Chapter 357: Day One Hundred and Twelve of Growing-1

The first thing Isa does is punch me hard in my arm. "Ow!" I protest, rubbing my arm, "I will bruise." "You're a peach," Isa tells me, wrapping her arms around me and squeezing, "But that's for telling me last of all," she whispers. The moment I revealed to Isa about myself and Elliot, she had laughed and asked me, "oh, babe, did you think I hadn't figured it out?" My incredulity at the fact that she already knew only made her laugh more. She even had the pleasure of seeing the confusion on my face because I had felt so bad that I video called her to tell her. "Marco and I discuss it constantly," she said to me. I quirked an eyebrow. "You two don't have anything better to do?" Isa smirked and told me, "Al, we have lots of things to do, but we are very interested in this because you are one of my best friends, while Eli is Marco's kismet – or something. I don't remember exactly which word Marco used. He's been grumbling about you stealing his man for weeks." "Weeks?!" "He is happy for Eli, though. Because you're so annoyingly wonderful." "Did Ray tell you?" I asked. That's when Isa had stopped moving at glared at me. "Ray knows?" "How do you know if she didn't tell you?" I whined. "Excuse me? Aurora Davis Lexington." You know it's serious when she pulls out my double-barreled last name along with my full name. "Do you mean to tell me that I am the last to know?" Isa demanded. I had given her a sheepish look. "She is his sister." Isa had glared, but said, "Fine, but I will definitely punch you when I see you." "You knew! Why are you going to punch me when you already knew?" Isa looked down the camera at me. "It's the principle of it, Al." So, that's how she stands with her arms wrapped around me, squeezing me, almost like she didn't punch me, as Ray looks almost sleepy as she stands right behind Isa. Not even the bustle and novelty of being at the Capell International Airport, Andrusia seems to stir her from her stupor from having flown for almost fourteen hours, including the four-hour layover. Juliet, however, looks excited beside her and even Marco looks around in wonder, standing on Ray's other side, his hand cupped over his eyes despite the shades, as he takes in the sky. I'm sure that Scarlett and Ace and Aiden and Rosalie are also enjoying the vistas of Andrusia, only I can't exactly tell because I'm losing sight because Isa is cutting off the circulation to my brain. As I look at Ray through my blurring vision, seeing her familiar shade of brown hair, a pang of missing Elliot goes through me. He was so busy during the last few weeks that we barely had time for more than one phone call that was substantial. He mentioned nothing about coming to Andrusia with Ray, but did say that he would be sure to send something special. Disappointed as I was that he wouldn't be coming, I did my best not to show him how I felt because I know it would have just upset him. Finally, the viper formerly known as Isa relinquishes me from her grip and passes me on to Ray. Pushing a pair of sunglasses on to her nose, Ray wraps me in a hug, extremely strong for someone who was just looking like all it would have taken for her to take a nap on the asphalt was someone handing her a pillow. "Please move closer to us," she groans into my shoulder, "I hate long flights. I hate flying. Too much miles high in the sky. Oh God." "I'm so glad you've come to see me," I tell her softly, into her hair. Ray perks up a little. She pulls away and smiles. "Me, too. Ooh! I have something for you." She steps aside and dramatically begins to dig into her backpack. The moment she does step aside however, I lose sight of everyone around me, including her. Air that had been easily flowing in and out of me begins to come and go in short bursts. The warmth of an Andrusian summer has nothing on the heat that floods me when I see him. Honey brown eyes scanning me, hair on duty even after half a day of flying, Elliot gazes at me, his soft smile on his face. When my eyes focus on him, his smile widens. I feel my mouth open, but I can't think of a single word in my vocabulary to say in this moment. Elliot begins to walk towards me and in the back of my mind, I feel like there may be other things, other people in the world besides us, but in this moment, they don't matter too much. My face keeps angling upward as he comes closer, training my gaze on his face, my eyes trying to map out each point on his face to figure out if this actually is Elliot or just a figment of my imagination. It's tough to believe that a figment of my imagination could make my heart feel so alive, while at the same time making my whole being feel calm. A figment of my imagination would also never, no matter how hard I try, make a shiver run through me with just the way he says, "Aura." "El?" My tone sounds disbelieving. It makes the vision that is Elliot smile a bit wider, the dimple in his cheek making an appearance. "Is it really hot out here?" he whispers to me, eyes glinting fiendishly, "Or is it just you?" A laugh bubbles in me and I raise my hand to push his arm, but he catches it, fingers going around my forearm, his thumb meeting his long fingers on the other side. Elliot pulls me towards him and I go willingly, wrapping my arms around his neck as he puts his arms around my waist and lifts me into the air, straightening himself. I breathe him in, a scent that I can almost smell sometimes, making me look around, trying to see if he's actually there. A scent that I desperately cling to, trying not to forget. "I can't believe you're here," I say, pretty much into his neck, inhaling in his scent. His cologne wafts into my respiratory system – the one that I would be able to identify even through a hurricane. It intermingles with a smell that is so specifically Elliot that I just bury my face further into his neck.