No More Than Just Friends ((Closed))

[Aurora Chan]

Aurora grabbed her coat from the closet quickly before dashing back to the kitchen in a mad frenzy, yelling for her cousins to hurry it along. “Guys, c’mon, we’re gonna be late!” Two voices chorused back as Harmony and Ariane stumbled past Jenny towards Aurora, obviously hassled and harried.
“Why do you always arrange for the worst times, Rora?” Ari grumbled below her breath as they exited the front door with a slam.
Aurora grinned as she shrugged nonchalantly, zipping up her black coat as she jogged down the relatively peaceful street. At 1:30 in the afternoon, there were no cars in sight along the secluded road, and the only noises audible to the naked ear were the incessant chirpings of birds nesting in nearby trees. Aurora noted the mild sunshine with a soft smile before turning a corner to the left, Ariane and Harmony hot on her heels.
“I didn’t arrange the time. Since Lizzie hosts the practices, she gets to decide when.” Aurora explained calmly, heading towards her friend’s house. She was lucky all the band members of Domino lived so near by, but then again, the others all went to the same high school, and would be continuing their studies for sixth form in the same place too. Aurora thanked her lucky stars, because she once feared the band would break up once they reached their sixth year because some of them may move away to other colleges.

Another road down later, Aurora pointed at a house a few doors away with short breaths, a grin on her face. “There it is. We’re almost there.” Ariane and Harmony neglected to reply however, doing their best to keep up with a usually very inactive Aurora. Finally, the three girls came to a stop in front of the pale green housed door, and Aurora knocked brightly, looking forward to the first band practice of the summer. Easter had been the last time she had seen everybody, and Domino was always the highlight of her holidays. The trio only had to wait a minute or so, before the pitter-pattering of soft footsteps could be heard; then the door was flung open to reveal a brunette-haired girl with sparkling green eyes, a wide grin on her face as she exclaimed loudly at the sight of a familiar face.
“Aurora!” She squealed, before jumping forwards unhesitantly and hugging her friend on the spot. Laughing, Aurora returned the embrace, before pulling away with a broad, fond grin.

“Liz. It’s so great to see you again. How are you?”
“I’m great. So glad the summer is here; no more school!” Lizzie, hair strung into a high ponytail, stood a few inches taller than Aurora, with a rounded, tanned face and a friendly smile. “Ooh, and who are they?” She asked in wonderment as her eye caught Ariane and Harmony’s quiet figures behind Aurora.
“Oh yes. Lizzie, these are my cousins, Ariane and Harmony Chan. They’re living with me now. They’re here to observe our practice. Guys, this is Lizzie Yates, our bass player.” Aurora introduced her friends to one another immediately. Greetings exchanged, Lizzie led her three guests into her house, filing past the narrow hallway and heading down a flight of steep stairs to the basement, where the practices were held.
“So, how have you been yourself, Rora?” Lizzie asked curiously. “How were your GCSEs?” GCSEs, the muggle equivalent of OWLs, were what Lizzie and the other muggle teens took, but since Lizzie had no idea of her wizarding heritage, Aurora gave a bright smile and nodded, unfazed by the question.
“They were okay. Not too bad. You?”
“Art was hell.” Lizzie gave a groan as she opened the door at the bottom of the stairs, “I did not enjoy that ten-hour exam one bit. I’m just glad it’s over.” Flinging open the door, Lizzie announced the remaining influx of people with a loud bang, a large grin on her face. “Hey everybody, Aurora’s here!” Already the members were assembled, all gazing up to see their lead singer and pianist saunter in. There was a chorused unison of Aurora’s name, causing her to smile bashfully but happily as they swarmed towards her. The only other girl in the room approached first, hugging Aurora tightly, followed closely by two boys, the guy who had been sitting fiddling with the drums, and finally a boy with a black guitar strapped around his athletic body.
“Daniel.” Aurora smiled fondly, walking forward a little hesitantly and enveloping the taller guy in a careful hug.
“Miri-chan.” Daniel reciprocated quietly, a small smile too adorning his face, addressing Aurora by the nickname he had always known her as. “Nice to see you.” In the background, Ariane’s observant eyes narrowed in suspicion as she stared at Daniel’s face leaning over Aurora’s smaller shoulder. That short dusty blonde hair spiked up a little, those smiling sky blue eyes that seemed sad as he embraced his childhood friend.
Yep. He was the one.

[Aurora Chan]

Ariane and Harmony seated themselves on the sofa in the corner of the room comfortably as Aurora scurried away to prepare for the practice. They had already been introduced to the rest of the members of Domino; Jake Wallace, Rose Hughes, and Oliver Harrison made up the “production and management” team, supervising the finances, performance venues, equipment, agency-related work, costumes, make up, and so on. Jake and Rose were cousins, children of two identical twins, both sporting vividly ginger-red hair that curled around their similar chocolate brown eyes. Rose mainly handled make up and costume work, and also supervised the venues, whilst her slightly older cousin made sure equipment was working one hundred percent, and managed all the technical work and sound systems. Blonde haired, hazel eyed Oliver was in the year below Aurora and the others, being the youngest member involved in the band, but he was a mathematical business genius, and was the treasurer as well as handling all calls they received. Patrick Everetts was the drummer of the four piece band, and also the long term boyfriend of Rose. The tallest and oldest member of the band, he stood at over six feet tall, with dangling dark hair to his shoulders and intense grey eyes. And finally, there was Daniel Heath, blonde haired, blue eyed, and definitely the best looking out of all the boys. Putting him as lead guitarist had its advantages, that was for sure.

Whilst Harmony watched the team set to work with interest, Ariane’s gaze was mainly trained on a specific person. Namely, Daniel. Her suspicious dark eyes trained onto his figure resolutely as he moved around, plugging in his guitar to the amp. He seemed totally unaware of Ariane’s sharp stares as he strolled over to Aurora and asked her something in low tones. Acting casual, she replied in a small shrug, then nodded slowly. Ariane’s eyes narrowed, before the basement door burst open and a familiar figure ran in, panting heavily. “Sorry… I’m… late…” Leo apologised remorsefully, a guitar case strapped to his back.
“Well, speak of the devil.” Aurora grinned, walking up to her brother. “C’mon. I can’t believe you’re late for your first ever band practice. What took you so long?”
“Grandma wouldn’t let me go.” Leo grumbled in annoyance as he regained his breath and unstrapped his guitar case from his back. “And this thing is so heavy; I ran all the way here with it.”
“Idiot.” Aurora murmured as the other members of the band welcomed Leo into the fray. “Hurry up then. We’re all done, pretty much.” Leo nodded in response before extracting his silver guitar and heading for the amp already waiting for him to use.
“I didn’t know Leo was in the band, never mind coming today.” Harmony spoke up when Aurora ambled over to check up on her cousins whilst Daniel and Lizzie helped Leo set up.

Aurora gave a wry grin as she replied, her eyes wondering over to her brother and Daniel. “Leo’s been playing the guitar for a while now; I’ve been teaching him for over two years. He’s not as talented in music as I am, cause he’s always been the sporty one, but he was really interested, and caught on well. The band wanted an extra guitarist anyway, and he’s at the right level to be playing the backup guitar part. Of course, we leave the lead guitar part to Daniel.” Aurora gave a soft, sad smile. “Leo will be the youngest member of her band!” She exclaimed brightly as the previous expression on her face quickly faded away. “I’ll leave you guys to it. I’d better get back, looks like Leo’s ready.” With one last smile, Aurora turned and headed for her position, the electric piano microphone set up by Jake at the front of the band; they had to make do without a proper piano because of the place they practiced in, but it would do. Lizzie stood on Aurora’s left with Daniel and Leo to the right, and finally Patrick at the back with the drums. Jake, being techno man of the band, was in the corner controlling the sound system, and Rose and Oliver looked on from beside him. “Everyone ready?” Aurora finally asked as silence settled around the spacious basement. She was seated by the piano, her foot testing the pedal, and her voice echoed around the room as it emitted through the microphone. “Okay then. Let’s try… Over. We might be playing that one pretty soon, right?” Aurora received a couple of nods, and with a steady glance at Daniel, his clear eyes gazing into her dark ones from beside her, Aurora began to let her fingers trickle over the piano keys softly, tinkling out a gentle melody until the other instruments joined in.

“I watch the walls around me crumble, but it's not like I wont build them up again.
So here's your last chance for redemption, so take it while it lasts cause it will end.
And my tears are turning into time, I've wasted trying to find a reason for goodbye…”

[Aurora Chan]

“I can't live without you, can't breathe without you, I'm dreaming about you,
Honestly tell me that it's over.
Cause if the world is spinning and I'm still living,
It won't be right if we’re not in it together…
Tell me that it's over
And I'll be the first to go… Don't wanna be the last to know.
I won't be the one to chase you, but at the same time you're the heart that I call home.
I'm always stuck with these emotions, and the more I try to feel the less I'm whole.
My tears are turning into time, I've wasted trying to find a reason for goodbye…
I can't live without you, can't breathe without you, I'm dreaming about you,
Honestly tell me that it's over.
Cause if the world is spinning and I'm still living,
It won't be right if we’re not in it together…
Tell me that it's over
And I'll be the first to go… Yeah, I'll be the first to go.
Don't wanna be the last to know…
Over... Over... Over...
My tears are turning into time… I've wasted trying to find a reason for goodbye…
I can't live without you, can't breathe without you, I'm dreaming about you, Honestly tell me that it's over.
Cause if the world is spinning and I'm still living,
It won't be right if we're not in it together…
Tell me that it's over… Tell me that it's over…
Over…
Honestly tell me… Honestly tell me…
Don't tell me that it's over…
Don't tell me that it's over.”

***

"You guys are brilliant!" Harmony enthused after the practice with a grin, "You're so much better than live than on CD." Beside her, Ariane nodded in agreement silently, her eyes on other things... "And Leo did a good job too." Harmony added as her other cousin ambled along.
"Thanks." Aurora smiled warmly, blushing a little. "We do our best. And it seems kiddo here fits right in." She clapped her younger brother on the back heartily, a hint of pride in her eyes, and Leo grinned in response. "Hey Liz, when's the next practice then?" Aurora looked away and yelled across the basement to her bass player, who was currently putting away her blood red bass guitar next to Daniel who was doing the same to his.
"Oh, um..." Lizzie paused in her movements and pondered a while, before replying, "Probably this Wednesday, after lunch again. That okay with everyone?" The members all chorused their approval, and Aurora nodded with a smile.
"Perfect. About 2pm back here then. Thanks, Lizzie."
"No problem. Just don't be late now!" Lizzie joked, heading over to help Jake with the microphones she and and Daniel used for backup vocals.
"Do my best." Aurora laughed, before it faded into a softer smile at the sight of Daniel walking over, approaching fast. "Dan? What's wrong?"
"Can I have a word, Miri-chan? Um... alone with you. Back at mine?" Daniel's eyes shifted uncomfortably as he spoke, purposefully avoiding not only Aurora's gaze, but Ariane's rather piercing one too. Aurora's stare shifted between her cousin and Daniel, before nodding slowly with a slight well-hidden frown.
"Sure. I'll come with you now. Ari, Harmony, Leo, you guys go ahead. Tell Mum I'll be back later, and I'm at Danny's."
"But Aurora--" Ariane suddenly intervened, blurting out her disapproval with a not so secret glare at Daniel. Leo remained quiet as he shuffled his feet nervously, whilst Harmony watched the scene with confusion.
"No, Ari." Aurora interrupted before her cousin could go further. She sent her best friend a warning, but meaningful look, before turning back to Daniel, "I'll be fine."

[Aurora Chan]

“So… what did you want to talk about, Danny?” Aurora asked almost fearfully, her finger rubbing against the cold surface of her glass, ignoring the lemonade that lay within as her gaze focused entirely on her friend nervously.
Daniel walked slowly across his spacious bedroom as he avoided Aurora’s gaze from his chair by his desk, knowing how intent and questioning she was. Finally, after a long, tense silence, he turned to look at her steadily, hands stuffed jean pockets in a guilty stance. “We… I… might be moving… moving away from Manchester. Soon.” Suddenly, Aurora’s world seemed to stop in front of her, Daniel’s emotional face inked into her brain permanently, his bedroom freezing up and staying there like an unthawed icicle. Her lips refused to move, shape any form of words, and her finger halted its movement completely, falling beside her untouched glass like a lead stone. “Aurora?” Daniel broke the long stillness uncertainly, sitting down onto his bed with defeat in his stance.
“Um… I…” Aurora struggled to come to terms with this new piece of information, and it was written all across her face. Her worst fears seemed to be coming true, right before her very eyes. She had always worried that one day Daniel would leave her. Even if he didn’t love her in the same way, even if they couldn’t be together, he had to stay by her side, forever and always. He couldn’t leave her! “You’re… You’re… leaving.” Aurora repeated the words slowly, as though not able to believe the truth that lay between. Daniel nodded hesitantly from across the room, the gulf, the distance between them too great, too wide to abolish. He wouldn’t roam any closer, and she couldn’t bridge that gap. “You’re leaving.” Aurora echoed again, firmly this time, before her hand shakily grasped her glass and brought it unsteadily to her lips, taking a long draught of the substance, before the glass clattered once again to the desk. Daniel winced despite himself. “When?”

“Soon.” Daniel repeated again, hanging his head in his arms, unable to bear the news himself. “It’s not definite, but my mum plans on moving to Australia for her work… I tried to say, ya know, but… I can’t.” Aurora almost choked at that, but refrained from doing so as more colour escaped her cheeks. He was moving countries. Aurora shook her head subconsciously in disbelief; this was all too sudden.
“This is… so sudden.” Aurora whispered, voicing her inner thoughts without realising.
“I know.” Daniel replied guiltily, not looking at the distraught expression on Aurora’s face. Silence reigned over the two for a long time, Daniel leaving Aurora to her inner turmoil of thoughts, before standing up and making his way out of the room. “I’ll be right back.” He murmured softly, taking one last glance at Aurora’s face, hidden by strands of falling black, before shutting the door with a click behind him. Suddenly, emotion overpowered Aurora, and with a soft cry, she flung her head into her arms onto the desk, almost knocking the lemonade aside as she sobbed as quietly as possible into her sleeves.
”He’s leaving me… He’s leaving me!” Aurora screamed inside her head over and over again, her mass of black hair enveloping her. ”Please… don’t leave me… Please!” After what seemed like forever, Aurora’s crying finally ceased, and she shakily brought a hand up to wipe away her flow of tears, her breathing regaining normalcy. ”No… I have to be strong. I have to be strong. This is nothing. It doesn’t matter anyway. I can live without him. I barely see him nowadays. He doesn’t love me. He doesn’t want to be with me. I know I’ll find someone else one day anyway. I know I will. Why do I cling onto him so much? I’ve always been clinging to him, even when he’s running away from me. I have to get over him, so why can’t I?” Aurora gave an outer growl of frustration, blinking her blurry eyes repeatedly to get rid of the tears. ”Daniel is nothing. I can live without him. Ari and Harmony have been through so much worse. They lost their mum. And other people out there have much worse problems than me and my pointless love battles” Sighing heavily, Aurora finally conceded defeat, and sat still by the desk, staring blankly at Daniel’s turned off computer. It didn’t matter, at the end of the day. It wasn’t as this would affect Aurora’s life that much.

Finally, Daniel re-entered. If he noticed Aurora’s redder eyes, he didn’t mention it, and sat down on the bed again in silence. Finally, Aurora, her gaze steadily fixed on him, spoke quietly. “Do the others know yet?”
“No.”
“When are you going to tell them…?”
“It’s not definite yet…” Silence fell over them yet again, finally drawing a long sigh out of Aurora. Daniel looked up momentarily at his childhood friend, the sadness inflicted upon her pale face.
“I’m going to miss you.” She finally whispered, her arms crawling upwards to hug herself subconsciously.
“Same.” Daniel admitted also, his tone so defeated Aurora couldn’t possibly blame him. Well, she didn’t blame him in the first place, but it helped ease her pain if a little… Or maybe it increased by watching his remorseful face.
“Why are we doing this anyway?” Aurora suddenly burst out laughing her usual light tones, standing up and spinning around the room as though dancing, though she knew she couldn’t dance for her life, unlike Harmony. “ Her grin seemed real, believing, the truth, but Daniel knew better. He hadn’t known Aurora since childhood for nothing. “It’s not like you’re definitely going. No goodbyes until then, right? No point worrying about it.”
“Yeah.” Daniel smiled sadly as he watched his friend twirl around the room in giggles. “I’m sorry, Aurora. All I do is hurt you.” He whispered to himself softly, burying his face in his hands.
“Eh?” Aurora turned round abruptly, frowning in confusion. “What did you just say?”
“Oh, nothing.” Daniel shook his head dismissively, standing up and smiling. “You’d better be careful, or--”
“Ah!” Aurora shrieked as she tripped over Daniel’s chair leg and toppled over, her face rushing to meet the ground. Frightened, she closed her eyes, bracing for impact, until she felt a pair of strong arms lift her up gently, a chuckle beside her ear as she blushed despite herself.
“Or you’ll fall down. Miri-chan.” His voice was a cross between a smirk and a smile, Aurora couldn’t tell, because his arms were entwined around her waist, his mouth brushing softly against her ear from behind. Tingles shot down her spine involuntarily as she mumbled her thanks, before trying to push away from his warm body. However, to her surprise, Daniel held on strong, embracing her gently and burying his nose into her hair in a soft sigh. Aurora’s resolve softened as she was forced to relax in his arms.
“Daniel…”

[Aurora Chan]

Thoughts raced in Aurora’s head, jumping over one another, tripping and bumping, screaming and freaking out. Outwardly however, she was as calm as a cucumber, as the saying went. Aurora could’ve almost laughed out loud at the irony of her situation. Her inner self was shaking like a leaf and wobbling from increasing claustrophobia, whilst her skin succumbed to the warm feel and gentle touch of Daniel wrapped around her so intimately. Everything was so contradictory, Aurora didn’t know what to think. She was most aware of the loud thumping of her heart, how painfully it rammed against her ribcage, and Daniel’s warm breath against her ear and neck. It was so dizzying Aurora could hardly think. ”I’m enjoying this… But what is he doing? But I’m liking this, right? This is always what I’ve wanted… But no, he doesn’t feel that way. It’s totally one sided. And he has a girlfriend, doesn’t he?” At this thought, Aurora’s senses rushed to her head in one quick frenzy, and she immediately tore herself away from Daniel’s tight embrace, feeling the lack of warmth straight away and regretting it deep in her heart somewhere. However, Aurora was always on the right path of justice. Even if it meant sacrificing her own happiness. So flinging herself around to face Daniel with wide eyes, Aurora struggled to find the right words to convey her feelings to the one man she loved. It was true that she longed for those arms to hug her, those eyes to gaze upon her with need, those lips to utter that he loved her too. But it simply was an impossible dream… merely an ungranted wish. Aurora knew she’d only get hurt if she let this go any further. She’d come out the loser at the end of the day. He knew that. She knew that.

Life wasn’t fair.

Daniel’s face was also a mixture of emotions. Confusion, hurt, fear, sadness, disbelief… love? But not that kind of love. Not the love Aurora wanted, or needed. Emotions flashed across Daniel’s face like a book’s pages being flipped quickly, until it finally chose an expression of sadness and let it stay there, lingering against his blue, blue eyes, and tilting lips. Aurora tried not to stare too long at his face. That face. It was too painful to bear. How could someone love another so much? So much their heart burst with aching for so long. Aurora felt a tear slip haphazardly out of the corner of her eye and roll down her cheek, dripping to the carpeted bedroom floor. She didn’t bother brushing the wet trail away. Instead, the pair stared at one another for what felt like eternity, the silence engulfing and choking them, until one had to break it into little smithereens. Finally, Aurora knew the decision for change came once again to her. It was always her. The one who fell, the one who bore the pain, the one who sacrificed her all and came out with nothing at the end of the day. But Aurora didn’t care. She’d do it over and over again, and she wouldn’t care. Because that was her nature. She’d give her all for someone else. For everyone else.

“Daniel… Look.” Daniel’s face visibly flinched at the sound of the silence breaking around them. Aurora’s voice was somewhat steady and firm, clear in the stuffy air, though it held under layers of sorrow and regret. They were hard to suppress, and hard to miss. Aurora’s eyes told the same story. Although she would be strong, she would also cry for this afterwards. She always did. “I love you. You know that.” Her voice was so reassuringly, so gentle, so forgiving. Daniel looked on the verge of tears himself. “But you know… we know… That you do not feel the same way. It would be untrue to say you did.” Daniel’s mouth opened slightly to protest, a helpless look on his face, until Aurora interrupted him, effectively shutting him up. “You do not love me in the same way I love you, Daniel. Face it. We’ve had this conversation many times before. But perhaps we did not understand one another properly. Or you did not understand me. You probably never do, and never will. I’m sorry.” Aurora paused for a moment, her expression unsure, but she continued nonetheless. She needed to do this. She needed him to understand, and even if he didn’t, she had to know that at least she had tried. She had tried her very best. “You may like me, Daniel… You might feel attracted to me. We’ve been friends for… how long now? We’re sixteen years old, and we’ve known each other for twelve of those years. A long, long time. We can almost read each other’s minds, despite how much time we spend apart from one another. And I know, Daniel, you do not love me. I don’t even think you love your current girlfriend. You have yet to find that person. And that person just isn’t me.”

Aurora took another deep breath. Concentrated. Rolled a fist up for strength. “And because I know this, and because you have a girlfriend, I cannot let you… let you anywhere near me. Not in that way. Because who knows what could happen? I might lose everything to you, because you’re everything to me. I’ll fall so hard I might not make it back up again. I don’t want to get hurt, and I know you do not want to hurt me, Daniel. It’s a mistake if we do anything anymore, and you know that. You have to remain loyal to her, whoever she is now, or will be. It’s not fair on her. It’s not fair on me. I can’t lose you all over again, Daniel. I lost you once already. We tried once already. It didn’t work for you, and so we stopped. And that broke my heart, I can honestly say that. Not again, please, Daniel. Not again. Don’t do this to me.” Aurora wasn’t even aware she sounded like she was begging, pleading. She was just so desperate… desperate to cut this hurting part of her and throw it somewhere to be forgotten. She wished she could remove Daniel from that small place in her heart, engraved forever. Aurora hated feeling so attached to something she could never have again. Probably something she never owned in the first place. “Please, Daniel,” Tears crept into Aurora’s eyes again as they swept low to the floor, “Please… just let me go. Let me go. If you love me, let me go.”

[Aurora Chan]

“I’m not leaving.”

Aurora gave a silent gasp before launching herself excitedly at a bemused Daniel. “Yes! Your mum decided not to go after all! What’s with this change of mind though?” Aurora asked anxiously as she quickly detangled herself from a happy but embarassed Daniel. “Don’t get me wrong, Dan, cause it’s great news, but I thought the chances of you staying here was pretty much nil.” Aurora pointed out.
Daniel scratched his head with a laugh. “I’m not sure really, but it was all mum’s decision. I think she didn’t like the look of the work, the country, the people... My mum’s never even liked Spain. I don’t know why she considered the work offer so seriously in the first place.” Daniel admitted with a sigh.
“Well, I’m glad you’re staying.” Aurora couldn’t control her blossoming grin.
“Same here.” Daniel smiled in return. An awkward silene hung between the two in the cafe they sat in, mugs clinking around them and the rustle of customers bustling in, until Aurora broke it with a relieved chuckle.
“I’m so glad we don’t have to find a new lead guitarist. Leo would never have made the cut. He’s always been the sports dude...” Aurora sent Daniel a small smile as she took another sip of her frothing hot chocolate.
“He’s doing well enough.” Daniel’s tone was genuinely encouraging.
“Yeah. He is.” Aurora placed her mug on the table again. “So you will be continuing your education in Manchester still, right?”
Daniel nodded. “Yeah. I’ll be going to the same college as the others.”
“Naturally.” Aurora grinned, repressing the rising envy she felt towards the other band members.
“Shame you can’t be with us.” Daniel voiced her thoughts exactly with a sympathetic smile, which had the opposite effect on Aurora than had been intended. She tried not to sigh.
“Yeah...”
“But you do have a...” Daniel was searching for the correct word as his fingers circled the rim of his mug subconsciously. Aurora’s eyes watched them with intrigue. “Very magical education.” Daniel concluded with a teasing smile as his eyes fell back onto Aurora’s grinning face.
“I sure do.” Aurora agreed, knowing that there were several more pros than there were cons about her time spent at Hogwarts. She may have little time with her childhood friends, but her life at her current school was everything to Aurora. If she was forced to give up one or the other, she would’ve been in an awful dilemma. Aurora was grateful she had the best of both worlds.

“Anyway,” Aurora started after a short pause, “You called me out to tell me this, right? Nothing else?” She wondered if she sounded hasty, but she just wanted to get to the point. Sometimes she felt uneasy when alone with Daniel; especially after what had occured in his bedroom the other week.
“Hm.” Daniel nodded slowly. “Aurora...” He placed his steaming mug onto the table, a defining clonk vibrating the small wooden table they sat at. Aurora tensed at the sound of Daniel’s voice uttering her name; normally he addressed her as “Miri-chan”, a shortening of her middle name, Mireille. It had stuck since childhood, and no one but he called her that. The words “Aurora” rolling off Daniel’s lips was totally foreign to her, yet he was doing even more and more as they spent time with one another. Aurora wondered sadly if this was what their friendship had been reduced to. The gap had furthered by the day.
“What is it?” Aurora prompted after a heavy silence, in which Daniel continued to fiddle habitually with his mug. He had only taken a few sips.
Daniel swallowed visibly. “About last time...”
Aurora’s heart pounced. “Daniel, it’s fine—“

“No, it’s not.” He interrupted before she could continue, a desperate look lining his face. Aurora lapsed into silence, eyes wide at the tone he had used on her. This wasn’t the Daniel she knew. “It’s not.” He repeated in a firmer, more controlled tone. “I need... I need to apologise. I know I always hurt your feelings. I don’t think about you, ever. It’s just me, me, me, in my head. I should’ve realised that I was hurting you... I feel I have the privilege of saying I’m one of the people who knows you very well, but I’ve done that phrase no justice. I’ve abused your trust and betrayed you, in a way. I should know, or be able to tell, how you feel about me, and perhaps I used that to my advantage. I’m sorry. I never meant for it to be that way.” Daniel’s voice was soft and regretful. Aurora absorbed his speech up in silence, feeling painful tears spring at her eyes. “I feel like I’ve gone and ruined our friendship, whatever we had. I hate that. I have... had Laura,” Daniel faltered at this for a moment, eyes downcast, before regaining his voice. “I betrayed her too. I’m not a good boyfriend at all.” A hollow, unhumorous laugh rung in Aurora’s ears. “My heart was torn between... between the support I could have, and the popularity that came with dating a girl like Laura.” Daniel shrugged shamefully. “It was wrong of me, I know. It wasn’ fair to either of you. But like I said, it’s always me, me, me. I’m a selfish person. I’m sorry.”
“Daniel,” Aurora was frowning, though the tears were visible in her eyes. “What are you trying to get at? I know you’re apologising, and I accept it. I understand too. It’s fine, honest. I’m over what happened between us. I know you have difficult issues with Laura. I still love you,” She rolled her eyes with a wry smile, “But that’s just typical of me. Until I find someone else to love, it’ll always be you.”
“Aurora,” Daniel’s hand shot over the table and gripped Aurora’s arm tightly, forcing her eyes to widen in surprise.
“D-Dan?” One blink in disbelief, then again.
“Aurora,” Daniel’s gaze was intense. “I’ve been trying to tell you all along. Don’t you get it? I love you. You, and only you. I can't let you go, I'm sorry.”

All Aurora could do was stare at Daniel incredulously, her hand shaking beneath his.