Who: Aubrey and Aurora Where: Java the Hutt When: 11/7 What: A reunion Rating: Low to Moderate
Then...
Aurora usually liked Saturdays. A reason to sleep in, and not worry about school or her illness, but, overnight she'd become somewhat ill and couldn't seem to hold anything down. She spent a good few hours, early in the morning, hugging the porcelain throne and throwing up, so much so that she found it amazing that she still had anything left in her. Aubrey had spent the night (her parents had made up a blow up bed for her, but of course she didn't stay in it for long) and was there with her for the worst of it.
Aurora was glad that she was there, but worried that it would be off-putting for the other girl as well, so she tried to add a little levity: "Well... don't I feel really attractive right now," she muttered tiredly.
Aubrey just sat beside her, sweetly stroking her hair, trying not to show how fucking WORRIED she was. "Shhhh... don't you worry about that, honey. You're ALWAYS beautiful to me, ok? Just focus on keeping whatever strength you have left... I'm right here, and I'm not going ANYWHERE..." She'd watched her mother go through almost the same things.... and she wasnt about to be scared off the way she had been then. "My love for you is stronger than this, ok? I promise."
Aurora sniffled and nodded once, but was quick to stop as it brought on another onset of nausea. "I'm trying," she said softly, curling up a little. She didn't want to admit it, but if she couldn't drink anything soon then she'd need to go to the hospital. She was so tired of hospitals. "It's just... really hard right now."
"I know, sweetie.... I'm not gonna sit here and sugar coat anything, because I *know* what you're going through. All I can do is tell you that I'll be here through ALL of it. No matter how much it hurts to see this happen to you, I will be by your side the ENTIRE time." Aubrey told her, kissing her gently on top of the head. "You're my girl, right? I gotta take care of you."
"I'm your girl," Aurora said with a tired smile. She reached for Aubrey's hand to give it a weak squeeze. "I wish that this would just... stop. That I could be better... the kind of girl that you deserve."
"You're being ri-goddamn-diculous." Aubrey snorted, laughing a little so she wouldn't CRY at those words. "You. RIGHT NOW. Are more than I will ever deserve. You're bloody amazing, love."
A few tears slipped out of Aurora's eyes and fell down the side of her face. "Let me try to have something to drink," she said softly, moving oh-so-slowly to sit up.
"No problem, babydoll..." Aubrey coo'ed, reaching over to grab a cold bottle of water she'd brought in earlier. "Try a little of this. SMALL sips... you want to take it VERY easy here..."
Aurora leaned back against the bathroom wall, sighing at the feel of the cold tiles pressed against her skin and her soaked shirt. She had cold sweats but felt feverish at the same time. She did as Aubrey said and barely took a sip of the liquid, then another, but soon made a pained sound and leaned over to throw it back up in the toilet. "C-can't."
"Shhh... it's ok, honey. It's ok. We might have to take you to the hospital for an IV though soon... we can't let you get dehydrated..." Aubrey told her, squeezing her hand supportively.
Aurora grabbed a wad of toilet paper to wipe at her mouth, trying so hard not to just break down and cry. "I'm so tired of hospitals," she said, doing what she told herself she wouldn't do and starting to cry.
"It's ok, honey... just let it out..." Aubrey said, holding her gently. "You don't have to be strong all the time, not any more. Now, when you can't, you have ME to be strong FOR you..." She sighed, pulling her phone out of her pocket to send a quick text to Neely: "Might be gone all day, probably taking Aurora to hospital".
"You're kinda perfect, you know," Aurora murmured, resting her head against Aubrey's chest and sighing as she listened to her heartbeat. "Let's just... stay here for a minute before we wake anyone up."
Neely texted her back almost immediately. "We can meet you there. Whatever you need."
"Nah. I'm faaaaaaar from perfect, love." Aubrey smiled, stroking her girlfriend's hair comfortingly. "And no prob. When we're ready.... I'll go wake up Bode, he can get your parents. You can stay RIGHT here, ok? No need to expend any unnecessary energy right now..."
"Mm," Aurora agreed, letting her eyes close briefly and inhaling Aubrey's scent. "Okay. ... Have I told you how much I love how you smell?"
"No, but keep saying it. I think any way I can hear the word 'love' come from you makes me smile." Awwwwr. She really had (regardless of how fast) fallen just STUPIDLY in love with this girl. "You're just so spectacular, I can't even put it into words."
Aurora smiled, albeit briefly, and curled up against Aubrey, frowning. As much as she wanted to sleep, she knew that she couldn't right now. "Then... maybe say that to Bode when you're waking him up?"
"You bet your sexy little ass I will." Aubrey replied, before trying to distract her from her pain, even for just a minute. "You know... I finished writing a song about you last night while you were asleep..."
"You wrote a song about me?" Aurora asked, looking up to meet Aubrey's eyes. She still couldn't believe that this girl loved her as much as she did.
"I did. I'm gonna have Rachelle help me put music to it this week." She said, glad to have taken the girl's mind off of all this for even a brief time. "And come hell or high water, I'm gonna make sure you're there to see it when the whole, finished thing gets performed the first time."
"I can't wait," Aurora said with a tired little smile, whimpering and clinging to the other girl a little tighter, willing herself not to be sick again. "I'm sure that it will be amazing."
"Not as amazing as the girl in my arms, but.... it's pretty good." She smirked, smooching her on the side of the head. "You ok to be alone for a few? So I can go get your brother?"
"Mm," Aurora grumbled. "I'm gonna just... hug the toilet bowl for a good, long while." At least the porcelain was cool against her skin. She was glad for that.
"Alright. You hang tough, sweetie. I love you, and I'll be RIGHT back." She said, nuzzling the girl one more time before getting up. Bode better be QUICK with getting his ass up...
Seconds later, Aubrey was showing exactly how MUCH of an influence Rachelle and Neely had been on her, literally opening Bode's door and walking RIGHT in, privacy be damned. "Yo, Bode. Hope you're not screwing or jackin' it, because your sister needs you."
He was actually half-asleep, having been reading until late. He blinked at the sudden intrusion, but sat up immediately. He pulled up his bedsheets, not entirely decent, but was alert to ask: "What does she need?"
"My little angel's been puking her guts out all morning, and can't keep anything down. I'm thinking we should get her to a hospital where they can get an IV in her before she dehydrates entirely." Aubrey said with... almsot scary determination in her voice. "So, cover your junk if you need to, and go wake the 'rents. I'm gonna go stay at her side. Where I belong." Awww.
"Okay. Give me a minute to get dressed and I'll talk to mom and dad." He figured they'd be hysterical, but that's just what parents did. "Get some shoes and a jacket for her," he said, leaning over to flip on his bedside light before reaching over to grab some pants.
"I will. And Bode?" She said, pausing to reach up and place a hand soothingly on his cheek. "Don't worry. I'm in this for the long haul. I won't leave her side."
He blinked at her. "I never doubted that." He pulled the pants over his hips and zipped them up. "Get her ready. We'll meet you downstairs in five."
Nodding, Aubrey sprinted to Aurora's room, grabbing a pair of sweatpants and a pink sweatshirt, laying them out on the bed and setting her shoes out before heading to the bathroom to collect the girl. "You hanging in there, honey?" She asked as she walked back in.
"I'm tired," she admitted, but she knew that she was too sick to really sleep. "Did you get Bode up?"
"I did. He just had to throw some pants on. He's going to get your mom and dad now. Come on..." She said, moving to help the girl up. "I got some fresh clothes out for you, then we'll get your shoes and jacket."
"Ew." Aurora wrinkled her nose cutely, accepting the help to get to her feet. She took it slowly, not wanting to be sick again, as she was led back to her room to change. "No... sudden movements, please."
"Anything you need, sweet thing." Aubrey said with a concerned but loving hitch to her voice. "We're gonna get you all better... I'm gonna text Neely and Rachelle when we leave, they want to be there for us, and probably for your parents as well."
"Okay," Aurora said, puffing out a breath as she sat on her bed and slowly changed. "Tell them I'm sorry for getting them up so early."
"Oh, you hush. They adore you. Rachelle gets all squealy over you the way she does over baby kittens. She thinks you're like, the cutest little thing EVER. And Neely will forever be grateful to you for giving me someone to care about that WON'T be wanting to cut me or asphyxiate me during sex...." She said with a dry laugh.
Aurora gave her a tired smile, and changed her shirt. "I only want to love you the best way that I know how."
"Sweetie, if you can ever love me in ANY way, I'll be the happiest girl alive." She said, her words corny but... heartbreakingly sincere. "C'mon, let's get these sweats on you, and get you to the hospital."
"Mkay," Aurora replied, honestly too sick to be embarrassed as she slipped out of her pj bottoms to put on the sweats. "Stay with me?"
"Always. Through every good AND bad part. I'm not going anywhere." She said, squeezing the girl's hand affectionately. "You're gonna end up sick of me, I'm gonna be around so much."
"Never," Aurora replied. She almost went to kiss Aubrey but thought better of it. Toxic vomit breath. "Okay. I think I'm ready."
"Alright... come on then. I'll be at your side for every moment of this the hospital will allow me to be." She meant it, too. She hoped the girl's parents would give permission for her to be there through EVERYTHING.
Before Aurora could replied to that, Bode poked his head into the room: "I'm driving. Mom and dad will catch up." He walked over to help the girls. "C'mon, munchkin. We've got you."
"Damn right we do." Aubrey added, slowly helping the girl walk. "Forever and ever."
Now... So. For someone who had just arrived on an alien planet in an alternate universe, Aurora was taking things fairly well, considering. Of course, it helped that Nyx was there to greet her. She seemed nice and willing to help. If Aurora had met someone a little more untoward things might have turned out differently, but thankfully that hadn't happened. With the knowledge that Aubrey was there and wasn't doing well, she decided to go and see her first before speaking with Rachelle; which was why she let Nyx guide her to the last place that she'd seen Aubrey. God, it felt like they hadn't seen each other for over a year. How effed up was that?
Aubrey was sitting alone right now, because while Java The Hutt was busy, and quite a few people that Aubrey was friendly with flitted in and out... she wanted to be alone. She'd been a mess without Aurora here, and when she managed to find one person who she liked enough to help keep her steady.... he had no interest. With nobody to help tether her to the world, she had started slipping back into her bad behaviors. It was only by the grace of God that she'd ended up hooking up with Tea, who for all her faults was a decent person who managed to be safe and take good care of Aubrey.
She sat there at the counter, quietly sipping her coffee and losing herself in thought. How could she break herself of this? She knew Morgan was worried sick, and that wounded her on many levels.
Spotting Aubrey through the shop window, Aurora gave Nyx's hand a squeeze. "I've got it from here." She took a long moment to look at Aubrey, then glanced at her new friend. "Thank you for bringing me this far. I won't forget it." She really wouldn't. Despite her initial misgivings, Nyx had brought her this far. "We'll talk again soon, okay?"
She took a long, stabilizing breath, then walked into Java the Hutt to find Aubrey. She studied her for a moment. This was the same girl that she'd loved for a long time, only far more broken than she'd remembered her recently. "Well, who would've known that I would've met you in a place like this?"
Aubrey paused, blinking a few times. Was she going mad? She turned around, eyes widening when she saw Aurora standing there. Her eyes watered up immediately, and she felt herself unravel. She was safe now. She was safe. "......baby?"
"Hi," Aurora replied. Without another word, she walked over to Aubrey and cupped her cheeks, looking into her eyes. They'd known each other long enough that looking into Aubrey's eyes was enough to know where she was mentally. "Hi." She kissed her. First with a long, lingering press, then a shorter, sweeter one. The moment their lips touched, Aubrey felt everything that that been eating her up just melt away. She'd done so much to try forgetting that Aurora wasn't here. From trying to help Noah get through his crisis, to having a meltdown and ending up in the rough but (luckily) caring bed of Tea and Bea. The fact that she felt the need to hurt, to bleed, to be physically manhandled... it really was as though without Aurora there, Aubrey's entire sense of being and self-worth just eroded. "You're really here..." She croaked out, sniffling between breaths. "You really found me..."
"I'll always find you," Aurora said softly, again with that prolonged kiss followed by a brief one. Without Aubrey saying a word, and without even realizing it herself, she'd realized what her partner had gone through. Her efforts to be a 'better person', her stumbles, her heartbreaks. Sure, it hurt to even think about it, but Aurora was always a selfless being and thought of Aubrey first. "I'm here now. Whatever happened, we'll find a way to fix it." "You're plenty without me. You just need help remembering it sometimes, is all," Aurora cooed, fingertips brushing over Aubrey's hair in a soothing manner. She hated seeing Aubrey like this. She hadn't seen her like this since... "We can fix it."
"I messed up, baby... I messed up so badly..." She whimpered, trying her best not to burst into tears right there in public. "I'm nothing without you. I know that now."
"I did bad things." She stopped short of saying she'd cheated, as A) she wasn't in her right mind, and B) can you really cheat on someone if they're not even in the same reality? "Let people do bad things TO me." She felt damaged. Unworthy of the seemingly unconditional love this girl provided her.
Aurora paused and digested that. "Okay. Is that something that you still want? That you still feel like you deserve?" She had to know what Aubrey's thought process was on this.
"No..." She said, looking more down that Aubrey had seen her since the incident with Courtney. "I just... I felt like the universe took you away from me. That I didn't deserve you. And then when I tried to be helpful and it blew up in my face... I had that feeling, like I was trash and needed to be treated like it."
Aurora nodded. She understood all too well that Aubrey didn't handle rejection well. "One day I'm gonna help you realize that you are NOT trash," she promised. Here was a young woman too pure for this world or any other. Rather than focus on her own heartbreak over Aubrey falling into old habits, she focused on building Aubrey back UP.
"I love you, baby..." Aubrey said, desperately, as though seeking the girl's forgiveness for anything she'd done. "You're all I need in this world... please don't leave me all alone... I can't do it without you..." "I won't go anywhere," Aurora promised. She pulled Aubrey into a hug and held her for the longest moment. "Whatever has happened is in the past now. All we need to do is look to a brighter future."