Lingering Denial

Chapter 8

Aurora's P.O.V~

'You don't know him...'

Did that mean that, they knew each other...? It didn't seem like Noah did though... Honestly, I had to admit, I didn't really know the guy as much as I thought I did, even if we had known each other for the year that I was here. He always seemed so nice though and would help me whenever he saw me stuck with something on one of my projects. Plus, he really was a good friend. What could be so bad...?

Axel's warning made me slightly wary of Noah, but it was probably nothing. Why did I have to take orders from him to see my friends anyway?

My thoughts were interrupted by some yelling and waving from their friends to hurry up. It seemed they were all gathered and waiting for us impatiently for a while.Aaron just gazed at us worriedly, with his big grey eyes. "Oh, sorry, we got caught up when we saw Noah on the way..." I glanced quickly at Axel to find him slightly zoned out, looking frustrated.

Ava looked at me surprised, "Noah? You mean from your department?" Hazel smirked at me, "Oh, he probably came to flirt with you again." I glared at them irritated, before hushing them up, "I told you. It's not like that." With Hazel's comment, Axel's attention focused onto the girls, his eyebrows furrowing.

The other guys watched the girls conversing, before Isaac nudged Axel, teasingly whispering, "Looks like you've got some compet-" The next second, he was bent over clutching his stomach again, with his breath knocked out. Whereas, an amused Lucas was listening to a worried Aaron watching me and Axel. When he caught my eye, Aaron innocently smiled at me.

Axel looked at the time irritated, before sharing a look with the guys. Lucas threw the keys to him, as Isaac managed to wheeze out, "Me and Axel have something to do, so we'll be off. Lucas will drop you girls off." The girls nodded, though surprised at the sudden departure. Aaron hugged both of them quickly, waving at them. Axel smiled at him, ruffling his hair before walking backwards, "See you later buddy..."

He nodded in acknowledgement to the girls in goodbye, his eyes finding mine. His gaze lingered on me for a while, before he smiled a bit turning away. Isaac followed behind, winking at Ava before he left as well.

~

When we reached the apartment, I hugged Aaron for a while, before me and Ava went ahead, while waving them goodbye. It seemed like Lucas would drop off Aaron nearby here first, so he'd chosen to drive us in Hazel's car, since Axel had his. We'd also decided to grab something to eat on the way; I was too tired to cook. At least I had finished a lot of my work early on. It meant that I would be able to relax for a while, with no particularly urgent deadlines.

Walking in to the kitchen, I collapsed at the table, while Ava made some hot chocolate for us. Even though summer was nearby, the night was surprisingly cold. Ava finally sat down with her mug, setting down two more next to her. I quickly took one of them, warming my freezing fingers before turning to Ava, "So, what's the deal with you and Isaac?" I looked at her expectantly with a smile, which she returned shyly before replying, "I think...I kind of like him... He asked me to a date next Saturday."

By this time, Hazel had strolled in and overheard this, which therefore resulted in an excited screech and her rushing over. I giggled as the interrogation began. I was truly happy for my friends, but it made me wonder about myself. The words from the fortune-teller clouded my mind.

'The understanding that will come with meeting him, will be the start...'

'You will be his salvation and he will be yours...′

'...you will need to push through, past the walls built around him...'

For a second, stormy grey eyes flashed in my eyes, making my eyes widen, though I couldn't help but consider it for a bit longer. Walls built around him...? He did seem quite guarded. I wonder what he's keeping hidden behind that vulnerable air I saw...

No. There was no way I'm actually considering this. I shook my thoughts away.I'd promised myself that day, I wouldn't do this again, not anytime soon...

~

That's how the rest of the night went. Hot chocolate, gossiping, and watching some movies. Now that I finally had some time to myself and to just relax, I let my mind ponder on everything the previous week brought. I had only just realised how many things I had to think about that I had discarded. My mind had drifted to both Axel and Liam, as I tried to figure things out. They both had this mysterious air about them, and I was sure there was a lot more going on than they let on.

From what I gathered up to now, Liam was the brown eyed one in the alley and was trying to get the other mysterious grey eyed guy to do something for or with him. I've been thinking this for a while, but his demeanour from what I remember, really does remind me of Axel.

Good thing, my goldfish memory is nowhere to be seen when my curiosity's involved.

Of course, I can't be sure though. I recalled the time our eyes met in the alleyway, before comparing it with when we were at the patio. I know literally anyone could have grey eyes but,...I just had this instinct that it was him. How to confirm it was the question...

A light bulb went off in my head. I know this might end up really badly, but I need to find Liam. Considering Axel's shielded personality, and how had discarded my question the night before, I knew it'd take a lot less effort to ask Liam. Yep, that confirmed my decision to find him tomorrow. Considering he was jogging around her, I might be able to catch him tomorrow.

This might end up leading to even more questions, but I was determined.

At some point, I'd remembered to ask Axel about the training sessions. Better ask now than forget later on again. After sending it, I ended up just surfing on my phone. Given that, the others had fallen asleep on the couch during the movie we were currently watching, I let myself waste time.

That's until a message popped up at the top of my screen. 'Can you do Tuesday and Thursday afternoons?' Thinking for a moment, I replied, 'Yeah, sure, and thanks a lot again for everything, :)' I smiled at the reply that came afterwards, and closed my eyes, drifting off to sleep before I knew it. 'No worries, sweet dreams.'

~

~Monday~

Resolved with my previous goal in mind, I had gotten up early that morning, and was jogging outside already. I kept my head out for a lookout on Liam every now and then but he was nowhere to be seen.

Deciding to take a break, and out of breath, I defeatedly sat down on one of the benches on the street for a drink of water. "Boo!" I almost spit out my water, choking on it for a second, as he patted my back snickering.

"Looking for me, Nemo?" I turned to scowl at Liam, casually sitting next to me with his usual smirk. "You're such a jerk." I hiss, before he leans back, his smirk widening, "Right? I hear that a lot."

I scoff, rolling my eyes at him, "Can you at least try to be thoughtful of people when you talk to them?" He innocently looked back at me, with a questioning look,"What do you mean?" Blankly looking at him, I sigh as he chuckles.

That's when I remember. "Oh yeah. I need to ask you something...the other guy in the alleyway..."I look at him curiously, to find all humour replaced by intrigue. I bluntly continue, "...that was Axel, wasn't it?" He looked amused watching me for a while, before replying, "And how would you know him?"

"I knew it. So it was him..." I mumbled under my breath, ignoring his question.

"Oh, by the way, you wouldn't happen to know any Noah would you?" He eagerly peers at me, expectantly waiting for a response. Dumbfounded as to how he knew, I stare at him for a while, "How did you know...?" At my response, he wickedly smirks, "Ha. I knew it..."

He had a thoughtful, but evil expression on his face, which I failed to comprehend,before I gave up, deciding to continue, "What did you mean about the rumours about him?"

He raised an eyebrow at me, entertained, "And why do you care?"

Irked, I snap at him, "Just answer my question." He leaned closer to me, smirking before lowly replying, "Answer mine." My intent glare falters, with surprise and nervousness at how close he is.

When I remain unyielding, he smiles for a bit, before turning serious, as he gave me a foreboding look. The more reasonable side of my brain scolded me, and reminded me of the fact that I might get involved in more danger than I could handle, but my need of wanting to solve things wouldn't let me back down.

He exhales, with a glint in his eyes as he leans back, "How about this? You ask him, and tell me if he tells you anything. Send him my regards while you're at it. That'll push the water over the edge." I frown at his reply, before asking, "And if he doesn't?" He faces me with a grin, "If he doesn't... then I'll tell you myself."

~

Other than classes, we visited Ma again at the cafe, while chatting about random stuff.Right now they were talking about their internships next term after them."I can't wait..." I excitedly input.

Ava grinned at me. "You're so lucky you get to work in your dream company, even if it's just as an intern." I would finally be able to work in the company where mum works at. Even though we would be in different sections, I hoped to see her often and work together on something.

However, I had to admit, I was terrified. Since my mother was one of the best fashion designers in the company well more like the UK, many would expect a lot from me.And I didn't know if I could fulfil all those expectations. "Be careful though, dear. There may be countless people who will go through a lot of trouble to put you down" I nodded in understanding at Ma's words, trying to be brave but inside I was not ready for that part yet.

At least, I had the two week holiday and seeing Skylar again to mentally get myself ready. Ma rubbed my back reassuringly with a soft smile, encouraging me like she always did.

"I can't wait to see Sky again...Ma, you was mentioning her the other day too, weren't you..." Ava mumbled, all of us frowning a bit as we began missing her already. "Well, only two weeks away! At least your mum's there with her so she's not alone." Hazel tried to uplift the mood, facing me, resulting in positive enthusiastic agreement from the us, and we soon began babbling again. Currently, mum was on a business trip to America because of her new fashion show coming up. Since it was in the holidays, we would be able to see it too.

"Ma, you've sorted out your ticket as well right?" Ma grinned at Ava nodding, while getting up to check on the others to make sure they weren't lazying around. Tom groaned before whining about how we weren't doing anything. We put our tongues at him, before he got scolded. "They're tired enough with University, unlike you." Clara chuckled at him grumbling and whining as he got hit, before continuing to serve the others.

Without warning, Hazel abruptly squealed, bringing our attention to her, "Oh, I should ask Lucas and the guys to come with us too. I can't go without him for two weeks..." She whined, trailing off.

I was quite bewildered at the sudden idea, but before I could say anything, Ava was enthusiastically acknowledging her. Of course, Ma had overheard them and was complaining how she still hasn't seen her future 'son-in-law' yet. Hazel blushed before wailing, "Ma!"

However, it didn't stop her from already dialling Lucas's number. "Oh and what guys?" Ma raised her eyebrow at us. Ava blushed, while trying to explain. Ma just smirked, with a knowing look at us in reply. All I could do was stare in shock, throwing my arms up in exasperation at the sudden situation.

~