****
I heard the door creak open but my eyes would not budge. They remained closed, despite the fact that my brain was pleading with them to open.
“Ari, is everything ok?”
It was Aggie I think, but my brain was mush and her words were jumbled up in my head. I felt Ari pet my hair, and if I could have talked my lips into smiling, I would have.
“Yeah, I think so,” I heard Ari whisper.
“Ava’s been asleep for more than eighteen hours. Have you tried to wake her up again?”
“Yeah, I talked to her for a few minutes in the middle of the night. It was about three when she woke up, but she fell back asleep shortly after.”
“Do you think she’s sick? Does she need a doctor? Have you gotten a good look at her, Ari? She’s so thin.”
“I don’t know, Ma. I think we should just leave her alone. She seemed fine last night, just tired.”
“Please tell me those tattoos on her arm are the removable kind,” Aggie sighed, and I could feel Ari shift underneath me as he pulled the blankets up over my arms.
“How long was she up last night?” Aggie’s voice was thick with worry.
“Half an hour maybe.”
“Ok, your graduation ceremony is in four hours. You need to get up and get ready. You also owe several people apologies for your behavior last night.”
“I’m not leaving Ava. And I don’t know that I owe any apologies to anyone.”
“I am telling you that you will tell those boys, and Julia, sorry. End of discussion. Ari, I understand how you feel, but you can’t miss graduation – you have a speech to give. Why don’t you try to wake Ava up again and I’ll put something out for her to eat.”
I could hear Ari talking to me, but I couldn’t respond.
When I woke up again, Ari’s room was bathed in sunlight. He was sitting up in bed, his head leaning against the headboard. He was wearing his glasses and reading. My head was perched in his lap and his free hand gently caressed the birds flying around on the inside of my right arm.
“Do you hate them--the tattoos?” I asked as I rolled over to face him.
A small smile crept onto his face. “To tell you the truth, I don’t think I have ever wanted you so badly in all my life. They’re beautiful. I love them. I love you.”
He held me against him and kissed me softly on the lips then kissed the tiny freckle above my lip and smiled again. I heard Ari’s door swing open and we were greeted by Lauren, Nick, August, Julia and Rory. As they all barged in, I tried to scoot away from Ari to a less intimate position but he held me tighter and smiled brighter.
“Finally!” Lauren sighed. “I have been waiting for you to wake up all day!”
“Sorry, I’m so tired…Um, Ari,” I said, “this is my friend August.”
“Yeah,” August spoke up, “we met briefly last night.” He didn’t meet my eyes when he spoke and I got the feeling that their meeting did not go over well.
“Oh, yeah, of course,” I said. “August, I’m sorry I’ve slept so much. I just can’t help it; I’m exhausted. I’m not being a very good friend.”
“Nah, I don’t expect anything less from you, Ava,” he said as he took a seat in the chair across the room. I tossed a spare pillow at him and Lauren jumped in the bed and engulfed me in a giant hug.
I squinted my eyes at Rory. “Is that a black eye?”
“Yes.” Julia snapped.
“What happened to you?”
“Uh,” Rory rubbed the back of his head. “I don’t want to talk about it right now.”
Aggie rushed in before I could question him any further.
“There you all are,” she said with a sigh. “Have you completely forgotten that you have graduation in two hours and we have two hundred people coming over tonight for your graduation party?”
“Oh, my gosh, you have graduation today?” I sort of remembered having heard something about that, but I thought I had dreamt it.
Ari laughed and brushed it off. “Yeah, but it’s no big deal.”
Aggie spoke up, irritated, “It is a big deal! Now get up and start moving, except for you, Ava Baby, of course. Take all the time you need. I warmed you up some food; maybe you would feel better once you’ve eaten.”
“That sounds great, Aggie, thank you.”
Everyone began to clear out and Ari climbed out of bed. I marveled at the beautiful Adonis in front of me. I had forgotten just how absolutely gorgeous he really was. His pajama pants hung ever so lightly from his lean, muscular frame. His skin was the perfect shade of cream and his smile was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. I thought back to our incredibly intimate embrace from the night before and blushed. He caught me staring and gave a laugh while he ran his long fingers through his thick, dark, unruly hair.
“What?” he asked with a smirk.
I shook my head, clearing my mind. “Nothing, I guess I just really missed you.”
He pulled me out of the bed and into his arms.
“I missed you more. And I missed doing this.” He kissed my freckle again. “And I missed doing this and this.” Ari kissed the corners of my mouth. “I really missed doing this.” He kissed me on the mouth, teasing my lips open. “I missed this,” he kissed the spot behind my ear and then trailed kisses down my neck and collarbone. He picked up my hand and brought it up to his lips and kissed each finger then filled my palm with more kisses. He brought his lips back to my ear and whispered, “Where are those other two freckles, Ava?”
I smiled up at him.
“Come on, Aggie will kill us if we don’t hurry and I’m starving.”
I showered and decided on a dress I had bought in London but could never wear because the weather was always so cold and dreary. I paired it with some sling back wedges. I slipped on the ring that Ari had gotten me for Christmas, worried a bit because it didn’t fit as well as it used to and kept sliding down my finger. I ventured out into the kitchen. There were people everywhere getting ready for Ari, Rory and Julia’s graduation party. I received a million hugs and welcome homes. Andy gave me a sheepish smile and I walked over to him and threw my arms around his neck.
“I am so sorry for everything.”
He smoothed my hair and hugged me back. “Ava, I have never been spoken to that way in all my life.” I was sure he was telling me the absolute truth and I felt horrible.
“But everything you said was true,” he continued. “We should have told you about Aggie, you are our family, you were right. I’ll forgive you if you can forgive me.” I squeezed him tighter. “Ava, we’re just so happy to have you home.” He kissed me on the top of my head and let me go.
I took a seat and began to eat some of Aggie’s left-over roast from the night before; I hadn’t eaten anything as good since Christmas. August sat down on the stool next to me at the island and marveled at me while I shoved another bite of bread into my mouth. He looked really great, wearing a nice button-down shirt and tie and dress pants.
“Hey there, you clean up nice,” I said with a smile.
“Gee, thanks Avie,” he said sarcastically as he smoothed his green jagged hair back in place.
There was something about him that was a little off.
“August, do you have a fat lip?”
He rubbed his fingers across his lips.
“Yeah, maybe a small one.”
“What the heck happened?” I saw his eyes move through the kitchen at all the people.
“I’ll tell you later, ok?” he said quickly and quietly out of the side of his mouth.
“OK….So are you alright with all of this?” I asked. “I know the Alexanders and their kin can be a bit overwhelming. I shouldn’t have dragged you out here. I’m sorry; I had a major moment of weakness.”
“No, this is great, I love it here actually. Julia and Rory are really nice. It is great to see them again.”
“Ok, well I guess we’ll get a flight out after the weekend, rent a new place in London - maybe.”
<
br /> Ari had snuck up behind me and had a very hurt look on his face. “What? You’re leaving again?” he asked, sounding very upset.
Oh no. Not this. Not now. I just want to be happy for a few more minutes, please.
“Um, yeah, I have to, Ari; I am not done yet.”
I could feel my heart begin to crumble; the look on Ari’s face was one I had hoped never to see again. I should have never come back.
Ari began to raise his voice, which caught the attention of the entire house. “Well then why the hell does he get to go with you?” He jabbed his finger in the air toward August.
“Where else is he going to go, Ari? I blew up our entire building along with eighty percent of his belongings.”
“You can’t do this, Ava.”
“What choice do I have?” I said, nearly screaming. “I can’t just stay here while they pick you guys off one by one.”
“Ava, quit worrying about that! No one is going to come for us and if they do, we’ll stop it. Just like before.”
“Just like before! What the hell, Ari! Lauren could have died. I killed two people on Dana Point beach. It cannot be just like before.”
“Look at yourself, Ava; I can see your bones. Clearly, August isn’t good for you. You belong here at home. None of us wants you to leave, so please, please stay.”
Tears stung the backs of my eyes; August put his hand on my back trying to settle me down and Ari did not react well to that at all. “Do not ever touch her, do you understand? Don’t touch her or I’ll…”
August threw his palms out as a sign of peace. “Whoa, man, sorry. I didn’t mean anything by it.”
Andy came to break up our public screaming match. “Hey guys, let’s everybody calm down. We will get this all figured out. Let’s just try to enjoy the weekend.”
Andy pulled me in for a one-armed hug and I could feel the tears threatening to roll over the brim. I brushed past Ari and made my way to the bathroom so I could get myself together.
I stayed in there for a few minutes just trying to breathe. I heard a tiny rap at the door. I was expecting August, but found Ari instead. I opened the door up the rest of the way and allowed him to come in with me; he pulled me straight into his arms and held me tight.
“I am so sorry, Ava.”
“I’m sorry, too. I don’t want to leave you. I just can’t think of any other way.”
“Shhh,” he said rocking me back and forth. “I don’t want to talk about it now. I just want to hold you for as long as I can.”
He locked his hands around the small of my back and the leftover frustration from our argument came out in a deep, desperate kiss. I knotted my fist around his tie and pulled him closer to me. Ari lifted me up onto the sink and I grabbed a handful of his hair. His hands ran up under my dress on my bare thigh and a small moan escaped from my lips, causing my cheeks to burn, and the butterflies in my stomach to erupt in an erratic flutter.
There was a quick knock at the door right before it came open. August stood there with an annoyed look on his face and hollered down the hall, “I found them…unfortunately.” He turned his attention back to us. “Look, sorry to interrupt, but we have to go now, or you’ll be late.” He pointed at Ari and gave him a look of contempt.
Ari helped me down off the sink and wiped some lip-gloss off his bottom lip.
“Hey, August,” he said before August could walk away. “I want to apologize for the way I acted back there and for last night. Any friend of Ava’s is a friend of mine and I should not have spoken to you like that. It’s just, Ava means the world to me and I get really crazy when it comes to her.”
August smiled, “No worries, man. She gets the same way about you. And by the way I’m gay, so you don’t have to worry about…you know, that,” he said pointing, between him and me with a repulsed look on his face.
“Even better,” Ari gave a relieved laugh and patted August on the back. I rolled my eyes at Ari and elbowed him in the ribs.
We arrived at the graduation ceremony without a moment to spare. I gave Ari a kiss and August and I found our seats with Ari’s family. He delivered a brilliant speech. His words were poignant; his message was one of living honestly and loving fully, seizing the day and measuring success in one’s love and family. He never took his eyes off me for a moment while he talked. I stared back at him in wonderment. Aggie elbowed me gently, smiled, then winked. Since half of the audience was related to the Alexanders in some way, the crowd erupted in cheers when Ari, Rory and Julia received their diplomas.