Endless || Jonah Marais ✓

♪ FIFTEEN ♪

"You need food and comfier clothes," Jonah declares, pulling himself up and clapping his hands together. "In fact, I think we all do."

Aurora groans, wanting to argue as he pulls her to her feet as well. She had grown quite comfortable on the floor and wanting nothing more than to remain there. But, he had already disappeared to inform the others.

Zach appears in his place, thoroughly startling the girl. Carmen had finally convinced him to leave her side and he didn't appear all too pleased with it.

"Hey, Aurora," he says, glancing up at her with bloodshot eyes. "Can I ride back to the house with you and Jonah? I promised Carmen I would go eat and take a shower."

"Of course, Heroine," she instantly complies, throwing an arm around his shoulder. "If Caramel insisted."

××××

Aurora takes a deep breath as she slides her key into the lock, closing her eyes and staring down at it. Jonah and Zach stand behind her, silently offering their support. Exhaling, she throws the door open.

And freezes.

"You don't have to do this, Aurora," Jonah says, laying a gentle hand on her arm. "You've got clothes at our house. We can go there and come back here another day."

The brunette shakes her head adamantly and enters the apartment, furtively wiping at her eyes before any tears could fall. If she walked away now, she would never be able to convince herself to come back.

"Why don't you two go by your house and clean up?" She suggests, giving them both a weak smile. "I'll be fine here."

Zach nods along, prepared to tug Jonah back out the door with him, but the older boy remains rooted to his spot.

"Are you sure?" He questions, cupping her cheek with a concerned look. "There's plenty of time. We can stay here with you."

"I'm positive." Aurora reassures him, placing a kiss on his cheek and guiding him back to the door. "Besides, you need a new shirt since I soaked that one."

Once the two are out of sight, she shuts the door and sighs loudly, unsure how to handle the empty apartment.

Now alone in the hallway, she faces the open bedroom door. The bed was made neatly and clothes were stacked on a corner of the dresser, just waiting for their owner to come home and put them away. It looked no different than it did on any day, as if the day's events hadn't even happened.

Aurora wanted to shut the door and walk away to freshen up. She wanted to lock away all memories of her best friend so her heart would no longer ache. But, she couldn't bring herself to do it.

Instead, she steps forward and collapses onto the bed like she's done so many times before, inhaling the pillow sheets that smelled just like Mark.

The girl was dehydrated to the point where she couldn't possibly cry anymore, leaving her to simply lay in the bed sadly. Every memory she had of Mark seemed to play through her mind, leaving her even more upset that there would no longer be new memories to add to the collection.

After nearly an hour, Aurora finally managed to convince herself to climb out of the bed and clean up, knowing good and well Mark would be pissed if he saw her simply giving up because he's gone.

Throwing on a pair of leggings and Mark's Pink Floyd t-shirt, she throws her hair up into a ponytail just as someone knocks on the front door.

Moving to open it, she could hear Jonah and Zach whispering to each other.

"Has something else happened?" Aurora asks worriedly, slinging the door open.

"No," Zach confirms, smiling slightly. "Jonah just has something he wants to ask you."

The girl merely raises an eyebrow, too tired to play any guessing games.

"Zach and I were talking while I drove us back here. And when Carmen is released from the hospital, she's moving in with us," Jonah begins. Aurora nods along, not yet understanding what that had to do with her. "We both agreed that you shouldn't be living here by yourself. So, I was hoping you would move in with us as well."

A hopeful look crosses his face as Zach nods encouragingly behind him. Aurora was thankful she had ran out of tears to spill, knowing she'd be crying again if she did.

"Of course I will," she answers immediately, hugging him tightly. Jonah sighs, visibly relaxing as he hugs her in return and places a kiss on the top of her head. " How did I get lucky enough to have you in my life?"

"I think I'm the lucky one."

The sound of Zach's phone receiving a notification interrupts the moment and the younger boy clears his throat awkwardly.

"Corbyn has requested for us to hurry up with the food before Callie snaps . . . .again."

"Well, we can't argue with that," Aurora finds herself chuckling despite their situation. "McDonald's is still open, isn't it?"

- - - -

"You're a lifesaver," Corbyn says, his stomach grumbling as he greedily accepts the bag of fast food Aurora hands him.

Callie promptly delivers a swift smack to the back of his head, giving him a reprimanding look. "Bad word choice."

"Sorry," he mumbles sheepishly, suddenly too interested in his food to make eye contact. "I mean thank you."

"Don't worry about it, Blondie," Aurora waves it off, taking a seat between him and Jonah.