baby; ruel van dijk

14 - irl

Ruel's POV:

Alex, Harrison and I decided to go chill at the shopping center. Alex didn't want us hanging out as his place and I bet I can guess why.

We've been here for a few hours now and Harrison's getting bored.

"Let's just go back to your place and chill." He suggests. Alex looks unsure.

I roll my eyes. "We're not gonna hit on your sister Alex, loosen up a bit."

He raises an eyebrow. "Oh yeah cause it's not like you've been flirting with her on instagram the past couple days."

Harrison laughs and playfully shoves my shoulder. "He got you there mate."

I glare and shake my head. "I was just messing around."

"If you say so." Alex sighs. "Fine, let's go to my place, Ava's probably with Kaylee anyways."

For some reason I feel disappointed.
Maybe I wanted Ava to be there.

[]

I pull into the Johnson's driveway and park behind Alex's car. We all drove separately since we had our own cars.

"Mom and dad aren't home, you know what that means." Alex smirks once we enter the kitchen.

Harrison grins and hops onto the counter. "Pass me one."

Alex reaches into the fridge and grabs three beers, tossing one to each of us. "So, what shall we do first-" He's cut off by a soft voice coming from the doorway.

"Ally, what's going on?"

We all direct our attention to the short girl who just entered. Ava.

And wow. She's even more beautiful in person.

My eyes scan her body and I unintentionally lick my lips. She's wearing spandex shorts and a cropped tank top.

She looks amazing.

Alex's eyes widen. "I thought you were hanging out with Kaylee today?"

Ava shakes her head. "That's tomorrow." Her eyes suddenly land on me and she smiles playfully. "Hey boyfriend."

I smirk. "Hey girlfriend."

Alex clears his throat and walks over to Ava. "You should go back upstairs."

She pouts. "Why? I'm bored."

"Cause we're trying to hang out, now go away." He tells her, getting frustrated.

"Fine, i'm going." She holds her hands up in surrender before turning and leaving the room.

"Come on dude, you should've let her stay. We don't mind, right Ruel?" Harrison says with a grin directed at me.

I nod. "Yeah, I don't mind."

Alex rolls his eyes. "I know why you two don't mind. I'm not blind." He picks up his drink again. "Let's go play some 2K."

[]

"I need a bathroom break, be right back." I toss my controller to Harrison and stand up from the couch.

I already know where the bathroom is so I head upstairs, do my business, and wash my hands. As i'm walking down the hall, I hear quiet singing. I pause right next to the door it's coming from and lean against it. Her voice is beautiful.

I decide to push the door open a little more so I can see, careful not to make any noise.

I'm not trying to be nosy, I just want to hear more.

There's only one other person here so I know who's voice it is. I see her sitting on the ground next to her bed, a keyboard in front of her.

Ava can sing.

[a/n: this is what she sounds like :)]

I wait until she's done to slowly start clapping. She jumps and her whole body spins around to face me. A blush appears on her face as she stands up from the ground. "Ruel...what are you doing in here?"

I ignore her question and step further inside her room. "You have an amazing voice."

Ava laughs quietly. "It's really not that great..."

I raise an eyebrow and continue to walk closer. "You're joking right?

She bites her lip and shakes her head. I stop right in front of her so i'm now only a few inches away. I basically tower over her.

"Well you're wrong." I state. She laughs again and looks down. "I'm serious." I grin. "You could get signed with that voice."

She purses her lips. "I would never do that."

I frown. "Why not?"

Ava wraps her arms around her body. "Stage fright. I've always had it."

That makes sense. But it's nothing I can't handle.

I reach my hand out and tuck some of her hair behind her ear. "I can help with that." She looks unsure. "Come on, I know what it's like, trust me."

"How could you possibly help me with my stage fright?" She questions.

I smirk slightly. "I think I have an idea, but your brother couldn't know about it."

She slowly nods. "Okay, what is it."

"You'd come to rehearsals with me and perform at my next show in Melbourne."

Her eyes widen and she takes a step back. "I don't know about that. Plus Alex would find out anyways."

I shake my head. "We'll tell him about it before the show, he just can't know that we'd be practicing together. Don't worry about him."

She goes back to biting her lip. "I'll think about it."

"Well I should probably head back down now." Ava nods but doesn't say anything else so I turn to leave.

"Wait." Just as I step out, she speaks. I pause and look back at her. The blush is back and she's playing with her hands nervously. "Thanks, you know, for the compliment."

I smile. "No problem sweetheart."

When i'm finally at the bottom of the stairs, I release a deep breath.

Alex would actually kill me if he saw what just happened.