Silver Roses [h.f-t. & j.l.] (ON HOLD)

Chapter 13 - Fluctuate

fluctuate - catfish and the bottlemen

"I still can't breathe. Seeing you leaves me breathless. But before I was alone drowning. Now you are here. We swim." - J.c.A

hero

I grin the whole way back to the house, the way seeming much shorter this time even though the clock on my phone read 3:31 AM when I walked towards the front door. When I turned the knob I was surprised that the door opened, meaning that my aunt was seemingly still awake. This just got confirmed when I see the dim light coming from the living room.

I round the corner to see my aunt sitting on the dining table with her back towards me, only the small lamp hanging over the table switched on.

"You're still up?" I ask her and she turns her head at the sound of my voice, but just for a second before turning back around shoving spread out pieces of paper in front of her into a messy pile as quickly as she could, standing up.

"Well, you too. Where were you?" She asks, her voice a little off, a little choked up.

"Jo's." I simply answer, watching her as she still doesnt face me, her hands reaching up to her face as if she was wiping something away. Finally, she turns around, a light smile plastered on her lips.

"Oh. Okay. That's nice." I nod, agreeing with her, adding a little 'Yeah'. Even in the dim light, I could see that her cheeks were a little redder and her eyes glossy. I ponder with myself for a moment if I should step towards her but before I could think about it further she speaks up again, clapping her hands together.

"It's best if you go to sleep. We have to clean up Mari's tomorr- well, today and Lizzy's flight goes in 4 hours and I told her I would take her-" She rambles and I cut her off.

"That's alright, I'll take her." I offer and my aunt closes her mouth, just looking at me for a few seconds.

"Oh, no you don't have to-" She says and I crack a smile.

"It's fine, really." I say again and she sighs, smiling at me before nodding, agreeing. "You should go to sleep too." I say after she turns away from me again, shuffling the papers on the table around again. Her body was blocking my view but it almost looked like a bunch of letters.

"No." She whispered, voice cracking. "Just one more minute."

"Are you okay?" I ask, suddenly feeling a little awkward standing so far away from her as she seemed so sad. I never knew how to act in those situations.

"Yes, Hero. I just need one more minute." She says again and I swallow down the urge to call her out on her odd behavior, turning around instead and making my way down the hall to my room. Just as I close my door, my phone vibrates in my pocket with a text and I pull it out, knowing who it is without having to look.

Jo's name with a message saying 'Exhibit A' pops up on my lock screen and I grin as I click on it to see the photo attached to it. It showed her in some fluffy pajama shorts and a loose red shirt with the tie loosely wrapped around her neck. She took the photo in the body length mirror next to her door and her phone was covering her face but I knew her cheeks were still flushed the way they were when I left.

I quickly type a reply: 'I'm surprised Vivien didn't keep it as evidence.' and hit send before throwing my phone on my bed and start to take off my clothes.

I'm half a mind to just toss them beside my bed but something stops me from doing so, causing me to walk over to the wardrobe that I have yet to use even after being here for months. When I open the wooden doors for only the second time since I arrived here the hanger that I found on my first day here immediately catches my eye.