Ava plays with the anchor charm on her bracelet, she lets go of it and it lands back onto her wrist. Jesse gave this bracelet to Ava on her birthday, and a corner of her lips is tucked up.
She is sitting on the sofa, eyes glued to the black television screen. She remembers asking Jesse a question that night on his bed:
"How did you overcome all these?"
Jesse recalled for a while and said, "family. No matter what happens, they're always here for you. They gave me hope."
Ava blinks as she returns to reality. She stands up and goes into the room at the end of her house. She breathes deeply before she knocks.
"Yes?" A woman's voice sounds opaque behind the wooden door. Ava pushes open the door as her mom's eyes go wide. "Ava? What's- what's wrong?"
"Nothing," Ava whispers. "I um, just want to talk."
Ava's mom puts down her book onto her bed as Ava sits onto the floor. She looks up and examines her mom's face. Lines crease the corner of her eyes while wrinkles form all over her face, Ava is taken aback by how fast her mom ages.
Ava clears her throat and stares at the floor. "I feel like... we haven't talked properly for ages."
Ava's mom inhales in disbelief and nods. "Yes Ava, yes." She stares down at Ava. It's never easy for a mom to see her daughter suffering.
"Don't look at me like that, mom." Ava stretches her body with her arms propping on the floor. "Change the way you look at me, I don't need sympathy."
"I didn't mean that," Ava's mom says. "I just want the best for you, you're my daughter after all."
"I know."
Ava and her mom stay silent.
Minutes later, Ava starts again, "I fall in love."
Ava's mom sighs with relief, as though she has let go of something. She takes Ava's hands. "That's why you have been changing."
"Changing?"
"Yes, changing. I have never seen you so... happy." Ava's mom smiles.
Ava glances up at her mother again and frowns. "You... agree with me being in a relationship?"
"Of course!" Ava's mom raises her volume. She says softly again, "anything that can make you happy lights me up too, Ava."
"But you have to know... that he's paralyzed. He needs a wheelchair." Ava's voice weakens as she clenches her fist in her lap.
Ava's mom raises her eyebrows, but she replaces that with a smile. "It's going to be hard, but you two can figure it out together," she speaks to Ava in a firm tone.
Ava never knows how much she needs this, but the words from her mother settle all her unnerving thoughts down. "Thank you, mom."
"I'm so proud of you, Ava." Her mom gives her a hug and kisses her forehead. "I will be here for you. This will always be your home."
Ava nods with her glossy eyes.
-
"Hey babe." Jesse lights up as Ava enters his room. He is sitting on the floor in his room, a guitar behind held in his hands.
Ava squats down next to Jesse. Jesse turns and gives her a joyous smile. "How's therapy today?" He asks.
"Hum, nothing much, she gave me more medicine, but she is thinking about decreasing the dose for my SSRIs," Ava answers and sits down onto the floor.
"The antidepressants? The serotonin one?" Jesse asks as he plays with a strand of Ava's hair.
Ava laughs. "Seems like someone has been doing research."
"Well I may or may not have looked at the words on your pill bottles," Jesse responds with a smirk. "But that's good news, isn't it?"
"I guess it is." Ava shrugs.
Jesse shifts backwards as Ava moves and sits down on the floor in front of him. He wraps his arms around her and places the guitar in her lap, his back leaning against Ava's.
"You have never played to me," Ava says softly. "I didn't see the guitar in your room before."
"I put it there," Jesse chuckles and points at the dark corner of his room. "You may have to be more observant." He shrugs and mimics Ava's tone.
Ava rolls her eyes and smiles. "Oh shut up." She knows that he's referencing the sentence she told him on the first day they met.
Jesse snorts lightly and places a kiss behind Ava's ear.
"Why did you even talk to me in the first place?" Ava asks as she plays with the anchor charm on her bracelet.
Jesse takes her hand and touches the charm as well. "Because you're pretty."
"That's it?" Ava blinks.
"Yea, do I need other reasons?"
Ava turns her head to face him. "So like you thought I was pretty, and you just came and talked to me."
Jesse does a shrug and smirks. "And I knew that I was hot enough to seduce you."
Ava smacks Jesse's chest with her back hand, letting out a low laugh. "Can you stop."
"What? Be honest, you thought I was hot, right?"
Ava narrows her eyes and doesn't say anything. She looks at his conceited face, she really wants to punch him right now.
Ava rolls her eyes and says, "ok fine! I thought you were hot." Her voice becomes a whisper as she turns back and stares at Jesse's desk in front of her. She feels her ears burning, and she's glad that Jesse can't see her expression now.
"See? I was right. Playing hard was a good way to get guys though," Jesse says.
"Well I didn't play hard intentionally-"
"I know." Jesse kisses her neck.
Their breaths are rhythmic in the stillness of the room. Jesse starts strumming his guitar.
The chords of Ed Sheeran's 'Perfect' starts humming as Jesse sings in her ear, "I found a love..."
"Oh c'mon not this song!" Ava laughs and interrupts.
Jesse stops playing. "Why? This is the perfect romance song!"
"Play Imagine Dragons," Ava says.
"Imagine Dragons?" Jesse raises his eyebrows. "You like them?"
Ava nods, "it's my favorite band."
Jesse smiles and starts strumming the guitar. "I don't know that."
"Well now you know." Ava tilts her head. She points at the posters on the wall and says, "I don't know all these people too. I know The Beatles... and I don't know the others."
"I will introduce to you one by one." Jesse starts singing 'Next to Me' by Imagine Dragons.
His singing is different from the powerful voice of the original version, Jesse's version is rather soft and quiet, but Ava likes it. She likes it so much.
She leans back to Jesse's body and listens to the melody.
She didn't believe in love until Jesse came into her life. She feels the touch of Jesse's body, she doesn't only believe in love, she believes in hope. She was once a bird being trapped in the cage, but now she's soaring in the sky with her soulmate.
Ava knows that she is still going to panic when small things happen, she is still going to be upset with little things, but she knows that she is not alone. She knows that she can always go back to Jesse.
Jesse knows that he is not going to walk again, but he knows that Ava will be the one who stands by him no matter what.
Their worlds are still not going to return to how they were, but they fall in love with the changes. They are ready for the changes.
-
Author's note
Hey guys, this is the last chapter :( but there will be an epilogue, so stay tuned for that!
Also, I have an Instagram! It's @softyhartz , go and find me 😉