Let's keep each other safe from the world

Chapter Seven - Hold Me, Feel My Heartbeat

Song of the chapter: Kiss Me Again - We are the in Crowd 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was a couple of hours later when Ari woke up before she had even opened her eyes she could feel the pain throbbing in her head, it reminded her of the panic attack she had. Forcing herself to open her eyes she was greeted with Geoff sitting on the bed next to her, one earphone in and scrolling through his phone. She hated always being a burden to her friends, she hated feeling weak and broken, but she didn't know how to fix it.

"Hi," she said as she looked up at him.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" he asked looking over at his best friend, he placed his phone on Awsten's nightstand and took the earphone out.

"My head hurts, but I'm alright" she explained pulling herself up to sit beside him.

"Thought it might, here I got some tablets while you were asleep," he said passing them over along with a bottle of water.

"You're the best" she smiled and took the items from him.

After taking some tablets and drinking some water Geoff asked her "do you want to talk about what happened?"

"I thought today was going to be a good day, I had no nightmares, I smiled when I woke up, I felt okay, I felt good. But then I just saw that picture and I froze and I just couldn't. I think Awsten showed up then, I feel bad, I kinda yelled at him" she admitted to Geoff, her hands tugging the fabric of her sweater over her hands.

"Today still can be a good day, let's count since you woke up again as a new day okay? And it's okay, Awsten was just trying to help, but I talked to them, I told them what to do, and what not to do, if it happens again okay?" he asked looking at his friend. He hated what has happened to his best friend and feeling so helpless, knowing that the slightest thing can trigger an avalanche of emotions and be unable to make her pain stop breaks Geoff's heart, he wants Ari to have good days, so many good days that the bad days are so few and far between that she doesn't even remember feeling this low.

"Okay..." she agreed not seeming 100 per cent convinced.

"Besides I have a question for you that might brighten your day," Geoff tells her. Ari looks up at him to see he has a small smile on his face, but he also looks kinda nervous, so she nods at him to go ahead.

"Would you like to join us on tour?" she felt her heart beat faster, but not in a bad way, she was just excited, she could feel a huge smile start to form on her face.

"Of course! Gee is this actually happening, is management okay with it? Is everyone else okay with it?" wanting to ask all of the questions before she got her hopes up too high.

"Ari, I promise this is really happening" he beams at her, seeing his best friend light up like this is contagious.

"Geoff, I need this so much, I need to get out of here, I need to run away from here for a while, thank you, thank you, thank you" Ari gushes, tackling him into a hug, she feels so free in this moment, she felt so safe being around Geoff.

"Don't thank me, Awsten suggested it, I just made the phone call," Geoff told her, hugging his friend back, it was rare he had the opportunity to do this.

"I love you, Geoff, I know I don't say it enough but you're my best friend and I love you so much" she admits holding on to him.

"fuck, Ari I love you too, you're gonna make me cry" this feels so good, it feels like home.

The pair hug for a couple more minutes before Ari lets go, "I'm gonna go thank Awsten" she announces before jumping up from the bed, she hasn't felt this great in a long time, even before it happened, but now she's getting to escape and explore and just not have the constant reminders of this little town she's lived in her whole life. Ari hurries down the stairs and into the living room she notices Jawn and Otto are there too, but she focuses on Awsten. She lets herself fall down next to him and drapes her legs over his lap before wrapping her arms around her colourful friend. He makes a small noise of surprise before holding Aurora in a hug.

"I'm sorry for touching you during your panic attack" he breathed out, he's been feeling so guilty the whole time that she has been asleep and now he finally feels like he can breathe again. having her in his arms was amazing, it wasn't something that happened often, she has never been a fan of physical contact for the most part, and with whatever happened a few weeks ago she seems to be even less keen on it now. But being able to hold the girl he has been hopelessly in love with for the past few years and knows that she is okay and here, made everything seem that little bit brighter to Awsten.

"I don't care Awsten, you made it possible for me to get out of this town for a while so, thank you," she said, her words muffled from speaking into the fabric of his sweater around his neck. While Aurora struggles to feel comfortable with physical contact it doesn't mean she doesn't love being able to hug and cuddle with her best friends when she is able to, so she always tries to take full advantage of the situations she can. Being wrapped up in someone's arms can feel so warm and safe and like home, but in the times when she is touch averse, it would feel suffocating, and like she was being burned and trapped. But for now, at least it just feels so much like warmth and happiness, so she isn't planning to let Awsten go for a while, and she really hoped that he doesn't mind. Being able to feel his heartbeat and having his arms wrapped around her was so calming and safe. It was like being wrapped up in a large duvet on a cold day, it just feels so warm and comfy.

"You're coming? It's gonna be so great all five of us together" he couldn't help the grin from appearing on his face. Aurora is okay, she doesn't hate him, she is coming on tour, she is hugging him. Everything just feels so great right in this very moment and Awsten doesn't want it to end, nobody does, everything just feels so right.