At college, Avery, April and Steve were taking Gray's class and he entered the class, fully energized.
"Good morning class. Today we are going to learn about photo shop, we will be introduced to the tools. The tools are like the technique of the usage, and of course there are many tools to learn of course that depends on the software you are using"
Avery was taking down notes as he was beginning to explain each and every tool, but she stopped for a moment when she felt her phone buzz in her bag, she saw a text message from her mom.
~When you get back I need to tell you something important~
She closed her phone and paid attention to professor Gray but her mind kept wondering what was so urgent that her mom wants to talk about. Soon the lecture ended and the three of them were walking to the parking lot.
"You really spending the night at your aunt's?" Steve asked April.
"Yeah, she needs me now. Sorry babe but I'll make it up to you" She kissed him.
"Okay, I don't want to be selfish. She is your aunt; she needs you more than me"
"Aw" She kissed him again longer this time and Avery cleared her throat.
"I'm here!" she said.
"Sorry, Ave" She chuckled softly. "I'm leaving, see you later guys"
She hugged them and went to her car, driving away, so did Avery and Steve.
*****************************
Danni went to Josh's house to get back her brother, he opened the door for her and when she entered she saw Ben talking with Julie and he seemed happy with her.
"I see Julie is here"
"Uh... Yeah, she came over today to see me but Ben took her away from me with his usual charm"
She chuckled. "Welcome to the club"
"Anyway, he is waiting for you"
She came into the room and when Ben saw her, he jumped off the couch leaping on her and she caught him in her embrace.
"Hey, monkey" She laughed, and saw Julie. "Hey, Julie"
"Hey" She smiled even more when Josh sat beside her on the couch.
Danni put Ben on the ground and he was smiling at her.
"So tell me, did you have good time here?"
"Yes! And Julie made cakes for me"
"Oh!" She turned to Julie. "Thanks Julie"
"No need to thank me, I'm just happy to see Ben overjoyed" she said sweetly as she glanced at Ben.
"Okay, champ, ready to go?" He looked down with a small pout. "What's wrong?"
"... I'm confused"
She frowned. "Confused? Confused why?"
"... I wanna go home with you but I wanna stay with uncle Josh and Julie too"
She bent down on her knees, looking at her uncle "What do you want now?"
"Can I stay with uncle Josh for a few days?"
"Sure you can, bud, but that's if it's okay with him"
She looked at Josh and he gave her an approving nod. "I don't mind, I'm too lazy to go to work today and Julie is staying here for a few days"
"Yeah, I can keep my eyes on him. I'm a nurse, remember?"
Danni chuckled and looked back at Ben. "You got it, you can stay here and when you get bored I'll come and get you"
"Ha! He won't" said Josh jokingly.
"Whatever" said Danni rolling her eyes at him.
"Danni, are you mad at me that I won't come with you?" asked Ben.
"What? No, no, Ben. How could I ever be mad at you? If you want to stay here, it's okay with me. I'm happy if you are happy" She kissed his cheek and ruffled his hair.
"... Okay. Love you" He wrapped his arms around her and she rubbed his back.
"Love you too, champ" She pulled away and went back up on her feet. "I'll see you later and if you needed anything tell me, alright?"
"Okay"
Josh went to open the door for her and before she left, she turned around to her uncle.
"Thanks, uncle Josh"
"Anytime, Danni. You aren't going to work today?"
"No, Mrs. Carlisle called me and cancelled"
"Alright kiddo. Don't worry about Ben, we will take good care of him"
"I don't doubt that" She glanced at Julie who was playing with Ben. "And I don't doubt that Julie will take care of you too, she seems nice. We have a lot to catch up on" She smiled at her uncle giving him a hug before she left.
*******************************
Avery went back to her home, took a shower and waited for her mother's arrival downstairs. A short while later, her mother came and sat with her on the couch and began to talk.
"Avery, honey, you know that your father and I are divorced now and each one of us is moving on in life but we still love you and your father and I are on good terms" She took a deep breath and Avery frowned knowing her mother's attitude whenever she got nervous. "Your father is getting married to Harper Brown"
"What?! Is she the one he was seeing this whole time?!"
"Yes, I know you don't like her"
"Mom! I don't don't like her, I hate her. That woman almost ruined your marriage in the past and apparently she did!"
"It doesn't matter now, it's already over" She spoke calmly.
"How could you let this happen? That woman is also your nemesis when it comes to work. She ruined your job before, she almost got you fired in the sake of having your job, your company and you are telling me you are letting her take dad too!"
"I can't middle in his life, Avery. We both chose our new lives without each other. He has his life and I have my own"
"And what about me? Me, being in the middle of this mess that you two made. Dad is getting married to some evil, horrible woman and you are seeing someone else and God knows if he's even a good person or just as venomous as Harper" She sighed heavily. "You know what mom; I'm fed up with all this..." She stood up.
"Avery, you have to be at the wedding for your father"
"I-I don't know about that now... I need some fresh air. I'm going to April's and probably will be back tomorrow"
"Please Avery think about what we said"
"I'll see what I can do"
She left the house and stepped into her car, turned on the ignition and was driving to April's but she remembered that April was at her aunt's and that was so far away. She turned the steering wheel heading to the only person who could make her feel better now.
*******************************
Danni was drying her hair with the towel, as she stepped out of the shower and wore her green t-shirt and grey PJs pants. She went to the window and looked down at the street until her eyes spotted a familiar red BMW parking outside the building with its flash lights on. She grabbed her phone from the table and dialed Avery.
Meanwhile Avery was in her car, holding the steering wheel, hesitant whether to see Danni or not. Her phone interrupted her thoughts when it rang beside her and she saw the caller's ID 'Danni'.
"Uh... hello?"
"Yeah, hi. Are you at home?"
"Y-Yes, I'm. Why do you ask?"
"... Because I can see your car literally outside the building unless if it was some sort of thief who stole your BMW"
She bit her lower lip and closed her eyes.
"... Avery?"
"... Yes, I lied, it's me... Can I come up?"
"Of course, you can"
"Thanks" Avery hung up, got out of her car and went inside the building to Danni's apartment. She knocked on the door and Danni opened the door for her, letting her come in.
"Hey"
"Hi"
"So, what brings you to my humble apartment at this hour?" She joked.
"I'm sorry but April is at her aunt's and I need someone to talk to right now"
Danni frowned. "Is everything okay?"
"... Not really"
Danni motioned for her to sit on the couch and she sat beside her.
"Alright, tell me what's bothering you so much"
"... My dad is getting married to another woman, and that woman is our family enemy... I hate her"
"Why do you hate her?"
"She caused so much trouble to our family in the past and it seems like she still does and what's bothering me more is that mom agrees on this marriage. I mean how could she approve of such thing!"
"... Look, I don't know your family very well, I don't know what really happened in the past and if I were you I would be so angry, exactly just like you but you have to look at it in a positive way"
"Positive way, how?"
"Hmm, for one, your parents weren't happy in their marriage but they ended it on good terms. They both love you very much and they care about your happiness that's for sure and I think you should be happy for your dad that he is marrying someone he loves. Who knows maybe that woman you hate changed now for him and if your mother supports his decision that's because she knows what she is doing and not because she stopped caring about your father" She took a deep breath and continued. "And you'll probably get presents from both sides in Christmas. It's better than one side, you know" She joked and Avery buried her face in her hands laughing. "Ha, finally you are laughing" She smiled at her.
"Jesus Danni!" She smiled. "I needed to laugh today"
"Anytime, ginger. But hey, I know it's hard for you, believe me I do... but you should think about their happiness too"
"... Yeah, maybe you are right"
"I'm always right" Avery nudged her ribs hard.
"Cocky!" she said.
"But you love it" She teased and Avery smiled widely at her.
"Where is Ben? I don't see him"
"He is at my uncle's"
"... Too bad, I wanted to play with him, maybe he could distract me from all this"
"Hey! What about me? I'm a very sexy distraction" She wiggled her eyebrows.
She chuckled. "You are a distraction but not that sexy" She teased and her lips curled into a smirk.
"Okay, if you say so, at least Chloe said the opposite"
She gasped. "She said you are ugly!" She teased her once again.
"No!" She face-palmed herself. "I meant she said I'm way way too sexy"
She laughed at Danni. "... Well, she is not mistaken" Their eyes met and gazed at each other until Danni broke the gaze.
"Hey, you know what, I just made a pizza and it's gonna be good for you and I think you are hungry" She stood up. "You are, right?"
She giggled. "Starving"
"Come on then, follow me"
They went to the kitchen and Danni warmed the pizza, they both were eating and Avery released a soft moan once she bit the pizza.
"Mmm. God! Danni, this is so good!"
"You like it?"
"Love it! Mmmmm" She took another bite.
"It's comfort food"
"Yeah, it's so comforting. You should open your own restaurant"
"I was planning on that before my mom's death and Ben's sickness, when Ben got really tired in the last few years, I dedicated myself to him like my mom used to... I was so scared to lose him but I had uncle Josh to support me in my worst times..." She looked at Avery. "And then you came and helped me when I was losing hope"
Avery smiled sweetly at her and reached for her hand then left her chair to hug her tightly and Danni closed her eyes taking in the sweet perfume that was enveloping her. She felt Avery's hand stroking her hair and she leaned into her touch, feeling safe. Avery pulled away slowly from her and looked her in the eye.
"You are a great sister, Danni. I wish if I had anyone in my life taking care of me the way you do with Ben"
"You've got me" She smiled at her. "So are April and Steve"
"I'm grateful for that" She yawned and stretched her body. "Hey, can I crash at your place tonight?"
"Does your mom know where you are?"
"I told her I'm at April's"
"You can sleep in Ben's room"
"Okay, thanks again for the pizza"
"Mm-hmm" Avery left Danni in the kitchen and went to get some sleep. "Night"
*****************************
It was the middle of the night and Danni couldn't sleep. She tossed and tried to sleep on her back, hearing the rain outside pouring on the street and lightly tapping on her window. Suddenly she heard the thunder and saw the lightning and the door of her room opened and she saw Avery wearing her blue tank top and her underwear.
"Hey, what are you doing here?"
"... I can't sleep"
"Uh-huh"
"An-"
The thunder hit the sky again, rumbling and Avery screamed then covered her mouth running to Danni crawling into her bed scared and Danni chuckled.
"What's wrong with you?" asked Danni with amused tone.
"... I'm scared of the light of the thunder and the sound of the lightning"
"Uhh, you mean you are scared of the sound of the thunder and the light of the lightning. It's the other way around, ginger"
"Shut up!" she said still scared and when the thunder made it's sound again. She clutched to Danni's clothes pulling her closer "Distract me!" She demanded.
"What do you want me to say?"
"I don't know, J-Just do it!"
"Okay, umm, Ben loves to watch the thunder and the lightning"
"Ugh! Danni!"
She laughed softly. "Okay, umm... how is your finger? Show it to me"
She gave her the middle finger instead of showing her the injured one. Danni laughed at her and Avery followed her and began to calm down.
"I meant your injured finger, ginger" Danni touched her finger giving it a quick look and Avery stopped shaking from fear when Danni brushed her fingers on her hand. All her nerves have been tamed by a simple touch from Danni and the gentle look in her eyes as she inspected the finger. "You are good. You just have a tiny scar... Welcome to the club, ginger"
She looked at the injured finger and admired the small scar. "I like it"
"Of course you do. It's your first scar"
"Just keep talking to me, please"
"Alright... let's see... any new boyfriend?"
She shook her head and realized she was still clutching on her shirt, so she removed her hands but still remained in her position close to Danni. "No boyfriends"
"Any crushes?"
She looked away from Danni. "... I think there is one"
"That's new. Who is he?"
"It doesn't matter... he is taken anyway"
"One sided love?"
She sat properly on the bed, pulling the covers closer. "Yeah, you can say so"
"... It's okay. I've been there once before"
"Really?" She looked at her but didn't flinch when the thunder rumbled again.
"Yeah, but that was in high school. I loved this girl, she was the popular cheerleader in our school and she was my friend too but not the bestie and you know how the popular girls are... they are hot, beautiful, out of anyone's league. You may call me lucky because I was friend of the most popular girl at school but I wasn't lucky at all... Anyway, one day I told her how I felt about her and she pushed me out of her life and hasn't talked to me since, so yeah it was one sided love... it broke my heart at that time because sometimes it's easier to keep the feelings for yourself instead of sharing it with others and end up losing them forever"
"Aw, Danni" She threw her arms around her and put her head on her shoulder and Danni rubbed her back. "That must have been hard on you"
"It was, it took me a long time to heal but hey, here I'm now, standing on my feet" she said proudly. "Are you thinking about telling that person how you feel?"
"... No, I don't think so. It's too risky and like you said it's better if I kept all the feelings to myself"
"I know but you have to think about it too"
"... I will" She was still hugging her and Danni noticed.
Danni chuckled. "You became a hugger like Ben, you know that?"
"I love hugging" She stated raising her head from her shoulder, looking at her.
"And I love kissing" She winked and Avery pushed her lightly then slipped under the covers. "Hey, the rain is over. I think I distracted you with my story"
"Good. I'm sleepy. Can I sleep here?"
"... Just don't hug me while we are asleep" She looked at Avery who was already closing her eyes. "Or snore" She felt the pillow hit her in the face "Ow!"
"I don't snore"
"We will see about that" She smirked and put her head on the pillow closing her eyes and they both drifted off to sleep.