach had been in the amusement park for barely five minutes and the oldest girl could hardly contain her excitement.

Finally deciding on the loopiest rollercoaster, Aurora takes Jonah's hand and skips up to the line. Callie and Jack follow behind closely as Carmen and Zach slip away; Carmen not being very fond of rollercoasters.

"I wasn't awere you like rollercoasters," Jonah comments, grinning proudly at his own pun.

"Deer Lord," she retorts. "Your pun game is a bit riddikulus."

Behind the couple, Jack groans loudly as Callie giggles. The line suddenly moves forward, distracting Aurora from making some sort of sarcastic comment.

Nearly bursting with adrenaline, the brunette climbs into the front row with Jonah by her side.

"Hey, Jack," she says, turning around to face the nervous boy. "Did you hear the story about the guy that fell off the second loop of the ride?"

His eyes widen, causing Aurora to laugh as she turns back around. The employee adjusting her harness winks at her before walking up to Jack and Callie.

"What you friend said is true," he agrees solemnly. "It happened in this exact seat too. You might want to hold onto the handle bars tightly. The belt is a little faulty. But don't freak out, that just makes it worse."

Before Jack could say anything, the ride lurches forward and his screams fill the air.

The ride slowly ascends, giving them the perfect view of the entire layout of the park.

Aurora glances over at Jonah, who's grinning just as excitedly. Letting go of the handle bars, she reaches over and entwines her hand with his.

And then they were falling.

- - - -

Stumbling back onto solid ground, tje brunette looks around worriedly, quickly realizing two people are missing.

"WHERE IS MY CARAMEL?" Aurora yells, shoving Jonah backwards in her frenzy. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH HER?"

"Aurora," Jack interjects, holding his hands up in defense and backing away slowly. "Calm down, okay? She's safe with Zach."

"I AM CALM. SHUT THE FUCK UP, NOODLE!" She wastes no time in slapping the boy full force. Callie examines him immediately as Aurora turns back to Jonah. "I need Caramel, Jonah. Find Caramel."

"Did someone say Caramel?" Carmen asks, making an appearance with Zach by her side.

"CARAMEL!" Aurora hugs her happily. "WHERE DID YOU GO? WHAT HAPPENED?"

Jonah glances down at his phone, a buzz simultaneously sounding on his phone, along with Aurora's, Carmen's, Callie's, and Jack's.

"And what is this?" Aurora questions, opening the text and reading over it. "ZACH KISSED CARAMEL! OH MY GOD!"

Aurora dances around happily before jumping onto Jonah's back.

"Let's celebrate with another roller coaster!"

****

Later that evening, Aurora lays on the couch in her apartment, crying into one of the pillows as Mark watches amusedly from his recliner.

The latest episode of Grey's Anatomy had just ended, and it was quite the emotional rollercoaster for the girl.

"So," Mark begins casually, beyond used to his best friend's antics. "I saw Elle today."

This catches Aurora's attention, causing her to look up from the tear stained pillow. In an instant, she's across the room, tackling him for more details.

"And?"

"And we had lunch together," he continues, grinning at the memory. "We talked for at least four hours."

"And then?" Aurora presses on.

"And then I drove her home," Mark finishes. "Ya know, I think things might work out with this girl."

Aurora squeals excitedly, beyond happy for the boy. With all the times Mark had supposedly found the one, she couldn't help but to get her hopes up too that Elle would be different.

"So are-"

A knock at the front door resonates through the apartment, cutting her off. Furrowing her eyebrows, she glances back at the door before looking at an equally confused Mark.

"I GOT IT!" He shouts, pushing Aurora off of him and racing to the door.

"FUCKING BET!" She yells, reaching across the floor and grabbing him by his ankles.

As Mark falls to the floor with a thud, Aurora takes the chance to push herself up and run to the door. Not bothering to look through the peephole, she throws it open, ignoring the fallen teen's groans and accusations.

In her doorway stands Jonah, smiling sheepishly and holding a bouquet of white roses. Her eyes widen, immediately thinking they had a date tonight she forgot about.

"I'm sorry for showing up unannounced," he mutters, scratching the back of his neck nervously and allowing her to take the flowers from him. "I just had something really important to tell you and I needed to say it before I lost my nerve. And I didn't want to say it over text either."

Aurora's heart pounds in her chest as a million worries flash through her mind. She bites her lip, waiting for him to continue.

"I love you."