Edited
A/N Shoutout to chalcedoon for being one of the best readers, supporters and commenters of the TUT EMPIRE and as promised has received the official GOLD TUT BADGE OF HONOUR.
And again, we have another GOLD TUT BADGE that I am honoured to award to xAmberLynnWriterx who has been an amazing reader by voting on each chapter and let's not forget the comments that absolutely made my week more special! If y'all have time make sure to go check out Amber Lynn's story, 'The Dragon Queen's Heir' on Wattpad.
Link in the comment.
How to get a TUT BADGE OF HONOUR: comment on more than 20 chapters and vote on all chapters to get the TUT Stories' attention. Remember better the comments the better the reward.
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"I kissed a girl and I liked it" and it turns out Avery likes it too.
Aiden finished his burger meals whilst Mira nibbled on her fries. He was like a food vacuum. So to prevent him from ravaging Avery's meal, she gave him her fries to finish.
She took a sip of her strawberry milkshake and placed it down. "Are we going to ignore the fact that Avery has been gone for over fifteen minutes?"
Aiden shrugged, slurping his soda. "Maybe she's in the bathroom."
Mira frowned at him. "I'm going to check," she said as she slid out of her seat and made her way to the door with Avery's umbrella. She stepped outside. Avery's car was still there.
Mira turned to go check inside but out of the corner of her eye, she saw a figure behind her car. She jogged her way there to find Avery cursing and kicking at the ground as she viciously ran her hands through her hair and tugged at it hard. She was soaked from the rain.
Mira took a step towards her. "Avery?"
Avery turned and glared at her, causing her to flinch back.
When she realised it was Mira, her shoulders slumped, her bottom lip quivered and she crouched to the floor breathing hard. "I didn't mean for anything to happen to her, Mira. How was I supposed to know she was doing all that shit and went to that party? I would have stopped her. I should have–" She let out a frustrated yell hitting her fist on the ground.
Avery's breathing was ragged, her chest rapidly rising and falling. Mira realised she was having a panic attack. She crouched down in front of her trying to stop Avery from hitting the ground before she hurt her hand further. "Look, it's okay."
"No, it's not. You don't understand. Lila's dead because I was the one who took her to The Secret Falls. She took the drugs because of me – I introduced her to them. She got hurt because of me."
Mira looked like Avery's words had slapped her in the face.
Avery thought that would be enough to repulse Mira but it didn't. Mira knew there was more to it. Avery was not to blame. She was holding something back.
Was this why Adam was upset with Avery?
She wanted to know more. On the other hand, her priority at this point, was calming Avery down. She cupped Avery's face in hers, allowing the umbrella to fall causing her to get drenched too.
She forced Avery's wild eyes to look at her. "Listen to me, Avery."
Avery was still breathing heavily. She shut her eyes and wrenched her face away from Mira's. She stood up and moved away from her, backing up against her car. "No. Please, just stay away." Mira got up to look at Avery who was whispering, barely audible, "I don't want to hurt you too. I don't want to lose you too. I'm sorry but–"
Mira stood on her tippy-toes, grabbed Avery's face and smashed her lips to hers.
Avery tensed up, completely shocked, as she pulled her closer. For a second or two, Mira wondered if she should stop and had made a big mistake but soon Avery relaxed, her breathing stabilized and she wrapped an arm around Mira's waist, pulling her even closer as her other hand wrapped around the back of Mira's neck and tilted her head up so that she could deepen the kiss.
Avery's tongue probed at Mira's lips asking her for permission. Mira opened her eyes and she didn't realise she had shut them and found Avery staring right back at her. Her lips parted allowing Avery to take control. Something about this felt right to Mira, it felt familiar as if this was where she belonged: in Avery's arms – a place she had been before.
In her mind, she saw Avery kissing her, in the moonlight near a pool of water like in her dream. Only this time she knew it wasn't a dream.
She pulled away, both of them trying to breathe again. Avery dropped her forehead against Mira's and she closed her eyes. "I'm sorry."
"Well, I'm not," she replied as Avery lifted her head.
She noticed Avery's eyes had turned into deep blue and almost black as Avery let out a low chuckle, her chest vibrating against Mira's.
A comforting warmth spread between their bodies protecting them from the icy stabs of rain droplets.
"We should probably get into the car," Mira finally said, breaking the silence.
Avery nodded, still in a bit of a daze. "I think, I forgot my keys inside."
Mira shook her head. "Did you check your pockets?"
She walked over to the door of the car, promptly facing away from Avery, so she could hide her shock as the reality of their kiss kicked in. Mira pulled the door open and Avery dropped her shoulders as she found the keys in one of her pockets.
"It looks like you forgot to lock it in the first place."
She giggled as Avery scoffed and picked up the umbrella. Avery opened the boot and grabbed her spare beach towels tossing one on the front passenger seat. Mira opened the door and set the towel, gingerly climbed in. Avery did the same to her side and climbed in.
"Well, that tantrum was pointless."
"Not really. If it didn't happen I wouldn't have had my first kiss with you."
Avery opened her mouth to say something but then decided against it.
"What?' Mira demanded.
"Your first kiss with me, huh? I think you may want to reconsider that."
"Where else could I have kissed you other than my dreams?" Mira cringed into her seat, realising what she had just said.
"Maybe you – wait, you've dreamt of kissing me?"
At this point, Mira wanted to crawl into a hole and live out the rest of her shameful life. She also became uncomfortably aware of how she was alone with Avery. She clasped her hands on her lap and stared at them as she fiddled with her thumbs. Avery switched the car heater on, to dry them off.
Avery sighed and sat back in her seat, her head against the headrest. "About everything I just said outside–"
"Don't worry. You don't have to explain how and I won't tell anyone but remember if you need to tell me anything, I'm here." She took Avery's hand in hers and gently squeezed it. Avery looked at their intertwined hands back to Mira.
"It's only fair I tell you about Líla." She took a deep breath and stared out the window as she tightened her grip on Mira's hand. "The first time I came to Melbourne with my mom was when I was 6 years old. One afternoon, my mom was called to a rugby match because one of the kids had gotten injured. That's when I met old Líla." Avery smiled and Mira couldn't help but feel slightly jealous of a girl she never met.
"I spotted her hiding behind the refreshments table – not very well – as she watched the game intensely. When I asked what she was doing, she grabbed me down to her level and shushed me. She told me 'I'm here to meet my little brother for the first time. Mama is here too, to meet him. I wanna see how well he can play.' I guess I should have known our relationship was going to be a strange one, full of secrets that we tried to hide from the rest of the world."
Avery paused and glanced over at Mira who urged her on.
"When I asked who she meant, she pointed at 4-year-old Adam and that's how we met."
Avery dropped her sight onto her steering wheel but before she could say another word, the back door of the car flew open.
A furious Aiden burst in through the door as his teeth chattered.
"Bitches, the both of you." He pulled the doggie bag of food out of his jersey. "Does the concept of having cell phones, for communication, fail you."
He was so busy ranting, like a 90-year-old lady, that it gave Mira and Avery enough time to quickly let go of each other's hands.
They stared in opposite directions guiltily because they both forgot the rest of the world and their problems fell away with it. Avery glanced at the seats her brother was dripping on.
"Phoenix, my –"
"I swear to the Gods, if you complain about how I'm damaging your seats after you two abandon me like an unloved child at McDonald's, ignored my calls and forced me to run in the cold rain, knowing I'll most likely get sick, trying to protect this food, I will pee on them too."
Aiden flopped onto the seats, laying down as Avery sat back on her own, properly starting up the car. "I was just gonna say there are some towels in the back if you'd like."
"Of course you were." He glared at his sister as she pulled out of the McDonald's parking lot.
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