CHAPTER NINE

THERE WAS A SILENCE around the dining room table as aurora, harley and tim ate dinner. the only noises came from their forks scraping on the plates. tim had made a simple dinner: chicken and rice with a vegetable on the side. it had been nearly a week since aurora's attack and she had only left the room to use the toilet. tim had been working overtime trying to piece together what had happened in aurora's apartment, so he hadn't been around too much, and by the time he would get home the girls would already be asleep. it was the first night he was home to make dinner and aurora felt like she had to come out since he took the time out of his evening to make the girls' food.

harley had taken some time off of work to be with her best friend. aurora had explained the situation to her boss and they allowed her to have two weeks off to cope with it. they told her they would have to find new arrangements if she couldn't go back to work after that time period. the blonde girl wasn't entirely sure what she was going to do yet. obviously she needed a job, but she barely made it out of her bedroom, let alone out of the house. harley never pressured her into going out either, which aurora was very grateful for.

"i was thinking about seeing if joey could come back soon and spend a few nights here to be with you. would that be okay dad?" harley looked from the blonde girl to her father.

"who is joey again?" tim asked.

"rory's brother." she answered and tim nodded.

"that's fine. anything to help aurora feel more comfortable." he offered the girl a small smile and she only nodded, not really looking up from her plate. she'd barely touched her food, but she wanted to make sure she ate at least a little bit since he'd taken the time to cook for them. once she finished the little bit she had put on her plate, she cleaned up her mess and excused herself back to her room.

the girl had organized her belongings and put them in their respective places in her room. it was like she was meant to be there the way everything seemed to fit so perfectly into place. she'd managed to find a loophole to break the lease with her landlord, but the apartment was still closed off just incase the police needed to do another search of the place. the landlord didn't seem to care as he had a few other apartments he was renting out and it wasn't going to kill his pockets. aurora was very grateful for the whole understanding.

a small knock on the door made aurora look up and harley poked her head in. "i'm about to leave for work. are you sure you don't want me to wait a few more days? my boss is really understanding. i'm sure i can get someone to cover."

aurora shook her head. "It's ok, har. i'll be fine. you need to get back to work." she shook her head. "so do i. i can't let this one thing take over my life. i'm going to take this second week and then get back." she mumbled mostly to herself, but harley offered a small smile.

"text or call if you need me, okay? love you."

the blonde girl smiled back, "love you too."

"my dad's downstairs if you need him, okay?" harley stated and aurora only nodded before the brunette blew her a kiss and closed the door. aurora laid down on the bed and stared at the ceiling for a while. she could hear tim cleaning up the dishes from dinner and she felt bad because she really hadn't done much since he let her move in with them. she knew he understood the situation, but it wasn't an excuse because she knew she was safe in his home.

she slid to the edge of her bed and let out a soft sigh as she tugged at the sleeves of her sweatshirt and pulled them over her hands. she made her way out of her room and down to the kitchen, seeing tim drying the dishes and sticking them back in their designated homes.

"can i help with anything?" her voice came out small and squeaky and tim turned to her with a surprised look on his face. he really hadn't expected her to come out of her room again for the remainder of the night. his facial expression softened and he nodded.

"i've just got to finish drying these and put them away if you'd like to help."

she nodded, making her way over to him. he handed her the drying towel and let her finish drying the dishes while he wiped down the counters and stove. there was a comfortable silence between them as they cleaned and aurora felt at ease. once everything was cleaned and put away, tim looked at the girl. her eyes were on the counter, running the rag lightly across to get the drops of water that fell off the plates.

"aurora," the way her name fell off his tongue made her feel warm inside. "how are you doing? is there anything that you need or want?"

her brown eyes fluttered over to him and she looked up at his tall figure to meet his gaze. "i'm okay, tim. i'll be fine."

"what can i do for you right now?" he questioned.

she shook her head, "i don't need anything, tim. i'm okay."

"sweetheart.." he trailed off, his hand slowly lifting to brush her hair away from her eyes. she didn't flinch away, yet something in her chest thought she may have, so she was grateful to know this stranger that hurt her didn't completely destroy her trust in all men. or maybe it was simply because it was tim that was touching her that made her feel okay with it. "there has to be something i can do for you." she shook her head. "do you need a drink? a hug? a kiss?" a small smile curved up onto her lips as she looked at him and he smiled, "so you need a kiss?" she shrugged her shoulders and he leaned down, pressing a soft kiss to her lips. "we're not very good at keeping away from each other." he mumbled against her lips.

her heart melted under the feeling of his lips brushing against hers. "you are kind of addicting." she mumbled and a small chuckle left his lips before he kissed her again. "there is one thing that i could use right now."

"anything." tim nodded.

"can we just cuddle on the couch and watch a movie?" she asked and he reached for her hand, leading her towards the living room.

"of course, sweetheart. anything you need."

i just got settled in my
new house so hopefully
i'll be able to update
more frequently ! i'm
trying my hardest! so sorry
for the delays and thank you
for your patience!!!!