The Elemental Trials

Six

Marcus
I slept on the couch the night after the fight. I didn't want to go near Luke, and I was sure he didn't want me near him either. I felt awful. Like really, really awful. I wanted to cry but I didn't want to let myself. I was in no position to cry, I had no right. It was me who was in the wrong, and I knew that all too well. Finding out about the effect mine and Luke's fight had on the girls was by far the worst part. It crushed both of us when Alex told us, and it replaced all the anger we were feeling with guilt and regret. Coming home and being met with Aurora's fury was not fun either, but it was the slap that really got to me. I would've expected it from someone like Skye, but from Aurora it just made me feel sick to my stomach. The fact that she was angry enough to actually lash out at us spoke volumes, and it only increased the severity of the way we made Skye feel in our minds. I felt like going to talk to her, but it was late at night and something just told me that it wouldn't go down well. So, I lay down on the couch, grabbed one of the pillows, and hugged it against my chest as I tried my best to fall asleep. Then next thing I knew I was waking up the next morning. I suppose the fighting had taken up a lot more energy than I had initially realised. I had woken up to Luke turning the light on and coming downstairs, since he was always the one up earliest. I look over to see who it was that had disturbed me and the two of us met each other's gaze for a split second, before we both looked away. He went ahead and started silently making his own food, while I stood up and stretched my limbs before heading up the stairs to shower and get ready. The only good that had come from the fight was that I managed to unlock my powers, and I planned on getting to work on them as soon as possible, since it didn't look like I had anything better to do. Me and Luke left the house before the girls even got up, and I went to my regular spot at the base of the volcano. After about fifteen minutes of me making sure my powers were still active, which they were, Alex joined me and began to give me the first few lessons on them. I wasn't sure where he went the night before, I was guessing he just needed to blow off some steam or something. He'd told me that he was the one who asked Luke to get me riled up, and even given him information about my family life. I was furious when he first mentioned it, and even tried to go for him a few times, but he explained to me why he got that desperate and even opened up about his fears when it came to teaching us. Plus, it was a success, so he managed to use that to calm me down. I thought a lot about making up with Luke but right now I was just not ready to. I knew he was genuinely trying to help, and that I was just as much at fault as he was, but still, I couldn't help but want to avoid him for the time being. He did break my jaw after all. And my collar bone, and one of my ribs. Alex did some weird healing thing and brought me back to normal though, same with Luke, so it's not like I could hold that against him. I spent the entire day training as hard as I could, and even when it hit nighttime I didn't stop. I had learned how to create the flaming fists on command, and also how to shoot a tiny bolt of flame from my hand, so that's what I was practising the entire time. I didn't even want to go back to the house, it was full of people who hated me and the couch was nowhere near as comfy as you might think. Plus, Alex had set up a dummy of his own making for me. It was made of vines dirt and leaves, but was as sturdy as anything, meaning I could fire rapid flaming punches into it as long and hard as I wanted to. It must've been well past midnight when I decided to head back, assuming none of the others would be awake. I was wrong however, cause when I walked through the front door I found Aurora sitting on the couch with the small lamp on and her book in hand. For a split second I thought she wanted to have another rant at me, but as soon as she noticed my arrival she set the book down on the table and flashed me a hesitant and uncertain smile, though patted the seat beside her in a way that asked me to come sit. I slowly made my way over, silently sitting down beside her on the couch and trying to judge what she was thinking by reading her expression. "Why are you still up...?" I asked quietly, giving her a slightly curious look. "I was worried about you...I waited for you to make sure you were safe." She answered just as quietly, her smile faltering very slightly as she looked at me. I was a little stunned so didn't say anything in response, though I think she could tell by my own expression that I wanted to know what was on her mind. She let out an exasperated breath, almost like something had been putting a dampen on her mood, and suddenly fell into me. I let out a noise of surprise as I quickly caught her, only to realise she had meant exactly what she did. She was now half leaning on me, one hand reaching up to cup my cheek as she looked me in the eyes "I'm so sorry Marky....the things I said yesterday...I can't imagine how they made you feel. I have no doubt you felt bad enough about the whole situation without me adding to it..." I was a little taken aback by her sudden outburst, but I placed a reassuring hand on her arm "Don't apologise...you were perfectly justified to act the way you did. I should be the one apologising, I-...I never realised what we did to Skye...I was so focused on fighting Luke that I-" "I know." Aurora said, flashing me a soft smile which instantly soothed my emotions "Skye doesn't blame you...either of you...though I think you should both talk to her, it would do all of you good." "Yeah, okay..." I said with a small nod of my head, sighing very slightly "I'll do that." Aurora looked at me for a second before she leaned up and planted a soft kiss on my cheek, immediately causing my face to light up. Luckily, she moved back down and let her forehead drop against the crook of my neck straight after, so I was safe from her seeing my embarrassment. "Marcus, I'm really sorry for slapping you..." she said quietly, and I could tell from her voice that she felt genuinely guilty about it. I let out a soft chuckle, giving her arm a small rub to hopefully make her feel a little better about it "Don't worry about it...plus, Skye slapped me a lot harder yesterday so you've got no reason to feel bad about it." Aurora actually looked pretty surprised by this, looking up at me with a curious expression. If she noticed my red face, she gave no indication of it. "She never told me about that. Why'd she do it?" "Well, it was cause-" I paused slightly as I was suddenly reminded of what happened with Skye trying to kickstart my powers. It didn't mean anything of course, both of us knew that, but it still felt strange to say it. Especially to Aurora while she was all snuggled up against me. "-it's Skye. You know her, who knows what her reasoning was." Aurora let out a small chuckle at this, nodding her head in agreement "I suppose that's a fair point." I smiled a little as well, looking down at her before I suddenly let out a small yawn. My yawning made her yawn too, and we both shared a small laugh at it. "I think it's time for bed..." I said, to which she nodded in agreement. She sat up straight now, no longer leaning on me, before standing up and turning to head towards the stairs. I laid down on the couch as normal, only to hear her footsteps pause on her way to the stairs. "Marcus?" She piped up, sounding sceptical about something. "Yeah?" I asked, sitting up a little to peek over at her from my spot on the couch. "Why aren't you heading to bed?" She asked me, turning to give me a look of confusion. I paused slightly, realising she would have had no way of knowing that I slept on the couch the night before "Oh uh...well actually I...chose to sleep here last night. Figured it's easier than having to share a room with Luke." I tried make it sound like it was no big deal, but Aurora did not seem too impressed. She continued up the stairs and entered her bedroom, and I genuinely thought she wasn't going to come back up, until I saw her arrive at the top of the stairs again with her covers in her arms. "What are you doing?" I asked her, giving her a dumbfounded look as she made her way down the stairs once again and back onto the couch right beside me. "If you're sleeping down here, you're at least getting some company. And some covers." She stated firmly, a small smile on her face. Even if I wanted to argue with her, I knew it never would've worked. So I simply flashed her a tiny smile and gave a small nod of agreement "I like the sound of that." Her smile widened and she tossed the covers to me as she moved up beside me "We're sharing one couch?" I questioned, which she replied to with a 'duh' look. "Don't get the wrong idea buster, I'm only doing this is out of guilt." She said in a teasing manner, which I thought was very Skye-like. "Yeah sure, whatever helps you sleep at night." I commented, flashing her a cheeky smile. "Shut up and lay down with me." She instructed, which I obeyed, setting one pillow up by the armrest and laying back to rest my head on it. I was at the edge of the couch and she was on the inside, which meant I was the one at risk of toppling out and onto the table. Once she was beside me I threw the covers over us and we turned to face each other on the pillow, the lamp beside us being the only source of light we had. It was then that I was hit with the reminder of how beautiful she was, seeing her face so close to mine in the middle of the night with nothing but the dimness of the lamp illuminating her features. I probably wouldn't have been able to take my eyes off her, had I not realised how strange it would've seemed to her, and how it could definitely have made what we were doing seem far less innocent that it was meant to be. It was a very tight squeeze, and I was actively trying not to be shoved out of the couch "You comfy?" Aurora asked me, looking a little apologetic for the position I was in. "About as comfy as it'll get." I answered, still squirming slightly to get a secure spot. "Here, let me just..." Aurora shifted slightly and before I knew it I was laying on my back with far more space that I had previously on the couch. It was mainly due to the fact that Aurora was now cuddled up against me, leaning against my side with her face far closer to mine now. "Better?" She asked, her breath tickling the side of my cheek. "Yeah" I answered truthfully, flashing her a small smile "Definitely." "Good." She said, before reaching one hand over and turning off the lamp, leaving the two of us in pitch darkness. It didn't take long for the reality of the situation to kick in in my head, and I immediately grew anxious, tense, and inescapably embarrassed as I subconsciously tried to make my breathing as silent as possible. Aurora lowered herself slightly so that she was resting comfortably against my shoulder, which forced my arm to slip out from under her slightly and rest against her back in a sort of embrace for the sake of comfort. I lay awake in the position I was in for a while, until I heard her breathing quieten and realised she was asleep. That instantly ceased some of my anxiety, but I was still scared to move in case I disturbed her. Just then I heard footsteps coming from upstairs, and I instinctively pretended to be asleep as they reached the bottom of the stairs. I listened to them move closer, until they had a decent enough view of Aurora and I even in the dark. They lingered for a short second, before retreating once more all the way back to the room they came from. I glanced back over at the stairs, ensuring they were gone, before peering down at where I knew Aurora's head was. Whoever the intruder was they somewhat killed the relaxed mood that had set in around me, but it was then I realised exactly what the scene would've looked like to either Luke or Skye. A thousand thoughts were spinning through my head at that moment, and guiltily not many of them were to do with the fact we had been caught by the person. My eyes darted quickly around the room, even though it was fairly difficult to see anything, before I hesitantly leaned my head down and planted as soft a kiss as I could on Aurora's forehead. Content that no one would ever learn of my crime, I smiled to myself and settled back down against the pillow, before closing my eyes and falling fast asleep not long later.