One-shots/Short Stories

Felix Ferne - Part II

Taking Things For Granted - Part II
Felix sat with Oscar and their family at Andy's grandma's restaurant, Sam beside him. He watched everyone with a small fond smile. He couldn't wait to get back home. See Oscar again, see his parents, Ava -
"Ava!" Oscar cried out in glee. "Hey, you came!"
Felix turned quickly to find her, seeing her standing in front of them all. She wore black ripped tights, a black skirt over. She wore a black top with black lace gloves, leather jacket hanging off her arm. She stared at them with a blank look on her face.
Strangely, Felix's parents didn't seem to care of her lack of smile. "Oh, Ava! Nice to see you, love." Felix's mother gave the stoic girl a hug. "Sit, sit!"
Ava sat down with them, that happened to be across from Felix. Said boy gave her a small smile. "Hello again."
Ava merely stared at him, before turning her gaze to the menu given to her. Felix's smile faltered at her silence. Sam nudged him. "Her or Ellen." Sam whispered to him, reminding him. Felix turned to Ava again, his thoughts flying to the happy-go-lucky Ava he knew. Unknowingly, while he was thinking about her, he was staring at her the whole time.
"Felix?" Oscar shook him. Felix shook his head, blinking quickly. "Dude, you've been staring at Ava for a while."
Said girl was staring at him with a frown. "Why were you staring at me?" Ava asked him with a glare. Felix gulped when all attention went to him.
"Nothing, it's just. . ." He gave her a shy smile. "You look beautiful tonight."
And for the first time since he saw her, she showed an emotion. She showed surprise.
It seemed Oscar and his parents had never seen her show an emotion, staring at Felix in shock. Felix simply stared at Ava intently, cherishing the sight of an emotion on her face.
"You look beautiful." Felix repeated. "Thought you'd like to know."
Ava blinked at him, face still in shock. Felix remembered the Ava from his world; how her face would flush madly at the rare compliments he gave her, giving him a bright smile. And in this universe? She did just that.
She looked down with a blush, a smile threatening to appear on her face - a familiar, breathtaking smile.

And Felix smiled genuinely at the sight.

***

"So you made your choice?" Sam asked him. They were all back in their shack, relaxing from a nice full dinner. Felix hummed, staring up at the ceiling.
"Ava. . ." he murmured. "I prefer seeing her happy. Not like this. Like me. All goth and negative. Made me realise that I took things for granted in her. Never again am I doing that to her."
"Nice." Sam nodded, thinking about his Mia. Something I should do as well, Sam thought. No more being selfish.

***

During their stay at the alternate universe, Felix made the decision to get to know the different Ava more. Why was she who she was? Why sad? "Why are you like this?" Felix asked her. They were relaxing at the oval at school, only just the two of them. Felix decided to pull her away from Oscar and get to know her.
"Like what?" she asked in a monotone.
"Like. . ." Felix motioned to her form. "This? Why all goth and negative?"
"Not all lives are perfect." was all she said. Felix nudged her lightly with his shoulder.
"Come on, you gotta tell me more." he asked, secretly begging her for an answer. "You can trust me."
"Not the first person who said that."
"What?" Felix frowned.
"Before you came, there was this guy that I met." she explained slowly. "He was new to Bremin. He was interesting, different. He was like you, actually. All goth."
"Really?"
"Yeah, but the thing was. . .when I met him, I wasn't who I am now." Felix stared at her in surprise. She was girly like back at home?
"I was disgustingly a girly girl like Ellen and Mia." she said, disgust clear on her expression. "I was naïve. Innocent. Curious." She started pulling at the grass. "We got to know one another, eventually falling for each other." she chuckled humourlessly. "Or so I thought."
"What happened?" Felix asked softly. A tear fell from her right eye.
"He broke my heart." she croaked out. "One day, he just stopped hanging out with me. Avoided me. Hung out with some other girl instead of me. His girlfriend. I obviously did something bad for him to avoid me. Probably being a horrible girlfriend somehow."
Horrible friend and girlfriend, Felix remembered Sam say.
"I broke up with him, but the thing was. . .he didn't mind. He seemed glad that we were no longer together." Ava avoided his eyes. "And then during that time, my parents got a divorce, Dad turning alcoholic, Mum insulting me. Saying I was the reason the family was ruined."
Felix felt his heart break at seeing her spill her painful feelings to him. She was who she was because of a boy, and her parents - Felix thought of her parents as the role model for love. They never showed any hate, all looks sent to each other were happiness and love. Hearing them be horrible. . .
Felix couldn't help but think how similar Ava's relationship was like with him. He made a mistake. A huge one.
"Ava. . ." Felix grabbed her hands. "I promise you, I won't hurt you. Not again."
"What do you mean not again?"
Felix licked his suddenly dry lips in nerves. "There's something I need to tell you. . .about who I really am. . ."

***

Felix hugged his Dad, having missed him. He was home. They were home. They were back in their universe. They were home.
When they went home, they held a barbecue with happy reunions. His mum, dad, Oscar, and Ellen.

But someone was missing.

"Where's Ava?" Felix asked them all. Everyone went silent. "Guys? Where is she?"
"Ava took you being missing quite hard." his mother explained to him slowly. "She. . .didn't take it well."
"What happened to her?" Felix felt himself starting to panic. Was she turning into a goth? Was she turning into a shell of herself? "Mum, where is she?"
"Didn't she break up with you?" Ellen reminded him. "You shouldn't care about her."
"Don't say that about her!" Felix said furiously, standing up. "She's done nothing wrong. I was the one that did wrong."
"Felix?" Oscar asked warily. "Are you okay?"
"I-I gotta go." Felix rushed. "I need to see her."

***

Felix ran to her place, knocking madly on the door. "Ava?" Felix called. "Ava?"
The door opened, revealing Ava's mother - mother who looks healthy and not sinister like the way the other Ava described her mother.
"Felix!" Ava's mother brought him into a tight hug. "Oh, it is so good to see you!"
"You too, Mrs Evergreen." Felix rushed out. "But can I see Ava?"
"Mum? Who is it?" a familiar voice rang out.
"Ava!" Pushing past Ava's mother, he ran inside to see Ava standing in the hallway in her pyjamas. She looked horrible. She had bags under her eyes, her face sunken in. She no longer glowed, but was instead pale.
Felix took two long strides to her and brought her into a hug. A hug he held on tightly to. A hug the both of them needed. "I missed you." Felix breathed out. "I missed you so much."
"I missed you too." Ava cried. "B-but, what about Ellen -"
"I don't like her that way." Felix told her quickly. "I don't like her that way. It was a mistake for ever leaving you. I was stupid. And I am sorry. Forgive me? Bring me back? I promise you I will treat you better." He cupped her face in his hands. "I love you, Ava Evergreen."
Ava's face flushed a beautiful red, her messy black hair covering her face. Felix lifted her chin up, brushing her hair away from her face. "I love you." Felix repeated in a whisper. Slowly, he connected his lips to hers, enjoying the feel of her soft lips against his, the smell of vanilla filling his nose - vanilla being what Ava always smelt like. And he loved it.
"I love you too." Ava whispered.
"You never realise what you take for granted until you're stuck in a forest." Felix murmured jokingly.
The familiar bright laughter rung out, as well as an aura of happiness in the air. Something Felix missed a lot and would cherish forever.

The End