I just want to thank everyone for being patient with me over the last few months. I have struggled to find the power to upload lately. A very very good friend of mine died a few months ago. He was very young and my whole heart. Remember to always hug your friends and tell them you love them, you never know when it will be the last time you see them. Thank you all for being understanding. 

This chapter is dedicated to him 

Brayden S.

Forever in our hearts

September 2000 - August 2021

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Chapter 14.

Alone is to be the ocean

Aurora huffed as she threw herself onto her couch. It was an incredibly boring Sunday night in, the events of the night before still had her exhausted. It was quiet nights like these that she wished she didn't feel so alone in the world. It was the moments when you're truly alone when everything hits all at once. It was easy to feel like a God when you're distracting yourself. Aurora would try her best to always be doing something. Whether it was something bad or just plain old getting up to no good- that was when she felt the best. That was when she felt powerful and untouchable. But the moment she was alone, she was drowning in her own mind. Swimming in waves of emotions that she tries so desperately to stay with her head above water. But the longer she tries to stay afloat, the stronger those emotional waves get and in the end they come crashing down and suddenly her lungs are full of water and she's choking on her trauma, her head feels like it's going to explode and just when she feels herself slipping away- something inside her clicks.

Aurora hated when that happened, when that something inside her snaps, she becomes someone she hates. It was like her brain's way of coping, by shutting off everything. She would become manic, uncontrollable, self-destructive, pretty much every toxic trait you hate about yourself multiplied by ten. One of the many reasons why Aurora fled every town she ever stayed in. Was either because she was worried that she was getting too close or because Aurora had single handily destroyed everything around her, in a sad attempt to cope. Aurora hated it because it never lasted, it was a high that she always came down from. And God was the come down horrible- because Aurora remembered everything, she remembered every scream and cry. She remembered the feeling of blood on her hands, and she remembered the way that she liked it.

Aurora shook her head, trying to rid herself of her intrusive thoughts. And just like the universe heard her crying for help- there was a knock at the door. It took Aurora a moment before she realised that someone was in fact at her front door. The person knocked again and then again. And again. Aurora groaned, yelling out a quick, 'Coming'. Aurora opened the door and was met with a big cheeky grin.

"Stiles?" She laughed as she watched him struggling to hold up his gaming system in his hands, "What are you doing here?"

"Well- I was bored so I decided to come over so we can play games" Stiles stated as she pushed past Aurora and headed into her living room. He looks around before heading over to the TV and begins to set up. Aurora smiled to herself as she watched him, she hadn't had a friend in a very long time. It was in that moment that Aurora decided that she did not want to snap. She did not want to destroy this friendship. And she was going to try her best to actually try here.

Aurora looked at her phone, "It's 11:30pm" She looked at Stiles as he paused the game, "We've been playing for three hours, I'm hungry" She laughed, standing up and heading to the kitchen. Stiles follows her, sitting down at the counter.

"Hmmm" Aurora hummed as she opened her refrigerator in search of something to eat, "Cheese Toasties?" Stiles agrees and Aurora pulls the ingredients from her kitchen.

"So" Stiles started, causing Aurora to look back at him with raised eyebrows.

"So?"

"So, what happened with Theo? What did you find out" Stiles questions. Aurora stifles a laugh as she spreads butter onto the bread in front of her.

"Oh, that's right, you vomited all over yourself before I could tell you" She laughs, looking across the kitchen at him. Stiles looks at her, giving her a look that most definitely said, shut up. Aurora rolls her eyes, "He definitely has secrets, they must be something he doesn't want anyone in the group to know-" Aurora paused for a moment, she pondered telling Stiles what Theo had truly said. "- All I'm saying is that I think he is hiding something, something big"

Stiles huffs, "Yuck" He slouched down in his chair, "maybe we keep pushing this angle? Maybe he thinks that you and he get a little freaky and he opens up" Aurora looked up, sending him an annoyed look. There was no way in hell Aurora was letting Theo think he was getting anything from her. Stiles rolled his eyes dramatically, throwing his hands up in defence, "Fine, just so you know I would totally let you exploit me sexually to get information out of someone" Aurora burst out laughing, muttering a small I hate you. Stiles shrugged his shoulders dramatically in defeat, "So what else happened after I was put down"

"Um, nothing I can think of" Aurora trailed off, scratching the back of her head. Stiles observed her for a moment before he sat up in his chair.

"So did you carry me to your bed all by yourself?" Stiles questioned, bringing the glass of water in front of him to his lips. Aurora curled her toes as she remembered the events of the night before.

"Oh, uh no, Scott came and helped me with you" Aurora turns away from Stiles and places the two cheese toasties into the sandwich press. She felt her cheeks warm, thankful that her back was towards Stiles.

"Oh, so just the two of you? in your room? looking after little old me?" He took another sip of drink, "Interesting"

Aurora chuckled dryly, "Why is that interesting?"

Stiles shakes his head even though Aurora couldn't see him, "Nothing-" He paused, "-Did anything happen?" Aurora froze. She cleared her throat and turned to Stiles.

"Why do you think something would've happened?" She watched as Stiles shook his head once again before bringing the cup of water to his lips and raising his eyebrows, "There is nothing going on between Scott and I" She laughed it off as she turned back to the now toasted sandwiches.

"I never said anything was going on between the two of you" Aurora huffed and rolled her eyes before tucking a piece of hair behind her ear as she takes a sip of her water, clearly ready for this conversation to be over.

"And Theo?" Aurora chokes on her water, looking at Stiles with wide eyes before bursting out laughing.

"Theo? What do you mean?"

"I'm just asking you; I mean he's always watching you with his evil little eyes" Stiles scrunches up his face, "Do you see anything going on between the two of you?"

"Look don't get me wrong- Theo is attractive" Aurora pulls the toasties from the press and places them onto two plates, "I think he thinks that getting with me, will get you to trust him"

"Ew, I really don't like him" Stiles squints, Aurora chuckles grabbing a knife from her kitchen block.

"Triangles?" Aurora gestures to the sandwich.

"Can you cut them into squares?" Aurora nods, "Anyone who cuts their sandwich into triangles are psychopaths, there's something so wrong with sandwiches cut into triangles" Stiles rants as Aurora hands him his plate. He lifts one of the squares to take a bite, "I bet Theo cuts his sandwiches into triangles, weirdo-" Stiles stops rambling as he notices Aurora sit down, lifting her triangular shaped cheese toasty to her mouth to take a bite.

Stiles looks at her for a moment in pure disgust at her triangular sandwich, "Yeah, I rest my case psychopaths definitely like triangle toasties" Aurora rolls her eyes, taking a dramatic bite of the bread, "I hate you" Stiles mumbles grabbing his plate and heading back into the living room, "But honestly there is something seriously wrong with that boy- I don't like him"

"Well, I promise you- the only way Theo Raeken is going to get a piece of this-" Aurora gestures to herself, "-is over my dead body"

The two of them laugh before continuing in small conversation. Aurora liked this. She liked having somebody around to talk too, even if that person was Stiles and his outrageous conspiracy theories and situations. Stiles pushed Aurora out of her comfort zone, he pushed her to interact and converse with people and his friends. He liked that about her, she was almost always up for anything. He loved that he could show up at nine-pm at night and she would still sit up and talk with him.

"Mind if I stay the night?" Stiles mumbled as he finished the food in his mouth. Aurora laughed at him before nodding.

"Of course, you can" Aurora grabbed his finished plate and headed into the kitchen to disperse of them.

"Cool, I brought a sleep over bag" She heard him jump up, "It's in my car, I'll be right back" Aurora shook her head, muttering to herself, of course you do. She continued to clean up the mess from the toasties before wondering over to the living room once again. She picked up her phone and begun to scroll through her feeds.

ping

Lydia Martin: Hey girl, thanks for last night xx loved hanging out with you, let's do it again soon :)

Aurora smiled to herself.

Aurora Falls: Me to xx Next weekend?

Lydia Martin: Sounds good!! ;)

"Hey, Aurora?" Aurora looked up from her phone at the tone of Stiles' voice. She jumped up from the couch and begun to head over to the front door where Stiles stood.

"What's up?" She questioned looking over at Stiles who held his bag in one hand and a note in the other. He scrunched up his face, holding the paper up to Aurora to view. The air grew cold around Aurora as her eyes made contact with the letter. The air left her lungs, and she felt her heart pound in her chest. She snatched the paper from Stiles' hands before pulling him inside. Stiles groaned as he stumbled over his own feet as Aurora pushed him- quite hard I might add. She stepped out onto her front deck, looking around quickly before going inside. She slammed the door behind her, taking a quick look through the peep hole, "Whoa, what's going on?"

Aurora ignored him as she made her way into the living room, closing all the blinds in her home. She looked once more out of the window before she turned to Stiles, paper in hand. The look on her face confirmed to Stiles that something was wrong. Her eyes were wide, and her face was pale. Her chest rose and fell quickly and the hand that held the letter shook, "Where did you get this?"

"It was taped to your front door, I saw it when I walked back to the door after getting my stuff from the jeep" Stiles shook his head, confused by the whole situation, "What the hell is going on?" Aurora turned away from Stiles, her breaths shaky. She made her way over to the couch, throwing her face into her hands after tossing the letter onto the coffee table. Breathe Aurora, breathe. She repeated to herself over and over as her mind began to panic.

"Oh my god" She let out a shaky voice, "It was taped to the door?" Aurora felt Stiles move to sit next to her, placing his hand on her back, "That means he could have been watching us, he could have seen you"

"Who could have seen us? Who are you talking about?" Stiles tried desperately to get information, "Does this have something to do with the other night?"

Aurora ignored him as her mind continued to race at an immense pace, "I never thought it would come so soon, it's only been a few years" she mumbled incoherently. Stiles grabbed a hold of one of her hands that covered her face. He grabbed a hold of her face, forcing her to look at him.

"Look at me" Stiles centred himself, "Take a deep breath and pull yourself together, tell me what happened" Aurora took a moment before she nodded. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She reopened them and gave Stiles a small nod, "Good, now talk to me"

Aurora leaned back against the couch, slumping down onto it. She looked at the ceiling before she spoke, "I have never told anyone this" Her voice was still so uneven, it almost scared Stiles. She was truly scared, something he had yet to see from her. Stiles sent her a reassuring nod before she continued, "This is something you cannot tell anyone, Stiles" She looked at him, "You have to promise me"

"I promise" Aurora lifted her pinkie finger to him, Stiles didn't even question it as he connected his pinkie with Aurora's, "Lock it in" Stiles added as they connected thumbs. And so, she told him, she told him about her brother Blade. She told him about how their mother was an evil woman, that she would abuse Aurora. She told him about the night when it all started. About the cold winter wind against her skin, the man in the woods and the feeling of her brother's blood running through her fingers. Stiles' heart sank and yet he stayed. He stayed and he listened to her relive the events of her past. Stiles wanted to throw up as she the words continued to spill from her mouth. He had no idea and yet things begun to make sense. He wanted to pull her into a hug and shelter her from the world. He wanted to hug her and tell her everything would be okay.

"Aurora" Stiles let out a small breath of air, "I'm so sorry" Aurora finally looked at Stiles for the first time since she started speaking. Her eyes blurred with tears and Stiles physically felt his heart sink.

"There's more..."