Aura In LaLaLand

by Skye Grace

  He leans back in until his forehead is nearly resting against hers and whispers, “Maybe time isn’t always linear, Aura, maybe not every mind is a closed book. And maybe there’s more to both of us than meets the eye.”

  She reels back in surprise but keeps her eyes on his, “Was that a yes?” Time. He knows about me, about my time travel and the two Auras. Knows how I just woke up here, but doesn’t care. How is that possible? Because what he’s got going on is even weirder?

  “I’d never purposefully read your mind, or anyone’s, I know it’s an invasion. But, like you didn’t expect to get hurtled here through space and time, I didn’t ever expect, or even want, this ability.”

  Aura gasps, “It just happened.”

  He shakes his head, “No, nothing just happens, Aura. Not you being here now with no memories of how you got here. Not you and Jameson, definitely not you and me. None of it’s a coincidence, that’s what I’m saying.”

  “Then why?” she pleads, his hand softly on the side of her face, the other firmly on her hip.

  “I don’t have all the answers, but there’s someone who has more than I do.” She can’t help but notice the sparkle in his eyes now. “Someone really important to me that I need you to meet. Tomorrow, if you’re free?”

  She tries to wrap her brain around Jacksen’s abilities, and it hurts just to think about it, kind of like trying to think about or explain her own situation. So she stops, nods, and mumbles, “Of course,” before pressing her lips back to his. And to think, I thought I’d be the one to have to act normal for Jacksen. He reads minds and I time traveled, guess that’s actually not a bad match.

  “Please, come upstairs,” she asks against his lips after being attached to them for over a full minute. Jacksen sighs.

  “Aura, I’m done playing games, and I know you are too. Done jumping into bed if it isn’t going to mean anything.” She nods in whole hearted agreement, barely believing she’s hearing any man, especially one this pretty, saying this. “So if I’m coming in there, I don’t think I’m leaving. I mean, not leaving unless we’re at my house, unless I’m with you. You know what I mean. Yeah, I’ve become a homebody but I’ll take you to Tahiti, Fiji, the Maldives, I don’t care, anywhere you wanna go, I’ll go. I think we’re both done running, aren’t we?”

  I’m so tired of two separate lives, she thinks honestly, pressing her palms to his neck, but all she can say aloud is, “Your complete lack of commitment phobia is super attractive right now.”

  His laugh rumbles from deep in his chest, “Separate lives, separate schedules. Meeting up for coffee or a run? It’s bullshit. All of each other, or nothing.”

  She knows in this instant that he’s heard her words, the ones she didn’t speak aloud, and feels faint yet again, his strong hands holding her up until she can lock those knees. She hears the familiar sound of the door being unlatched behind her and she looks up to see his eyes on her in all seriousness. How did he get my key? Sneaky, sneaky boy.

  “All or nothing?” He repeats, in question form this time.

  She decides that if he can hear her, why not just answer in her thoughts. It’s not like she can properly form words right now, anyway. Your life, my life, let’s form a union, I don’t care, just take me inside. All or nothing? All! I’m all in.

  She feels the door slam behind her and her legs lift off the floor before realizing she’s being carried up the stairs. Second door on the right, she orders in her head and he follows. The second she hits the bed her skin is on fire, her insides ready to combust. She hops up on her knees and pushes open the window behind her headboard. The sharp ocean air washes over them before her vest and tee are swiftly up and over her head and across the room, her back landing against the soft bedding. His knees are on either side of her as he stands up on them, pulling his own t-shirt off. If I wasn’t laying down right now, I’d be passing out, so there’s that to be thankful for. Jacksen chuckles.

  “Is there anyway you can not listen to my thoughts? I’ve kinda dreamed this for a super long time and I can’t imagine how pathetic my thoughts sound right now.”

  “No. I mean, no they don’t sound pathetic at all. And yes, I can try not to listen. But what if I want to hear them? Not what you censor and then say, what you actually feel. What you want, just the second you think it...”

  She realizes how easy that will make it for Jacksen, how he can respond instantly to everything she feels, everything she likes and doesn’t, and thinks, God, if other guys knew what you could do on top of looking like that, they’d die from jealousy... if they didn’t kill you first.

  Jacksen smiles briefly but his face soon turns to a smolder, his lips scorching her skin as he moves from her mouth, down her neck, and into the hollow of her throat.

  The idea of this happening for real after imagining it so many times, picturing Jacksen pulling her into him like this, how he would feel, the things he would do to her. It’s too much, and in order to keep her consciousness even slightly intact, she launches straight into the fantasy programmed in her mind. Embarrassment be damned, she’d planned this all out in her mind years ago and if he wanted to hear her plans, so be it. Jacksen seems to hum with electricity as his lips move down her chest, kissing along her stomach now, stopping to look up at her and grins, “I like the way you think.”

  That morning, the slightly warmer but still crisp air flows over her skin, waking her. She reaches out and pouts the second she feels the cool sheet next to her instead of Jacksen. She sits herself up in bed and the pout fades the second she sees Jacksen before her, pacing back and forth in front of her bed absentmindedly, wearing nothing but a smile. The fact that he doesn’t realize she’s woken up and that she gets to shamelessly watch his body before her completely makes up for any initial disappointment. And he seems too distracted to hear my thoughts to know I’m awake. Perfect.

  “It was a little out of the blue for me too, man. Yeah, I know, yeah I did… He called me just a few minutes before he called you. Good thing you were already gonna be in town.” Jacksen shakes his head with a perma-grin firmly attached as he listens to whoever is on the other end of this phone conversation. “Tonight? You really did that for us? You didn’t have to…” He listens for a little longer and laughs, “It means a lot, thanks. Yeah, love you too, man. See you soon.”

  She feels the phone plop at her feet and Jacksen spots her staring in curious concern. He launches himself on her and nips at her neck while he whispers good morning nothings.

  “Was that someone I have to be worried about?” she mumbles, lost between the sensations of Jacksen’s teeth grazing against her skin and the nerves of the unsettling, unanswered questions tumbling through her scattered head. Jacksen just laughs softly.

  “Maybe even competition? Since last night’s comment about that one time in college was clearly not a joke I now realize,” she snarks at him.

  He looks up at her and she eyes him with a raised eyebrow, expecting him to burst out in laughter but now figures that would only happen if the person on the other line was Jameson. He runs his hand down her hair and jaw gently and looks into her eyes, voice serious.

  “I want to make sure you know that you will never have to compete with Wes, Aura. He’s going to be just as important to you as he is to me.”

  She stares blankly for what she knows is a little too long before finally, “Wes? Wesley Armand Wes? The Wes just geeky and gangly enough not to steal all your fangirls but beautiful enough to take their breath away and make them wish they were all part faerie. That Wes?”

  He laughs. “Yeah, that Wes. This morning Ron called me, then he called Jameson, Wes, everyone else in the immediate cast. He officially filled all roles last night, was so freakin’ excited this morning he called for an immediate script read-through, wants everyone there today. Says he called us first.”

  “So no one moves slow in this coven I see,” is all she can think of to say. The rest of the explanation was too much for her, I haven’t signed any
contracts yet, how am I already working? A read-through is still work, right? And Wes and Jacksen? So important to each other? What? I thought it was Jacksen and Jameson that were so close.

  Jacksen laughs and shakes his head, “That’s just not our style, baby,” He leans down and kisses her briefly. “Is this ok? Do we have other stuff going on today?”

  Her head spins. We. Gotta get used to we. I mean I’m confused, but it feels right. She picks up her phone and groans. “Ugh, supposed to be at the gym ten minutes ago.”

  “Already called Mark, said we’d be in a little later today. Sorry, I just didn’t want to wake you. You want to grab something before we head over there?”

  “Bacon. Coffee, lots of coffee. And the rest of the day?” Alexis is going to be really pissed when she learns Jacksen’s taken her spot as my self-appointed personal assistant. She makes herself laugh at that one.

  “Table read at 3 and… God I’m excited to read with you today, with everyone there. For them to all meet you.”

  Aura smirks, “And then?”

  “And then Wes has this elaborate dinner planned for you afterwards at Urasawa. Have you been?”

  She shrugs and he nods in response. It’s such a relief for her to not have to hide the fact that she can barely remember a thing, but it’s also a little unnerving to not have to really discuss something as enormous as this. As insane as this. For her insanity to be not questioned but also, accepted. Of course, this doesn’t change the fact that she still has a million questions about Jacksen and his abilities.

  “He planned this dinner for me? He hasn’t even met me,” she laughs. “And you’re really not going to spill about you and Wes? I know you guys are friends but now you’ve got a bromance to rival you and Jay?”

  Jacksen chuckles softly and rubs his forehead. “You could say that.”

  After their workout, Aura and Jacksen change quickly at the gym so they can grab lunch before the script reading. They haven’t been in the car three minutes when Val calls wanting her to come by and sign some things ASAP. “Not only does Constellation want you to sign your contract right away, which happens to be on my desk now, but there’s another surprise. Tell you when you get here!”

  Val’s perfectly plucked red eyebrow, to match her giant updo of permed, uber auburn hair, raises abruptly when she sees Jacksen following Aura through her office door. “I don’t think this is the one you went to New York with?”

  “Nice to see you too, Val, this is Jacksen Andrews. My new co-star as soon as I sign these. Jacksen this is my agent, Val.” He greets her kindly and Aura snickers under her breath, she can’t even remember exactly why she hates Val so much, but something about her disdain for the bottled redhead gives her a strange, ethereal buzz.

  She taps her foot impatiently until the last paper is signed. “Done!” She beams, and Jacksen picks her up and whirls her around the room, ignoring the onslaught of negative thoughts he hears coming from Val. “Okay,” she laughs as he sets her down. “Now what is this amazing extra news you have for me?”

  “So you know how Darren Darling always has to have whoever Falco has on? Well, that and the fact that he had someone cancel for next week, whatever, you’re in!”

  Aura had only been on Darling’s late show once, with Whit, Lacie, and Nina. She thought he was a fun guy to be on air with, an incredibly dapper and charming Englishman, and couldn’t be happier that his studio was only half an hour from her place. She squeals but then wonders, “That won’t interfere with our shooting schedule, will it?”

  “No, he wants you on the day before you guys go on set. How perfect is that?”

  Aura and Jacksen grin and in unison say, “Perfect.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Her body buzzes as Jacksen opens the door to the room where the coven typically reads, the room a flurry of activity as thick scripts are plopped on a long, crowded table. Jameson, sans Gabby since her character was killed off a few seasons ago, and the rest of the cast stay seated but wave to greet them. Only one person jumps, quite literally, up from the table to meet them.

  Yes, Wesley’s Graylan had become one of her favorite characters aside from Blaise and Brody, of course, but Wes himself was a mystery to her. And the weird hints Jacksen had dropped about him, the way he lit up when he talked to Wes on the phone...well, the fog of confusion lifts considerably as Wes runs up to them. I don’t think there’s anyone that couldn’t feel good around him, she thinks. Before even meeting him officially, she can just tell.

  “Aura, this is-”

  “Wes!” she exclaims, interrupting Jacksen.

  “Aura,” Wes beams, his smile lighting up any darkness left inside her from the hardest month in her life that she could remember, which wasn’t really saying much. She can tell instantly his energy is amazing but it doesn’t prepare her for what happens next.

  He wraps his long arms around her and damn it if her knees don’t give out on her yet again. He makes a jubilant WHOOP! sound and grabs her tightly, hands on the small of her back. Holding her up means pressing her closer to him and this doesn’t help matters. The energy she’d felt before they’d touched had turned to pure chi, the electricity pouring from him to her through every nerve. She pulls her neck back and cranes it up to look into the unabashedly amused hazel eyes of Wesley Armand.

  “Well that’s cool,” he emotes, assessing the energy between them, almost giggling, like everything he says is encased in carbonated bubbles of elation. “Sorry, I swear, women really don’t have this reaction to me, usually,” Wes quips, followed by Jacksen smacking him on the shoulder and putting his hand on Aura’s back so Wes will release her from his vise grip.

  Aura makes a mental note to stop nearly fainting like an idiot, but admits things are going to have to calm down first. Her eyes are locked with Wes as she ignores Jacksen and whispers, “What the hell was that?”

  She’s never been happier with everyone in a room ignoring her than this moment. Except, of course, Jameson, who had hopped out of his chair when he saw her knees give out and is now hovering over her with his hand on her shoulder, asking her if she’s alright. She groans, knowing she won’t be getting any answers from Wes and Jacksen, not right now.

  “Just a long workout and didn’t eat afterwards, I’m good,” she mumbles, Stupid Val getting in the way of my food. Jameson and Jacksen nod and walk over to a table to grab her something.

  “Answers?” she whispers to Wes intently, trying to ignore that tangible life force energy rolling off of him as he stands barely more than a foot from her, attempting not to notice the way his ashy brown, wavy hair puffs atop his head, bangs hanging in his eyes wildly. Or the way his full lips pout, his cheek and jaw bones could cut glass, or how his tall, lanky frame felt against hers. Nope, totally not thinking about any of that.

  “Tonight, I swear. We’ll be able to talk tonight, as much as you want. I’ll tell you everything I know. Gotta warn you though, people usually come to me and feel less sane afterwards rather than more. Ya know, if sanity’s what you're looking for, I guess I’m sold out but-”

  “I just won’t be left in the dark about whatever the hell is going on with you and Jacksen. The way he can, you know, read people’s… You know about that, don’t you?”

  “Yes, I, I know, Aura. Really, I want to talk, but now-”

  “Guess Ron wants us over there,” Jacksen interrupts, clapping Wes on the shoulder and handing Aura a bagel smothered in cream cheese, “Carbs still the way to your heart?”

  She nods and begrudgingly makes her way to the table with absolutely zero explanations, sitting in her spot between Jameson and Jacksen, while Wes sits across from them. After everyone is introduced and the boys begin reading, she tries desperately not to glance at Wes after every few sentences, but neither of them have anything to say for a few more scenes. The anxiety generated by the contemplation of what could possibly explain the sensations she feels when she’s around Jacksen, and now Wes, is overwhelming. What could explain how Jac
ksen can read her thoughts or how she did her little time hop? She doesn’t know if she’s totally ready for the real answers. As badly as she wants them.

  At the height of her stressing mentally, while Jacksen and Jameson are in character arguing with Sharon, who plays Brody and Blaise’s evil crone of a long-lost aunt, Wes bolts from his chair and comes to stand behind Aura and Jacksen. He places a hand on Jacksen and the other on Aura, massaging their shoulders. Jacksen laughs quietly and the others ignore the behavior completely, used to his shenanigans, but Aura’s breathing and heart beat quicken as she feels Wes and Jacksen’s respective energies flowing through her. A wave of tiny, overzealous invisible icepicks jab down her arms and into her hands. She turns her head, looking at Wes with a quizzical cocked eyebrow to cover even deeper confusion.

  Even Jameson stops reading briefly to turn and stare at Wes. Wes looks down at Jameson with a look of surprise and explains aloud, “New couple over here! Budding romance, tensions high, just working out the kinks.”

  Some eyebrows around the table begin to arch, but the couple in question are both chuckling now, they really can’t help it, while Jameson shakes his head and returns to reading his lines.

  She doesn’t know what it is about Wes, but something about his presence puts her completely at ease. She thought Jacksen was the only one that could make her feel that otherworldy electricity, but now Wes can too. Is it because he can read minds like Jacksen? Maybe that and something more? The idea of finally getting answers makes her giddy for tonight’s dinner. Well, that, and 30 courses of sushi doesn’t sound bad, either.

  Reading as Bianca between Jameson and Jacksen is exhilarating, and flipping through page after page of fight scenes she’ll be a part of have her practically bouncing out of her chair. This is the first time she’s gotten to hear the entire script, and though many in the room have, the energy and excitement hangs in the air. The last words have been read and she can’t seem to move anymore. She’s glued to her seat, frozen, as it finally hits her that, after all the years watching and obsessing over the Protectors, that she’s actually a part of the movie. The culmination of 12 years of a show she loves so intensely, and now she’s starring in it. Not to mention playing perpetual bachelor Blaise’s love or dating her ultimate crush since age 14 who plays him. Finally knowing how it all ends, after all that time. She’s stunned into stone and silence. It really is too much and she couldn’t feel further from reality now.