CHAPTER EIGHT

AURORA REMAINED QUIET AS tim showed her the guest room. "everything you should need is here and harley is bringing the rest of your stuff. she should be here any minute." he watched the girl as she looked around the bedroom. "i'm sure you'll want her with you when she gets here, so i'll make myself scarce, but you know where my room is if you need me." she glanced in his direction with bloodshot eyes and gave him a small nod. "i'm so sorry this happened to you, aurora. i'm going to do whatever i can to find this asshole and lock him up."

"is it even worth it?" she managed to get out.

"what do you mean?" he asked, confused.

"he was in a mask. i have no idea who he was." she stated.

"that doesn't matter." he shook his head. "we'll figure it out." he reached for her hand, bringing it to his chest. "he hurt you, aurora, and he is going to pay for that."

"what if he hurts you too?" she frowned. "i don't want you to get hurt."

"i deal with bad guys everyday." he stated. "i won't get hurt, sweetheart."

"promise?" she asked, giving him her sad puppy dog eyes.

he shook his head, "i can't promise that, but i'll try my best."

a sigh left her lips and she took a step back, pulling her hand away from tim. "i'm going to lay down. my head hurts really bad."

he gave her a nod, watching as she made her way over to the bed and laid down. the front door opened downstairs and harley called out to let them know she was there. "i'll send her up." tim said. "and i'll have her bring up pain killers and ice for your eye."

"thank you, tim." she said softly.

he gave her a small smile. "anything for you, sweetheart."

he left the room and aurora could hear the two of them talking downstairs. harley came up a few minutes later with a big duffle bag and a pack of frozen peas. "hey, ror." she smiled sweetly at her best friend. "how're you feeling?" she wrapped the pack of peas in a rag before handing it to the girl and aurora placed it gently over her eye. she still hadn't actually looked at it, so she had no idea how bad it was.

"i'm alright." aurora mumbled. "just feeling tired and useless right now."

"you're not useless, ror." harley frowned, climbing into the bed to lay next to the blonde. "i'm going to stay with you in here tonight. is that okay?" aurora only nodded as she moved closer to the girl, laying her head on harley's shoulder.

"thank you for answering my text." the blonde sighed, closing her eyes.

"i will always be here for you, rory, no matter what." harley pressed a kiss to the top of the girl's head before aurora slowly drifted off to sleep.

AURORA CLENCHED AT HER chest as she sat up in the bed. sweat was dripping from her forehead and she was struggling to catch her breath. she looked over at harley to see the brunette peacefully sleeping next to her. it had been a dream. thank god. the blonde climbed out of the bed and made her way out of the room and to the bathroom. she splashed cold water on her face before looking in the mirror. tears pooled up in her eyes at the sight of the black and blue that was on her face. what did she do to deserve this? is this just how los angeles was? she definitely would've said no to moving there if she knew that.

she heard footsteps come down the hall and she quickly turned to look in the open doorway. tim walked into view and he frowned at the girl. "hey, you alright? why are you up? i thought someone left the light on. i was coming to turn it off."

"i don't know." she answered, truthfully. "i had a bad dream."

"i'm sorry." he sighed, stepping into the room. he reached for her face, brushing the water away from her cheeks. "no one will hurt you here."

"i didn't think anyone would hurt me there either." she mumbled.

"don't." he shook his head. "don't say stupid shit like that. you know you're safe here. you know i would never let anything happened to you ever again."

"i'm scared, tim." she cried. "what if he tries to find out where i'm staying and comes for me again?"

"he's going to have to go through me first, sweetheart, and he won't make it very far." his thumb brushed over the girl's lips. "i'll protect you." he pressed a kiss to her forehead. he wanted to kiss her so bad, but it was definitely not the right time. she was hurting and not thinking straight.

"you're too good to me." she mumbled, looking down.

"nah, baby," the nickname made her swoon as she looked back up into his beautiful blue eyes. "i'd say i'm not good enough."

she shook her head, "not true."

a small smile appeared on his lips, "you should get back to bed, sweetheart."

she gave him a small nod, reaching for the towel on the counter to dry the rest of her face. she placed it back down before reaching for tim's hand, leading him back to the guest room where she was staying. she turned around to face him and stood on her toes to press a quick, soft kiss to his lips. he was a bit taken back, but kissed her back.

"goodnight, aurora." he whispered, as he didn't want harley to wake up and hear.

she let go of his hand, "goodnight, tim." she made her way back into the room, closing the door behind her. the floor creaked as she walked back over to the bed and climbed into it. harley was still like a rock when she pulled the covers up to her chest. a small sigh escaped aurora's lips as she cuddled into her best friend, harley wasting no time hugging the girl close to her as she slept. aurora felt safe then. in the arms of her best friend. and the man she was starting to grow fond of down the hall.

she had a strong feeling that they weren't going to be able to find the man that attacked her, but she was going to remain hopeful. this fucker needed to be behind bars. and she really wanted tim to be the one to do it.

sorry it's short :(