t h i r t y

"Hey, gorgeous."

Xavier pulled Aurora close, bending down to capture her lips in his. She giggled when he pulled away and playfully nipped her lips.

"Hey, handsome," She grinned up at him, placing another kiss on his lips. She wrapped her arms around his neck, smiling up at her boyfriend.

"You ready?" He asked, keeping his arms tightly secured around her waist.

"Yes sir," she winked. "Just let me get my purse."

Aurora attempted to turn around, but Xavier seemingly didn't want to let her go. She looked up to playfully glare at him. "Xavier!"

"Hmm?" He looked down at her with an innocent smirk.

"You're going to have to let me go," she laughed, pinching his arm. With a pout, he finally let her go.

Aurora quickly ran to her room to grab her purse and phone before returning to where Xavier was waiting near the door. She slipped on her shoes and Xavier led her out of her apartment with his hand holding hers.

"What are we doing today?" She asked excitedly when they got to his parked car. She was practically bouncing in her shoes from the excitement. Because of their busy work schedule, they had decided that the weekends would be their date days— days where they would just focus on them.

Xavier opened the door for her and shut the door when she got in. He didn't answer her question yet, wanting to keep her anticipation high. He quickly jogged to the driver's side and slipped in.

Leaning over the center console, he brought his hand up to tilt Aurora's face towards him. Her eyes were practically begging for him to tell her where they were going for their date. Grinning, he placed a chaste kiss on her lips before finally answering her question.

"Well," he pulled back and started the car, smoothly backing out of the parking space. "I was thinking— since we have all day and the weather is getting warmer, we could drive up to Santa Barbara Botanic Garden and have a picnic."

Her eyes lit up as a grin spread on her face. "I love picnics."

"I know," he stated as he smoothly maneuvered onto the freeway. He grabbed her left hand and intertwined her fingers with his. "I remember all the little things you mention, love."

Aurora brought their intertwined hands up and kissed the back of his hand. "Such a romantic."

"Only for you, sweetheart."

She shook her head at his cheesiness and looked out at the ongoing traffic. It was only 11 am, so the traffic wasn't too bad, especially considering it was the weekend.

Xavier's hand didn't leave hers even as they merged onto the 1 Freeway. She loved driving down the 1 freeway because it ran next to the beautiful and vast ocean that sparkled in the sunlight. The blue skies remained clear as they continued towards their destination.

Aurora drifted into a light sleep, the distant music playing from the car speakers lulled her into a slumber. Xavier rubbed calming circles on her hand as he continued to drive. Giving her slumped figure a quick glance, he smiled at how adorable she looked with her mouth slightly opened. She seemed to be able to fall asleep anywhere.

Suddenly, she was jerked awake when the car swerved. Their eyes widened as a car came crashing into them head-on. A loud sound echoed in her ears as Xavier shouted her name.

"Aurora!"

Almost as if on instinct, he turned his figure towards Aurora, taking most of the impact. Her head hit the window, causing her to blackout for a second.

Then, everything stilled.

When she opened her eyes, her body was frozen with shock as she couldn't come seem to figure out what had just happened. Still disoriented, she looked around weakly, noticing that the front glass had completely shattered— the small pieces had rained down on them. Her head felt like it was pounding against her skull and it was then when she noticed Xavier's unconscious figure slumped across the center console.

He had tried to protect her.

Still in a state of shock, she tried to move, but her body wasn't responding properly.

"X-Xavier?" She croaked weakly.

Nothing.

A buzzing noise began to fill her ears, as she faded in and out of consciousness. Her vision was filled with dark spots as she tried to keep herself awake.

Blood—she saw blood. She didn't know if it was her blood or Xavier's. She feared for the worse, a numbing sensation coming over her as her mind became jumbled. She wasn't thinking clearly and this was sending her into a panic.

Aurora wasn't sure how long she was sitting there, fading in and out of consciousness. In reality, it had only been less than 5 minutes, but to her, it seemed like forever.

At this point, her head was hurting badly and her eyes were threatening to close. Her hand was still intertwined with Xavier's and she refused to let him go.

"We'll get you guys out of there soon, darling."

That was the last thing she heard before darkness succumbed to her.

❤︎ ❤︎ ❤︎

The continuous beeping sound could be heard in the background as Aurora slowly began to regain consciousness.

The darkness was fading and she blinked away the dark spots. Looking around, she saw that she was in a single hospital room. There was no decoration on the simple cream-colored walls and the blinds were open, indicating that it was now night time.

How long has she been asleep?

In the corner of the room, was her mother and father. They were sitting rather uncomfortably on the stiff couch as her father tried to console her mother.

"Mom? Dad?" She croaked and immediately their heads turned to hers. Her body was sore and she slowly tried to move her stiff arms to reach for the cup of water next to her.

"Here, let me help you. Don't move," her mom quickly jumped up from her seat and made her way to Aurora's side. Her mom brought a cup with a straw up to her lips and immediately, she began to drink. "Oh sweetie, we were so worried."

"I'll go get the doctor," her dad quickly left the room in search of the doctor.

"How long was I out?" She asked her mom as she poured more water into the cup, knowing that her daughter was most likely parched.

"A little over 10 hours," her mother urged her to drink from the straw again.

"What happened?" Mumbled Aurora, feeling a headache begin to form.

Before her mom could answer, her dad came in with the doctor who had a file in his hands. He was a handsome man in his 30s with a pair of glasses perched on his nose.

"I see you are awake, Ms. Young," he greeted. He did a quick checkup on Aurora before speaking again.

"I'm Doctor Jenkins. Now, good thing is that you only have a minor concussion and a few bruises. There were a few scratches from the broken glass, but those should heal quickly without any scars. You will feel sore for the next few weeks, so I stress that you don't do any strenuous activities. Are you in any pain?"

"My head hurts a little, and my body feels a bit sore," she replied as he quickly jotted it down on the folder in his hands.

"That's quite normal with what you had just experienced. I'll prescribe some medication for your headache," he ripped out a piece of paper and handed it to her parents. "Do you remember what happened, Ms. Young?"

Aurora's eyebrows were scrunched as she tried to recall what had happened. "I- We were driving up to Santa Barbara for a picnic. A-and then I heard a crash. Xavier, he protected me a- Oh, god. Is Xavier okay? Please tell me he's alright."

Panic began to fill her as her heartbeat raced— the beeping from the machines started to get quicker and louder.

Doctor Jenkins spoke up before she had a full-on panic attack.

"Mr. Knight is being treated in the ward next to yours. He will be fine, but he is still in an unconscious state."

And that is where Aurora found herself after the doctor allowed her to get discharged. She had urged her parents to go home, wanting to stay next to Xavier until he woke up. Hesitantly, they left after speaking with Isabella and Alexander, both reassuring that they would watch over Aurora.

Xavier was moved into a bigger room as his parents had requested. There, the Knights slowly came and went as they visited—all making sure that Aurora was alright. Her disheveled state worried them as they comforted her.

Aurora felt numb and as soon as Isabella embraced her, her tears began to fall continuously.

"Oh, my dear Aurora," murmured Isabella comfortingly—her own eyes filling up with tears. "You're all right. That's what matters."

"H-he turned his body to protect me," she cried as Isabella patted her back soothingly. She felt Maddie's hand grab hers, as she gave her friend a reassuring squeeze.

Isabella shook her head as Aurora sniffled. "And he'll do it again and again if it means making sure nothing happened to you."

"Yeah, Rory," Maddie nodded in agreement. "My brother's a stubborn one. He would do anything to make sure that you're okay."

"He'll wake up soon, dear," Isabella backed away, wiping away the tears on Aurora's face that had stained her cheeks. "He'll be upset to see you this upset."

Aurora nodded as she continued to sniffle. She had always been an ugly crier and she thanked the gods she had washed her face free of makeup as soon as she was allowed to leave her room.

Even Alexander gave her a warm hug, telling the girl that it was going to be okay. The Knights left slowly one by one, allowing Aurora to be the one to spend the night.

They reminded her to get some rest as she was still healing and to make sure she ate the food that the hospital brought by. They promised to be back first thing tomorrow morning, and Aurora had nodded absentmindedly as her main focus was now on Xavier.

The words 'unconscious state' continued to echo in her mind as she stared down at Xavier. His eyes were closed as he remained in his peaceful slumber.

Bringing her hand up, she brushed his hair away from his face. During the accident, while trying to protect her, he had banged his head rather harshly, causing him to go unconscious. There was a white bandage covering the left side of his forehead where a piece of glass had cut him, which explained the blood she had seen. The doctor had ensured that it was not that deep and only needed a few stitches.

The worse damage was in his leg, where he had suffered a fractured ankle. They had taken him in for surgery and luckily, the injury wasn't too bad.

Aurora continued to stare at his unmoving state, wishing and hoping that he would wake up soon. She didn't even realize the sun had risen until Isabella came in with her husband in tow. Maddie followed in after her parents.

She hadn't even noticed she had company until Isabella spoke up.

"How are you holding up dear?" Asked Isabella as she walked hand in hand with Alexander.

"I'm okay," she sighed quietly. Isabella and Alexander exchanged looks, knowing that she was not okay.

Maddie walked up behind Aurora, placing her hand on her friend's shoulder. "Did you not sleep?"

"I couldn't sleep," Aurora whispered. Glancing up, she saw the worry in Maddie's face as she frowned down at the girl.

"You need to rest, Rory," scolded Maddie, worried about Aurora's wellbeing. "Xavier wouldn't like to see you like this."

She bit her lip, bringing her head down. She knew that what Maddie had said was right.

"How about this," suggested Maddie as she held up a bag. "I brought you a change of clothes. You can go freshen up and we can get something to eat downstairs in the cafeteria."

"But Xavier-"

"Will still be here," Maddie cut her off. "I know you haven't eaten anything since yesterday and we wouldn't want you passing out again. Xavier wouldn't like that either."

"We'll look after him," Isabella added, taking a seat on one of the spare chairs next to the hospital bed. "We promised your parents we would look after you, Aurora."

Aurora sighed, knowing she had lost.

"Alright," she agreed in a small voice. Standing up, she could feel her muscles protesting because of the stiff position she had been in all night. She hadn't moved an inch the entire night, wanting to be by his side with her fingers tightly interlaced with his.

Smiling, Maddie led Aurora to the restroom, where she changed into one of Xavier's old shirts—taking comfort in the smell of him.

"Please let me know if he wakes up," she pleaded before she left the hospital room with Maddie.

His parents who were now sitting beside their son nodded with small smiles on their faces before encouraging her to go eat.

The two made their way to the cafeteria on the second floor, where Stephanie was waiting. The older woman immediately engulfed Aurora in a hug and Aurora felt like crying all over again.

"How are you doing?" Asked Stephanie as she watched Aurora push around the food on her plate.

Aurora sighed. "I just- he's laying here and my anxiety is just making me think the worse. I know the doctor said he'll wake up soon, but I can't help but be worried. He protected me in the crash—that idiot."

Both sisters looked at Aurora with sad expressions on their faces.

Reaching over, Stephanie grabbed Aurora's free hand and held it in hers. "I know that if it was Ethan laying there, I would be going crazy."

"And if that was Lucas, I would be screaming and yelling until security has to drag me out," Maddie said, causing Aurora to chuckle, knowing that it was the truth. "It's because we love them so much that we can't help but worry about them."

Aurora glanced up at the girls, nodding in agreement. She did love him, so much. And she was going to tell him as soon as she woke up.

"Now, no more moping around," said Maddie, clapping her hands. "Xavier is going to wake up soon and I know he'll be on everyone's ass when he sees that you haven't been taking care of yourself."

"He would, wouldn't he?" smiled Aurora, knowing that was exactly how Xavier was going to react.

"He'd be screaming at everyone—hell, he'll be threatening to sue everyone," joked Stephanie, causing the girls to shake their heads as they laughed. "Why do you think everyone's scared to be on his bad side?"

Aurora gave them a grateful smile, feeling her mood brighten immensely. This was exactly what she needed.

Smiling, she looked down at her plate, playing with her food.

"This shit's disgusting," she bluntly stated, causing the girls to chuckle at her outburst. She slowly put down her fork and pushed the plate away.

"Oh, god, I thought I was the only one who thought that," Maddie cackled, pushing her barely touched plate away. "I've never had such tasteless eggs in my life. It's like water, but solid."

"I forgot how much I hate hospital food," muttered Stephanie, wiping away the tears from her eyes. "Only the jello is good."

Before they could continue discussing how the food in front of them shouldn't even be considered to be food, they were interrupted by a ring. Hastily, Stephanie grabbed her phone out of her bag.

Speaking quickly into the phone, she glanced up at Aurora before hanging up. The next words caused Aurora to immediately bolt up from her seat and run towards the elevator.

"He's awake."

❤︎ ❤︎ ❤︎

What a rollercoaster of a chapter -smirk- So, what did you guys think? When I was writing this chapter, I was trying to figure out where to split it, but I didn't want to do that to you guys. I hope you guys enjoyed it and let me know what you think! Don't worry, everyone is OKAY so please don't hunt me down! Have a lovely weekend my loves <3