Aurelio's Dilemma

CHAPTER THIRTY ONE

CHAPTER THIRTY ONE

When Aurelio opened his eyes, Matt and Leslie's faces were hovering above him, their expressions twisted with worry, and then relief, a few seconds later.

Matt's brows finally dropped into a frown. "Dude. Second time you scare the shit out of us."

Aurelio sat up, his chest tight. "Hi..."

"Hey," Leslie said, plopping down next to him. "How are you feeling?"

For a moment, Aurelio just looked at Leslie, studying her face, and he cursed the water already welling in his eyes.

"Elio?" A hint of panic echoed in Leslie's voice. "Why are you...?"

Matt observed Aurelio's face, recoiling at the tears in his eyes. Then he let out a breathy chuckle. "Hey, Leslie," he said, "get away from him. You stink so bad you're making his eyes water."

Leslie huffed. Aurelio laughed, and that made Matt smile. Silence fell over them. Aurelio looked at his lap, unsure how to explain the situation. Unsure if it was necessary to explain it at all.

"Guys."

Matt and Leslie perked up. "Yeah?" they mouthed, wide-eyed.

Aurelio tilted his head, smiling at them. "I'm so grateful to have you in my life. I wouldn't trade this for anything."

"We're grateful for you too," Leslie said, and Matt being Matt, only nodded skeptically, unfamiliar with direct appreciation like that. "But what made you think about this?"

"When my mom picked me up after that whole situation about my therapist, you two came with me. And then my parents disappeared, and then Matt was driving. And then we crashed, and you two died."

The silence was so loud. The staring was too obvious. And Aurelio didn't give a shit. It was the truth.

"Um...What are you talking about?" Matt asked. "Your parents picked you and drove you home, and then me and Leslie followed you guys. You were already asleep when we arrived, so we just waited for you to wake up."

"Matt," Aurelio said, gesturing him closer. "Come here."

Matt froze at first, startled by the command, then he tentatively approached and bent closer to Aurelio.

Aurelio flicked his forehead. "You don't get to tell me what happened and what didn't happen inside my own mind, Matt." Matt silently held his forehead, too confused to even react. Aurelio turned to Leslie. "All the stuff that I told you happened, it actually happened. I really was dating Blair. We really kissed at the lake. My dad actually smoked for a little while. I didn't hallucinate anything. These were all just warped memories. As in, my real memories, but with the details mixed up. But then I saw the car crash on the news, and it connected me to reality. To what actually happened. Ever since then, I started noticing all the wrong, mixed-up details in my life. I acknowledged the problem. I opened up to you. I started unknowingly going against the reality my own brain made up for me, so the memories went back to normal for everyone. That's why everything 'changed' again."

"The reality your own brain made for you?" Leslie said.

"Yup. It's the same reality I ended up fighting against, because it couldn't make sense. It was wrong, but I accepted it and lived in it because I was in denial and I was willing to sacrifice my friends and relationships to make that denial feel real."

"Hold up," Matt said. "I'm really not following here. Did you just say we died?"

"You didn't." Aurelio shook his head. "Not you two." He let out a shaky breath. "I'm...I'm sick. Really sick in the head. I don't think I can forgive myself for the thoughts I'm having right now."