I can see her clearly.
“Do you think we’ll make it? I mean, when you go to Duke, and I… do whatever… Do you think we can do it? Outlast it all?”
“I fucking hope so, Ava.”
“Good,” she breathes out. “Because I really don’t want to live the rest of my life with anyone but you.”
“Me, too.”
She smirks. “Well, you kind of have to live with you.”
“You know what I mean, smartass.” I roll her off me. “I have to go home.”
She sits up, holds the blankets to her chest. Eyes wide, she whisper-yells, “What?!”
I laugh once. “Calm down,” I tell her, slipping into my sweatpants, no boxers. “I just have to go grab my toothbrush and stuff. It’s all still in my bag.” I kiss her forehead. “I’ll be back. Don’t worry.”
She lies back down, settling on her side, and leaves room for when I return.
I rush over to my house, catch Dad just before he leaves for work. “I’m going to stay at Ava’s tonight,” I tell him, unzipping my luggage to get my toiletries bag.
“Should I be talking to her mom about you staying there as often as you do?” Dad asks, standing in the doorway of my bedroom. “It’s not a problem, right? You’re not sneaking around?”
“No,” I laugh out. “Miss D worries when I’m not there in the morning.”
“And her brother, Trevor, he’s okay with it?”
“Yes, Dad.” I find what I need and grab a change of clothes for school tomorrow. “Everything’s good.”
“Okay.” He nods. “And you and Ava, you’re being careful when it comes to intimacy?”
I chuckle, turning to him. “We’re using protection, yes.”
“Just one form? Because no contraception is a hundred percent, and I know you love her, and you’d do anything for her—you’ve proven that—but having a baby in your immediate future…”
I suck in a breath, let his words replay in my mind. “I’ll talk to her about going on the pill or something.”
“Okay, good,” Dad says. “That was a lot easier than I’d prepared myself for.”
“Dad, Ava and I aren’t normal teenage kids. I’m sure a baby is the last thing she wants. She’s already taking care of her mom; adding that to her plate now would just—”
“Of course, yeah…”
“But don’t worry.” I pat his shoulder as I pass him. “You’ll be a grandpa soon enough.”
“Jesus, help me,” he mumbles.
I laugh under my breath as I close the front door behind me. The idea of a forever with her causes a stupid skip in my step as I make my way back. I enter her house, having left it unlocked, and go straight to her room. She’s sitting on the edge of the bed, her head lowered, her phone in her hand. She looks up when I enter, and my heart aches when I see the tears in her eyes. “What happened?”
She hands me her phone, and my heart drops. It’s not her phone. It’s mine. “Who’s Wendy?” she whispers.
My stomach twists, and my breaths halt. I look down at my phone, at the message there.
Wendy: Thank you for meeting me the other night. I really needed to see you.
“Connor?” Ava cries.
I look up at her, my eyes drifting shut, so I don’t have to see the pain in her expression. “She’s… no one.”
“Connor!” she whisper-yells.
My eyes snap open, and I regret it the moment I see her stand, her hand to her heart. She lets out a sob, and then another. “Who is she?”
Anger blazes through me, not at her. But at my mother. That she can ruin everything important to me while barely existing. Only she’s not here. Ava is. And so I take that anger and aim it at the only person in front of me. “Why are you going through my phone?”
“Get out!” Her fists hit my chest. “Get the fuck out!”
My heart burns, regret quick to consume me. “I’m sorry, Ava.” I grasp her elbows. “Please, I’m sorry.”
“Who is she?!” she cries
“I can’t tell you,” I rush out. She can’t know, and I’m not ready. “But, please, it’s not what it looks like; I swear to you. On everything we are and everything we have, I promise you.” My voice cracks. I don’t care that it does. I plead, my hands steepled in front of me. “You need to believe me, Ava. Please.”
Her nostrils flare, her tears flowing fast and free. “And you need to think about what you’re asking of me. Because you have a pretty sketchy fucking history of lying to me, especially when it comes