𝐴𝑢𝑟𝑜𝑟𝑎

Chapter 23 ~ Date

Aurora

I'm standing in front of my mirror, looking at myself in this gorgeous emerald dress. It's been a week since Ryder had asked me on a date and I willingly said yes.

I already have my makeup and hair all done by the famous Gianna who is now smiling at me and taking pictures of me.

"Doesn't this dress make my boobs bigger?" I ask her, turning around on my heel. She looks at me and her smile widens. "That's the point Rory!" She exclaims. I groan in response and plop onto my bed on my back.

"I don't want him looking at my body G, I want him to get to know my heart better." I am trying to sound poetic. She giggles and lays down next to me. "And he will, but it doesn't hurt to make yourself more appealing physically.

I let out another groan and the door flings open. Greyson is standing in front of me and Gianna with wide eyes as he looks at me. I can't recall the last time my twin brother gave me those wide eyes saying, 'are you okay? What's wrong with your face?'

"What's wrong with your face?" He asks the typical brother question when his sister has makeup on.

"It's makeup you dummy." Gianna responds, she gets up from the bed and lifts me up. "She is going on a date tonight." Gianna gleams and looks at me. I internally sigh because now I'm going to be bombarded with questions.

"Who's the guy?" He says simply, not taking his eyes off of mine. "Just someone I met at work." I lie, if he finds out it's Ryder, he's going to go to dad and tell him which will result in Ryder losing his job.

He nods his head and walks out. I stand confused and look at Gianna. She shrugs at me and looks at my phone that has been going off. "Ryder said he's outside!" She exclaims and then she leads me out of my room.

Greyson is no longer in sight and at this time I'm praying he is in his room and not outside. Thankfully I can hear his voice, he is for sure talking to my mom about me.

I quickly kiss Gianna on the cheek and thank her before running out, bumping into Ryder. "Hey." He asks in a worried tone as our chests hit one another. "Hi." I back away from him and give him a good look.

"You look nice." I notice and blurt out loud. He chuckles in front of me. "You look beautiful as always Aurora." I give him a smile as we walk to his car.

My heart hasn't stopped beating in my chest ever since he sat next to me in the car. He turns on his radio, making sure a Disney song doesn't come up. Although if it had, I wouldn't complain.

💌

He pulls up to this dock, well a parking dock that is near the beach. I gleam in excitement. He looks over to me and smiles. He parks the car and heads to my side to open the door, my emerald summer dress getting a whip of the cold wind.

He intertwined our fingers which made my heart go crazy. He goes to his trunk and grabs a basket, oh my gosh, we are having a beach picnic?

He chuckles next to me as we walk, "we are." I said that out loud? We walk until we sit on his hand, he bends down and unties my shoes, taking them off my feet and having them in his hold.

My feet hit the cold sand as we walk, hand intertwined, feet in the sand. He leads us through the sand and he finally stops to put down a blanket, using some of the things he brought to hold the blanket down.

I wipe my feet off and take my spot on the blanket smiling at him as he pulls out food for us. "This is amazing Ryder." I say, he looks up at me and smiles. "I'm glad you like it."

We sit in silence as we eat which is perfect since I hate talking when my mouth is full. After he puts the food away, I lay down on the blanket and stare at the stars. I feel him laying next to me, our bodies touching.

I take this chance to lock our pinkies. "Thank you for this." I whisper. He nods his head. "You're welcome, but I want to know more about you." He says.

I nod and turn my body to him. "Well, I went to high school at Lake Cons, graduated from university of Minnesota, and now, I want to be a chef."

"I knew you wanted to be a chef, but how's that going?" His thumb is moving over my hand making it harder to concentrate. "It's going." I simply say.

"Well, what's that mean?"

"It means that I have the skill, but it's harder to find a place than I thought. " I say. "Did you know that my mom taught me everything I know?" I am trying to change the subject. He smiles, "I don't doubt it, but I'm pretty sure you are amazing on your own."

"Can I ask you a very personal question?" I say, his body freezing up, like he knows what my question is. He nods his head anyways. "Where is Laklyn's mom?" He lets out a long deep breath.

"She- she was never here. She uh- I was manipulated into the relationship, and I was manipulated into things leading up to her pregnancy."

My heart freezes when I know what he's talking about." I wrap my hand around his. I've had too many talks about this stuff. But I've learned how to help. My mom was harassed, she had told me everything and I had tears in my eyes.

"While she was pregnant, she moved in with us, me and my mom. My mom hated her. Never wanted her there, but my mom loved me, and knew what had happened, so she was a big help. Nine months later, she gave birth and when I saw Laklyn, I instantly loved him. He was-is my everything.

I knew I wanted to keep him and if I had to fight for custody, I will. But I didn't, because only a couple hours after giving birth, she was gone, and I was laying there on the rocking chair, with my baby in my arms. No doubt he was crying because he wanted to be fed.

I felt angry with her, I hated her. But I had to be strong for Laklyn, so I fed him what was safe for newborns, and my mom helped out by buying me the food since I was still in school and didn't have a job."

I feel tears forming in my own eyes. This whole time I had been watching Ryder's face change, his own tears dropping, and me using my thumb to wipe them away.

He lets out a shaky breath, turning to me he smiles. "I'm okay now though, more okay than ever." He says. I don't smile with him, I'm heart broken.

"Ryder... I'm sorry, but not sorry sorry, I'm sorry in a way that I want to help you to be better than okay." I say. His smile never leaves.

"Aurora, I thank God for you everyday." This time I smile. I get closer to him, leaning my head on his chest and closing my eyes as he wraps an arm around my shoulder, tucking me into him.

"Thank you for telling me." I whisper.

"Thank you for being here for me, and for Laklyn." I hear before I pass out.