An Angel in the Dark

47- Unexpected

Xander's POV

My gaze lingers on the sleeping girl on my bed as a sigh leaves my lips. I pull my old black hoodie over my head before putting on some gray sweatpants. 

Now that Ethan knows that Aurora's here, he refuses to come over and visit. He's too ashamed of what he's done to look her in the eyes. I've been such a horrible brother for the past few months. Aurora has already forgiven him and even tried to go talk to him but he just locks the door. 

A soft groan frees me from my thoughts as my head whips into the direction of the bed. Aurora's small figure sturs before settling for a new position. I sigh in relief as I grab my phone from the nightstand to look at the time.

"9 am," I mumble to myself before placing back the phone. 

She's never slept this long before, I guess she doesn't have too much to worry about anymore. It's nice seeing her so peaceful as she is right now. 

I take a seat at my desk as I glare at the paperwork stacked on it. Once again a sigh leaves my lips as I start going through the papers, one by one. Minutes pass as I write my signature on each and every one of the papers. 

A sudden brush against my leg makes me drop my pen onto the paper, creating a small blue dot on it. My head whips into the direction of the bed, seeing it completely empty before looking down at my legs. A black cat with purple eyes sits beside my feet, just watching me before jumping up onto my lap. I pet her head slowly as she lays down and a quiet purring fills the room while I go back to my work. 

***

Clouds block the night sky as the wind howls loudly, making the trees sway. My gaze lingers at the window for a few more seconds before it falls upon Aurora, who's sitting on the floor with her legs crossed as she stares at the TV. Her stance reminds me of me and my siblings as young, we sat just like that when our father used to tell us stories.

I snap back to reality when I hear Aurora laugh at something the TV said. Her laugh lasts only seconds but still manages to make me stop breathing. 

"Eh... Aurora, could you come here. I need your opinion?," I ask as if I actually have a question for her and it's not just an excuse for me to be close to her. She gets up and walks over to me as surprise is evident in her eyes. 

"Sure," she mumbles as she reaches my desk. 

"So at the ball, should we use the red curtains or the blue ones?" Her gaze travels up to the ceiling as she wrinkles her brows, thinking hard. 

"Red ones, the blue ones don't really compliment the mahogany floor." I nod my head in response as I mumble a soft 'thanks'. 

I already knew that and the truth is that we don't even own blue curtains. 

We look up and our eyes meet, feezing time. We stare deep into each other's eyes, looking past the colors and into each other's souls. I can be mistaken but it feels as if both Aurora and I are leaning closer to each other. 

Seconds later I can almost feel Aurora's lips against mine. I place my hand on the back of her neck before I pull her in for a  butterfly of a kiss. 

Our first kiss. How unexpected, I thought it would take years for her to let me kiss her.

We gaze into each other's eyes for a long moment as panic floods my nerves with each passing second. 

Was I too early? Is she mad now? Does she hate me? Shit, I made a mistake.

Before I can apologize, Aurora grabs a hold of my hoodie and pulls me back for another kiss.