Igniting Sparks

chapter 31.

Edited by                                          7-1-2021

*

The house was silent as Azura pushed the front door open. No fire, no music, no life. It was clear Lucas had not been home in the time she had been gone as everything still sat in the exact same way as she had left it.

"Dammit..." She softly hissed.

The house felt cold without his presence and her heart dropped when she knew this place might not be her home for much longer. She had flat out rejected him and even though she wasn't in her right mind when she did, she could not take any of those words back. Azura let her hand glide along the back of the couch and they lingered on the blanket she had often curled herself into. Grabbing it, she brought it to her nose and inhaled deeply. Lucas's scent clung to it strongly. Instead of her, he was the one who had used it last week judging by the strong musky scent.

She had been a fool and Azura groaned, almost feeling homesick. His scent, even though she only knew it for a few days, had ingrained itself on her and confirmed everything she dreaded. She had fallen for him and she had ruined things before they even really got started.

Leaping over the back of the couch, Azura landed on the sitting area, wincing as the sudden movement still had her ribs aching. She grabbed the blanket and cuddled it with one hand as the other grabbed her phone. No calls and no new messages. Disheartened, she tossed it to the side. Lucas had not responded to any of her calls or messages. Either 'cause he did not have his phone with him, or he was blatantly ignoring her. The latter wouldn't even surprise her but it still hurt.

Maybe he would come home for dinner. It was later than she had anticipated already. It had been morning when Oliver had picked her up but at what time exactly, she really had no clue. The whole thing with Ben had taken up more time than she'd thought and her whole sense of time was jumbled. Well, it had been for a while now, who was she kidding. Her memory had not returned with the Phoenix and it still bothered her.

Taking another deep breath of the blanket, Azura completely curled herself into the corner of the couch. Conflict raged through her. The Phoenix was back; it completed her and she felt stronger than ever but it would not fix her relationship issues. She glared at the door to the kitchen and for a moment, saw herself leaning against the post as Lucas moved in. Without touching her, he had backed her up against the countertop and as the scene played out in front of her, the feelings she felt then came back to her.

She needed to find him. To apologize and she couldn't wait any longer. As she got up, one other thing popped into her head and as quickly as she could, Azura put on her shoes and coat and left the house.

She started walking slow but picked up the pace until she ran to the front door of Sheila and Jeff and bashed her fist against it. It wasn't long before Sheila opened the door and Azura practically lunged at her giving a major bear hug to her friend.

"Azu, calm down! What's gotten into you?!" Sheila laughed as she freed herself from Azura's hold. Jeff took a quick peek around the corner after hearing some ruckus and as he did Azura went straight to him to hug him as well.

"Thank you guys for everything! And I'm so happy for you two that you're going to be parents soon! I can't wait to meet the little one! I should have stopped by sooner. I'm so sorry! Not my proudest week for sure. I hope you can forgive me." She took a deep breath to fill her lungs again after throwing it all out.

"Forgive you? For what?" Sheila placed her hands on her hips. "You had to fight someone from this very same city for a right to stay here, which is an insane rule if you ask me, and you were badly injured. Now you want us to forgive you for not being your usual self this past week?! Come on! We completely understand and I'm just happy to see you this vibrant again. I guess Lucas is likewise happy to see you like this."