aurora
(n.) dawn

A bright beam of light surrounds me as my eyes stir open. I should get up, but the bed is so soft, and it smells so nice and warm. I try getting up but my whole body is rigid, for some reason. I recall the earlier events, and remember the. . . the things that happened at my house. 

When I'm finally able to sit up, I notice that I'm in a bedroom with walls in a shade of dark blue, which I'm assuming is Logan's. I text my parents, wishing they were by my side, and hug my knees. I pull the blanket closer, emptying my mind and trying to forget everything. It's not like anything SO bad could have happened, right? 

Grunting, I push myself off the bed and fight the urge to fall down. I feel like those high towered Jenga blacks that could tumble any moment by the slightest move. 

I remember that there's a five year old in this house, and immediately a high pitched voice yells. 

"Logan! Cassy is awake!" Alyssa yells, running over to me. A tutu blocks my view, and I chuckle silently, even though Alyssa's weight would nearly make me fall down. It sucks that I feel so weak.

"Alyssa, get off Cassidy!" Logan commands, but isn't enough for the girl to budge. He sighs and puts the toddler on the floor, as he notices that I'm shaking, and I can barely even stand straight. Alyssa's attention transfers to a show of SpongeBob on the TV, and that's enough for her to leave.

"Cass, are you okay? Wait, screw that, of course you aren't, come on, you should have some dinner," Logan says, putting his hand on the small of my back and walking me to the dining room.

"How long have I been out?" I inquire. 

"About. . . five hours. It's about 8 in the evening now," he replies. 

"Oh." 

"Cass. . . what happened?" Logan asks softly. 

"Well, you dropped me off from school. I spend a good one hour hanging out in the kitchen, eating food and watching some videos on Youtube. I realize that Hazel and the others aren't home, and the dogs are nowhere to be seen either. I start to look for them in the bedroom, and then I see the window broken, and then there's this dude with a gun. He catches me, I escape him, I find my way here, I collapse." I say, a hollow trace of fear sharpening my every word. 

"F*ck, I'm so sorry Cass, I should have been there with you, I can't believe I was so dumb and --" I cut him off and put a hand on his fist that's clenched in defense mode. He softens, but after that, he doesn't say anything, nor do I. 

But I don't want that incident to damage me. It's either I suck it up and deal, or get all sad. 

"You wanna watch a movie? We could build a fort with Alyssa, and just relax," I say, trying to convince myself that everything was going to be alright. Logan shows off his perfect smile, and I take that as a yes. 

We eat in silence, which is unusual. It isn't awkward or anything, but I think Logan doesn't know if he should just act normally, or help me, or stay silent. Where is the idiocy of boys when you need it the most? 

When we finally finish, Alyssa is glued to the TV, but now she's got her coloring book and some crayons sprawled all over the floor. I can't help but internally squeal at how much I see my little self in her. 

"Hello there Alyssa! What are you coloring?" I ask, sitting next to her. 

"A puppy," she says dreamily, not minding if the dog's fur is colored pink, or if her coloring goes out of the lines. 

"Hey, you should probably get changed into something more comfy," Logan says, giving me what I presume is one of his mom's shorts, and one of his oversized shirts. 

I can't help but but fight the smile that creeps up to my face when I stare at my reflection. I've removed the small amount of bobby pins attached to my hair, and I can't describe the comfiness and warmth radiating from Logan's shirt. It feels like I'm wearing a dress, and I won't deny the fact that I love it. 

Logan shamelessly rakes his eyes over me when I get out of the bathroom. I'm too tired to react so I just eye him weirdly and hug my knees so he won't stare at my legs for too long. 

"Hello, earth to Logan! Wake up dude, what movie do you want to watch?" I ask, snapping my fingers in front of him. 

"You're letting me pick?" Logan asks with a smirk. 

"Good point," I say. Since Alyssa is going to be falling asleep anytime soon, I reply with a "I'm picking the movie," I grin. 

"Let me guess, Disney?" he asks. I giggle enthusiastically. 

"Of course not! Let's watch a movie with mushy lines and cliché love!" I squeal. I can't even describe the look on Logan's face when he hears the word 'love' and 'cliché'. 

"Okay, I won't punish you. I'll take it easy and choose The Hunger Games instead," I say. "Ooh, we should watch Catching Fire, that one has more shipping scenes with Katniss and Peeta!" I add excitedly. Logan rolls his eyes at me. 

"The things I do for Cassidy," he mutters. Did he mean for me to hear it? 

I can't say much though, because Logan dims the light and I snuggle under the covers. In a matter of minutes I find himself next to me, and I lean into his shoulder, drifting to sleep as soon as the movie starts.