Not a Fan (Wilbur Soot)

New Beginnings

"I never put it together. I slept on the couch." She groaned, pressing her face firmly against his shoulder. Wilbur paused in his tracks, leaning his head to the side so he could see her. She smiled at his disappointed face before closing her eyes again. Wilbur started walked again, briefly removing one hand to open the front door. 

"You can stay in my bed tonight, I'll take the couch." Wilbur's words were so nonchalant, as if that was a completely normal thing to offer. Aurora wanted to refuse, to say he was being ridiculous and she could sleep on her own couch again. 

She stayed quiet though. The back of her mind was racing, thoughts of his room, his bed, waking up to him trying to cook something. It all sounded too enticing for her to say no. 

Wilbur entered his apartment, wasting no time and heading right upstairs. Aurora held him more tightly with each bump as they walked up the stairs, locking her ankles around his back. 

His room was dark, the light from downstairs only illuminating silhouettes of the furniture. Aurora felt herself being lowered to the bed, the frigid temperature of the sheets a stark contrast on the back of her thighs. Wilbur pulled a blanket over her, kneeling on the floor next to the bed. 

"I'll see you in the morning." He whispered, brushing his lips so gently against hers she barely had enough time to lean in before he was gone. His footsteps faded down the staircase, the lone lamp that lit the apartment turning off once he made it downstairs. She brought a hand out from under the blankets, grazing her fingertips against her lips. 

The feeling of his lips lingered, the softness of their touch like electricity against her skin. She pulled the blanket around her tightly, rolling over to face the wall, the same wall that connected to her apartment. Her new bed in pieces on the other side. Her clothes still only halfway put away. The mess of her life and her mind one room away, yet she couldn't be bothered- because she was here. She was wrapped in the same blankets that kept him warm, the smell of him surrounding her, the pillow that holds his head now holding hers. 

She didn't have to hide behind the façade of Rori with him, he had seen Aurora in her full disheveled glory and he stayed. He did more than stay, he welcomed her. He held her while she cried, he didn't force her to say more than she wanted, he cared for her.

He cared about her.

He was showing her that he is capable of being someone she can depend on. Someone she doesn't have to hide from. How many other people would be like that in her life if she gave them the chance? How often had she written people off, assuming that they could never handle her? 

The bed grew cold, her body not contributing much warmth to heat the blankets. The air was quiet, no signs of life from Wilbur on the sofa below. She didn't want to be alone anymore. She didn't want to be alone in his bed, alone in her one bedroom apartment, alone in this city. She never wanted to sit alone on a beach again, stargazing by herself. 

Aurora was finally able to admit that she wanted someone with her. More specifically, she wanted Wilbur there. 

She tentatively rose from the bed, pulling the comforter with her. The alarm clock on his side table illuminating neon red numbers, the time reading 12:08am. The lights of the city brightened the path to the stairs, flooding in from the two walls of windows. The stairs creaked quietly in small pinkish hues as she traveled down. 

The outline of Wilbur's curls spilled over the edge of the couch's armrest, his body unmoved from her added presence in the room. She hadn't been upstairs for long, he must've been exhausted if he was already asleep. 

Aurora stepped around the side of the couch, waiting to see if Wilbur would acknowledge her. She kneeled down, seeing his eyes shut peacefully and face relaxed in a way she had yet to admire.