Chapter 7: Can't Turn Back Now

Aurora's POV

Sting and I ran as fast as we could back to Fairy Tail, panting as our feet pounded against the cold floor in the darkened hallway. I can't believe what just happened. After all these years of hiding, years of preparation and of planning, our attempts to remain hidden went down the drain. We screwed up big time, and we had to find a way to fix it.

Glancing at Sting, I saw that he was as pale and ghostly white as a corpse. I can't blame him. What we had done was inexcusable and it threatened our very existence. There was no going back to the life before this. Without looking at the collapsed figures far behind us, we bounded towards Fairy Tail in the hopes of fixing what had been broken.

Earlier that day (3rd Person POV)

Exactly one week had passed since school started. Yes, people were still harassing Sting and Aurora and others continued to sun them. But what was the point of doing that to those who just didn't care? The couple was seen throughout the school holding hands, laughing, chatting, and having fun with each other, despite all the negativity that followed them.

Lauren and Jason watched from afar as Sting and Aurora sat under this big-ass oak tree. Lauren grimaced in disgust before smirking evilly. Soon, she thought, soon Plan B will commence.

At the end of the day, Aurora went to her locker to gather her books. Sting was probably either gathering his stuff or waiting for her by the school gate. She didn't know. At the end of class, the teacher wanted to talk to her about her excellent grades, so Sting went off ahead and promised to wait... somewhere... Anyways, when Aurora arrived at her locker, she noticed that there was a lingering smell inside. She cautiously opened the door... little by little... preparing for what was to come... until a small piece of paper was in sight, laying on her books.

Hey Aurora! Since it's been

exactly one week since I met you,

I wanted to somehow make it special.

Head on down to the old music room downstairs!

I'll be waiting.

-Sting :)

Aurora snarled. First of all, this neat handwriting was nothing like Sting's. Second, he was still new to school, so there's no way he would know about the old music room. Heck, Sting still gets lost in the academy! It's a lucky thing that he and Aurora have classes together. Third, Sting and Aurora had known each other for years, they just met up again last week. And fourth, this note smelled foul and sickenly sweet, like someone with too much perfume and/or Axe was handling it. Not at all like Sting's unique minty-pine scent... Aurora growled again before stomping towards the old music room with only one thing in mind: 'Those bastards don't know who they're dealing with.'

It took Aurora a little under five minutes to reach the old and darkened music room in the basement of the academy. When she did get there, the room was empty, but she knew better. Deciding to play around with the two, Aurora placed the back of her left hand against her forehead and her right hand against her heart, feigning distress.

"Oh Sting! Oh Sting! Wherefore art thou, Sting?"

Lauren and Jason stepped out from amongst the shadows with "revenge" written in their eyes. They laughed/chuckled darkly, seemingly not getting Aurora's edited version of "Romeo and Juliet".

"Aww," Lauren started, "your widdle Stingy isn't here to see you. How pathetic."

Aurora stood her ground and held her head up eye, keeping a strong glare on the two of them. "Oh my stars. What an unpleasant "surprise" to see you dimwits here."

Jason shook his head and crossed his arms, smirking all the while. "Don't you even care that your Sting left you? That he stood you up? That he left you with us? What kind of a friend does that?"

"How can my boyfriend stand me up and leave me with you bastards when he never invited me here in the first place?" The two looked shocked and jealous as Aurora smirked. "Let's just get this over with. You want me to leave Sting alone so you –" she turned to Lauren "can have him all to yourself and you –" she turned to Jason "will have more fame and popularity, correct?"

After gaping a little, Lauren shut that mouth of hers before spluttering out, "Yeah! So what are you gonna do about that, bitch?"
Aurora laughed, shrugged and turned away to walk out the door. "I'm a little selfish, y'see, so whatever you're planning ot do won't work as I'm never gonna let him go. Oh and also," Aurora turned to glare at them with fury written across her face. In a deep and menacing voice, she continued, "you better stay the hell away from Sting and me. 'Cause if I see or hear you guys bothering us again, I will personally torture you." With that, Aurora turned on her heels to leave.

But Aurora underestimated her opponents.

Before she reached the door, Jason jumped in front of her, blocking off Aurora's only route to freedom.

"You," the boy breathed heavily with a crazed look, "are not leaving until we get what we want."

Aurora glared back. "Oh yeah? And what's that? My happiness?"

"Well you're the bitch that stole ours!" Lauren screamed back.

Shaking her head sadly, the silver-haired teen whispered, "You brought this upon yourselves." Aurora attempted to leave again, only for Jason to push her down with a surprising amount of strength. Normally, Aurora wouldn't have been affected, but she was caught off guard. She landed on the cold, hard ground with an "oomf". Glancing up, Aurora saw the two slowly advance on her, backing her into a corner of the room.

Yes, she had to admit that she was scared, frightened even, and it took her all she had to refrain from using magic to defend herself. It took her even more than she had when they started calling her names and kicking her in the side, hard enough to cause serious bruising. Aurora did not cry, nor did she ever whimper or scream in pain: that would just be giving the bastards what they wanted. The kicking, name-calling, and even the hair-pulling (courtesy of Lauren) continued for what seemed like forever (when in reality it was only about a minute). Blood had begun to seep into her shirt and Aurora's eyes began to droop. The name-calling soon dissipated in her ears and all she could hear was this high-pitched ringing. Just as she thought it couldn't get any worse, the beating ceased and a bright white light filled her vision.

Sting had been waiting for a while now by the school gate. Female classmates passing by would just not stop ogling him and sending him flirtatious winks. He ignored them. Only Aurora was on his mind. Over ten minutes passed when the sinking feeling in Sting's gut worsened. Not wanting to wait any longer, the blonde took off towards Aurora's locker, only to see her stuff on the ground and a crumpled up paper next to it. Curious as to why his girlfriend wasn't here, Sting bend down and read the note. His eyes widened with each word and, after sniffing the paper, growled in disgust and fury. He stormed off in a random direction, only to realize that he had no idea where the old music room was. Sighing angrily, Sting backtracked, made out Aurora's unique jasmine scent, and took off to where her scent led.

He soon came across a darkened hallway in the basement of the school. The few lights there were flickered ominously as Sting heard two people shouting out names and what seemed like fighting. He sprinted towards the noise and a faint whiff of blood caught his nose. ... blood? Sting hurriedly rushed to the old music room and saw a sight that angered him to no end. A sight that made his blood boil and magic skyrocket. A sight in which his mate was curled up on the ground, blood slowly seeping out of her and bruises forming across her once-flawless skin. A sight in which his two-most hated enemies were beating up his mate.

With a feral roar, Sting ripped the two off his beloved mate and threw them across the room. "WHAT THE F #K WERE YOU DOING?!"

Without giving them enough time to answer, Sting's magical energy burst as he roared, "WHITE DRAGON'S ROAR!" A bright white light filled the room as well as screams of agony and pain. After a few seconds, Sting stopped his attack and looked down on Aurora, who was hugging him tightly and watching him with wide, tearful eyes.

"S-Sting..." she whispered, "... what have you done?"

Confused, Sting looked back at the crumpled figures on the ground. All he did was knock them out with his magic ... "Oh shit."

Present (Aurora's POV)

Sting and I ran out the old music room and through the darkened hallways, not looking back at the unconscious forms of Lauren and Jason. I can't believe we just did that. Now that Sting used his magic, the mage hunters will come after us for sure.

After picking up our stuff, we sprinted as fast as we could towards Fairy Tail, despite my bleeding slide and ache.

"Dammit!" Sting shouted. He's been cursing since we got out of school.

"Sting, stop. You're not making this any better." I said through gritted teeth. All this running isn't helping me... Just as I thought that, Sting scooped me up into his arms and picked up his speed, ignoring my yelp of surprise.

"No, I can't! First I leave you alone, which leads to you getting hurt. Then I freaking used my magic to attack normal humans, threatening both our lives and all of Fairy Tail! What the hell is wrong with me?!"

"Sting! Listen, it isn't your fault! If I hadn't gone down there to confront them, none of this would be happening!"

"Fine, fine. It's both of our faults. But whose fault it was doesn't matter, because the mage hunters will be coming!"

"We could always run away you know..."

"..."

"Let's do it." We both said. Then we packed our bags, hopped on a train, and rode off into the sunset...

NOT

We soon arrived at Sting's house, which is closer than mine's, and quickly entered the portal to Fairy Tail. All commotion and chatting stopped when the other wizards caught site of my injuries and our frightened faces.

Seeing us looking distraught, Master Makarov jumped off his spot on the bar and stood before us with questioning eyes.

"Well, my children? What has happened?"

Taking a deep breath, Sting said, "Master, I think we've just attracted some ... m-mage hunters here."

And with that, all hell broke loose.

Hey guys! Sorry for the really late update... it took me a while to figure out what to write. Anyways, I want to wish one of my friends a Happy Birthday! Heehee... anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter :)