Forever, With Love

Chapter Seven

Ava

“Sawyerrrrrr I’m homeeeeee!” I yelled out, walking into Sawyer’s house carrying a huge bag of groceries full of the necessities, junk food and more junk food. Probably not the best way to spend my money since I just lost my main source of income but eh, right now I needed this, “Sawyer?” I yelled again, kicking off my shoes. I went to the kitchen and dropped the bag off on the counter and yelled again, “SAWYER!”

“Stop yelling you crazy! We're back here!” she yelled from her room.

"I wouldn't have to yell if you answered me the first time!" I yelled back as I made my way to where she was until I stopped in my tracks, looking at the sight in front of me, “Are you really doing what I think you're doing? I thought you were joking!” I laughed, looking at Sawyer, Ray and Summer as they all were sitting on their knees on the back porch that connected to her room surrounding five coolers, balloons littered the floor and paint was starting to spill everywhere. I needed fun and this is what it was. I felt excited for something for the first time in a while and I couldn't stop the smile from forming. Just as I was about to walk outside to help them, my phone vibrated in my pocket and as I took it out, Summer let out this maniacal laugh, saying how she wished she thought of this.

Aiden: We still on for lunch?

Me: Maybe. I’ll let you know. Maybe tomorrow instead. Or the next day. You know, I'm a busy person these days.

Aiden: No s**t. Make time for me or I'll force it. You at Sawyers?

Me: She might be on to something here. Girl time is needed but I’ll let you know.

As I was about to go back to the porch and take a peak in those coolers, knowingly what they were doing, my phone vibrated again and this time, it was a phone call from Art. “I’ll be right back.” I said to them as they continued to do what they were doing. I don’t think they noticed, so I walked into the kitchen and took the call. I didn’t want to but I figured it would be better if I took it instead of ignoring him.

I wanted this to work so this was the first step, actually talking to him. So, with shaky hands, I answered the phone.

“Heyyyyy….” I dragged out the ‘y’ in the word, “What’s up?”

“Don’t you what’s up me Patterson.” He said with an angry tone.

“Last names? Is that where we are now? I’m offended. I thought we were friends.”

“We are and I'm hurt."

“Did Ollie stomp of your foot with heels again?” I laughed.

“Ava…they took your name off the OR board. When I asked what was going on, Chief said you took time off. So I asked when you would be back and he didn't answer. He wouldn’t look me in the eye and told me to talk to you. What’s going on?” He got all serious.

“Nothing. Everything is fine. It’s a-okay. I'm just taking time off for me, myself and I.”

“You’re lying. Talk to me… please. If we want to be friends then we need to talk. I know you are all about keeping secrets but whatever else is going on, I can help. And don't say nothing else is going on but the Sara thing, I know you.”

“When do you get off work?”

“Three but I have…an appointment I have to get to.” He stuttered out a bit.

“Maybe tomorrow then. Or the next day. I don't know, Aiden is fighting for my attention as well, you might have to go through him.”

“Tonight. I’ll come over.”

“Can't, going to moms.” I said quickly.

“I’ll be there.”

“Nah, it’s okay. I’ll just talk to you the next time I see you.” And I hung up before he could say anything. I knew if he saw me at tonight, he would know something was up and even though I told him I would talk to him, I needed one night to to myself. I concentrate on me and I can't do that if he's in my presense. Just one night.

He didn’t call me back, which told me he had to get back to work. He was probably sent out to update the family on a surgery, so I went back to the porch where the girls were still sitting. Memories flashed through my mind, recalling the last time we did this.

“I am so excited to do this!” I jumped up.

“Oh me too! Aiden and Archer are getting out of their academy training early today. Something about someone needing to be somewhere. I don’t know but regardless, they are coming over in a bit. I called Finn and he called the boys and they are going to be here soon. The only person who isn’t is Art because working.” Sawyer grinned, “Oh man, I haven’t done this since…”

“Buffalo. Oh my gosh. That day was amazing.” I dropped down to my knees and helped them fill more balloons, squirting the paint into the balloon first and filling it with water.

“Tell us this story! You guys have so much history and we barely know any of it. When Sawyer told us about this plan, we immediately called mom and Hannah to get the kids so we can have some adult time. They’re jealous.” Ray grinned.

“Oh, they are so beyond jealous. They want to do this to Austin, Eli and Tristian.” Summer laughed, “I told them they might end breaking more bones and we don’t want a repeat of what happened at the ice rink with Eli and Bella. Let’s just say, some curse words were said to me. They're so mean.”

“Anyways…story time!”

“Gosh…I remember it like it was yesterday. Aiden was a freshmen in high school and were like, what, nine years old?” Sawyer asked looking at me as a sheen covered her eyes. Memories from our past always made her emotional.

“We were watching youtube videos and came across one about the paint balloons and begged mom and Ivory to take us to the store. The only reason why they said yes was because they were going to get dad and Jason too and make it a whole family thing.”

“Your dad?” Ray asked, “I thought…I’m sorry.”

“Hey, it’s okay.” I smiled, remembering my dad, “This was before he died.”

“How did he die?” Summer asked as Ray punched her arm, “Ouch! I’m telling mom on you.” She glared, making me and Sawyer chuckle.

“It’s okay. He died a long time ago. He died of ALS. He fought hard for about three years before he succumbed to it.” I smiled. He was the strongest person I knew, always positive, even when he was sick. One of his sayings was 'strength comes not from what we’re good at, but through the struggles we face. That is where we rise and thrive and grow. Face them head on, one step at a time and everything will come to place the way it’s supposed to'. I live by those words, at least I used to. He was my rock. My everything. I was a complete daddy’s girl.

“I’m so sorry Ava…” Ray whispered, taking my hand into hers, “If it helps, you can share my dad. He is just too much at times.”

“I might take you up on that offer someday.” I smiled, “But anyways…this story. Dad and Jason helped us filled the water balloons while mom and Ivory got Aiden and some of his friends from school to come over. When they came down the driveway, we were on the upper balcony of their house hiding behind these potted plants they had.”

“Aiden had no idea what was happening. We started chucking balloons at them from above and they thought it was hilarious until they found out it was filled with watered down paint. They started screaming at us and when we ran out of balloons, we ran downstairs to try to lock the door but we were too late!” she laughed.

“They chased us into the back yard, paint covered their entire bodies. We screamed as they grabbed us. Aiden and his friend, damn, I don’t remember his name, grabbed us while the other two grabbed more balloons that our dads filled up for them. Apparently, they deemed it boys vs girls. They twirled us around as the other chucked balloons at us and our dad’s had the hose and sprayed us, soaking everyone from head to toe. It was honestly one of the best days.”

“Yeah. And then that night, my dad made this huge fire for us so we can dry off and get warm. That is when Aiden sung for us the first time, him and his friends. They sang ‘we are the champions’ to rub it in our faces because they said they won.”

“Well, they did!” we laughed, “And I will never admit that out loud to him, especially now.”

“Was it always like that with you guys growing up?” Summer asked. I looked over at her as she tied a balloon, placing it in the cooler. She seemed sad.

“It was. Even though Aiden was older, he always included us in everything he did. He drove us to school when he got his license. He let us hang out with him and his friends whenever they were over. He even ditched the girls he dated to be with us.” I smiled.

“More like to be with you. He was always your savior.” Sawyer chuckled, “Like that one time when you were supposed to go to the winter formal with Brent.”

“Oh god.” I rolled my eyes, shaking my head at the memory.

“Ooooo…who’s Brent?” Summer asked wiggling her eyebrows at us, making me glare at her just a bit.

“Captain of the baseball team. So hot and gorgeous. He asked me to be his date and I was on top of the world. We got ready together and we waited for him.”

“I refused to leave her home alone and even made my date wait too. He was annoyed and I told him to leave. He was compaining so we kicked him out of the house.”

“How old were you guys?” Ray asked

“fourteen, freshmen in high school.” I smiled.

“Aiden was home from camp and he brought his friend home with him for the week before school started."

“Felix?”

“Ha yeah. That was the night he first fell in loveeeee with Sawyerrrr.” I teased making her roll her eyes at me and punch my arm, “Ouch. You’ve been hanging around Bella too much.”

“Shup up you twat.”

“Can you stop the sisterly bickering and continue? I’m on edge here.” Summer bounced on her knees.

“I didn’t think this story was that…intense?” I questioned, c*****g my eyebrow at them.

“I’ve been talking to children most of the time. The boys are working on training camp for football and helping Finn at the summer camp so my conversations usually involve barbies and animals so please…PLEASE continue with the story. I need this adult conversation. PLEASEEEE.” She begged making us all laugh.

“I feel her pain.” Ray smiled, “Although, Hannah has been watching the twins for me while I work on lesson plans so it’s more…quiet.”

“You bitch.” Summer gasped out, “I get why Sawyer hasn’t been around. Harper is still in the cute baby phase and she’s tired. Ava is a freaken doctor but you…have been in quiet this entire time? Ellie is driving me nuts. That girl can talk about everything and nothing at the same time just like Jordan!”

“I’ve been working.” She rolled her eyes. I kept my composure about the whole doctor thing. They didn’t need to know right now, ever really, “Anyways continue before this jealous one here interrupts again.”

“Well…Felix and Aiden came home from a night run and came upstairs to change their clothes. Ava and I were talking about stupid boys and how we went shopping just to be stood up.”

“We didn’t know they were listening to our conversation. They knocked on the door and slowly pushed it in.”

“Why so slow?” Ray asked.

“They told us they were afraid of us. According to them, girls are unpredictable and they feared for their lives.” We all laughed, “But in all honesty, once they saw me crying, both their faces went as red as could be.”

“So…they went to Aiden’s room, got their dress blues and came over and they both escorted us to the dance.” Sawyer smiled, “It was one of the best nights we’ve had with them and the looks on all the girls faces seeing us on the arms of two Marines? Priceless and Brent, the jerk he was, tried to come over to Ava and win her back, not like he had a chance.”

“Total ass. Aiden grabbed him by his collar and threatened him. After that night, Sawyer mentioned me and Aiden getting together and that lead us to play fight. We were at a park, hanging out before he had to leave again and he threw us in the lake before he jumped in.”

“I’m jealous.” Summer sighed, “I wanted that so bad and who knew Felix had a heart.”

“You’ve had some fun stories with Art though, right?” Ray asked, “I mean he was your neighbor.”

She shrugged, “Yeah but…” and we heard the front door open and voices fill the house. We recognized them all. Dylan, Jordan, Aiden, Archer, Finn and Felix all rushed in together. We crept to the door and listened to their conversation.

“Do you know why they called us? And where the hell is Art?” Dylan asked as we heard the fridge open, bottles clinking, and then a light slam shut.

“He’s working till like later or something.” Finn spoke, “He said he had an appointment after but then he needed to talk to me. Give me your water bottle Dyl, I don't feel like a beer right now.”

“Do you know what about?” Aiden asked.

“No clue. But he sounded upset like something was really bothering him.”

“Where are the girls? They are being really quiet.” Jordan muttered.

“Suspicious if you ask me.” Archer said.

“Eh, they’re probably out back on the deck, sunbathing in some skimpy bikinis rubbing tanning lotion on each other.” Felix said and I could just imagine him grinning

“Dude…those are our wives…and sisters...so wrong...so so wrong.” Finn said through gritted teeth, “You need a girl and get laid or something.”

“Well, Ava’s single so who knows.”

“She is far from single.” Archer laughed.

“What do you mean?”

“Say that in front of Art and see what happens. They are both stubborn as hell but anyone can see the chemistry between the two of them.” Aiden said, “So, like I said with Sawyer, she’s my sister, back off.”

“What ever happened to that Brandon dude? You invited him to the fire and then what happened?” Jordan ask.

“And that was a total mistake. But we can talk about that later. Let’s go to the back and see the girls.”

We all rushed to the door and hid on the side of the house, each of us holding two water balloons in our hands, holding in our laughter trying not to give ourselves away. I pushed aside what Felix said about me and him. Never going to happen and I can talk to Jordan later about the whole Brandon thing. It’s time they all knew what was going on with that. All they knew is we broke up but they don’t know why.

The door slid open and each of them walked onto the porch, surrounding two of the four coolers of balloons. The other two were by us, one on each side of the house.

“Dude…what are those.” Dylan said, bending down and picking up a balloon and tossing it in the air to catch it.

“Oh no…” Aiden laughed and grabbed three of them and backed away.

“Oh no? What?” Jordan looked confused.

“I’m telling you this right now. Every man for themselves.” And he continued to walk backwards until he looked up and saw us, winking with a large grin on his face. I can only imagine the look on the guys as the stared at him.

It was then they slowly turned to where he was looking and all of us girls screamed and started to chuck balloons at them. They tried to protect themselves by holding their arms to cover their faces but it didn’t work, especially when the explosion of colors, red, blue, yellow, purple, started to cover their hair, face and clothes.

Realizing what was happening they all started to bend into the coolers and start throwing them at us. Because they were temporarily blinded, they missed and they missed terribly, hitting the siding and windows of the house around us until Aiden came over and grabbed Sawyer by her waist and held her while Felix chucked a couple of balloons at her.

“This is payback!” he screamed as she laughed, kicking and trying to wiggle from his embrace, “This is payback for doing this to me in high school!”

“Get over the past you baboon!” she screamed. Ray and Summer ran over to them and started to pop the balloons over their heads while I stood around the corner and watched, holding a balloon in my hand for safe measure, biding my time.

“What do we have here?” I heard from behind me, freezing in place. I slowly looked over my shoulder and seen Archer standing behind me, tossing a balloon in the air and catching it with the biggest grin on his face, “Is little Ava trying to hide from all the excitement?”

“Stay back!” I said, pretending to be scared, “I’m not afraid to use this!”

“Oh really? If you’re not afraid then why are you backing up huh? Your all bark and no bite Patterson.” He laughed and something inside me burned. I may not be myself for the most part because my life is going to s**t but when I say I’m going to do something, damn it I do it.

So I took the only balloon I had in my hand and chucked in at him only for him to knock it out and it splattering against the wall of the house. My eyes went wide, “Okay. Let’s not be too hasty here Archer. No reason to get so…violent.” I held my hands up in defense as he grinned, taking another step towards me.

“Violence is my middle name.” he winked. I rolled my eyes at him and just laughed. Ever since he started the police academy his self confidence has gone through the roof. He’s packed on the muscles on his six foot frame, hitting one final growth spurt and he’s starting to sport some facial hair, making him look older than 19, more like twenty five.

He’s going to break a lot of hearts in the future not only because of his looks because he is still holding out for Jo, the love sick puppy.

I felt hands grab me from behind and hold me in place as a balloon popped over my head, drenching me in yellow paint, “Yellow always looked good on you.” Jordan grinned as I stomped on his foot, “s**t! Ow! Why is it always me? Why is everyone abusive to me?”

“Because.” Ray rolled her eyes, “I have to say, this was the best idea Sawyer had in a long time.”

“Yeah, we need to do more things like this.” Felix said, out of breath as he sat down on the stairs where we were standing. We all followed suit and relaxed while Dylan went and got the hose, “Where’s Art? It's almost four. He usually calls by now.”

“Probably still working.” I shrugged, “He called earlier and he wanted to talk about something.”

“Are you going to finally open up and let him in?” Sawyer asked me.

I sat there in silence for a moment, thinking about everything going on in my life. The fact that I got fired from the hospital. My mom isn’t getting better. And then there’s…

My thoughts were interrupted by Ray, “Well? What exactly is going on between you two?”

“Nothing. We’ve decided to be friends.”

“You two cannot be just friends. There is so much electricity and love between you two it's disgusting. Are you going to tell him why though? If you tell him why, I think things will fall in place.” Summer asked.

“Why what?” Dylan questioned holding the hose in his hands.

“Why I love him.” I sighed out.

“Isn’t it obvious though?” he stated, like it wasn’t some secret. I gave him a confused look when he rolled his eyes at me, “You two belong together. He has always been there for you through everything, picking up his life in an instant to be by your side. He’s your shoulder to cry on when you’re sad, like he did in Buffalo. He’s the one that saved our family. He’s always watching over you and protecting you even when you don’t notice. He only has eyes for you Ava. How do you not see it?”

“I do…I’m just terrible with words.” I said as my eyes fell to the ground.

“It’s true. She is.” Sawyer smiled, “But you will get there, sooner or later you will. I know it.”

“Well, enough of this chatter. Let’s get sprayed down and get some food, I’m hungry.” Dylan grinned as he aimed the hose at all of us, spraying all of down and washing off the paint.

We went inside, dripping wet and borrowed clothes from Finn and Sawyer and freshen up so we could go into town and get some food. We drove three separate cars, Aiden, Felix and I in one. Archer, Dylan and Ray in the other and in the last one was Jordan, Summer, Finn and Sawyer, all of us parking on the side of the road so we can walk to the local café since they didn’t have a parking lot.

Linking my arms between Aiden and Felix, they tried to swing me like a child and it was absolutely hilarious and fun at the same time because they were actually able to do it. I’m only five foot six, but these two burley manly men, ex-Marines, swung me like I was a toddler until I almost fell.

Why did I almost fall? Because in the window of the café where we were supposed to go was Art and Lucas. Lucas was sitting there, coloring next to Art but that’s not what stopped me.

He was there with some woman, a gorgeous woman with fire red hair and popping emerald, green eyes. The way he held her hand on top of the table as they spoke, him talking and shaking his head and her nodding and responding hurt. The look in his eyes showed so much emotion I didn’t know what to think. It wasn’t until I saw her rub his hand with her thumb and her turning to Lucas and saying something to him, him giving her the biggest smile in response, showing her a picture. It must be of them, because she pointed and she smiled at them and pointed back to Art and he nodded.

“Come on…” Sawyer said, grabbing my hand and pulling me to her so she could hug my shoulder, her eyes not leaving the scene we were all looking at, “I’m sure there’s an explanation.”

“She looks familiar.” Felix said, looking into the window before turning to me. I just stood there, looking at them, eyes watering as I felt my heart slowly c***k. I took in a deep breath composing myself. I didn’t want to cry, not in front of everyone here. First the teacher and now this woman? What the hell was he doing? If he's seeing other girls, then why still come around me and tell me everything he does...it doesn't make sense. “Come here Ava.” He said and he pulled me from Sawyer and into his arms to hug me. That’s when I lost it. I was already emotional watching them but the hug just over did it for me.

“I’m going to go in there and talk to him.” Dylan said but he said angry, “I can’t believe him. Especially after everything he told me…he does this?”

“We should talk to him but not right now. We go in there and confront him it could cause a scene.” Jordan said.

“I hate when you’re the logical one.” Dylan groaned.

“But when we do talk to him, we need to be calm. Accusing him of something before we get the whole story is going to make things so much worse.” Summer spoke as she held my hand, trying to comfort me, "Because I am sure there is an explanation. There has to be."

“I agree. He hasn’t so much looked at another girl since he met you. Even when he lived on the other side of the state, it’s been you.” Jordan sighed out.

“If there isn’t a good explanation I’m kicking his ass.” Dylan glared, crossing his arms.

“Violence isn’t always the answer.” Jordan rolled his eyes, “You all may be abusive as hell towards me but at least talk to the man.”

"She still looks mad familiar..." Felix whispered, "I know her from somewhere I just can't put my finger on it."

“Let’s go back to the house and we can order some take out or something. How does that sound?” Archer said grabbing my hand and pulling me back as we walked back to the cars.

“No. I think I’m going to go home and relax. Plus, I needed to help mom with something later so I might as well start now.”

“Are you going to be okay?” Ray asked.

“Yeah. I will be. I can't be upset right? We're friends and he owes me nothing.” I smiled, “She's pretty. He did good and I hope they make each other happy. I really do.” I slapped on the fakest smile I could, pushing the tears away because I truly meant what I said. I really do hope they make each other happy. That's all I have ever wanted for him.

Ray came over and hugged me, “You can stop pretending."

"But I'm not." I looked at everyone, "All I want is for him to be happy and if that happiness is without me then that's okay. I will be fine, I promise."

And without another word, I turned around and headed to my car to go to moms. The ride was silent because I knew if I played any music, the music gods would play some sappy love songs or sad songs to make me even more emotional and I’m not ready for that.

Once I got inside, I let myself lean on the door, taking in the darkness of the house as I brought my knees to my chest and hugged myself. Snoop came from around the corner and laid right next to me, his head nudging my legs down so he can relax. He just wanted head boops.

With a huff, he looked up at me from where he was laying, “I know boy, I know. Everything will be okay. I know it.”

I sat there in the darkness of my moms house thinking about everything. How much more of this can I take before I lose it? I can't. Not right now so maybe it's time I concentrate on myself and get things sorted because friends is what we will ever be, especially seeing the smile on his face when he looked at her. It's okay, it really is because I know in the end, I will be okay.

I have to be.