&. corrupted lungs | naveed & aurora
it was the first, the first to many -- no relationship was perfect. whether they were together or not, fights were always bound to happen within friendships. people said it was healthy to argue once in a while but naveed and aurora had only fought over small things. things ranging from him joining her on her night strolls to her illegal races and him shaking his head every single time she uttered anything that would raise the possibility of her getting hurt or caught. her tear stained face was still vibrantly fresh in his mind. it had been since that night, through new years eve and all day. no matter how hard he tried to shake her face from his mind, it was always in the corner -- waiting for him to sit and find peace before it only started blinking in his mind again. all he did was worry when they parted that night. cora reminded him how strong she was -- aurora is strong. naveed never doubted that in her. aurora could take down an entire kingdom if she wanted to. one look and you were mesmerized by presence as a whole. it took one look across the sea of people for naveed to take interest in her. he was a few feet away as she was bent over her car, fiddling -- fixing something, naveed wasn’t quite sure what she was doing to her car. all he knew he was somewhere he wasn’t welcomed. he remember the looks given to him left and right, but none of that had mattered as they were all just a blur in his memory. all he saw was this girl, eyes focused on the road with her hands gripped on the wheel, ready to win and she knew it too. that was one thing he admired about the girl, her confidence. aurora never doubted herself and never allowed people to walk over her. so the clocked ticked down and the cars were gearing up to speed off and when it had, naveed was taken back by the sight. that was the first time he feared for her life, worrying that the stranger was driving too fast for her own good and that she might not be able to stop herself. but the car came to a halt at the finish line after her laps, she walked out with her brown hair flying behind -- unharmed and with a smug grin knowing she won that day. his lips curled into a grin and he couldn’t stop himself from getting to know her name. present day, he admitted sometimes he’d get overprotective but he couldn’t help that feeling in his chest that one day he’d wake up to her not beside him and a call from a stranger asking if he knew her. naveed left himself to these thoughts for two days straights, the memories, the worrisome thoughts and attempting to shake her from his mind but nothing would be at ease unless he talked to her at least. earlier in the day he had gone to the flower shop on the boat, grabbing a bouqet of roses -- preparing himself for her comments as he walked to her cabin. knowing the path by heart, he arrived at her door in no time. he brought his hand up and knocked. “aurora, it’s me.” naveed said, hoping she was there and heard. “if you do open up, i can let you throw free punches at me or whatever but i got you something.” he says, bringing the bouquet up to his nose to sniff the sweet scent. “maybe you’ll like them, maybe you won’t? who knows.”
