𝟐𝟏𝐂 | 𝐉𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐨𝐰.

Chapter Fourteen.

Ava didn't hear from Jack for days. She'd accepted that long distance wouldn't work for them, and that he would be another notch in her heartbreak belt. But she couldn't allow her grades to slip, not again. She was on the cusp of graduating and she needed to buckle down more than ever. While she was studying with a few other nursing students, she got a phone call from Urban.

At first, she wasn't going to answer it, but then she thought about it. What if Jack was hurt? She excused herself from the group, answering the phone. "Urban? Hey, what's up?" "Have you talked to Jack lately?" he asked, and she shook her head. She soon realized that he couldn't see her, so she answered verbally, "no, I haven't." He sighed, cursing under his breath.

"That makes sense. He's been drinking again," he reported, making her stomach turn. Even when he broke up with his ex-girlfriend, he didn't start drinking, although tempted. Ava almost felt responsible for his relapse, but something in her snapped back. She couldn't blame herself for trying everything she could to make things work between them.

"Well, I don't know what to do. I did what I could. I gotta g-"

"Ava, I will buy you a plane ticket if you can just come talk to him. Please," his voice was desperate, and she could hear the voice of a man who cared for the wellbeing of his best friend. And she cared, too. "Fine, I'll go. But I have to be back in four days to take an exam and make up the classwork," she told him her conditions, and he agreed, just relieved she would come and help.

The next day, after talking with her professors about the sudden "family emergency", she was able to leave without consequence. Her professors knew that in the last 3 years she'd been in their classes that she never missed, so they considered it a well deserved break for her. She'd packed a single suitcase and convinced herself not to pack more. With her plane ticket already paid for, the only issue in her journey to New York was the man seated beside her. When the plane was in the air, the man took off his shoes and socks and the stench was enough to make her pull her jacket up around her face. She thought, "maybe I should've stayed home.."

—

"Ava, it's so good to see you," Urban hugged her, being her ride from the airport. "I missed you, Urb," she smiled, hugging him back and following behind him to the car. A few paparazzi followed them, snapping pictures as she covered her face from the bright flash. As they got in the car, Urban looked at her sheepishly. "Paparazzi? Jack isn't even with us," she was appalled, looking out the window at the people desperate for photos.

"Yeah, he's a big deal, well, everywhere," Urban laughed, pulling out of the parking lot. He drove through the city, him and Ava catching up; they talked often, but it felt good to do it in person. Urban was always there for her emotionally when Jack wasn't around, and vice versa, which sealed the deal on a lifelong friendship for the pair. Before they left, Urban and Ava had grown incredibly close. As she was thinking about it, Urban parked in front of a tall building. Ava followed him inside after he handed the valet his keys. She couldn't believe how good they were living in The Big Apple. "'Ight, Jack is in studio B right now. Go in there and slap some sense into his ass," Urban told her, pointing to the door down the hallway.

"You're not going?" she asked, noticing how he was ready to leave. "Nah, I still got 10 minutes of my lunch break. That and I don't need him cussin' my ass out," he said, now walking in the opposite direction. When she walked down the hall, she could smell the weed and liquor before she even walked in the room. Without knocking, she opened the door and was almost knocked over from the smell. In the room full of men, and naked women, Ava searched each face, and sighed when she saw Jack.

"Ava?"

+ THOUGHTS?? SHIT IS GETTING REALER THAN REAL! chapter dedication goes to my lovely: charcoocheurie 💗