breathe// 5SOS

58

"Marcus, what shall we do for Christmas Eve?" she asked.

"I don't know," he shrugged, sitting next to her, "why don't we watch some Christmas films?"

"Good idea,"

I sat opposite Ava and she blankly ate her breakfast, Marcus shifting uncomfortably. Not in a mean way, but she had shut herself off to try and calm down, and it would look unusual to him.

"She'll be okay," I assured, "mornings can be rough, especially if she's had a bad dream, or she needs to take information in,"

"I didn't realise quite how hard you worked for her. Thankyou, she's so lucky to have found you,"

"It's not that hard, I guess, because I'm trained for it at work. It's not the same, but similar,"

At the mention of my work, he looked down, busying himself with his food.

"You get scared too?" I said softly, seeing him shrug.

"They weren't very good with my braces, and my retainer broke, so now it probably won't fit. I also look after my teeth so much and still get cavities,"

"I think you're both prone to them, and that's okay. Viola is an orthodontist,"

"And I've not been for a while," he admitted.

"We can sort it out after the court date, it'll only be Cal and I,"

He opened his mouth as if to ask something, then shut it, shying away.

"You can ask questions,"

"Just, what if something is wrong?"

"Don't worry about any of that, cos Cal and I would fix it on the day. Please try not to think about it, because there's not even a date, and we've got plenty of other things going on,"

"It would just be you and Calum?"

"Maybe Viola if we decide, but that's it. There's no reason to be embarrassed either, even I've had a cavity,"

"And I had like 300," Ava mumbled, joining our world again, "but dad is really good. I'm trying someone else though because they're a girl, and dad can hold my hand,"

"You gonna eat?" I asked, "it's really nice, isn't it Marcus?"

"The best breakfast I've ever had,"

At that, she smiled, slowly tucking into her food.

Once she was done, we loaded the dishwasher and I told her to tidy her room quickly so that when Viola got back, she wouldn't have to. Marcus helped because it was hypocritical that I hadn't let her practice handwriting, while I called Viola.

"Hello?" she said, her voice bringing butterflies to my stomach. Spending the night alone was something foreign to me now.

"Viola, how are things?"

"Great. Dad's still a bit tired but he's here,"

"Hello!" Eddie called, making me chuckle.

"Can we FaceTime?"

"Yeah. Is Marcus there?"

"He's helping Ava clean her room,"

"You're evil Ash," she laughed, "it's Christmas Eve,"

"Well I don't want you to end up doing it, because I know you do. She's fine,"

I accepted the face time, seeing both tired faces.

"Didn't you sleep well?" I frowned.

"Not without you," she said quietly, her dad scoffing, making us laugh.