(Chapter Two, Part Three)

Aurora heard that the gym here in Ohio offered dance classes, and missing her old one, she loved dancing, she found herself drawn to the old brick building, and going inside before she even realized what she was doing. She signed in and walked into the empty dance studio, plugging her MP3 player into some speakers that sat on a table near the door.

After a few stretches, she began to dance, as the classic rock filtered out the open doorway and down the hallway, where Jon was training with his 'coach'. Hearing the music, he growled, swore a little.

"The fuck is that shit, even?" the teen asked his coach who shrugged and said "Light's on in the dance studio. Maybe somebody's usin it. Focus, kid."

"I can't with that shit playing so god damn loud." Jon muttered as he stopped to rest, grabbing his bottled water, storming down the hallway, intent on telling whatever preppy bitch who happened to be in the studio that their shit taste in music was throwing off his concentration.

Instead, he got to the doorway, and all he could do was watch the leggy brunette that'd made his entire day a living hell as she twisted and turned, twirled gracefully. His hand reached out, unplugged the mp3 player. Her movements came to an abrupt halt, as she looked at him, scowling.

"The fuck is your problem?" she asked, as she started to walk towards him.

"The fuck is yours? That shit.. It's throwing off my fucking concentration." Jon said as he glared, his hand on his hip his other hand in his hair.

"Fuck your god damn concentration you arrogant bastard. Ya know, there are more people in this world than Jonathan Good." Aurora said calmly, through gritted teeth.

"Yeah? Well this, whatever the fuck it was that you were doing is just a hobby. What I'm down there doin? My ticket out of this hell hole."

"Oh really? You think so?" Aurora asked, a hint of a smirk on her face as she found herself moving closer to him, before finishing, "And this.. Is not just a hobby. I wanna be a dancer."

"Is that so? Well ya need to keep on with lessons, because babe? You fuckin suck."

"And I'm sure whatever the hell it is you were doing before you came down here, just to be a fucking dick was so much better?" Aurora asked, moving in a little closer.

Their chests brushed and he stared down into her eyes, angrily.

"I don't fuckin get you."

"And I could care less, Jon."

He stepped back a little, looking at her body in the dancing outfit she wore, the way her hair was half up and half down, her cheeks were flushed with the workout she'd just been putting herself through.

" Put some god damn clothes on, for Christ's sake." he growled at her as he turned to walk out, only to hear her call out from behind, " Fucking asshole!"

He smirked to himself a little, as he shut the door, walked back down the hall, finding his little cousin had been standing there, had heard the whole argument.

"She was doin' ballet, Jon. She was good, too. I wanna dance like that."

"No the hell you don't, Jane. Let's go back to the gym, 'kay?" Jon said quietly as he bent, picked her up, carrying her back down the hallway, not even realizing that Aurora stood in the doorway, watching him, completely perplexed now.

And here she'd thought he was a complete and total asshole. Yet seeing him with the little girl, almost made her rethink every bad thing she'd heard and experienced where he was concerned all day.

"I can teach her." she called out from the hallway, watching as he stopped, turned to look at her, then at his little cousin Jane. "I dunno.. I mean, I don't just leave her with anybody."

Jane begged him with her eyes and he growled to himself, swearing a little, taking her back up the hall, telling her stiffly, "When I come back for ya, Jane, we gotta get outta here, got it?"

Jane nodded quietly, then smiled at the girl standing in the doorway, saying quietly, "Thank ya." as she followed Aurora into the dance studio and Aurora shut the door.

Jon stood there, his hand in his sweat dampened hair, studying the doorway, his brow raised, biting his lip. What the fuck just happened here? Had she actually done something nice?

And here, he'd thought she was a heartless stuck up bitch like every other chick he'd ever encountered. And she'd went and done this.

He sparred for about another hour, and then he made his way down the hallway, and leaned in the doorway, watching Jane laughing, being happy, being a normal kid, not so damn shy and afraid. He smirked a little and then cleared his throat, made his face emotionless.

"We gotta go, Jane." he said as Jane ran to him and said "Rory say she think I can dance better than the little girls she used to teach where she came from!"

"She is really good. Quick learner. It took me a year to learn what I'm teaching her." Aurora said quietly, as she studied him, noticing for the first time the way his muscles stood out, the confident smirk, the stormy blue of his eyes.

She bit her lip and then said "And it was nice to have somebody to talk to." as Jane looked from her cousin to the girl she'd been learning how to dance from all afternoon. She smiled a little and then said "We go home now. I tired."

Jon chuckled and said "I bet, kiddo. Yeah, let's shove off. I, umm, yeah.. Thanks, Aurora."

"Not a problem. She shouldn't have to suffer because you're a jerk." Aurora said quietly, as she gathered her things, slipped on her pull on boots, and her jacket.

"You're not puttin street clothes back on?" Jon asked stiffly, eyeing her body, how little was hidden right now, feeling this sudden urge to kill anything that might look at her, then feeling anger at himself for even feeling that.

"No, why? Relax, Jonathan. I got a knife in my boot. My mom gave it to me, said I better use it, if I was out after dark here and someone tried something with me."

"Nope. You're walkin back with me."

"No. I'm fine. You should get Jane home, it's cold out. Besides, we don't really get along that well. And you hate me, so why bother?"

" I don't hate ya. Ya just piss me off."

Aurora shrugged and stepped past him, her bag slung over her shoulders, slinking down the hallway. Jon bit his lip and Jane giggled then said " She not mean, Jon."

"Maybe not to you, but she hates me."

"Uh uh. She just don't understand ya. She told me."

"So, what else did you two talk about?" Jon asked, mostly out of curiousity, mostly out of amusement. In his mind, he'd already written off Aurora as a stuck up airhead bitch who just happened to like kids, or maybe didn't trust Jon with his own damn cousin.

"She tell me she sad, cause she miss Louisiana, and she can't wait to graduate, go to California. She say her daddy scart her sometimes too."

Jon listened to his cousin telling him what they'd talk about, getting a little more curious about Aurora. Also wondering if he'd been wrong to write her off like he had.

"She listen to funny music."

Jon chuckled and they walked into his mom's apartment. He groaned when he realized that she'd bought 'work' home once again. He got his cousin ready for bed, then snuck out to the fire escape, his refuge from his mother and her lifestyle.

A few moments later the window on Aurora's fire escape slid open, and Aurora stepped out with a book, a pillow and a blanket. The music filtered out behind her softly, and Jon hid a smirk.

"You crazy?"

"Nosy much?" she asked stiffly as she settled against the white bricked wall, opened her book, started to read, paying him no mind. If she let him know how much he got to her in the small space of time she'd known him, then he'd use it against her. Men did that. All the time.

They only knew how to hurt someone, she'd learnt this best from her own father, hearing her mother cry herself to sleep every single night before her mother finally left him.

"Just wondering because it ain't safe out here at night."

" Everyone's gotta die sometime, Jonathan."

"Stop callin me that. Call me Jon. Jonathan fuckin annoys me."

"It's your name, is it not?"

"But I prefer Jon."

"Jon sounds like something I'd call you if you were my friend. You've made it quite obvious you do not want to be my friend and that I annoy the hell out of you. "

"Aurora, look.. About that.. I'd apologize, but the truth is? I'm kinda an asshole."

"And?"

He sighed, stubbed out his cigarette and watched her reading, twisting her hair around her fingertips, her eyes darting over the page. "And, I don't want ya thinkin' I'm ever gonna be a nice guy. But I don't hate ya, either. And we're gonna be livin next door to one another.. We should at least try and be civil, somethin."

"True. Okay, truce." Aurora said cautiously, as she stood, moved slowly to the edge of the fire escape, sitting on the rail, her hand out.

Jon smirked and shook the hand he'd been offered before saying swiftly, "Now get back on the platform before ya fall, crack ya skull."

"But Jon, I'm a dancer. We always land on our feet. Besides, you sayin that.. Leads me to believe you'd miss our bizarre confrontations."

"Hell no. Just didn't think you'd wanna fall to ya death." Jon said quickly as he looked at her, smirking.

Her mother called her name, and she sighed quietly, "I'll see you at school tomorrow. We can redo the entire day?"

"Fine by me, Rory."

"Don't call me that. My god damn name is Aurora."

He smirked, winking a little as he watched her gracefully slip off the rail of the fire escape, answer her mom, 'Comin' mama', and disappear through the window.

And sat outside by himself for a while, now officially confused. Had he just made a friend, or was she just being tolerant? With her, he couldn't tell.

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