WebNovels

Chapter 17 - Chapter 16: Night Ride On A Motorcycle

Only getting out of being arrested thanks to the HPC, Aubrey went on with his life.

With twenty-five grand saved up in his bank account, Aubrey bought a Ninja 400 for his first bike. Time had passed, he'd gotten his motorcycle license and therefore spent many nights riding around town.

Befitting the title of The Black Wraith, he wore all black. Everything, from gloves to the jacket to the boots and helmet, even his bike. He spent a lot of time practicing with a literal backpack, making sure he rode extra carefully and tied the straps up beforehand.

Once he was satisfied with his current ability,

"Oh?"

Sitting at her desk, Sienna checked her phone to find Aubrey had texted her. She read it and got dressed in warmer clothes, heading outside and seeing Aubrey in a motorcycle outside her house.

He waved his hand quite childishly at her, and she let out an instinctive gasp. Approaching the motorcycle, she looked it over, hearing Aubrey laugh.

"So, what do you think? My bad for not mentioning I rode a motorcycle."

The truth was that he didn't ride a motorcycle until he met her. Aubrey took out a pink helmet and proper clothes for her from his backpack.

"Actually, my bad. I didn't even ask if you wanted to come. It'll be a short ride, if you don't mind tagging along."

"O-of course, absolutely!" Sienna said with a lit up face, as she got properly dressed and put his actual backpack inside her house to be retrieved later. She got on, and the couple went around the city.

The bright lights of the night city, the feeling of wind against their body, the intimacy of such closeness, it brought sincere warmth to both their hearts.

The night came to an end, as Aubrey dropped her off at her house. He waved her goodbye, and turned back to leave. Then,

"W-wait!"

He looked back at her, as she looked off to the side bashfully. "Um, can you, er… come inside? Not to stay the night, unless you want, I guess, but… just to keep me from being alone."

"Ah. Absolutely."

Under her command, Aubrey parked his bike and went inside her house for the first time. Upon stepping inside, he was immediately struck by the mess. Well, it was a bit hard to exactly put into words.

On the whole, it wasn't that bad. It wasn't an absolute dump. However, there were certain particular patches of mess, which were incredibly easy to fix, but also strangely bad. As though there had been an attempt at keeping the whole thing clean, but moments, both little and big, of failure.

As well, it was quite the small house. A one bedroom one bathroom, tiny kitchen and the like. Aubrey raised his brow, seeing a familiar cat—who he actually had a lot to thank for. If it were not for this furry black and white cat, Aubrey and Sienna might have never grown into anything more than customer and cashier.

"Ah! Sorry, sorry for the mess—it's my fault, really. I just… well, I guess I forgot my house was like this due to the bike ride…!"

"Oh, no, it's fine. I've seen worse at my friend's house, trust me."

Throwing his friends under the bus a bit, Aubrey did his best to ease her worries. He did some pacing around the house, just looking at everything he could. It was minimally decorated, without any pictures around the house.

Aubrey knew that if she were to visit his house, she'd find plenty of pictures of him and his family. Though, he assumed it was just because she wasn't a big decorator.

"So, what did you bring me in here for?" Aubrey asked, taking off his motorcycle helmet and placing it on the kitchen counter. His balaclava was still over him, showing only his eyes. Upon removal, his bangs fell and covered his eyes, obscuring his full face.

"Oh, nothing big. Nothing big at all, really. I just… I don't know. I felt so warm the entire time, I couldn't help but just… I'm sorry, I really have no clue."

Aubrey nodded his head as though he understood. His head inclined, he got to thinking.

Wait. Does she… does she wanna have sex!?!?

It was a natural conclusion. They'd been dating for a few weeks, yet this was his first time at her place. 

So she said she didn't want to be alone. As well, she's being a bit bashful, perhaps. Well, shit, I'm bad at reading rooms, so I don't know if she actually is. She's kind of beating around the bush as to what she wants us to do here… maybe it really is like that!?

Then, a nasty sensation appeared.

His throat had his own spit caught up in it, and he coughed. He kept coughing, trying to hold back but failing.

—Choking on his own spit, Aubrey cursed himself.

NOOOOOO!!! NOT NOWWW!!! WHYYYY?!?!?! WHY ME!? STOP, STOP, STOP YOU BASTARD!!

"O-oh, Aubrey are you alright?!" Sienna yelled, rushing over to which Aubrey held his palm out. 

"No, no, I'm—cghk—fine, I'm fine, I sw—cagh—ear, I swear…!"

He opened her fridge, drank some bottled water and was clear. He closed the fridge door, looking at her as she smiled slightly.

"Oh my gosh, that was embarrassing, geez."

After seeming so cool by taking her on a bike ride through the night, he completely decimated all his coolness points in one unfortunate event.

"No, it's fine, really! Haha, though, it was pretty funny…"

"Geez. Well, whatever. So, um… yeah, we can, like…"

What do I say? How can I get laid? Wait, do I even wanna get laid? OF COURSE.

Thinking such a resolute thing, Aubrey looked at Sienna's smile. In an instant, his heart and mind stopped for a moment, still captivated by the beauty.

Well… no, no duh, I wanna get laid. But… honestly?

Upon seeing that face of hers, that beauty which entranced and captivated him at very first sight, he calmed down.

She's beautiful. And eventually, I absolutely want to. But like, right now? Unless it's something she really wants, I won't do it. 

Right now, she seems too beautiful to look at with lust. "Sorry for blanking, but we can just sit in bed and watch whatever you wanna watch. Once we finish, I can go home, if you'd like. Only if you'd like, though. It's up to you."

Sienna's face turned a slight pink, and she nodded her head. "Um, yes, let's do that. Or, if we get bored of videos, we can read No Longer Human together."

"Sure. Absolutely."

And thus, the two promptly did that. 

It wasn't an exciting night. Aubrey didn't lose his virginity.

But it was a comfortable night. One he spent with the woman he loved, being close to her. In the end, that earnestly made his heart warmer. It filled him with emotional fulfillment; that was worth more than physical pleasure.

He went home that night with a satisfied heart and a warm smile. 

"Woah, who's that guy? He's really tall…!"

Hearing those words, Aubrey's mind flashed with the image of a friend who saved him. He turned around, seeing a six foot seven inch man with long black hair—

"Huh?."

Letting out a silly sound, Aubrey looked up to see Sam walk into the lecture hall, and after closing his eyes, he walked around and let Fate choose his steps. He found his way directly to Aubrey due to Fate bringing them together.

"Yo, Aubrey. Guess what?" Sam asked, opening his eyes with a dumb smile.

"Uhhh, what?"

"Yep, I joined your college! I literally spun a wheel online to figure out your college and your major; Fate sure is kind, ain't it?"

"Yeah, I guess so. Wait, for real?"

"For real for real."

"Shiet, alright."

Aubrey looked at his friends.

"I know this guy, he's cool. Mind if he hangs out with us?"

"I mean, if he's cool then we're cool."

And it was so.

Jumping forward to lunch, Aubrey laughed and smiled easily when with his friends. 

"I had a dream where, like, my grandma grew a pair of balls."

Saying ridiculous things, the group of idiots laughed inside a Taco Bell. Aubrey, wanting to flex as hard as he could, drove separately on his motorcycle. Though this was partly for safety reasons, as if he was attacked alone by a monster, he'd rather not risk his friends being in danger, especially if it meant he could leave alone.

Sam himself wasn't particularly into the conversation, since while he was used to stupid talks with Aubrey, he wasn't used to talking in groups of people.

As he watched Aubrey, he was quite surprised and relieved to find him being quite a normal guy. Nothing standout about him, he simply fit right in with these guys.

Y'know, Sam thought, wouldn't most people be, kind of… shaken up?

After what happened to him, where he almost died and might've been tortured, it feels a bit weird seeing him act so naturally. I guess it makes sense; he can't let anyone know how shaken up he really is. Or is he shaken up at all?

…No, he has to be. After all, he was never a particularly tough guy, even mentally speaking. 

Sam was quite interested in Aubrey's seemingly unbothered attitude.

The group finished their food, and it was time to head back. Aubrey and Sam went outside, as the others got in the car. 

"Hey, can we talk for a sec?" Sam asked, and Aubrey looked at him, his face obscured by the balaclava.

"Yeah, sure, what is it?" 

"Y'know, I just wanted to say you did a pretty good job acting normal. I mean, you've gotten superpowers and now fight monsters for a living; that's hardly normal. You can act like nothing happened, which is pretty impressive."

Aubrey tilted his head slightly.

"Hm? I'm not acting normal. I'm just being normal. After all, it's not like anything's changed too much."

Aubrey put on the helmet, getting on the motorcycle.

"Well, see ya in five!" Aubrey shouted, driving out of the parking lot. Sam was left standing, a bit of tension in his chest.

That… that's not the Aubrey I knew in highschool. If it were Aubrey from back then, he'd probably not talk as much, seem a bit weirder and get all quiet. 

Aubrey… how much did you change?

More Chapters