Lingering Denial

Chapter 5

Aurora's P.O.V~

Walking in to the place, I gazed around. It was a pretty huge gym, and astoundingly modern. I was admittedly dumbstruck, and wondered if we even had the money to be in here. Everyone in here was busy doing some sort of exercise, and I could hear the sound of machines and busy conversations everywhere. Noticing Hazel and Ava already walking into the gym, I hurriedly trailed behind.

Reaching the large open space at the back, seemingly private and isolated from the rest of the gym, I glanced around. Mirrors covered the walls and the few bits of equipment lay around here and there. I watched a crowd facing a talking figure, who I now realized was Axel. The crowd ranged from girls around my age, some older, to teenagers. They seemed to be very content in simply watching the guys speak, much less move.

I watched him demonstrate some drills on Lucas. "...Focus on your base and core as you try to flip them over..." A lot of them earning giggles, as they saw the poor guy being flown around in a number of different ways. Although he looked as if he knew how to fall, I still felt slightly sorry for the guy; though not as concerned as poor Hazel looked next to me, of course.

Looking back to the front, I discreetly admired at how good Axel looked. He was currently wearing a tank top with some army jogging bottoms; a scene I had to look away from, after a while when his eyes found mine, scared that he would read my thoughts. I scolded myself, before looking back.

Again, those grey eyes...He seemed shocked to see me here. So did Isaac, when Axel subtly whispered to the two before their eyes turned to us. Axel's focus flickered back to me, giving me a small smile before turning back to the crowd, with a stoic expression.

Lucas grinned at Hazel, which she waved back with a similarly enthusiastic expression. Whereas, when Isaac waved at Ava, he was met with a blushing Ava avoiding eye contact, making him smirk. I watched amused slightly at the couple. Ava had ended up telling them how they had clicked on pretty quickly and had an almost kiss. Though, I was sure there was more to the story.

Many girls had turned to face us with calculating gazes when they saw the interaction. Whereas, some were outright glaring daggers at us. And then , there was another. She seemed more dangerous with the fake smile aimed at us. I squirmed under their stares, while Hazel rolled her eyes, threateningly glaring back at them until they turned back around, annoyed.

At the side, next to us, I saw parents getting their children ready or sending them to and from what seemed like a changing room nearby. That must be for the next lesson. Ava excitedly, began to gush about how cute they all were when she realised they were there, hitting me and Hazel on the shoulder a couple of times in the process. Hazel glared at her, while I smiled, agreeing but ignoring her over-enthusiastic attitude.

My eyes caught a single kid, looking around 8, standing alone near the back. Noticing me glancing at him, he pulled a face at me, trying to look intimidating, causing me to chuckle before I pulled one back.

He watched me, trying to remain poker-faced, while remaining eye contact with me until a giggle escaped. Coming up to me, he timidly asked "Hi... are you new here too?" Crouching down at his level, I grinned at him, before deciding to nod. If all went well, I could do lessons here too.

He grinned at me, "Awesome! Will you play with me afterwards?" I tilted my head slightly, confused, before replying, "Of course, but why are you here alone?" He jumped a bit, excited, before looking at the crowd "I came here to see big bro, so I don't know anyone else here and..." He looked around before beckoning me closer. I amusedly complied,"...I'm shy..." I giggled which caused him to blush and frown. I gestured him closer as well and whispered, "We'll get along great then, because I'm shy too" A smile crept up on his face, before we high-fived.

He smiled at me with a sparkle in his eyes, before asking, "I like you. All the others only act like they like me when big bro's around. But they don't get it. Big bro's just too awesome to get tricked. The one that was smiling at you just now is the most annoying one though." He ranted, huffing as he glanced at the crowd behind me, with a pout.

Big bro? I wondered looking around, before shrugging it off. It's probably someone in the gym, or here for a lesson too. I looked at him amused at his cuteness, before ruffling his hair, "What's your name, lil' man?" He beamed at me again, patting down his hair while saying, "Oh, my brother calls me that. Aaron Cohen, ma'am. And you are?" He jokingly putting his hand out and bowed, earning another giggle from me. "Lady. Aurora Nixon, at your service." I hold my head up high and reply in a posh accent, before giving my hand out to him.

He giggles, causing me to in return as I always found kids' laughs contagious. While trying to contain our laughter, he looks up, hesitantly asks, "Can I...call you sis?" My heart warms a little, leading me to ruffle his hair again. "Of course."

"What's going on here?" An amused voice interrupted us, causing me to turn around. I was shocked to find him there, "Axel?" Before I knew it, Aaron had run up to him and started doing dome fancy handshake. They grinned at each other before Aaron jumped up into his arms and hugged him, "Big bro! Are you done now?" He excitedly asked, which Axel replied to with a chuckle "Yup!"

Axel turned to me, before raising an eyebrow at me. "Wait, what? Big bro?" I accidentally said out loud. Axel watched me thoughtfully, while Aaron excitedly nodded, with a grin towards me.

Oh, poop. Did I say that out loud? Aaron giggled, before Axel smiled a bit amused at me, "Yes. Yes you did." I blushed, putting a hand on my mouth before looking behind them.

It was a miracle that Lucas even made it through the class without fainting. Isaac stayed on the floor mats seated with his head hung over, along with Lucas looking as if they were about to float away any time soon. If a rough hangover had a definition, this scene would be the example shown. The girls had rushed over already, Hazel trying to comfort the poor guy, while trying to contain her laughter in at the same time.

While looking at them, my eyes caught the same girl from before, glowering at me, before she noticeably scoffed at me. I frowned, feeling like an insect until she gave me a warning glare and left the area with all the other girls. What did I do so wrong? It actually made me feel horrible. I sighed before shaking my head of such thoughts.

Looking back at the brothers, I unconsciously begun to smile a bit. Axel seemed to give off a totally different aura than before. It was the first time I'd seen him laugh and look so relaxed. The other children evidently loved him too, considering the high-fives he would pass here and there, as he greeted them. It was rather cute, seeing as how he played along and made them laugh. A girl had even tried talking to Aaron while she was at it, leading a smirking Axel to put down the blushing Aaron trying to communicate back.

Axel finally caught my eye before walking towards me, "Hey, I didn't expect to see you here?" Snapping out of it, I looked at him confused, "Didn't Lucas tell you?" He shook his head while, the tomato faced Aaron turned to us curiously. Apparently, the girl he was talking to had gone to change, "Ax-Bear, do you know sis?" Axel's face hardened at his nickname for me, before he masked it and smiled at Aaron.

"Oh oh oh, don't tell me. Is she your girlfriend?" He asked excited, his eyes sparkling as he stared at me with awe. I blushed at the question for no apparent reason, before Axel ruffled his hair, "No, lil' man. Just a friend." Aaron drooped for a bit before smirking at the two, "Well... I like her, so... can we keep her?" He looked up at Axel pleadingly with the puppy eyes, causing me to giggle.

Axel smiled at him, before glancing at me and smirking, "I'll think about it. Now, go change." He hurried off the excited Aaron, who declared an 'I'll be back'. I tried to avoid eye contact, knowing he had a teasing smirk on his face.

Trying to change the topic, I teasingly smiled at him, "So, Ax-Bear, huh." He narrowed his eyes at me in amusement. I giggled, before adding, "I have to admit... I was half expecting some of the children to run away crying from the big bad wolf. But I'm glad to find the wolf in question to turn out to be a marshmallow inside" I actually loved children, and I secretly always liked men who did too. Though, I would take that to the grave.

Axel raised an eyebrow at me but couldn't contain his grin. "Is it wise to call a self-defence teacher a softy?" I smirked at him a bit, "So, you're not denying it." He narrowed his eyes at me, amusement showing in them. I acted appalled, jokingly replying "Oh my, what a shocker. You know that you've completely destroyed your image right?"

He rolled his eyes at me, before leaning in right in front of my, with an amused smile, "And what would this image be exactly?" My eyes widened slightly at his sudden proximity. It made me realise just how perfectly handsome he was, and here I was talking to such a god. A waft of his cologne hit me, and my breathing hitched.

I lost all humour at once. Butterflies suddenly erupted in my stomach as I saw his eyes scanning my face. Once again, I found myself getting lost in his stormy grey orbs wondrously, still not managing to figure out the familiarity of them. His gaze also went serious yet wistful, and that's when I was suddenly aware of our environment. Although nobody seemed to pay attention seeing as we were near the corner.

Stepping back and hitting the wall, out of the vacuum environment, I flushed pink trying to avoid his teasing amused gaze again. Was that his way of payback for teasing him? I huffed annoyed at myself for falling into such a trick. Remembering why I came here, I tried to change the topic "O-oh yeah, there's another reason I came here. I wanna learn too." She cursed herself for stuttering, before making eye contact with him, determined. "Teach me self-defense."

~