Aura In LaLaLand

by Skye Grace

  “He has his own room?” Aura asks as soon as she hears the door close.

  “I guess I was downplaying a little when I said he stays here occasionally.”

  “Jacksen, a little? The Peters were shocked to hear he was staying anywhere but here.”

  “I know, they were pretty rightfully shocked. I’m sorry, he’ll be here while filming. I mean, when we’re not on set in our little mobile home park. Are you pissed?”

  She starts to worry about the weak knees around Wes earlier and being in such close quarters with him and Jacksen. What was that, anyway? But buries the worry before it can surface. “No, I like Wes.”

  Jacksen walks closer to her, backing her up against the marble countertop, “As much as you like me?”

  “Not likely,” Aura laughs softly.

  “We can always pack him up, send him over to your place for a few days if we want some privacy, yeah?”

  “What if I want privacy now?” she smirks, mentally kicking herself for inviting people over. He lifts her hips effortlessly onto the counter, leaning in and brushing his lips against hers on the way to her ear.

  “I have to go change, you wanna come help?”

  Aura giggles, “No, Taylor and Lex will be here in two seconds.”

  “No sugar?” he laughs.

  “Oh, maybe a little.” She grabs a donut from the counter and takes a bite, making sure her lips are coated with glaze. Jacksen suppresses a laugh and presses his lips against hers. She opens her lips in time for him to him to ‘mmm’ into her mouth. She reaches up and her fingers card through his hair and his tongue slips into her mouth as they hear the door slam behind them.

  “Well Hell-o!” they’re enthusiastically greeted by Alexis and Taylor, with Jameson and Gabby not far behind. Then Wes bounds out of the spare room in what appears to be a boys’ size Superman t-shirt and fleece pj pants that say ‘kiss my bass’ and are covered in fish.

  “I think it’s time for a Yes night!” Wes announces. “Absolutely no no’s allowed till you pass out which means Jacksen, it’s time for you to remove yourself from Aura long enough to put on some damn pajamas so we can get this started. Yes?”

  “Yes,” he kisses Aura softly before greeting and introducing everyone then jogging into his room to change. It physically pains Aura not to join him, so she shoves a bacon maple bar directly into her feelings. Jameson pops a bottle of champagne and hands her a glass, which washes it down nicely.

  Alexis frowns at the donuts and Wes promptly makes her a gin and seltzer with a lime twist, assuring her it’s his best cocktail with the least amount of calories, and she takes it without question.

  Taylor walks past the expansive sunken living room towards the bathroom and stops mid step, foot in the air and mouth open as he glances to his right and spots Jacksen’s ‘office,’ which is really just a lot of Protectors gear he’s accumulated but mainly wall after wall of expensive guitars. Jacksen steps out of his bedroom wearing Batman pajama pants and a Protectors’ t-shirt with his own face on it along with some of Blaise’s corniest, fan beloved quotes such as, ‘When in doubt, sage it out,’ and ‘Silver don’t kill witches but it’ll get you bitches.’ Aura laughs hysterically but Taylor just goes with it and attempts to send all his charm Jacksen’s way.

  “Are all of these beauties off limits, Jacksen?” Taylor asks with a dreamy dew over his voice.

  “No, man,” Jacksen laughs, “Go for it. Tuned ‘em the other day but you may need to-”

  Taylor is grinning and already pulling two acoustics, Taylors of course, off the wall and Jacksen shakes his head and grabs him an electric tuner. Despite the goofy pj’s, Aura’s heart beats faster as the boys walk towards them with the guitars. She hadn’t seen Jacksen play since their first meet cute, and she’s sure she’d be dizzy just from the thought of it, if she wasn’t already sitting on the enormous 16 person sectional. But when Taylor hands the other guitar to her instead of Jacksen, she sighs.

  “Sublime, yeah Aura?” She nods to Taylor and they start playing one of their favorites. Aura beams over the connections she’s made, the talent she’s surrounded by, and the effortless way she’s able to command a room, the Aura she’s become. Wes brings in the rest of the drinks he’s made and plops next to Jacksen, catching him mid thought. Jacksen shoos him away but Wes wraps an arm around his shoulder and listens in on the way Jacksen sees her. The way she captivates everyone, Jacksen thinks, knowing Wes is hearing all of this, I don’t have to be the cool guy, the private guy, not if she needs me to be…

  More like her? Wes thinks to Jacksen, Talking about her in public, in interviews, on red carpets?

  Sneaking on stage when she’s on the Darling show next week, beg her to be my girlfriend in front of everyone. If that’s what it takes, Jacksen responds in his head.

  The idea of Jacksen doing any of that is beyond even his overactive imagination, but the longer they watch her sing, the more Wes believes his friend could do that for her, any of it, all of it. After a few more songs, he notices Gabby’s eyes drooping from the chill acoustics and Jacksen wishing he was the one harmonizing with Aura.

  Wes starts clapping and whooping and then explodes, “OK, so it’s still a yes night. That was a beautiful performance and I’m super surprised no one pulled out a bong, but it’s time. Next yes night challenge! Tell me to do anything, you know I’ll say yes!” Jameson boo’s Wes, and Aura and Gabby start throwing Redvines at his head. “Anything!”

  “Okay so what do I do? Give him a dare?” Alexis wonders aloud.

  “Honestly? He’s not gonna stop until you do,” Jacksen laughs, casually wrapping his arm around Aura’s shoulder.

  Alexis watches the action and grins. “Okay, I have a challenge!” she announces. “First, I think we need to down this bottle!” She runs around to everyone’s glass and orders them to down their champagne as soon as it’s filled again. “Okay, next part. Wes, I think you should dare… I mean, assign, two people here to swap clothes. In front of everyone. And they have to wear them for an hour, and they have to respond to the other person’s name and everything.”

  Jacksen’s face falls in his hands and groans. He can hear the thoughts of everyone here, and they all have two names on their minds already. Aura’s and his.

  “You know, I think I’ve got just the two in mind!” Wes jumps onto Aura and Jacksen and pokes at them while everyone laughs and says they’re waiting!

  Jacksen really wasn’t banking on breaking his comfort zone for Aura this soon, but it was just their closest friends, his and hers. And he’d do anything for her, already. That scares him a little, but he stands up and Wes starts playing stripper music on his phone. Jacksen lifts up the hem of his t-shirt like a Magic Mike hopeful and chuckles at himself while Gabby finds a dollar bill to throw at him with a laugh.

  Aura feels a rush of nerves hit her solar plexus, and then remembers what Sabine said yesterday. There was going to come a time to blend both sides of her, any little thing could be the event that triggers the fusion permanently. Besides, it’s a Yes night, so there’s no turning back now.

  She stands up and grins at her watching crew, new and old, and strips off her t-shirt while Taylor and Alexis whoop and holler. She gives a small sigh of relief when the black crystal stays firmly put in her bra where she’s been keeping it. Jacksen follows suit, quickly peeling off his tee to give to Aura. The muscles of his chest and arms struggle against the cotton of Aura’s little pink t-shirt and the group laughs at the ridiculousness of it all. He kicks off his sweats and she does the same, turning around to shake their bums at the on lookers as they shimmy into each other’s pants. Aura can barely keep herself together at the sight of Jacksen in her yoga pants, and the rest of them crack up before she can.

  Their friends cheer and Wes exclaims, “Donut eating championship and 90’s hip hop dance party in the back. Now!”

  They’ve exhausted the majority of the Notorious BIG, Puff Daddy and his whole family’s repertoire and Jacksen and Aura
are the only ones still dancing underneath the twinkle light covered back patio overlooking the ocean. Everyone else has fallen asleep inside, while Jameson and Wes sit out under the stars discussing the fact that one of their older co-stars, Sterling Cooper, is marrying a much younger fan in her late 20’s and Jacksen laughs. He has his lands around Aura’s hips and she asks him what’s funny.

  “Just never took Sterling for the marrying type,” Jacksen explains that he’d been listening to Wes and Jameson’s convo. “I mean Jameson, of course, Wes, that was a little bit of a shocker. But Sterling? He’d have his eye on multiple girls, every time we’d do a fan event. One’s young enough to be his daughters, I’m sure. We thought he’d never settle down.”

  “I don’t know, Sterling is kinda cute for an older guy,” she giggles.

  “Aura Lidell has a crush on the crankiest old British bastard known to man? Okay, I get it.”

  “You know my deepest darkest secret,” she can’t stop laughing. “I guess you know it all. We can get married now.”

  She meant the last part to be funny, or she would’ve if it didn’t just come flying out of her mouth thoughtlessly, but his eyes lock on hers, causing her breath to catch. He has so many questions to ask her, but he knows he can’t. It’s too soon, I mean, it took years for me to take things to the commitment level with Yvonne, I can’t go there with Aura, not after a few damn days. Wes seems to sense the tension and right when Aura’s favorite old school jam comes on, Wes launches from his chair and starts moving his hips, beckoning her to dance with him. ‘Oh, come on, I know it’s your favorite,” he calls.

  Aura turns to Jacksen and laughs, shaking her head. “Saying no will be futile, trust me. Just dance with him, please,” Jacksen begs, kissing her on the neck and whispering, “Thank you,” before she turns to Wes. Wes sways his skinny hips seductively, pulling her into him and she can’t help laughing as she moves against him.

  Jameson stares at the two of them, baffled, wondering how Wes can know Aura’s favorite 90’s R&B song when they just met earlier today, and glances back and forth from them to Jacksen. He doesn’t want to be feeling the searing jealousy he feels when he watches Wes wrap his arms around her waist. He can’t seem to stop his brain from begging the question; how isn’t Jacksen getting even a little jealous while his ‘girl’ dances with his friend to a song about a guy getting a boner while dancing with a hot girl? I know it should be funny, but it’s not. If I had Aura, I wouldn’t let her just- I mean if I’d kept her, I wouldn’t have-

  Jacksen doesn’t want to hear what he’s hearing from Jameson, and does exactly what he usually does when this happens, interrupts. “Uh, Jay?”

  Jameson clears his throat and focuses his eyes back on his closest friend, “Yeah?”

  “I need you to come learn how to make that martini, yeah?”

  “Fine,” Jameson says, bristling, as he gets up and follows Jacksen inside the door. As soon as it closes, Jacksen puts his hand on his friend’s shoulder.

  “Bro, what going on? I can tell just by looking at you,” Jacksen says. Jameson sighs, he can always ‘just tell’. This hasn’t surprised him in years.

  “Nothing. I just- I don’t know why you’re letting her bump ‘n grind with Wes out there. I mean he just met her and you and her are-”

  “Jay, first, I don’t let Aura do anything. She’s above and beyond 100% her own person despite what she may think sometimes. I know things are moving too fast with her but that doesn’t mean I want to slow anything down. Which means she needs to get to know my friends, and since she clearly already knows you,” a point Jacksen makes tersely, “It’s Wes’ turn now.”

  Jameson swallows hard, guilt rising in his chest. He doesn’t want his time spent with her in the past to ruin what his best friends got with her now, but it still stings. “I know, I just don’t know why he’s gotta have his hand on her ass like that.”

  “Jay, remember that one time when we were in Wes’ wedding? We were kinda up there, in front of, oh I don’t know, God, and half of Los Angeles. Big gay wedding in wine country, any of this ringing a bell?”

  Jameson is almost too frustrated to respond. If you really wanted her, I don’t know why you’d let Wes all over her. You know how girls respond to him.

  “I really am going to go make that martini, Jay, and I suggest you join me. Then, you’re gonna go spoon your beautiful wife who’s sleeping all alone in the den rather than worrying about Aura. Trust me, if you knew her last experience with gay men, you’d be impressed that she’s even tolerating Wes right now.”

  Outside, Wes and Aura are having so much fun dancing, but when he runs his hand down her shoulder blades and rests at the small of her back, the sensation is electric. She closes her eyes. “This is so cool, Aura, I’ve never felt an energy like this before.”

  Jacksen promised answers when I was about to meet you, now all I have are more questions, she thinks to Wes.

  “About this?” he whispers, rubbing her back gently. “No, no this energy is different than what you feel with Jacksen, Aura. You don’t have to worry about this.”

  How do you know? It feels the same, I’ve never-

  “I can tell, it’s different. Here,” Wes moves his hands away from her, “Think about where you feel the energy when it comes from him.” She nods and he waits a few seconds before putting his hands square on her shoulders. “And now where you feel it from me, it’s different?”

  “Yes,” she breathes, opening her eyes to see his cheesy, excited grin.

  “Good, because I would never do anything to come between you and Jacksen. Really. It’s just that there’s clearly some unexplained flaw in the system, if you will, and we’re all connected to this energy that way. Like something went awry in the universe, and we’re somehow involved. That’s why we feel it. You know what I mean?”

  “Would it hurt your brain if I said yes?” she laughs.

  “Yes, most definitely.”

  “So when you… traveled, you couldn’t remember how you got to that point in time?” she asks.

  “No I couldn’t, just like you,” he grabs her hands and gently spins her and dips her, continuing their dance. “I could remember my life before and the life I left, but when I went backward in time, I couldn’t remember how I got to the new reality I found myself in. It was difficult patching things together.”

  “Cake for confidence, champagne for your memories back?”

  “Something like that,” Wes laughs. “A little bit different for me but yeah, pieced it all together eventually and then… I led a very boring life, before, and when I quite literally fell through the rabbit hole, everything just started falling into place. I always wanted to be an actor but thought it was just a ridiculous pipe dream. When I woke up to find myself in LA, I had already landed a lot of guest starring stints on shows and it wasn’t that long until I got the Graylan part… It honestly was just supposed to be a few episodes.”

  “Hmmm… I know you want to explain everything with science, but it almost seems like fate to me. The three of us, the Protectors.”

  “Oh, fate fits in there somehow too, I’m just not sure how, logically. But I know that right now I’m here to help you close any portal trying to send you back.” He puts his hand on her shoulder and apologizes for prying in her head, “But I keep hearing you thinking about her. Rowan? She’s your unfinished business?”

  Aura nods slowly, “Pretty sure.” Reluctantly, with the worry of Wes’ judgement in her mind, she runs through the story Lacie had to rehash to her about her ridiculously stupid, shallow betrayal of Rowan. She also adds, in her thoughts, how horrible it felt to have an extremely confused Lacie have to explain to her something so horrible, something she couldn’t even remember doing. And with Jameson, of all people.

  “Okay, thank you, that explains a lot,” Wes says.

  “Yeah?”

  “Jameson’s thoughts were set on a high Aura frequency tonight and I was super confused as to why he’d be feeling possess
ive of you, jealous even.”

  “Jealous, seriously? And Jacksen heard that from him too?” She groans, knowing the answer already.

  Wes nods, “It’s almost like Jameson forgot about his feelings for you, until you hurtled back into his life with no warning. I know he loves Gabs more than anything, it’s just the shock of seeing you after so long and Jacksen being so over the moon for you. It’s just a little much for him, I think. I mean, Jameson’s never seen Jacksen like this until he meets you. You. The last person he slept with before he met Gabs. I guess it makes sense that he feels so weird.”

  Last person before her? God I am the queen of making things awkward, aren’t I?

  “Some might say awkward, I’d prefer at this point to say you make things interesting,” he grins. “Trust me, it’s a lot more exciting listening to Jacksen’s thoughts now than the last three months of misery. Although I may have heard a little more detail about last night’s intimacies than I needed to.”

  The Aura that first landed through the portal a month ago would have instantly blushed crimson at this, but now she just laughs instead. “Sorry.”

  “Oh, don’t be, it’s all very complimentary Aura, I mean now I’m tempted to switch teams at this point, just to see what all the fuss is about,” he jokes.

  “Shut up.”

  “Like, ‘best night ever, beautiful, perfection, the best I’ve ever...,’ running through his brain. About you.”

  Okay, now you’re just trying to make me blush. And she does. The pink flushes over her cheeks first and then the rest of her. She wishes Wes wasn’t so cute and he just laughs again, his mile-wide smile showing all his perfect teeth, all just a little rounded at the edge. Too adorable.

  “I know what you really want to ask me,” he says. The song has changed but their hips continue to sway to the 90’s jams playfully.

  She decides to just think it instead. I’m sure you can tell it’s a crowd in here. Did you ever feel like this? Like, split personalities? After you traveled down the rabbit hole?