Thanks in no small part to the much stronger painkillers Adan was now taking, Ilian was able to help him to the bunker's version of an infirmary the next morning following their breakfast. Too nervous to sit idly by while Ilian took all the needed x-rays, and appraised the results, Aura tried distracting herself in the kitchen with the dishes instead.

Performing that menial task as slowly as she could, Aura finished with the last dish only a moment before Ilian appeared the the doorway. Though his expression was infuriatingly unreadable, as it often was.

“Can I talk with you?” he greeted her softly.

Aura paled at the request, “Oh god, he does have internal injuries, doesn't he?” she returned, making the immediate leap to the worst possible conclusion was more than habitual for her, after all.

“Sorry, I suppose I should have started with that,” Ilian apologized with a downward glance.

“How bad is it? I mean... will it...” she couldn't make herself finish the sentence.

“No, no,” Ilian quickly replied as he looked back up at the nearly tangible fear on her face. “His heart and lungs did somehow manage to only suffer minor damage.”

“Minor damage?” Aura repeated the words, her voice shaking.

“As in, not life-threatening,” he clarified. “Though he has a lot of fractures in his arm, shoulder and ribs, as well as severe muscle damage. It will likely be a long time before he heals completely. At least as well as I can estimate, given his current rate of healing, all things considered,” he added more quietly.

“I'm guessing that means he'll still be in pain for a long time too,” she made herself ask after another moment.

“Sometimes the healing process can be even more--” he then thought better of finishing that sentence as well, after seeing that new wave of fear and sadness take up residence in her expression. “I'm sorry. I wish the news was better, but I didn't want to lie to you, either.”

Aura just shook her head, sniffling slightly, “And that isn't what you wanted to talk to me about though?” she asked warily.

“Well, not the only thing,” he admitted, though quietly. “But...” his voice trailed off with what almost sounded like guilt over wanting to address anything else with her right at that moment.

“Here's a hint, Ilian. If I'm not talking, then I'm thinking. And right now, thinking is probably the most dangerous thing I can let myself do much of at all. So whatever else you wanted to talk about, please talk. I need the distraction, desperately.”

Ilian nodded in silent understanding. Though he may not have been as practiced at dealing with her anxiety as Adan was after their lifelong friendship, he was a quick learner.

“Can we sit?” he asked her gently as he nodded in the direction of the hallway behind him.

“If we must,” she mumbled with a slight nod before moving to follow him from the kitchen to the living room.

“So, you said some... things yesterday,” he began once they took seats on the sofa.

Aura closed her eyes against his words before finding a response, “Yeah, trauma and near-death experiences have a way of making people say... things.”

“I know you blamed your words on your fear of losing us, but... before that, you made it sound like... like you no longer wanted certain... things anymore.” He looked down again. “Things between us, I mean.”

“Yeah, I got what you meant,” she mumbled, her eyes cast down again. “I just... after seeing what you actually were, underneath... and seeing even more of the things you can inexplicably do...? It just really hit home how... different we really are.” Aura then scoffed but quickly continued before he could respond, “Which I realize is a pretty fucking ironic thing for a hybrid to now say.” She shook her head at her own persisting fears.

“I don't want to sound like I'm pressuring you or anything like that. That's not what I want, at all. I just want to know what things are still OK, or not, between us. I don't want to do anything that's not something you actually want me to do anymore. That's all,” he finished, struggling with his words as much as Aura usually found herself struggling with hers on most days.

“I don't know, Ilian. That's the problem. One moment I want one thing, the next I don't. I don't even understand what I want myself anymore, so telling you what I want?” she shook her head. “A lot more difficult that it sounds.”

A moment of silence before he spoke, “If only I really could read minds the way you originally thought I could.”

“Well you are still pretty amazing at reading body language though, aren't you? That's more than most humans can do.”

“But Adan does seem to be an expert at reading you though, mentally and physically,” he added.

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Aura blushed slightly as she continued to avert her eyes, “I think that could also be because he's had over fourteen years to learn to decipher me.”

“And him being in love with you helps a lot with that I'd assume.”

Aura's eyes widened as she finally looked back at him, “Adan? In love with me? I mean we're best friends, who happen to have sex now that his options are fairly limited,” she added more quietly. “And he loves me like that; as my lifelong best friend. But being in love with me? I'd think that's still a bit of a stretch.”

Ilian couldn't help a small smile before responding, “What were you just saying about my amazing ability to read body language? Including Adan's?”

Aura just looked away again, biting her lip as she did. The very idea that Adan could feel the same way about her as she did about him was something she obviously still had a lot of trouble letting herself ever believe. Especially considering they were now pretty much locked together by more than a few circumstances, and he didn't honestly have the option to choose anyone else over her; except possibly their alien companion.

But it seemed she was still convinced, even after all this time, that letting herself ever believe he felt the same way about her; that was like asking for an eventual heartbreak that she knew she couldn't survive.

* * *

Ilian suggested that Adan stay in the infirmary, of sorts, for at least a night or two. He wanted to be sure he could act as quickly as possible if there were any unexpected changes to Adan's health, good or bad. Neither Adan nor Aura seemed thrilled with the idea, but Ilian was still the one among them with the most medical knowledge, so they somberly agreed.

After the first hour of her failed attempts at sleep that night, Aura pushed herself up from the bed she and Adan had shared nearly every night since their arrival in this place. She cast a longing look back at his pillow before making her way out of the bedroom.

Moments later, she had made her way down the long hall to the infirmary. She hoped that checking on him again would somehow ease her nerves, as rare as it was that anything truly did that.

When she quietly pushed open the door, Aura found that the much stronger painkillers seemed to be doing their work. They had finally allowed Adan to drift off into a sorely needed slumber of his own. At least one of them would get some kind of sleep that night, she told herself as she moved back into the hallway with a soft sigh.

Upon making her way back to the door of their bedroom, she hesitated. With her usual nervous mannerism of gnawing on her lower lip, she let her gaze move down the hall, stopping on Ilian's bedroom door.

She had meant it when she had told Ilian of her inner struggle to decide how she actually did feel about their relationship, truly. But upon deciding between laying in she and Adan's bed alone at the mercy of her own thoughts for the rest of the night, or having someone to lie next to, it seemed a much easier decision right then.

Taking a deep breath to compose herself as much as she even could, Aura quietly pushed Ilian's door open a crack, just in case he was having more luck sleeping than she was as well.

Ilian was indeed awake, sitting shirtless against the headboard of his own otherwise empty bed with the sheet draped over his waist. In his hands were one of the many books that the bunker had been stocked with years before. After all, there was no way of knowing how long anyone would need to be there when the world inevitably ended.

His eyes met hers at the sound of the door. “I guess you're awake too,” she greeted his questioning look as she gingerly stepped into the room, eyes averted.

“Is something wrong?” was the first question he had in regards to her unexpected presence.

“Just... My bed feels a bit empty I suppose,” she admitted in a near whisper.

“I'm sorry. I know it's probably... difficult to be away from him at night,” he attempted to comfort her as he set the book aside on the stand next to the bed.

“Well, you would know how difficult it is, considering he usually always sleeps in our room, even on the nights you two...” the guilt in her voice caused her to fail to finish that sentence, choosing instead to glance around the room, her eyes not really focusing on anything in particular.

“As did you, even on the nights when we...” his voice also trailed off, not sure if he should finish that sentence either, worried that it could be construed as some kind of accusation. And that was the last thing he intended, especially after their earlier conversation.

“I'm sorry, Ilian. I barely know how to do regular relationships, let alone ones involving three people... and all of this,” she gestured weakly around to indicate the state of their world in general.

“Like I do?” he allowed a small sound of amusement at her words.

That sound did do well to make her relax ever so slightly. Or at least enough to move further into the room. “I think Adan is the only one here who ever had any experience with relationships before all of this happened. And even his were...” she shook her head. “Sorry, I suppose it's not my place to talk about 'relationships' that I wasn't even part of, right?” She scoffed at her own feelings involuntarily spilling out of her lips once again.

Ilian looked down a moment as though trying to find the proper words once more, “Did you want to sleep here tonight? I mean, just to...” he swallowed a sigh, “I mean, just if you didn't want to be alone, is all.”

“Like I actually sleep,” she attempted humor to cover the way her pulse raced at his invitation. And she wasn't even sure what emotion was causing its acceleration in that moment.

“I mean, I understand if you don't,” Ilian stumbled through that sentence as his eyes moved to search her face for any negative response to his offer.

“I'm the one who came to your room, aren't I?” she stated with a gentle scolding and an attempt at a small smile.

“I suppose you did,” he replied, offering a cautiously hopeful smile to her as well.