"If she had one more life to live"

[November 24th, 2021]

While staring at the exam sheets, Sean clicked his ball-pen several times thinking of what his alter meant. He wasn't seated in the same classroom as Aurora, otherwise he would be staring at her the entire time. Staring into nothingness, he wasn't paying attention to what he should've, the exam.

He blew out air loudly in frustration, thinking what he would've been doing if Hefty Uncle wouldn't tell him some code-language things. 'She's going, but where? And why? And why hasn't she said anything about it?' He thought to himself, ignoring the sheets in front of him. 'Should I confront her? Or should I indirectly try to find out?' He added to his thoughts. 'Wait...' His thoughts were hazy. 'Should I even care?!' He let out a huge sigh before going back to his sheets. Aurora was a friend, a great friend whom he had spent a lot of time with... Even alone.

She understood his alters the most and befriended them as if they were just other people. How could he possible not worry about such a friend? He clenched his teeth as he couldn't stop thinking about her.

As soon as he finished his exam, he ran outside the classroom in search of Aurora. If he couldn't ask her directly, he could just spend time with her more often to find it out himself. Was he overthinking? No. If Hefty Uncle said something then it must've held a meaning.

He saw Aurora and Giselle from a distance, chatting with each other. However, it was Giselle who was talking. Now that he started thinking about it, Aurora had been acting strange lately. Sometimes she would say she was busy for group studies, which she had never said before. Sometimes she would say she wants to hangout, and ditch studies. It was all strange. Sean could only come to one conclusion; She might have been planning to study abroad.

She had mentioned wanting to study abroad but not making the choice entirely because of friends. Maybe that was the case after all! Why did it have to be code-language then?

"Aurora!" He called her from distance after walking towards her.

"Oh hi, Sean..." She tried not to look hesitant but gave off the feeling.

No, it wasn't about studying abroad. Her face said something else.

"I remember what you said to Uncle Hefty yesterday." He started off with a false statement, trying to pressure her into thinking that he knew about her so-called secret.

The look on her face changed from neutral to panic. She was surprised that he knew but still talked about it as if nothing. Giselle, witnessing all of that was confused as to what they meant.

"What did you guys talk about? Why are you guys suddenly tense?" Giselle asked, purely out of curiosity.

Aurora swallowed the lump in her throat, not being able to say anything.

"S-Sean... I..." Her voice shook, as if she was about to cry.

He grabbed her hand and pulled her towards himself, "Giselle, we'll see you later." He asked Giselle politely, to 'stay out'.

Giselle, being the patient and calm person she was, ignored them for the time being as she saw them walking away. Sean patiently, guided her out of the school, still holding her hand, being confused as to what she told Hefty Uncle and would it be alright to keep pretending as if he knows? He took her to his house; their hideout. He thought of it as the safest place to discuss something she almost cried about.

"Aurora-"

"P-Please... Don't." She stared at the ground after cutting him off.

"Don't what?" He continued.

"Don't be mad." Her voice was almost a whisper.

"Why should I be mad?" He asked. "Was it your fault?" It was hard to keep pretending and he was anxious she might see through him.

She anxiously tapped her nails together, not knowing what to say. Sean let out a sigh before reaching in towards the mini-fridge. He took out a water bottle and gave it to Aurora, after opening the cap so she might feel calmer. She stared at it for a solid minute before gulping it down her throat. She wasn't like herself.

He caught her off-guard without even knowing what this was about. Whatever it was, he could tell it was serious enough for his alter to tell him indirectly and for her to act up the way she was acting. She kept twitching her eyes as if she wanted to cry, but her tears never showed up. That frustration built stress and anxiety inside her and she didn't know what to say to her friend who had, supposedly found out about her terminal illness.

"I'm sorry." Aurora said calmly after letting out a huge sigh. "I'm really... sorry."

"Sorry for what? It wasn't your fault..." He tried comforting her even though he was clueless.

"I'm sorry for not telling you... Or anyone... I was just... Scared. How could I tell you something like that? I..." Aurora murmured.

The more he wanted to hear an explanation out of her, the more indirect she went with her words. What exactly was it that made her apologize like this? Did he just comfort her on something he shouldn't have comforted her on?

"Listen... I'm here for you, alright. Don't worry about anything... Just tell me how did this happen. And when did this happen?" Sean asked, trying to sound concerned.

"I don't know." Her eyes were finally moist as she looked at Sean helplessly. "I don't... I don't want to believe any of this. It hurts. I can't take it anymore. I don't want to worry you but... I can't... I can't try anymore!" She exclaimed in sorrow while finally bursting into tears.

She sat and cried like a baby in front of him, not being able to stop the tears she had been wanting to take out for such a long time. Even if it were a few days that passed, it felt like an eternity of pain and sorrow towards her and her friend finally knew so she could finally let it out in front of him. She covered her face with her hands laid vertical in front. Sean was confused but he couldn't just see her cry. He caressed her shoulder to comfort her before bringing her close for a hug.

"It's alright... I'm here, right? You can tell me anything." Sean said cluelessly.

Aurora clenched his sleeve in her hands as she trembled. Crying into his shoulder, she finally felt calm. She backed off while sniffing, and pouting as the tears still fell down her cheeks.

"Am I... Worrying you?" She asked with her eyes twinkling in tears.

"No... N-No." Sean said as he pat her head. He knew she would freak out and never open up again if he was worried, which he was but for her to open up it was necessary to lie.

He guided his hand into the pocket of his hoodie, and took out a handkerchief, slowly patting her tears dry.

"Are you not worried?" Aurora asked staring into his eyes.

"... Do you want me to?" Sean opposed a question.

Aurora shook her head before grabbing the water bottle for another sip.

"Will you tell others?" She asked after gulping the last bit.

"Not until you want me to." He said calmly, even though he didn't know what was going on.

"Why... Why are you so understanding? Normally... If someone knew that their friend was dying, they should freak out. Why are you not freaking out when I only have 6 weeks left?..." She asked calmly. "Oh... 5 weeks now." She added.

WHAT?! Sean blinked his eyes trying to stay calm and trying to make out what she said. 6 weeks? No, 5 weeks? He didn't want her to think that he just found out but it was hard to stay calm after finding out she was going to die. Now he understood what Hefty Uncle meant by 'She is going.' He couldn't just tell her that he was totally freaking out.

"I... I just want to slowly understand the situation. It is only right to stay calm-" He paused mid-way as he was switching.

He stared at her with narrowed eyes as she raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"Who... is this?" She asked slowly.

"Lyla." Lyla said as she stood up trying to make distance between Aurora and herself.

Lyla was in charge of defense. She only showed up when Sean experience any sort of mental trauma or confusion that could cause a series of emotions to stir up in him. She would show up to eliminate those emotions to give him a break and disappear when things would go back to normal.

She was the adrenaline of the group, the fight or flight of the group, the absolute defender of the group. However, Aurora wasn't aware of that as it was the first time she came in contact with someone like Lyla. Sean found it too traumatizing, the situation. Who wouldn't? His friend casually said she was dying, of course Lyla would take over.

"Hi, Lyla... I'm Aurora." Aurora introduced herself to the quietly retreating Lyla.

"I know." Lyla answered neutrally, still slowly stepping away.

Since Aurora triggered her arrival, she naturally started to defend herself from her even though she heard their conversation and knew exactly why Sean was unable to make something out of the situation.

"I... I have a radio-therapy session in 15 minutes, so I'll leave now. Say thanks to Sean for listening in my stead." Aurora quietly explained before standing up to leave.

"Let me accompany you." Lyla murmured.

She stared at Aurora for approval before sighing for not receiving one.

"Sean would've done the same." Lyla said.

Aurora nodded slowly as she walked towards the door. Lyla followed her instantly. She wasn't dynamic like other personalities and stayed quiet for most of the time. Even in the bus, she mostly didn't talk about anything. She remembered all their conversation but didn't make a single comment about it despite seeing Aurora in Sean's memory since middle school.

Aurora didn't start a conversation either because Emilia had warned her about getting to the bad side of the alters. It was a risky situation so she decided to stay quiet. She felt better after crying it out to Sean. She never knew sharing it with someone she held a deep connection with was much easier than talking to others, like Lucy's mother or even her own father. For the time being, she felt comfortable and it didn't hurt either.

They reached the hospital and Aurora got her sessions while Lyla waited for her patiently. She stepped out of Dr. Matthias' room to see Sean standing with two iced-americanos in his hands.

"Sean?" She asked as the look in his eyes had changed. Lyla had a more droopy look than Sean.

"Yeah... I'm sorry I switched." Sean said.

"No. Lyla was nice." Aurora smiled to lessen his worries; She knew he only pretended to not have worries, that's why Lyla appeared.

"Lyla showed up? Seriously? She didn't treat you like an outcast?" Sean asked as he was well-aware of Lyla's defensive behavior.

"She kept her distance but she was nice." Aurora said.

Sean nodded as he handed her the iced-americano and guided her outside the hospital. He called a taxi for her to have her go to home and rest. As she sat in the car, he bent down to look over inside.

"Talk to me. This is not a request." Sean said before closing the door and seeing her off and sighing, watching her leave.

No. This was not what he had expected.

Aurora understood what Sean meant by that. He totally wanted her to talk to him if she ever felt down. He wanted her to open up. And she felt rather comfortable in doing so. Except, she regretting crying over his shoulder. 'Ew, what would he be thinking about it?!' She exclaimed to her thoughts on the way back home.

Sure she was emotionally overwhelmed about everything when he found out, but crying in front of him was totally new. It wasn't like she never cried in front of her friends. It was just awkward because she never cried about someone as deep as a terminal illness. She let her awkwardness bury for the day before falling asleep.

[November 24th, 2020]

"Don't even ask me what happened yesterday!" Aurora nagged while hanging out with the girls.

"Why, Why? I'm so curious though!" Lucy exclaimed with a smug-face.

"What's the worst thing that could happen while babysitting someone as organized as Sean?" Giselle asked.

Aurora shook her head as flashbacks of last night's party displayed across her eyes. Sean was organized as much as his alters were clumsy. Absolutely clumsy!

Slam!

"Baby Sean got triggered the minute we stepped inside this really extravagant villa and the first thing he does is... Vomit." Aurora said.

The girls burst out laughing hysterically slamming on the table not being able to hold their laughter back. The waitress of the fast-food place kept staring at them quietly noting something down. In fact, she noted names of a few therapists the girls could see.

"And then... He cried and cried until I got him a balloon, but somehow the balloon triggered Hefty Uncle and then he walked around dragging me everywhere and introducing me as his niece for some reason?! Jesus! That was so embarrassing. If I ever got to see any of those people again, I'm jumping down a cliff." Aurora said swiftly with a pout of annoyance.

"So where's he at now?" Lucy asked in curiosity.

"Hefty Uncle passed out after drinking a lot... He is supposedly legal to drink. I don't even know. I had to drag him home by myself. It wasn't fun, no... It wasn't. He's probably passed out somewhere." Aurora said.

"You guys are so cute!" Giselle exclaimed as she chuckled upon hearing Aurora rant.

"Umm, Hello? I almost died? He is so damn tall and heavy. You guys don't even know how hard it was to drag him to the car. Also, Hefty Uncle spilled wine on my white dress. I can't even..." Aurora sulked.

"Hey but let's be honest. You and Sean get along the most. You guys have known each other for longer too so you ought to witness events like this." Giselle tried to comfort her... She only tried.

Aurora loudly sipped her cola.

"I didn't say I want him gone..." She murmured.

Her to-do list wasn't filled. Even though she spent a day with Sean, she wasn't able to go deep with the alters because of all the chaos they caused. For now, she left it for another day. She only wanted to rest now. And cry because the dry cleaners asked for a fortune for that white dress.