Forever August ✔️

chapter twenty-seven

"i could easily lose my mind. the way
you kiss me will work each time."
- vance joy
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GUS WAS STANDING in front of the mirror the next morning, analyzing his reflection in the fifth outfit he tried on. With a sigh, he tugged the shirt over his head and peered at the bed. Aurora was still laying beneath the covers, fast asleep.

He wanted to wake her up to hear her opinion on what he should wear, since she was always filled with them, but he didn't want to wake her. Partially to admire her as she slept— mostly to resist being yelled at once her eyes opened.

Rummaging through his clothing, Gus silently wished he planned this out more carefully instead of shoving random t-shirts in his bag in the middle of the night. He pulled out a grey t-shirt with a black pocket on the chest  and inspected it for a moment before he shrugged, then pulled it over his head.

"No fucking way."

He glanced over his shoulder to find Aurora's eyes wide open, watching him with what he knew well enough to be disappointment.

"What?" he tugged at the t-shirt, turning back to the mirror.

"You're not wearing that," she called, propping her head onto her knuckles.

Gus sighed and tugged the shirt off, throwing it onto his bag before he jumped on the bed, landing beside Aurora. He pressed his lips to her neck, then to her mouth. He smiled when she held his face to hers, kissing him slowly.

"What would you like me to wear instead, Rory?" he asked, lips warm on her skin.

"Right now," she said, running her hand down his bare back, "I want you to be wearing nothing."

He swallowed when he saw the look in her eyes, the one he was a prisoner to. That look always led him to bed— had him doing whatever it is that she said. When her hands began to undo his belt, it took everything Gus had to pry her fingers away.

She pouted, and he couldn't help but chuckle.

"We have to leave soon," he reminded her, hopping off the bed and blindly choosing a shirt before putting it on.

"I like that one," she said.

"Really?"

"No!" She threw a pillow at his face. "It's worse than the last one. God."

Gus decided to ignore her whining and wear the shirt anyways.

"I'll be back in ten with breakfast. Be dressed!" he called over his shoulder as he walked out the door.

Gus made his way to the hotel lobby, mouth watering when he took in the food laid out on tables. There were steaming piles of pancakes, bacon, and trays of muffins and other glazed goods. He reached for a cup of coffee and smiled as he drank it black, not minding the way it made his throat burn.

He had never experienced this before: a hotel. Or a new city, for that matter. His entire life was spent in Maine, alternating between the same four walls of his house and the endless ocean. His adoptive parents never had enough money to afford any sort of vacation, and he never minded.

But as he filled a plate with enough food for him and Aurora, he smiled at the thought of her laying upstairs in bed. He found himself grabbing the food quicker, eager to return home to her.

Home. He thought the word and laughed. This hotel wasn't home. Far from it. And as he sipped his coffee, waiting for the elevator to return, he began to realize that home wasn't always a place.