To Endure A Little More

SEVEN

*Aelia's Point Of View*

"You must be kidding me!" Luan exclaims out with exasperation laced in his voice. He turns around, letting out a groan as the bitterness of frustration gives a run through his veins, causing him to punch the cement wall in front of him at rage capturing the whole of him and he ends injuring his knuckles. He buries his face against his palms, fuming in frustration before using the fingers of his now bruised and bleeding hands to comb his stray hair behind, pretending to wipe sweat away when he is actually rather freezing in the frosty weather. 

"My goodness, Luan... Chill!" I huff, finding no more patience to endure his fretful behavior anymore. 

"This weather is chilling the s**t out of me!" 

I was at a loss of words. Sigh. "And is that my fault? Because why else am I have to deal with your testiness, you crabby, odd man!" I throw a fit of bad humor in response to his own. "And it is definitely not my fault that you lost the track of time without once thinking of the possibility that the taxi drivers are humans too and could most probably be on holiday! Because no wonder we haven't found a single taxi to drive us back to the dorms even after waiting here for ten solid minutes!"

Breathe. 

"I say, let us just walk to the wrath of the lady in charge that we will face once we return to the academy after closing time."

 I speak in exaggeration of my anger towards his petulance, disguising it as bad sarcasm, making him rub his forehead out of worry. We've been standing at the stand for ten unbearable minutes in the freezing winter and yet not a single taxi was available to give us a ride back to the academy. The entry gates close at 9 pm and we were only 15 mins away from hitting that time on the clock when we were over half an hour away from the institution, at the minimum.

A sneeze leaves me and I shiver. I notice for my nose to have started bleeding again but I wipe the blood away with the tissue I carried in my pocket immediately. My cheeks had a red tint to it, the coldness of the weather be at fault. And I failed to keep myself warm with the only jacket I had against the snow that had no intention to end. Luan notices before sighing with pitiful eyes and takes off his jacket to protect me. I find no strength in me to reject his offer so I try standing still as he puts his jacket on me and stands with patience in his thin loose t-shirt.

It's not long before he loses his temper again and starts walking. There was no option but to walk back home but before I could start following him, my legs give out and I fall to my knees on the ground, eyes heavy.

Third Person POV

"Let me know if you wanna sit down. I really didn't think we'd have to end up walking back home." Luan says through his shivers, his jaw clenched and teeth gritted as he gives all his strength into looking strong and unaffected. Getting no reply from the lady he was speaking to, he stops on his way to look at her but to his surprise, he notices Aelia is no where around. He heads back on his way in worry and finds her on the ground, defeated by the cold. His heart aches seeing her in pain that the rawness of the winter offered. She felt as if her organs throb, feeling swollen but not numb which caused her to feel more pain. Her inflamed tissues made her feel as if they were getting stabbed and pierced on a constant by shards of bitter winter. Cold had fallen today in all depths of winter. She groans in pain and Luan couldn't help but let his reflexes kick in.

He rushes to her, picking her up in his arms in bridal form as he starts walking again. Although his muscle ache due to the chillness of the weather and the fog barely letting him see, he fights back his urge to fall down on his knees and give up.

Aelia notices the pain in his eyes and slowly whispers an apology to him. His lips had turned blue and dry and eyes heavy.

"You can put me down and take your jacket back. I can't pain you like this." she mumbles the sincere words out of her in a low tone but he rejects her which were more like a demand from her than an offer. She combs his hair away from his face to help him see better and for her to secretly admire his face from up so close.

Even after being in such an awful situation and feeling so defeated, she was glad she was in Luan's arms after all. She finally felt at home and secured in the arms of the man carrying her, after so long. A smile crept up to her face which caught Luan's eyes and a chuckle left his lips.

"Am I that good looking?" He asks as Aelia continues to stare at him without shame or concern about being caught.

"Yes." her statement makes him stop on his steps and he stares back at her. They are driven back to the past moment on the stage when Luan kissed her. The way their hearts fluttered in sync as if they were two melodies that completed one perfect song; The affect their touch had on each other and the beauty of the moment left them mesmerized. They had denied the feelings until now. However, now that they were staring back at each other, into the eyes of one another that held a million memories laced with feelings so pure and ethereal, the very feelings rushed back in.

The pace of their heart beat scares them and Luan immediately helps her down to her feet before rushing into a supermarket he notices nearby. Aelia no more feels the cold beat her down and finds all her strength against the winter, stunned and flustered by the little trance of a moment she just had with Luan. She follows him behind and enters the store after him. Their skeletons feel the urge to give out as the heater of the market comforts their bodies which were in pain until now but also gives them energy and so they make the effort to rather hold onto that strength and continue staying awake instead of collapsing which they wished they could at the moment. 

The two find frozen food in the market which could be oven-heated to be eaten right away. They take two bowls of noodles and a box of boiled chicken to the counter, asking for the food to be eaten at spot.

"Thank you... also, you were pretty cool today." Aelia speaks in a low voice as such of a mumble while she blows on the hot bowl of noodles that Luan just purchased for the two.

"I know, you don't have to tell me." he replies with a straight face, rolling his eyes afterwards. His sudden attitude derived from him feeling stunned by the moment earlier which caused him to feel such ethereal and new but familiar feelings. Deep inside he felt glad he could be the hero today instead of Terran who's the one always protecting her. A hungry smile appears on Aelia's face, causing her to let out a happy giggle and he chuckles at her before poking her cheek with his plastic fork, receiving a grumpy look from her.

"Look at you, the size of your bowl is twice the size of mine. You wanna grow a belly?" he says looking at in disbelief, his expression speaking as if he is fascinated. Internally, he found her adorable which he tried his best to deny.

"So what? Should I just let my hunger eat up my stomach?" Aelia speaks in a pout, her words muffled due to her speaking while eating. "Don't worry, it's my treat. I am paying back for what you did for me today."

"I didn't do anything for you, it just looked fun." He whispers to himself but loud enough for the girl to hear it. Although, the both knew what the actual truth was.

The snow and wind had come down to calm and they felt much warmer and stronger from the food and rest. Now all their worries were on where they'd spend the night because it was way past closing time of the gates of the academy and there was no way they could manage to get in now.

Luan walks to the other side of the road without bothering to take her along. To speak of his mood swings were worse than of a pregnant lady. No offense intended, it was just how he was when his feelings seemed to control him. Aelia runs up to him to find him calling someone on the phone. He slips his hand back into his pocket before kicking a near by dust bin.

"Why can't anybody ever pick up the damn call in the moment of emergency." He says out of frustration before he starts walking again. Sigh.

"Where are you even headed?" Aelia asks with furrowed brows of concern as she too scratched her head mentally to find a solution to what they could do right now. But he ignores and continues to walk. She follows him behind, settling for no response from the man.

"Just follow me. I'm headed to someone who owes me a big time."

The two stop in front of a giant and fancy but elegant look mansion. Aelia wondered who could be the owner of the house but her curiosity was answered as Luan starts yelling without regards to the fact it was late at night and most were probably asleep, his voice echoing through the empty streets.

"JEREMY. goddamn. PETER. goddamn. SON!"

"What the-" Aelia says in sync with Jeremy who had rushed to his window as he heard his name echoing throughout the neighborhood. He stares down at the two from the second floor of his mansion with sleepy, hooded eyes.

Luan throws him a glare and the younger gets the hint, causing the former to serve him a cheeky grin. Luan's phone rings as Jeremy calls him after receiving forty-nine missed calls from the first.

"Y-you uh wanna come up-p?"

"What else, dumb head? It's freezing outside."

"Fine... I m-mean sure!." Jeremy groans, angry at his friend for ruining his slumber, although he couldn't deny the fact that he was glad to see Aelia. He speaks in stutters, not really wanting to invite him in but he knew he had no option and only does so for the lady he had a crush on. And his feelings for her always had him wish for Aelia to visit his home. The helpless two standing outside look up and soon a rope falls down. Jeremy holds onto one end from his room as he sends the other end to them. Aelia's eyes widen as she gets terrified by knowing what she will be asked to do now and looks at the one upstairs before turning to Luan.

"SERIOUSLY?!" Luan growls into the phone.

"Send Aelia first. As per you said, it must be freezing outside." with that Jeremy ends the call and Luan slides his phone into his back pocket before sparing Aelia a glance who looked frightened.

"You don't need to thank me, just climb up." he says, taking credit of the idea to come to Jeremy who he knew was home for tonight.

"I-I... I am scared of heights.." Aelia states and it strikes Luan.

"Nothing will happen, just climb up." He says, nevertheless. "Just believe in yourself and trust me." He gives the end of the rope to her as her shaky hands grab it, standing still. 

"Okay then, I will go first." Luan says and starts to climb up. Aelia bites her lips at how fast he reached Jeremy's room without much effort, leaving her all by herself to be scared more now. But not for long as she already finds him coming down again. Of course because Jeremy wouldn't let him enter without Aelia first. Feeling defeated, Luan reaches down to convince the lady to climb up.

"Just come with me, I promise nothing will happen. And if you fall then you will eventually fall on me which I will not let happen." After seeing him peruse her a lot, she trusts him and takes his hand.

Overcoming Aelia's fears, they reach up to Jeremy's room and Luan immediately hits the younger.

"What on earth happened to the doors and stairs of your house? Is this how you impress Aelia?" Luan rages as Jeremy scoffs back in response, intentionally using the latter's weak point to criticize him.

"Aelia and you both know how much of a temper my step mother has. I wouldn't let her slit up my throat just because I let my friends sneak in at night. I wouldn't even be doing this if I didn't owe you."

"It's fine, Jer. Thank you very much for letting us in. Hope you wouldn't mind us staying the night?" Aelia says as she looks around his room, admiring the classy and neat interior and the tidiness which was rare to be seen in a guy's room usually.

"Anything for you, love." he says as his hands snake around her waist and she feels a rush of blood run through her veins. "You can wear one of my clothes for the night, you must be cold. I want you to have a good night, princess." He whispers into her ears as he smile sat on his face at having her so close, breathing in her scent that he was fond of, before giving her a feathery kiss on the cheek. Aelia accidentally giggles and her eyes widen immediately, her face flushing red. This sends Luan off and he immediately pushes his friend off the girl.

"Hope you wouldn't mind letting us stay the night alone?" Luan says as Aelia beats herself mentally for the little action she just did by accident or for even feeling the way she just did without consent. Feeling weirded out by her own self.

"Where will I slee-"

"Thiago's at the academy so you can sleep in his room." Luan grins at him shamelessly; Aelia being caught in a trance with her own self too deep to stop Luan from kicking the generous boy out of his own room. "Hope you have a good night, love." He speaks mockingly before shutting the door on the owners face.

"Whatever you do, please don't sin on my bed." Jeremy mutters back before sighing and leaving the room to the two.