Unexpected Love ✔️

T H I R T Y T W O

Chapter thirty-two

A R I A N N A

WALKING INTO THE APARTMENT I SHARE WITH THE GIRLS AGAIN AFTER WHAT FEEL LIKE A LIFETIME but is only a matter of months, feels strange to say the least. Because so much has changed, everything is different, I'm a different person on the inside, and yet the apartment is still the same.

I mean last time I was here, mum was still here and I was dreading the day the time to say goodbye would come. And now, here I am, walking into the apartment, having said that dreaded goodbye, knowing that I'll never see her again.

"Wow, look at what the cat dragged in," Kayden teases, a smirk tugging at the corners of his lips when Aria and I step through the kitchen threshold. "Hey, you alright?" He asks abandoning his spot at the counter and sauntering over. "How have you been?"

"I've been okay," I offer, letting him pick me up and spin me around before placing me down on my feet with a laugh. He arches a brow, not quite believing me. "I mean it's definitely been a lot, but I'm okay," I reword getting him to nod his head and release me, taking a step back.

I get tackled to the ground by Sierra who jumps on me the second Kayden releases me, taking me by surprise. She holds a hand out, offering to help me up once she's finished laughing. Taking it, I pull myself up, wrapping an arm around her once I'm back on my own feet. "It's nice to have you back, Ari,"

I flash her a smile as I move on to Ava. She presses a kiss to my cheek before she moves back into Rowan's arms.

"Jesus Christ, what have I missed?" I ask with a laugh, pulling back from Freya. I turn to Kayden, "You haven't popped the question, have ya?" I ask, before turning back to Ava and Rowan, my eyes bouncing back and forth between the duo. "When the fuck did this happen?"

"It's new-ish," Ava says sending me a sheepish smile as Rowan scratches the back of his neck.

"When we got back from Bradford,"

"Wow, I'm so happy for you," There's no one I know that deserves a sprinkle of happiness more than Ava does, what with raising Luna on her own for the past two years, the custody battle with her ex, it's just been one thing after the next for her. Life's been a real bitch to her lately, and so... she deserves a little break. And Rowan. There's no better for her than our sweet little Rowan.

"Right," I clap my hands, searching. "Where's the little monster of terror? She is awake?" I ask, not knowing what her sleeping schedule is like these days.

"Yeah, I'll just go grab her," Rowan says before excusing himself and I make a mental note to talk to Ava later before I leave. I sink into a bar stool on the island whilst I wait, sending the girls a smile,

"So," Freya starts, drumming her knuckles on the counter, "Where have you been staying?" A tight smile forms on her lips. "We haven't seen you around, lately,"

"Yeah," I clear my throat, "I've actually been staying with Ryan Kingston in an apartment off campus,"

"Ryan Kingston, eh?" Kade asks with a humourless chuckle escaping him.

Nodding my head, I keep my gaze trained on Aria because I know that she knows that the Kingston brothers are tight as fuck.

"Noah Kingston? Please tell me he's not crashing at yours?"

"Arianna, fuck's sake," She hisses a minute later when I stay silent, taking my silence as an answer.

Rowan chooses this moment to enter the kitchen, placing Luna down on her feet. Picking her up when the two-year-old waddles over on unsteady legs, I place her on my lap, giving her my attention as I avoid looking at Aria, whose still waiting for an answer, an explanation.