Lingering Denial

Chapter 6

Aurora's P.O.V~

He looked at me curiously, trying to calculate something, before replying, "Good. I was going to suggest it to you sooner or later anyway, considering what happened yesterday." I hummed slightly, frowning once I remembered how useless I felt at that time.

Catching Aaron's eyes and him waving to me, I waved back to seeing him practising with the same girl and a few others. Though he looked more amused watching us talk. Had he seen that? No, he probably didn't. Axel took note of this exchange, turning back at me with a studious expression.

I shook my head of such worrying thoughts, before I asked "So, when do you do these classes?" Axel watched me for a bit, before putting his hands in his pockets and replying, "Every day, on mornings. My shifts are normally just at weekdays though." I glanced up at his reply, with my eyebrows furrowed. "Wait, so no afternoon classes?" Trying to calculate around my schedule, I zoned out. Axel's voice snapped me out of my thoughts "You can't make it, can you?"

I mumbled, "Yeah, I signed up for workshop classes for my course on weekends, today it just got cancelled, plus I have uni on weekdays so.." I sighed, stressed out slightly, before a thought popped up in my head. Before I realized what I was saying, I blurted out, "Oh how about afternoons? Are you free then?" I curiously looked up at him. "You want private lessons..?" He raised his eyebrow, his eyes staring deeply into mine with a slight smirk and a curious expression.

Of course, it wasn't the first time he might have been asked that. Everyone who ever asked got rejected on the spot, no questions asked. A silence ensued, making it seem a bit uncomfortable to anyone who had a tendency to feel awkward. He took the time to think.

My eyes widened slightly at the resulting comment. I just stared at him for a while, opening and closing my mouth like an i***t, before rushing to correct herself, "N-no wait, never mind. Forget what I just said." I profusely denied, putting a hand up, explaining myself, "Sorry for suddenly demanding such a thing, you must be busy and all. Forget it, I'll just find someone else. I mean there's been someone else I've been checking out nearby...so it's fine." I suddenly remembered the research I had done a few weeks ago.

"How many times a week?" I looked up, slightly surprised at his abrupt question, "Uh.." Tilting my head a bit, I tried to sort out my thoughts, but then he added, "Well, we can determine the schedule and payment information later." He said out loud, in the case of ears listening in, before he went on to start his class.

Still confused and processing the words he'd just said, all I could do was nod. Before I knew it, I found myself watching extremely absorbed, regardless of whether it was a children's class.

Hazel and Ava had come back by now, with Ava blushing as red as a tomato. I smirked at her, Hazel catching on, "Why so red, Ava?" Hazel questioned her innocently. Ava hushed the two up before looking back, acting as she was focusing on the lesson, before turning to me bright-eyed, changing the topic. "Who was that super mushy, cute looking kid?" Still watching, I absent-mindedly spoke, "Axel's brother." They looked surprised before humming.

~

An hour later, the guys were all done and saying their goodbyes to all the energetic looking kids. It honestly amazed me how much energy they still had after all that. Although I mentally noted down a few things here and there, it really made me want to learn properly. During the middle, Hazel had left to grab some food for everyone, while Ava was still absorbed by seeing all the kids practise. Some near her even moved away in terror at her fan-girling every now and then. Even some parents looked concerned, and every time I had to elbow her to quiet down, and give them apologetic looks.

Walking up to them, Ava handed them small towels, while I handed them water bottles, walking up to Axel last. I smiled as he thanked me, before turning to find an excited looking Aaron, rushing back from the changing rooms. "Supp bro!" Isaac high-fived Aaron, before Lucas did a handshake with him. The guys had just begun to talk with one another in hushed voices about something, at some point. I only heard a few words, and maybe... Liam's name? Nah, it can't be... I furrowed my eyebrows.

On the other hand, Aaron had spotted a giddy looking Ava, the shy switch flipped and he ran away from her trying to playfully chase him in order to talk to him. Yep you guessed it. She loved kids. Much more than a normal person. Plus the litre of coffee she had this morning.

Aaron ran behind me, hugging my legs from the back while peeking at Ava, who had rushed forward already. "Ava. Stop it. He's not used to bluntly forward people like you." Too overwhelmed, I put my arms out, while attempting to stop her. She just crossed her arms, huffing at me before she whined, "I just wanna be his friend, though."

I looked towards the guys for help, but they just smiled and dismissed us, thinking we were playing around. Oh, boy, they did not know Ava yet. Axel just watched us amused, with a smile and an undecipherable look in his eyes, before he turned away.

Thankfully, Hazel had finally come back just in time, for support. Once she saw us, she threw the McDonald's bags, except one at the guys, before hitting Ava's arm and glaring at her while she pouted. "Don't scare the poor kid to death. Geez..." Ava sighed, drooping before walking towards the bag of food and mumbling, "Whatever..." I looked back to smile at Aaron still looking warily at Ava. Ruffling his hair, I chuckled, "It's fine, she's gone now."

He sighed before smiling up at me and Hazel and thanking us. Hazel just watched amused, before handing him some food, "Here, you must be hungry." He grinned at her before shyly accepting it, and then heading over to sit in Axel's lap to eat.

After a while of us just chatting about the most random things, Ava lit up and called out, "Oh, can we go to the park?" Hazel, rolled her eyes, while I laughed a bit at her behaviour. We knew how much Ava hated staying in one place for too long. She was just hyperactive like that. At least, little Aaron seemed excited to go, making Ava smirk creepily. I rolled my eyes, knowing she was planning to attack the poor kid again.

~

On the way there, Aaron wouldn't let go of my hand and would continuously talk me, staying as far away from Ava as possible. Whereas Axel just tended to stay next to him, protectively. It looked like it was a habit, as he would automatically move him,- and me since Aaron clung to me-, to the inner pathway every now and then. I smiled whenever he did; it was kind of cute.

My attention was pulled away from them for a second, when I caught something black in the corner of my eye. Turning to the side, I almost froze as I saw a familiar black cat watching me from the other side of the road. Cars were going past every now and then, making the image hazy, but, as soon as I saw it, it was gone. The words from the fortune-teller appeared in my head, along with the rush of questions of why it would be all the way here. Was I seeing things...?

A tug on my hand pulled me out of my thoughts to find the two brothers questioningly staring up at me. I shook the thoughts out of my head before smiling and waving them off.

~

All of us had spent quite some time there and now it was evening. Ava and Isaac was running around with Aaron, him trying to prank or tag them. Ava seemed thrilled at the fact that Aaron wasn't as scared of her any more. While, the two lovebirds were sitting on the grass nearby, chatting and sleeping on each other, completely in their own world. Therefore, I ended up with Axel watching them play.

Secretly, I didn't really mind his company. I had quite surprisingly quickly, gotten accustomed to his personality, and it was more calming now, than his first intimidating and cold impression. I would find myself opening up, and speaking to him more, and a lot quicker than I realized.

My friends had obviously realized that leading to their constant looks. Aaron ran up to us, while Isaac and Ava continued messing around, playfully with water guns they had bought on the way here. I smiled at him as he approached, while Axel asked, "Supp, buddy?" Aaron smirked before he tugged both of our hands, pulling us up, "I wanna go to the swings."

~

While walking, he'd run ahead towards the now visible playground, leaving us to walk together. Axel glanced at me curiously, before asking, "So... You talked about having classes?" He seemed genuinely interested.

Currently, the two were strolling down the path of cherry blossoms; it had made the atmosphere quite peaceful and comfortable. At his question, I glanced up at him, before remembering our previous conversation when I had mentioned them. I blushing as I remembered how close he was to me. Looking down, I let my hair cover up the tinge of pink before I ended up just talking to Axel about the fashion course that I was taking.

Talking about how my mother and my own hobby of writing, made me want to become a fashion editor, I unknowingly grinned at the topic of my childhood, "I remember always looking forward to seeing mum's ideas. She always had this look in her eye whenever she would talk about her job and experiences. We would spend hours trying on and messing about with dresses whenever she would have free time to spend with me. She never once forgot to ask about my opinions on her designs. That's how she got me all the way here, chasing my dreams... I just hope that one day, I can become just like her." I sighed, emotions and nostalgia overwhelming me.

"Of course though, without my friends' encouragement, I couldn't take the extra step take that extra step of courage." Without knowing, I found myself babbling about it excitedly, not realizing the admiring look he gave me as he watched at me talk.

~