Having Your Jelly Baby

10: Comfort

HELLO GUYS!! Basically, I'm posting this before I regret it: acting on impulse is the only way I do things and get them done :P You're probably all thinking, "whoa, yo, wtf r u doin here bro?" but basically, rewriting HYJB is going surprisingly INCREDIBLY, and the words are practically bleeding out of me, so I asked wattpad to put it back up, and voila, here it is. Hope you like this chapter, and I'd love to know what you think! :D Love, River xoxo (Picture of Ava at the side :D)

10: Comfort

'...and then in an unprovoked fit of anger, she hit me across the face with it like a complete and utter psycho!' Drew said, animatedly telling me the story about the time Ava had hit him with her little doll. 'It was one of those flipping freaky ones that had those creepy eyes that blink.' He shuddered before adding, 'It was so hard that I had to get stitches,' lifting a little tuft of hair right by his hairline and showing a tiny scar that I'd never noticed before.

'That's what she said,' I muttered through the corner of my mouth to Ava, who positively collapsed with laughter.

She was surprisingly reserved and thoughtful, despite what Drew had said earlier about the fact that she'd had to practically throttle him to get him to spill the beans about the baby. Her strawberry blonde hair fell straight and to the middle of her back, the epitome of pretty with her porcelain skin and freckles scattered in constellations across her cheeks, her eyes huge and green.

'Other than the occasional abuse from each other, I guess our childhood was pretty all right,' Ava said.

'I'm glad,' I said softly. 'What are the rest of your family like, then? Your cousins, aunts, uncles? Your parents? I'd love to know what they're like.'

Ava froze a little, and I instantly regretted my words. I knew - hell, I was pretty sure half the world knew - that the two of them had been put into care as young children after being taken away from their parents. About a million and one news articles were out there about Drew Turner, the little boy with no prospects who had suddenly gotten a full scholarship at Harrow, went to Oxford, and ended up with a career path into the acting industry.

How had I been stupid enough to forget something as significant as that?

Actually, it probably was the fact that it was easy to forget that I already knew things like this about Drew the person. Drew the actor was the one written about, whose whole family back story was splattered across the pages of the media and made almost theatrically melodramatic.

'Wait,' I said. 'You don't have to answer that. That was a stupid question, I didn't think -I'm just - ah damn it, I'm so sorry, guys.'

Ava had taken a sharp intake of breath that she never let out; she pursed her lips and couldn't meet me or even Drew in the eyes, instead glaring at the ceiling. I knew that she wasn't angry, it was just the way she stopped herself from crying. Ava just didn't want to be seen as weak, especially after all this time.

'No, I'm sorry,' she said after a minute. 'It's just nobody that should talk about it - about our parents - does,' she added gently, her eyes flickering in Drew's direction who immediately turned away, chewing on his bottom lip, and my own gaze followed.

Drew raked a hand through his hair, and it was his turn to do exactly what Ava had, not looking either of us in the eye. His hands moved to his laps, where he twiddled his thumbs, eyes flicking from the ceiling to the people around us to the bar and then to the exit.

'I'm... just going out for a minute. I need some air,' he said, rummaging in one of his inside pockets for something as he stood up and began to walk towards the door.

'He's not going for some air,' Ava muttered with a roll of her eyes. 'He's going out for a fag.'

I felt my eyebrows knit together and my heart lurch a little in shock. 'Oh. I didn't know he smoked,' I admitted, biting my lip.