Let's keep each other safe from the world

Chapter Two - My Mind Keeps Running and Running in Circles Around Me

Song of the chapter: Outside - Bea Miller
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It was around three hours later when Geoff and Ari walked up the path to Awsten's door. Ari hid her body behind Geoff and watched their feet as she followed him. The thoughts in her mind had started running around in circles again, but she didn't want to worry anyone anymore today, or preferably ever again. Although she had reached the conclusion that the latter was probably not possible so, today had to do.

"Geoff! Aurora! I haven't seen you in forever! Jet misses you like crazy!" Awsten greeted as his door burst open when they were halfway up his driveway. He was the only one to call Aurora by her actual name, everyone else just called her Ari, but he was stubborn like that. It was like he had been watching from his window and waiting for them, which he probably had been knowing him. It took so much of Ari's self-control not to recoil as Awsten came bounding down the path towards them looking for a hug. However Geoff knew that physical contact like that would probably still be too overwhelming for his best friend, who was almost cowering behind his back. So, he held his arms out for Awsten, pulling his energetic friend into a hug.

"Not just now man, she needs some space," Geoff whispered to Awsten during the hug before pulling away. He caught the frown on Awsten's face for a split second before he forced a smile to reappear.

"Come in, come in! Otto and Jawn are already inside," Awsten announced, turning around and leading the two of them into his living room. As they walked through the door Geoff smiled and said hello to his two friends, asking how they'd been. Ari gave a small smile and a quiet hello before making her way to the armchair she almost always claimed when she was at Awsten's. As she let herself sink into the tan coloured chair, she exhaled a small sigh of relief. This seemed so familiar, so right. She hadn't been with all her friends at once in about three weeks, and seeing them all chatting and laughing brought a smile to her face. She felt the warmth ricochet around her body as she continued to watch her friends, still not having enough energy to actually participate at the moment due to the panic attack she had that morning. Aurora liked watching anyway, taking in the details of a situation. She had always been told that she was a great listener. Plus she found it a lot easier to listen rather than talking and having to worry about saying something stupid. As she sat there she felt a light pressure on her lap and sure enough, Jet had found her way onto the girl's lap, causing a smile to break out on her lips. This cat was a huge source of comfort for Ari with her anxiety, but she was just incredibly adorable as well so it was like a win-win. She watched as Jet nestled into her and looked up at her before lying down on her lap. Ari couldn't help but pet the soft, kind animal lying on her, feeling more at peace than she had in weeks.

As Ari continued to watch the now purring Jet in her lap, she listened to her friends talk about some band practice or something, but she didn't realise that Awsten was watching her with the fondest smile on his face. He watched the girl he cared for smiling at his cat and looking so much more relaxed and free than she had been when she had been walking to his door not even half an hour ago.

Awsten wished he could come up with something that would help her. Knowing she was hurting was killing him and he just wanted to be able to do something, but he could see that she felt far more comfortable with Geoff than anyone else. He had always wondered if there was something going on between them, but there didn't seem to be any indication of that, so he eventually assumed that there wasn't. He really hoped that he was right about that.

Geoff kept glancing at Ari too, to make sure she seemed okay. For now she did, and he was genuinely thankful for that. She had had enough to deal with in the past few weeks and she deserved to have a break and feel okay for a while. She deserved to feel happy.

"So, are you guys excited for the tour?" Jawn asked after a while of conversation between the four of them.

"Tour?" Aurora questioned, her soft voice cracking making all four of the guys turn to look at her in surprise. She hadn't said a word other than 'hi' since she had arrived, although that wasn't the only reason they all looked surprised. Every single one of them had forgot to mention to her that they were going back out on tour. Her heart cracked - they'd forgot about her. They were all going to leave and forget her. Nobody said anything, and the room descended into silence apart from the soft purring of Jet who had long since fallen asleep on Aurora's laps. "When? When are you going? When were you going to tell me?" Tears threatened to spill over her eyes, making them sting.

"Ari listen to me," Geoff said quickly standing up, crossing the room before crouching down in front of the armchair she was sitting in. "I was going to tell you, I was on my way to tell you that night...." Geoff paused, hoping she knew which night he meant because he knew she would be even madder at him if he spilled what had happened a few weeks ago in front of everyone. "But I couldn't tell you this right after what happened and since then I haven't wanted to bring it up when you aren't feeling that great. And I haven't had the heart to tell you when you have been feeling better either because I didn't want to upset you. I know I should have told you, and I'm sorry, but tour starts in two weeks..." Ari watched as he confessed his reasons. He watched her as well, looking for her reaction.

"I need a few minutes," she whispered, picking up the once sleeping and now very confused cat out of her lap and placing him back in the chair after she had stood up. Aurora crossed the room biting her lip and clenching her fists so her nails dug into the skin on her palms, the pain keeping her focused and stopping the tears that were burning in her eyes from falling. As she closed the door to the living room behind her, she ran up the stairs planning to go to the most peaceful place around here - the roof outside Awsten's window.