- I Would; One Direction - 
- Just Friends; Why Don't We -
- Personal; The Vamps ft. Maggie Lindemann - 
- Happily; One Direction -

Aurora Holland

"What's going on?" I asked, my face flushing as the entire Jackson family stared at me.

"Oh, Rora, did you already forget?" My father laughed lightly. "We agreed to have the Jacksons over today for dinner."

"I never knew that," I mumbled.

I hadn't heard anything about it. It must've been decided sometime after the event Friday night when they said goodbye to us before we went home. Not to mention I've barely seen any of my family members except for Paige, and even then Paige wouldn't have known anything about it because she and her parents aren't in attendance.

"Well, either way, it's all good!" Lainie exclaimed happily.

"I'm sorry about Aurora," My mother apologized, her eyes looking at my simple outfit multiple times.

"It's no big deal, honestly." Cyrus cut in, "We didn't plan on it being anything extravagant, and family dinners are always so much more meaningful when we don't have to put on the type of front we usually do at the business events."

"Well, come sit down honey." My father motioned to me.

I went to twirl the ring I usually keep on my index finger but forgot I never put it back on after my bath. This resorted in me rubbing at the skin on my palm, trying my best to not scratch at it.

Walking the short walk over to the table, I took a seat to the left of Jason. Our dining room table was one of those tables that can extend to a bigger size when needed, so I noticed that my parents had pulled it out to allow enough room for everyone to sit.

My parents sat on each end of the table, and on the long side across from me were Logan, Lainie, and Cyrus. Jason was to my right, leaving one person to my left.

Carter.

I tugged my seat in once I sat down, my hands feeling restless now that my ring was gone and I was trying to let the scratches heal up. I hadn't scratched on them since the night of the event, meaning they were almost healed to a point where they weren't welted up anymore. I wanted to keep it this way because it usually isn't this bad. Usually, it's a couple of red marks, and the moment my mother and I's argument is over they go away.

But since we've moved to Riverway, I've found myself doing it more and more. It's better than tugging at my hair -- which was a habit I used to do when I was younger, but I'm well aware it's still a bad habit.

"So, Aurora, what movie were you watching?" Lainie asked, starting a conversation. "Your mother says you weren't able to hear her calling 'cause you were watching a movie."

My eyes danced around the table, seeing my mother begin to hand out the dishes. She didn't look happy, but I didn't let it bother me. She wouldn't say anything with the Jackson family here, and that made me feel somewhat better.

Plus, she seems to keep her mouth shut whenever Carter's around, to which I find myself thankful.

"Uh, Sleepless in Seattle," I answered, not wanting to be rude.

"Oh, you're a romance lover?" She asked, her eyes lighting up. "Thank you, Vivienne." She then thanked my mother as she took her plate.

"Yeah," I said, feeling my cheeks heat up. I could see Carter in the corner of my eye, and he was glancing down at his full plate with a smirk. I suddenly remembered he'd been the first person to figure out how much I loved romance movies, the night of Logan's party.

"What's your favorite?" She asked.

"Lainie is a huge fan of romance," Cyrus spoke up from next to his wife, a small smile on his face. "Now that she's found someone else who loves them, she'll never stop talking about it."

"Oh, Cy," Lainie spoke with a blush. It was cute, you could tell they still loved each other.

"Aurora, she asked you a question," My mother said, causing me to stop gushing over the Jackson parents.

"Right," I mumbled. "I'm a huge fan of A Walk to Remember."

"That's a good one!" Lainie exclaimed happily.

"I've walked in on Aurora crying to it a lot," Jason said from next to me. It was the first time he'd spoken since I walked in, and of course, it was going to be something embarrassing. I elbowed his side, earning a yelp from him.

My mother saw the exchange and sent me a dirty look. "Aurora Lynn!"

I opened my mouth to say something but decided against it and instead looked down at my lap. The look on her face alone was enough to make me scratch my palm, knowing there was no avoiding any type of conversation with her once the Jacksons leave for the night. Just as my left fingertips found their way to my right palm, a hand covered mine.

It prevented me from scratching at my skin the way I intended, and my eyes shot to the left where Carter was sitting next to me. His eyes weren't on me, instead, he was putting his entire focus on eating with just one hand. He struggled a bit, twirling the spaghetti noodles around his fork and doing his best to keep it on the silverware.

I hadn't even begun eating yet, and if I'm being honest I don't really have an appetite. I'd barely eaten today, and I was super hungry up until I realized we were having dinner with Logan and Jackson's family.

My eyes found Logan, who was texting on his phone under the table. He paid no mind to any of the conversation happening, seeming too preoccupied with whatever was happening on the device.

"Are you planning on trying out for any clubs, Aurora?" Lainie asked, seeming to still be interested in talking to me.

It threw me off, and I looked over to see Cyrus and my father too preoccupied in their own conversation to pay any mind to what we were talking about.

"My friend mentioned something about art clubs, but I haven't really looked too much into it." I shrugged, grabbing a piece of garlic bread. I took a small bite, chewing quietly as my hands began to feel restless.

With Carter's hand covering my left one and my ring upstairs in my room, I felt uncomfortable. I know he's doing it to prevent me from scratching at my hand, and I'm kind of mad at myself for letting him catch on to the simple gesture.

Out of all the people I've known over the years, nobody's ever really noticed something like that.

Unless you count Logan, but I had tuned out everything when my mother left my room, and that all together is a completely different situation that totally doesn't count.

"You like art?" Lainie asked, "What kind?"

"Watercolor is what I'm best at, but I'm willing to better myself at any of it really," I answered quickly, continuing to take small bites of my bread.

"It's not something she plans on doing for the rest of her life though," My mother cut in. "Her father mentioned something about her attempting to try out for the cheerleading squad, but she just isn't interested in that. She's more into smarts."

My eyes shot up at her, seeing her eyes weren't on me at all. She was completely lying, the entire statement from the art to the cheerleading.

"Actually, I--"

"Jason, however, will be trying out for the middle school football team this week." My mother cut me off again, her eyes lighting up at the mention of Jason.

"Oh, that's cool!" Lainie exclaimed. "Football something you find yourself doing in the future, Jason?"

Jason began to answer her, meaning the conversation was off of me and on him. I was mad about the lies my mom was telling Lainie but was overall glad I wasn't put on the spot anymore. I just put my focus on my food, eating quicker so that way I can find a way to excuse myself and go back up to my room.

My eyes drifted down to my lap, where Carter's giant hand engulfed my smaller one. Now that I realize we'd been holding hands for a while, I was beginning to get nervous. Butterflies erupted in my stomach, the skin where he touched burning in tingles. I know it was only to calm me down as if he knew what my mother was really like, but it still didn't change the tingling feeling I felt when he touched me.

"Aurora," My mother's voice interrupted my thoughts. I looked up, taking that as a chance to pull my hand from Carter's.

It was comforting, and that's what scares me the most. I know that he means nothing serious to it, and I stand by the fact that I'm delusional to think he'd like me only a week after knowing me. If I give into it, I'll start feeding into the things Paige tells me. And I can't let that happen again.

"Yes?" I asked softly, looking over at her.

"Would you be willing to help begin to clean up?" She asked. It was then I noticed I'd been daydreaming for the majority of dinner. My food was only half-eaten, which was a lot considering I wasn't really hungry.

I nodded and stood up, beginning to gather everyone's empty dishes. Cyrus and my father were still caught up in talking about their jobs, while Lainie talked to my mom about certain things.

Logan, who hadn't said anything at all, stood up as well. "I'll help," He offered, grabbing the dishes on his side.

"Oh, it's okay, Aurora can get it," My mother denied.

"Logan is such a gentleman, he loves to help out when he can." Lainie smiled at her son, her eyes bouncing back to my mom. "He's like this at home as well."

My mother wanted to protest, I could tell. But she didn't, and so we continued to gather everything around everyone. I led the way to the kitchen, setting the dishes on the counter next to the sink.

Logan began to search around for some Tupperware, smiling as he found some that can hold the leftovers. I watched him carefully as he began to dump the leftover food into the dishes, silent.

He looked good. He was wearing a Riverway High sweatshirt along with some denim jeans, ones that fit his figure nicely. He dressed casually, which made me feel better considering how my mom acted when I wasn't dressed up all formally.

"I should've warned you about the dinner," He mumbled, catching my attention.

I tore my eyes away from him and looked in front of me, pressing my closed fists to the edge of the sink. "It's okay, my parents should've said something."

"They didn't?" He asked, and I saw him look at me in the corner of my eye.

"No," I answered simply. I began to scrape the food left on the plates into the garbage disposal, rinsing them off afterward.

"That's stupid," He said.

"It's probably only because I'm avoiding them," I said.

"Why?" He asked.

"My mom wasn't very happy with how Carter acted Friday," I said. "She didn't like that he stuck up for me, and so I know it's just another conversation waiting to happen."

"A conversation--" He stopped his movements for a second, looking over at me. "L-like the one I saw?"

I didn't say anything, and instead just nodded. I went back to what I was doing to distract myself, knowing we shouldn't be having this conversation. Especially since anyone can walk in here at any time, and hear things they shouldn't.

I shouldn't even be having this conversation with Logan.

"You can talk about it, you know?" Logan asked, continuing the conversation despite the fact that I didn't really want to. "Like, we care about you and just--"

"I'm fine," I cut him off. I know it probably came across as rude, but I really didn't want to talk about it. I just want to clean up so I can excuse myself to my room, forgetting about this odd dinner that my parents decided to shove on me last second.

Well, not that it was really last second, but more as they didn't tell me about it till I came down and they were here.

"I'm just saying, Rora, if--"

"She said she's fine, Logan." The sound of Carter's voice cut the boy off. We both turned to see Carter entering the kitchen, a bored expression on his features.

It was a lot like when I first met him, along with the other times we didn't talk. The same boring expression he used when he seemed irritated.

Logan rolled his eyes, "What are you doing in here?"

"Mom sent me in here to help. I think she knows I make Mrs. Holland flustered," He said.

"Why would you do that?" Logan asked.

"The event Friday, remember?" He asked as if Logan were stupid, not bothering to wait for a response. "Either way, not like I wanted to sit in the room full of adults anyway."

"Jason's in there," I pointed out.

"Yeah, but he's on his iPad." He shrugged, moving next to me. "Either way, the kid seems scared of me."

"Who isn't scared of you?" Logan asked in return, glancing at Carter for a second before returning to what he was doing before.

I stayed silent during the interaction, putting my focus on the dishes in front of me. Carter, who had stepped next to me, rolled his sweater sleeves up as he began to wash the dishes I'd rinsed.

"Rory," Carter simply responded, causing the plate in my hands to slip and fall into the sink. It made a loud noise, one which the adults and Jason didn't hear thankfully.

Logan scoffed, and I could only imagine he was rolling his eyes as well. "She's only not afraid of you because she hasn't gotten to know you yet."

"Rory and I know each other quite well, actually." Carter countered. I looked at him with wide eyes, but he wasn't even looking at me. He stared down at the dishes in front of him, suds covering his hands as he thoroughly washed the silverware in his hands.

"She knows about Ashley then, I'm assuming?" Logan asked, causing Carter's movements to come to a stop.

My eyes drifted from Carter to Logan. Carter looked angry at the simple mention of the girl's name, his jaw clenched and eyes set on the dirty plate in front of him.

Logan, on the other hand, looked amused at his brother's irritation. He held a closed bowl full of leftover spaghetti in his hands, a smug smirk written on his face as if he won their little back-and-forth banter.

I just continued on with what I was doing, feeling awkward. It felt like I shouldn't be part of this conversation, despite being involved in the topic of it.

I'd heard a bit about Ashley and Carter's relationship from Lila, but never really gave much thought about it since that day in PE. Clearly, Ashley was a picky subject for Carter, one he didn't feel comfortable talking about.

The day when we got to know each other, neither of us had the thought of asking any romantic questions to each other. The extent of romance being brought up was when I told him that romance movies are my favorite genre, but that doesn't really count as it's nothing to do with personal relationships.

I wonder if this means that Carter actually had done something to Ashley, much like the rumors said. From the way Logan made it sound, it sounds as if he'd done something to her. Or maybe I'm looking too much into it, considering Logan didn't exactly say that.

But what about Ashley and Carter's relationship would make me afraid of him?

"How's Gwen?" Carter retorted. I had almost thought the conversation was over considering Carter's reaction, but instead, he brought another name up.

I never even heard of Gwen, unless I have but it was very insignificant to me.

"That's nothing and you know it," Logan said darkly, his tone deep in frustration.

"Just like with Ashley," Carter muttered.

Logan went to say something but stopped out of better judgment. We continued to clean up in silence, the tension between the two boys enough to make me feel nervous. I don't know why they were worked up at each other, I hadn't even noticed their attitudes toward each other until Carter walked into the kitchen.

When we were finished and everything was cleaned up, we walked to the living room to see that everyone had migrated in there. Everyone except for Jason, who I assume went to his room because he was nowhere to be seen.

The adults didn't acknowledge us, to which I felt kind of relieved. This meant I could excuse myself to my room for the night and not have to worry about making my mother frustrated more than she already was.

"I'll see you guys around," I murmured. It was an awkward way to say goodbye, considering they were going to be here a little bit longer until their parents decided to leave, but it was getting a little late and I was feeling tired.

Plus, I was in a tank top and sweats with no bra. I've felt uncomfortable since the moment I came down for dinner and saw them at the dining table.

Neither boy said anything as I made my way up the stairs, and I was grateful. My mind was jumbled with thoughts, and I wanted nothing more than to brush my teeth and fall asleep watching something.

Knowing I'd have to deal with things later on, I shoved them to the back of my mind to prevent my thoughts from overflowing. I brushed my teeth in silence, ignoring the fact that I looked like a mess.

My hair was nested at the top of my head in a messy bun, strands sticking out here and there. I had a few pimples on my chin along with dark circles under my eyes, and I didn't look too appealing.

I really sat like this through the entire dinner. Jesus.

After I finished, I plugged my laptop in on my desk and turned the TV on to find something to fall asleep to. I can't seem to comfortably fall asleep when I'm by myself, so I put something such as cartoons or music on. It's stupid, but I'm absolutely terrified of being alone at night.

I'm not afraid of the dark, exactly, but I'm a bit of a baby when it comes to being alone. If it's the middle of the day and I'm lost in my artwork, I can handle it. It's when it's late at night and I'm having to fall asleep.

You're vulnerable when you're asleep, and I hate that.

Crawling underneath my comforter, I was met with warmth. I brought the blankets up to my neck and cuddled against a pillow, my eyes on the dim lighting on the TV. I didn't even pay attention to whatever it was I had put on, my mind elsewhere as I let the exhaustion catch up to me.

It wasn't long before I felt my eyes get heavy, my mind slowly coming to a stop as I let sleep take over completely.

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Hey guys, I've missed you <3 I'm back from my break and updates should be back to normal! Hope you guys haven't forgotten about me :)

* This chapter is not edited *