Aurora could not believe it when the phone rang at 3:33am. Who the hell would be calling her? Why would anyone be calling her? If this wasn't an emergency, there would be hell to pay.

"Hello?"

"Oh, good," Tom said on the other end of the phone. His voice was slightly slurred and completely nonchalant. He didn't seem worried about waking her up. He didn't seem sorry that he was bothering her at all. "Just wanted to ask you a question. What are you doing right now?"

"Hanging up," Aurora said.

"Wait!" Tom exclaimed. "Don't hang up. It's important."

"You literally better be on fire to be calling me this early in the morning." Aurora felt herself start to wake up, which pissed her off even more than the phone call. She thought she would be able to get away with answering and falling right back asleep, but as she grew more conscious of herself, it did not look like that was going to happen any time soon. "What do you want, Tom?" She paused as she detected background noise. Laughing. Murmuring. "Are you still at that party?"

"It would seem as though I have misplaced my wallet and my phone—"

"Someone stole your shit?" Aurora said. "How are you even calling me?"

"I borrowed a phone and have your number in my head. I should also mention I'm inebriated—"

"You're drunk."

"I need you to come pick me up," he concluded.

"Michael didn't answer?"

There was a long pause on the other end of the line.

"You know he doesn't answer the phone in the middle of the night," Tom said slowly.

Aurora hated that sympathetic feeling that flickered in her gut when Tom mentioned Michael and how Michael treated Tom occasionally. Michael was polite but he could be cold. Then again, Tom could be an impulsive baby who clung onto his brother to help make decisions. Maybe they both had their issues. Regardless, that didn't explain why Tom was calling her.

"What happened to your girlfriend?" she asked, sitting up in bed and rubbing her eyes. "You know, the waitress who invited you here in the first place?"

"I don't know," Tom said. "She got offended when I wouldn't take her upstairs. The last thing I need is to be accused of rape. Everyone is drunk. I don't want someone wanting to have sex and then either forgetting or regretting it the next morning. I just came here to have fun. Not that kind of fun."

"So you actually turned down sex?" Aurora couldn't keep the surprise out of her voice.

"Don't sound so surprised by it," he said. "Even I have standards. Are you coming to get me or not? I'm in a pissy mood. I have to cancel my credit cards, somehow get a new license, and figure out how to pick up my car in the morning."

Aurora wanted to say no. She pinched the bridge of her nose and let out a growl instead.

"What's the address?"

After she scrawled it down, she hung up. Goodbye was not necessary. To say she was pissed would be an understatement, and she was sure Tom would know that. There was no point in beating a dead horse—and the horse would die. She had every intention of killing him herself.

She plodded to her suitcase—she hadn't even unpacked yet—and pulled out the first T-shirt and bra she saw. She didn't even care what she looked like. All she was doing was picking up a dumb, drunk Tom. She had no one to impress. After she was somewhat presentable—at the very least, she could go out—she got into her car, turned it on, and increased the heat as quickly as she could. She put in an old Green Day CD in order to get her heart pumping and keep herself awake.

Her phone was spouting off directions. It was difficult for her to see the tiny side streets in the dark. The lighting wasn't very good.

When she was outside the house, she double-checked the address. Aurora could hear the music from where she sat in her car. The putrid scent of cheap weed, cigarettes, and spilt alcohol. This was a beautiful neighborhood with tall palm trees and greenery and a neighborhood park attached to an elementary school two blocks away. The houses were spectacular in that they were all different. Typically, the land was more desired here than the actual houses, and it wasn't uncommon to find construction within a neighborhood because a new house was being built.

Aurora had done as much research on Newport Beach and Orange County as she could. Newport Beach was probably the wealthiest suburb in the county—and as she looked around the neighborhood even in the darkness, she understood why.

How could someone live in such a beautiful neighborhood and throw such a disastrous party?

Aurora grabbed her phone and called Tom. Many of her friends were text-only people, which meant don't call, only text. She thought they were bullshit. There was too much time in texting, time she didn't have to waste typing up a message she could speak and waiting around for an answer she might or might not get.

"Y'ello?"

Aurora closed her eyes. "God, did you just say that in your smooth voice?" she asked.

"I have a smooth voice?" he asked, completely confused.

Aurora rolled her eyes. "I'm outside. If you're not out here in sixty seconds, I will drive away."

She hung up before he could respond. She closed her eyes and placed her head on the rest behind her, counting down internally from sixty.

Once she hit sixteen, someone tried to get in the passenger seat. She jumped, her eyes snapping open and she yelled out a "Jesus Christ." She looked out the window, only to see Tom with a scowl on his face. He tried to open the car door, only to find it locked. Aurora immediately unlocked it, shaking her head as though she needed to get herself out of her stupor.

"Did anyone tell you it's not safe to fall asleep in your car at night in a strange area?" Tom asked. There was a biting edge to his tone, which Aurora pointedly ignored.

"Did anyone tell you it's not safe to talk to strangers or to go to their house or to—"

"I get the picture," Tom snapped.

"Do you?" Aurora started the car. She had been tired seconds before, but now she was awake and pissed off. That was never a good combination, especially when it came to having just woken up. "Do you realize what a dick you’re being right now, even though I'm the one who's here to get you out of yet another mess you've gotten yourself into? And you're going to come into the car and be a smartass to me? Are you serious right now? I'm not in the mood to deal with your shit, Tom. I don't like being woken up in the middle of the night because you fucked up again."

"Yes, yes, let's remind me of what a fuckup I am," Tom snapped. He clicked his seatbelt and rested his elbow on the edge of the window, holding his head in his hand. "Because that's really going to make the situation better, right? As if I don't already know that, between you and my brother. Lucky me, that I have you both to look after my well-being and remind me of all the mistakes I've made in my life."

Aurora opened her mouth, ready to bite his head off, but stopped herself. Her brain was slowly waking up and it seemed to want to calm him down instead of attack him. The truth of the matter was, Tom was right. There was something about how Michael would constantly remind Tom of everything Tom did wrong, and Aurora didn't help the situation. She knew she wasn't as bad as Michael, but she didn't help the situation either.

Instead of speaking, she let out a breath and focused on getting them back to the hotel. When they came to a red light, she decided to ask, "Are you all right?"

Tom picked his head up to give her a look, almost as though he was trying to figure out if she meant the question genuinely or if she was still being sarcastic. Aurora figured she deserved the speculation. She cleared her throat and glanced at him, meeting his eye and hoping he would be able to tell.

"No, Rory, I'm not all right," he finally said, his tone softening. "I feel like a fucking idiot. Do you think that's how I want to feel?"

"I don't know," Aurora snapped. She wasn't trying to be mean but sometimes, being mean was the only was Tom would listen to reason. It was frustrating, to say the least, because she didn't like making people feel bad about themselves.

"Do you think when I get up tomorrow and I see Michael at morning skate, I'm going to enjoy his lecture?" he continued. "That I'm hopeless without him and that we just talked about how I was going to focus more rather than party and chase girls around and have fun? Do you think I like proving my brother right?"

"Your brother right about what?" Aurora came to a stop at a red light and turned on her left blinker. There was no one coming or going. In fact, there was no one taking advantage of the green light, which made it so there was no reason for Aurora to stop in the first place—other than the fact that it was the law.

"That I'm incapable of doing anything without him," Tom said. He sounded very much like a petulant child. Normally, Aurora wouldn't tolerate self-pity, from herself or anyone else, but there was some part of her that did feel sorry for Tom. "That I need to check in with him before I make a decision because I might make the wrong one."

Aurora rolled her eyes and shifted her weight in the seat of the Range Rover. She had only driven a car like this once and still wasn't used to being behind the wheel of something so high.

"Tom, get over yourself," she said. "Stop playing the victim and make better choices. It's as easy as that."

From the corner of her eye, she saw Tom frown. He opened his mouth, as though he wanted to argue with what she said, before shutting it, closing his eyes, and resting his forehead on the glass. Aurora started muttering under her breath. What the hell was taking this light so long to change? The hotel was two blocks away and all she wanted to do was crawl into bed.

"How do I know if a choice is right?" Tom finally said.

The light switched to green and Aurora grinned to herself, shifting gears and easing her foot on the gas. "Oh," she said, when it hit her that Tom had asked her a question. "Honestly, you don't. But that's okay." She cleared her throat, glancing at Tom and how utterly pitiful he looked scrunched up against the passenger door. She sighed again. "Tom, for one, stop thinking you're incapable of making a decision for yourself. You're a grown man. You're clever. You wouldn't last this long in the NHL if you weren't talented even if you were Wayne Gretzky's brother. You're here to find a new team, not to party. And if you choose to party, be smart. Don't get so drunk people can steal from you or take advantage of you. It's not that hard."

Tom nodded his head, his lips still curved into a frown.

"I won't tell Michael," Aurora added as she pulled into the hotel parking lot. "You owe me, obviously, but I won't tell Michael. This night will be just between you and me."

Tom forced a smile. "Thanks," he said and it sounded like he meant it.