Corrupted hearts || 1

26

CHAPTER TWENTY SIX ༄ ELIAS
There are right days and wrong days.
Today is a bit undecided.
I know the right days or rather, I discovered them over the past couple of weeks.

The right days are ones that are spent with Aurelia, with her blonde hair in my face, and a wide grin lightening up my day.

"How am I supposed to sleep in this?" Aurelia asks eyes narrowed as she studies her tent, it's small, which isn't surprising, "We have sleeping bags around here, each will sleep in it." Vera explains, Aurelia's jaw unhinges.

"I'm not sleeping in a sack that'll be zipped all the way up to my face." Her description is almost hilarious, "You'll live." Silas offers dryly, she glares at him and he rolls his eyes, Their relationship hasn't stepped out of the glaring phase yet, and I liked that.

The moment brings me back to a couple of days ago, my jaw tightens as I recall the exact moment I saw Aurelia kissing that blond, I've never felt like I wanted to snap someone's neck more, I've never felt the rage that was itching through my body, the possessiveness was almost shocking since I always controlled those stupid emotions.

Right now, things are spiraling out of control, and I don't think Aurelia realizes how much power she holds over me, Minutes pass and my thoughts are still revolving around her.

The tents are placed among each other, and everyone looks tired, the exhaustion is itching through my bones as well, Even Rowan doesn't have his hyper aura around him.

Not that it's true one bit.

Rowan has always been that kind of person, he actually reminds me of Aurelia, but things are worse with him, he plays this role he shows everyone that he's the group's clown, the fun hyper one, the one who throws in jokes here and there.

He hasn't always been that way, not that happy, which is quite literally just a fucking mask, and if someone placed more attention on him they would know that, like Angelina for example.

She's always kicked through his failed attempts at treating her with his fake attitude, something happened in his life, just like all of us, it shifted his personality, but while Silas and I cope in similar ways, he's the complete opposite, and I have a feeling that no one knows about the truth except for Rowan himself,

I'm not going to push him, but I know that one day he'll let it out, just like I told him, and even though our relationship wouldn't seem comforting or even likable, he knows that I'm here for him but talking about it cringes us out so we deal that way instead.

"We're not gonna sleep right now, right?" Vera speaks, I check my watch, it's ten, Aurelia yawns, "Of course not." She exclaims, trying to wake up but her eyes just droop further, "Let's distract ourselves from sleeping then." Her brother suggests.

I cross my arms, waiting for one to take the fucking decision, "Uh, Maybe we can play Never Have I ever or something." Rowan suggests, yawning too, before adding "I have all what we'll need." He retrieves a bottle of expensive wine from his bag.

Why am I not surprised in the slightest? Everyone exchanges looks and we all settle around in a circle moments later, I'm sitting opposite of Aurelia who's currently looking right at me, my chest tightens at the reminder of the feeling that rushed through my body when she was in my arms weeks ago.

I grit my teeth and force the thought away, I'm trying to give her space but sometimes it just gets too fucking hard, "Who'll go first?" Rowan asks, "I will." Angelina surprisingly replies, she places a plastic cup in each of our hands,

"Never have I ever smoked weed." Sure, they'll start light like this before each and every single one will dig their claws deeper into each's past, I hold my cup out, Silas, Rowan, and Vera do too.

"Did you two smoke it together?" Angelina blurts out, eyes flitting from between Vera and Silas, "It isn't a part of the game, is it?" Silas's edged tone makes her narrow her eyes in frustration, Aurelia looks surprised a bit but she plays it off.

I take a sip of the wine, the sharp taste hitting the back of my throat, the turn moves on to the person beside her, which happens to be Aurelia, "Uh, Never have I ever—been attracted to someone around here." Her question strikes hard, I don't know what she's doing exactly, I hold out the cup,

Rowan, Angelina, Vera, Noah, Aurelia, and Silas do so, only Dylan is staring at us wide-eyed, "Jesus Christ." He curses, then he narrows his eyes in the direction of Aurelia, who just shrugs, smiling teasingly.

I gulp down the wine, feeling my tense muscles relax, the turn is now on Rowan, "Never have I ever—hurt someone intentionally." His question makes a silence stretch among us, especially since it's not expected from him.

I contemplate the question for what seems like an eternity before I make peace with the answer and hold up my cup, their eyes flit around to me, surprise floating in some, while others don't seem like it, Rowan joins, raising his plastic cup too.

My brows jump and I try to brush off the shock that's coursing through my body, seconds pass, no one asks for a clarification which isn't surprising, and the game takes turns, one question is way too personal, the other is just fun, and that's how the night goes.

*: ❦ *:

Maybe Aurelia was right.

Because the fucking sleeping back isn't comfortable one bit, I huff out a breath and get out of it before leaving my tent, color me surprised but I find Aurelia standing away from her tent.

Eyes up in the sky, and from the looks of it she's trying to calm her breaths, my concern gets the best of me and I approach her, not bothering to hide the sound of my footsteps.

She turns, her green bloodshot eyes looking at me, "Aurelia." I let out in a somewhat gentle tone, she smiles weakly through her tears, the sight heartbreaking, my chest tightens and I grit my teeth.

"What's wrong, sweetheart?" I currently don't give a fuck if she wants me to stay out of it or not even call her sweetheart, she embraces herself with a breath before doing something that nearly shocks me.

She throws herself in my arms, sobs rip raw from her throat, I pull her to me, caressing her long soft hair, moments pass and we stay like this, fixed in an embrace, no words are exchanged but it feels like we've spoken everything.

She pulls back, hiccups, and sighs calmly, I brush her tears away with my thumb, her lips part for the slightest fraction as she stares up at me.

"Just those weird nightmares keep coming back." She whispers under her breath, I hold her chin with my index and thumb, "What nightmares?" I protest, she shrugs, "They're—different, it feels like a memory but I don't remember ever experiencing it." She admits, her voice low and scared.

"It's okay, we can stay awake, together, If you want." I let out, feeling a pressure get off my chest, she nods, then pauses for a beat, "Elias." She starts and I arch a brow in question.

"What, sweetheart?" I brush her cheek with my thumb, feeling my tense muscles easing at her presence, she stares at me for a beat, then shakes her head softly, "Forget it." The words frustrate me but I don't want to push her further.

We eventually walk towards the fire I light up and stay like this, most of the night is spent in silence, but it's comfortable and fulfilling, I couldn't ask for anything else, just staying with her is enough.

A vote is really appreciated.