wild ↣ p. lahote

xviii. forever

A HALF HOUR LATER, Aurora and Bella were inside of Bella's house. Sam had driven slowly and carefully and they'd arrived at Bella's house in one piece, somehow. Sam was currently outside, unhooking Bella's truck and getting ready to go back to the Rez. Aurora was inside the house only for a moment to borrow an umbrella from Bella, who was halfway inside of a small, overflowing coat closet.

Aurora looked around the entry way to Bella's house. She'd never been here before, and it was interesting seeing the police chief's home. It seemed like a normal home, which was strange since Aurora had half expected a prison-like house with no decorations or paint or anything. Very stereotypical and biased of her to think so, she knew, but still, she was surprised.

"Here you go," Bella said suddenly, stepping out of the coat closet. She jammed some boxes back in and leant against the door, using her body weight to shut it. Her dark hair was all over the place as she looked back up at Aurora and handed her the cheetah-print umbrella.

"Thank you so much. I'll give it back to you tomorrow," Aurora said graciously as she took the umbrella. She looked down at her bodysuit that was half hidden underneath her cardigan and then back up at the umbrella and then back down at her shirt. "Hey, these match!"

Aurora looked up at Bella, who was rubbing the back of her neck and looking away. "Yeah. I thought you'd like it," she stammered, her dark eyes fluttering back up to meet Aurora's. "You can keep it. Charlie got it from some sort of raffle and he's never used it. We have a million others, anyways."

A smile breathed happiness across Aurora's features. "Awe, Bella! Thank you!" She exclaimed. Bella just shrugged.

"Yeah, no problem."

A knock sounded behind the two girls, startling Aurora so much she jumped and gave a cry. She spun around to see Sam standing on the front porch, a grin crossing his features. He was ready to leave. Aurora glared at him before turning back to Bella and smiling at her. "Goodbye. I'll see you at school tomorrow, right?"

Bella nodded. "Yeah, I'll be there."

"Great!" Aurora chirped. She turned around and opened the front door, immediately whacking Sam across his arm with her new umbrella, causing him to stumble back laughing. She turned and gave Bella a grin. "Thanks again for the umbrella!"

☽

Sam and Aurora had been driving to the Rez for a few moments, the only sound between them the rumbling of Sam's truck and the pounding of the rain. Sam was silent since he obviously didn't seem like much of a small talker, and Aurora was silent since she was trying as hard as she could to not think about Emmett.

Eventually, though, the silence became too deafening for Aurora. "So, how's your new wolf doing? It's Paul, right?" She asked, turning to look at Sam. She thought she saw a glimmer of pride ripple through Sam's face as she mentioned his name.

"He's actually doing way better than we expected. He got used to it a lot quicker than we thought he would," Sam replied, a hint of pride shining through his voice.

"Is he, like... mentally okay? Like does he have some sort of disorder I should know about?" Aurora asked in a quieter, more serious tone. She thought back to when she'd first met Paul— he'd been shaking and seemed to her like he was very emotionally unstable. She wanted to be prepared just in case he started acting strangely.

Sam laughed out loud at that— a full, genuine laugh that startled Aurora. "Oh, there's definitely something wrong with him, that's for sure," Sam said in a I-know-something-you-don't tone.

Aurora narrowed her eyes as she studied Sam's side profile. His eyes were still squinched up from laughing and the corners of his mouth were tipped up. What was so funny?

Then it hit Aurora: he was mocking her! There wasn't actually anything wrong with him, and he was mocking her for asking. She frowned, huffing as she turned back forwards and crossed her arms in front of her wet chest. "You're mean."

Sam laughed again. "I'm being serious!" He exclaimed defensively.

"Yeah, yeah," Aurora replied, rolling her eyes. Suddenly she perked up, uncrossing her arms as she turned back to face Sam. "Why were you guys in the woods Thursday night, anyways?"

"I was taking Paul out on a run and showing him the ropes," Sam replied. He suddenly put on a serious air as he glanced at her, his face looking solemn. "Do you want to tell me more about why you were out there?"

Aurora gulped, turning back to look at the dark road in front of her. The rain had made the roads slick, so Sam was driving slowly— almost too slowly for her taste. It would be a while until they got to the Rez, which meant that she had really no way out of this. The tall, dark trees passed by Aurora ominously, as if telling her there was no escape

"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to," Sam spoke up, his tone a lot softer this time.

Aurora shook her head. "No, no, I should tell you," she replied. Taking a deep breath to steady herself, Aurora started remembering the night that she'd tried so hard to forget. "I'd just came home from school. He was waiting for me. Said we needed to take a walk. We went deep into the woods. Then he said... he said 'we' needed to leave. At first, I thought he meant his family and me. He did not."

"Oh, Rora, I'm so sorry..." Sam murmured. His voice sounded almost as broken as Aurora's heart felt. He truly seemed sorry.

"That's not even the bad part," Aurora laughed, her eyes beginning to cloud over. The road started twisting and turning, like she was viewing it from underwater. The rain pounded harder and harder as they drove, like the skies were crying with her. "He said I didn't belong in his world. He said he didn't want me, and he was just sorry he let us drag on for so long. I started... I started crying, telling him not to go. I was starting to have a panic attack, and I didn't know where I was. I was in no state to be left alone. But he left." Sam sucked in a breath, and Aurora looked to see his knuckles were white against the steering wheel. "My panic attack eventually went away, but by then it was dark and I had no flashlight. I was totally lost until you and Paul came, and then you know the rest."

Sam was quiet for a long moment after that. Aurora watched him— his jaw was clenched tightly and his gaze was hard as it stared at the road. Eventually, he opened his mouth, and it seemed like he was talking through gritted teeth. "Do you know where they went?"

"No."

"Then I'm going to hunt that bastard down until the ends of the earth and then I'm going to give him a piece of my mind by ripping him limb from limb—"

"Or you could maybe... not do that?" Aurora said, interrupting Sam's angry outburst. He looked over at her and frowned deeply before looking back ahead.

"I have to do something, Rora. I can't just let him pull something like that on you," Sam said in a quiet tone. Aurora smiled a little when she heard him call her 'Rora.' He'd never called her that before.

"A boy broke my heart. It happens to someone every day. Why do you care so much?" Aurora asked coming her head. Her cloudy eyes were gone and she'd forgotten all about Emmett and the Cullens. All of her attention was fixated on Sam and why he seemed to care so much.

Sam sighed. "Because it was your heart that was broken. I can't— you're like a little sister to me. I know that sounds weird, since we barely know each other, but it's true and I won't fight it. I can't just sit by and let someone hurt you and not go and do something about it."

Aurora smiled at Sam's kindness. She felt the same way about him— he really felt like her brother even though they'd only met a handful of times. "You're like my big brother, too. An annoying one, yes, but still my brother." Sam smiled at that. "But... there's nothing you can do about Emmett. You'll just have to wait to see if he ever comes back."

Sam sighed. "You're right," he capitulated. "But do I have your permission to crush his head in if he ever comes back?"

Aurora laughed at that, turning back and facing the road again. "As long as I'm there to see it."