Salvage

Eight - Part 3

When she arrived back at the house everything was still quiet. Adam would probably be home within the next twenty minutes. She had time for a quick shower. 

She was just finishing up in the steamy bathroom when she heard the front door thump open, and footsteps. The steps stumped down the hallway, past the bathroom, and Adam's bedroom door opened and closed. She forced her frozen limbs into action, struggling into her jeans, and tugging on a T-shirt over her plain cotton bra.

As soon as her door opened, Adam's did as well, and he stepped out of his bedroom, looking around and smiling at her quickly.

"Hey," she said quietly, clearing her throat.

"Hey there. Listen, I'm really sorry about last night. And this morning." Adam closed his door completely and stepped away, rubbing his hand over the back of his neck and looking sheepish. "I have a bit of a temper. I never snap or do anything crazy, I just become kind of an asshole. I hope you don't hold it against me."

"I, um. What made you so mad?"

He sighed and leaned back against the wall. "It's just Jane. She's supposed to schedule visits. It pisses me off when she just drops by. We were promised freedom, but it doesn't feel free. It's like taking Vader to the park, but keeping him on his leash the whole time. Doesn't it defeat the point?"

"Well... I guess it depends. Why does she need to check in? Honestly, Adam, I'm just really confused by the whole situation, because nobody is actually telling me anything."

"I know." He looked sheepish. "It's not... None of it would affect you negatively or anything. I promise, I want to tell you. I will tell you, as soon as I can. They just won't let me, yet."

"They?" Aurora narrowed her eyes. "And what about Jamison? He was there, that night, at the vet. Why didn't he say it was your dog then? And Cece, and Chinook? If you guys all have rich parents, why do you have a case worker too? What about Cece? What happened to her parents?"

Adam gave a frustrated grunt and pushed himself away from the wall. "I can't tell you all that, not right now. Look, I have to go. We can talk more later, I'm sorry. Jane wanted to have a meeting with all of us, that's where Chinook and Daniel are headed now. I'm already late."

"Didn't you just-" Aurora cut herself off abruptly before betraying her earlier escapade. "Okay. Fine. We'll talk later, then."

Adam paused, frowning. He took one large step forward, crossing the width of the hallway in one stride, bringing him intimately close to Aurora. His hands were fisted, muscles tense, and his eyes delved into hers, studying her. She squirmed, feeling exposed, bare, uncomfortable, but excited. Her breath was shallow in her chest.

"Aurora. Truly. I am sorry. I want you to know, I take this seriously. I don't want you to think badly of me."

"It's all right." His proximity was scrambling her brain, making it hard to focus. "You didn't hurt me. Or even say anything mean to me."

"You're already going through a hard time. There's no excuse for me to add to it." Adam hesitated, then reached up and clasped one of her hands. "We will be back this evening. I got the extra key from Daniel this morning."

Aurora swallowed hard and looked down at her hand. The warmth of his fingers closing around hers had distracted from the sensation of a silver key being pressed into her palm. "Th-thank you. No problem. And yes. Thank you." She took a step back, then another, until she bumped into the wall.

Adam stared down at her for another moment, a look of longing and a little confusion on his face. Then he turned, and strode away without another word.