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"I love you."

Aurora's entire body froze at the sound of those three words. WHAT? She cleared her throat and slowly lifted herself from George's lap before sitting directly beside him on the couch now. She was unsure of what the best course of action would be now. Did she answer him? Should she act like she didn't hear him, act as if he didn't just tell her that he loved her.

Did he mean he was in love with her? Or... or did he love her like a friend? Or like a fuck buddy, Aurora thought to herself with a scoff, her eyes soon finding his.

"Please say something." George pleaded.

Her mouth opened a few times only to find that it would close again without any words escaping through.

"Georgie." Her voice was barely above a whisper now. They were both sitting there now, stark naked, staring at one another with wide eyes. "I'm sorry." She reached forward and slipped her hand into his. "I-I don't know what to say to you right now."

George felt like his heart was now being ripped from his chest. He was laying himself out on the table – all of him – and Aurora was not going to accept him. She wasn't going to love him back. And it was in that moment, he knew he had fucked up royally.

"Please don't pull away from me." Aurora pleaded, holding onto his hand tightly as she felt him start to remove himself from her side. "Please, Georgie. I just," She sighed and released his hand when she realized he was not going to give up trying to get away from her. She sat in silence watching him stand up from the couch to pull his pants back on.

"We've both drank and took drugs tonight, George." Aurora was now trying her best to sound sincere as she reached down and slid the shirt back over her head. "I think we should talk about this in the morning, ok? I-I..." She didn't know what else to say at this point. Her heart was hammering away in her chest and she was beginning to feel a bit lightheaded now.

George remained silent. He let his eyes travel back over to her for a moment before he wrapped his arms around her. He pulled her into his chest as soon as he noticed that she was showing signs of having a panic attack. "I'm sorry I dropped that bomb on you. It wasn't fair. I got carried away. Please don't be mad at me." George whispered, his one hand cradling the back of Aurora's head as he held her to his chest. His lips brushed against her forehead innocently as he held her.

"Don't apologize. I'm sorry I froze up on you. I just don't think right now is a good time for... all of this." She let him pull her to him, relishing in the feel of his hands on her body again. She took in a deep breath and successfully tampered the anxiety down as she pulled back to look up at George. "Whatever this may be." She joked, trying to lighten the mood. A small laugh escape from her lip and soon George followed, laughing along with her.

"I think you should go back to bed. I'll see you in the morning?" George pulled away completely now, lifting his shirt from the floor and pulling it on quickly.

Aurora smiled weakly. "Does it make me a hypocrite if I ask you to come sleep in the bed with me?" She whispered sheepishly.

"Yes."

George was grinning now.

"But that's ok. Because my answer is yes." He trailed after Aurora as they walked to his room.

Climbing into bed and under the covers, Aurora let her back face George before she felt his arm snake around her middle and pull her into his chest.

"Goodnight again." George whispered, pressing a chaste kiss to the back of her clothed shoulder before they both, finally, let sleep take them.

"Was everything hard enough?
'Cause one day you'll wake up
and then you'll say...."

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"I wanna be your lover
I don't wanna be your friend"

When his eyes fluttered open the morning after, George reached his hand out to touch the spot on his bed beside him. It was empty – Aurora was nowhere to be found. He could still feel some warmth on the bedsheets and figured she had only gotten up a few minutes before he had woken up.

After washing up in the bathroom, George found his way into the kitchen. Seated at the table was Aurora. She was already clothed in her dress from the night before. But that wasn't what caught his eye. What he noticed first was the box placed before her on the table.

"Look, I can explain-"

Aurora shook her head, quickly cutting him off. "No. You can't explain. I asked you to do something for me and you refused to do it."

Her hands lifted from her lap as she ran her fingertips along the box. "Why did you keep it?"

George sighed. He took a seat in the chair across from her. "I didn't want to let you go." He admitted sheepishly. He wasn't sure why he was getting nervous about this interaction and his confession. After all, he had confessed his love to her last night. Did she remember that he told her that he loved her? He was almost too scared to bring it up.

"I don't understand."

"What do you mean you don't understand?" George groaned, his head now being held up by his hands as his elbows leaned on the edge of the table before him. "Are we going to just act like last night didn't happen then?"

George was hurt. He had been hopeful that they would be able to go back to the way things had once been between them. She came home with him. She lied to Theo about where she was. She initiated physical contact with him. What was he missing here?

"No, that's not what I'm saying George." Aurora sighed. She pushed the box away from her and moved it closer to him. "I just wish you were honest with me is all." She told him, her blue eyes staring up, wide, into his golden brown. "If we're going to be friends... we need to be able to be honest with each other."

"Like you were honest with Theo? Are you just friends with him?"

Aurora rolled her eyes. "That was low, George." She snapped, pointing an accusatory finger at the redhead now. How dare he say that to her. She was dishonest for him. Didn't he know that? Couldn't he see that she was having a hard time giving him up, too?

George watched in silence as Aurora got up from the table and gathered her belongings.

"Listen," George reached forward and grabbed onto her wrist. He pulled her closer, now shifting to sit sideways on the chair. He spread his legs and made sure to pull her body in as close as he could, having her now stand between his legs. "Please just wait a second, Rory." He pleaded. If he needed to beg for forgiveness – forgiveness for what, he wasn't sure... but he would still do it.

"I love you." He whispered up to her, his hands finding their way onto her hips as he looked up at her. He couldn't see what she was thinking – her eyes were shut tight, and her hands found their way onto his shoulders.

"Georgie..." She whispered down to him as her head fell forward and her eyes opened. She looked down at him, letting her fingertips graze the hair that reached the bottom of his neck. "I think you love the idea of me." She told him flatly. A sad smile found its way onto her lips as she leaned down and pressed her lips against his forehead.

"No." George shook his head, "Don't do that. Don't try to belittle my feelings for you. Do you not want them to be true? Is that why you're acting this way? Are you with Theo? Do you love him?"

He had no idea where this was all coming from. She wanted to fuck him last night. She wanted to cuddle in his bed and sleep beside him. So why was she refusing to hear him when he confessed his love for her?

Aurora sighed at the rapid fire of questioning from George. She grabbed his face and looked down at him. "Stop." She demanded. "Please, George." She brushed her thumb against his cheek. "I don't love him... but I think I could. Eventually."

She wanted to be honest with him. If he was being honest with her, it was only fair. She could see herself falling in love with Theodore Nott. But what she was not telling George was that she could also see herself falling in love with him. But they were not right for each other. Not now...Not yet. Last night was a bad choice on her behalf. She knew she should have never stayed the night. She should have never walked out of that bedroom and she should have never fucked George.

Aurora found herself continuously making the wrong choices. But now these bad decisions were going to, most certainly, affect her friendship with Ginny. That was the last thing she had wanted to happen. Before Theo, Ginny was her last lifeline – the last person connecting her to the wizarding world. Was she truly ready to leave it all behind for good? George was making it hard for her. A part of her resented him for that. It was probably why she was pushing him away.

George considered this, his voice falling flat now. "Maybe you can eventually fall in love with me."

He sounded desperate. And Aurora was feeling sick. Her stomach was constantly doing flips now and she could feel the bile in her stomach, since she had not eaten a single thing in almost twenty-four hours, start to rise up in her throat. She swallowed it down and shook her head. Her hands fell from George's face as she stepped back to pull herself away from him.

"I want you to keep the wand."

With that, Aurora turned on her heel and hurried out the door of his flat. George could hear her heels clank loudly against the stairs as she most likely ran down before exiting the shop out of the side door.

George felt like somebody had shoved a knife into his chest and was twisting the metal around to dig even deeper. To make him hurt even more. He didn't understand how something so amazing, like what happened last night, could be forgotten so easily. He knew that nothing was going to be able to take away this pain. That did not stop him from standing up, banishing the box that held Aurora's wand away from him to Merlin knows where, before rummaging through his cabinets to pluck the unopened bottle of firewhiskey.

That didn't mean he wasn't going to try.