A V E R Y

I didn't know what I wanted to do today, but I certainly did not think of my best friend screaming into my ears and potentially rupturing my eardrum, me screaming right along with her, and the twins laughing their asses off at us. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised, and after that sip of liquid courage from Maddie earlier, I was enjoying myself immensely. I was being a normal teenage girl for once, out with her friends, laughing and being stupid just because I could.

I also didn't think it was possible to ingest the amount of popcorn and candyfloss I had without throwing up, but that too had surprised me. Enough so that I had kept eating, telling myself that I needed this and that I could run a few extra miles and workout with Eric a little longer to make up for it. 

The fair was full of couples. I kid you not, everywhere we went there were boys and girls snogging each other's faces off in the queue or behind a food cart, and whilst the majority of people either looked annoyed or didn't care, I envied them. I wanted what they had.

And I knew exactly who I wanted it with.

There was no denying it now.

And as if by magic, Jacob pulled me aside whilst we were in the line for the haunted house, his safety-pin shaped earring catching the light as he turned to me with a serious yet soft expression. 'You know I don't have any business in what the two of you do, but I wanted to ask if you were okay. You were drinking plan sparkling water - meant for Josh because he's a little bitch like that - and you didn't even notice. So what's up?'

I chuckled, and Jacob grinned, obviously knowing he'd hit the jackpot. 'Get you a man who notices these kind of things,' I teased, smiling widely. 'And to answer your question, I'm okay. We took a break, I guess, but I miss him. A lot. I want to be with him, I do, and Maddie knocked some sense into me and told me he wants to be with me, too, but I'm scared of the dangers, Jacob. I don't want him getting hurt. Or me.' 

I looked away, and only the sound of my friend brought me back to his face. 'Well, coming from a guy's point of view, I'd say you're a real catch. Hell, if Mason wasn't so whipped by you, I'm pretty sure either me or my brother would have tried it with you already.' He grinned, showing his teeth, and I beamed right back. 'But I get it. You've spent the majority of your life looking over your shoulder in fear of the DM pulling some kind of shit on you, and I-' Jacob put a hand on his heart '-want to tell you how sorry I am for that, truly. You're a real nice person, Avery, and I'm hoping it works out between you two, because as much as I love Mason like he's my brother, I really don't want to see you hurt either, Ave.' 

'Wow,' I swallowed, looking at him with a new kind of respect, 'What kind of romance novels have you been reading, Jacob Garcia? You sound like a fucking poet.' 

He smirked, shrugging. 'Such a dirty mouth you have.'

'You love it.'

Jacob let out another full laugh that made me giggle alongside him. He was such a sweet guy, and he made me laugh, and I really, really didn't want to see him or Josh get hurt. Internally sighing, I added both of their names to my mental list of people I was praying for. We walked back to the other two and joined in on their conversation - apparently, Joshua was arguing that punching yourself in the face and it hurting meant you were weak, but Maddie was arguing that it made you strong instead.

'Have you already converted Maddie to your cult of shower thoughts?' I asked dryly, crossing my arms. 'Because you can sure as hell count me out of it.'

Josh scoffed, and flicked his non-existent hair over his shoulder. I laughed despite myself, and laughed harder when he pouted and crossed his arms over his chest. 'Excuse me?' He said in a high-pitched, unrealistic girly voice, 'If you don't like me and Maddie being best friends, you can leave.' Maddie snorted and Jacob grinned, looping an arm across my shoulders.

'Oh, we didn't tell you?' Jacob said, with a surprised look on his face as he glanced at me and then back to them, 'Avery and I are already best friends. We did the blood ceremony and everything. So maybe you can leave, brother, if you don't like it.'

I leaned into Jacob's side and smirked at them. 'It's our turn, guys. Let's go in.' 

We entered the house and immediately I laughed out loud. This was meant to be scary? Yeah, to a ten year old, maybe, but not to a nearly nineteen year old. We wandered through, and the lights got dimmer and dimmer, so by the time we were halfway in, I was a little spooked.

And was clinging onto Jacob's arm as if I didn't have a gun down the back of my shoe I could get out if necessary.

Not that I needed to, anyway. 

'I'm actually scared. Don't tell my brother, but I'm scared. Jesus, stop squeezing so hard, Avery.' Jacob hissed, pulling me along. I nearly tripped, and only Jacob's arms flashing out to keep me upright prevented me from falling and breaking my nose or something.

'Thanks.' 

'Any time, princess.' Followed by his trademark grin, the little cutie - though I doubt he'd enjoy being called one, so I kept my mouth shut.

I squinted at the doorway, seeing a broad shape fill out and block the light that was the exit. I tapped Jacob and pointed, even though I had a feeling he wouldn't see it in the darkness we were in. 'Look, Jakey, the door. I think it's the door out of here.'

His body moved under my hand a little, and I had a feeling he was nodding in agreement. 'Let's go. The other two can find their way out.'

We moved forward in silence, the sound of quiet breathing and tip-toeing the only sound in the darkness.  And when we finally got to the door, I held a hand out to touch whoever was there, there was no one. 

'That's weird, I could've sworn there was someone here,' I mused, my voice still low. 

Jacob shrugged. 'Probably another guy getting the hell out of here. Just like we should be doing now.' 

'Yeah, okay, let's go before we get molested by the ghosts again.'

I moved with Jacob at my side, and within seconds we were outside, both laughing in exhilaration. Okay, so it was scarier than I expected.

'I think I peed a little,' Josh's voice came from behind us, and we turned to see him and Maddie hysterically laughing, nearly collapsing onto the floor. 

'Me too, Josh, me too.'

'Hey, guys,' I called, waving, 'We need to hurry or we'll never get onto that roller coaster, okay? So stop dawdling and walk faster.'

'Yeah, yeah, we're coming, noodle-head.' Josh laughed.

I sighed in amusement. And Maddie's giggles began again.

***

'I never really thought about how we're going to be in so much danger when we go to New York. I don't think I thought about it until now.' Maddie was staring up at the sky, as were the rest of us as we lay on the field, cloud-watching.

Josh sighed from his place beside me. 'I know. It's going to be weird for us not fighting on the DM's side, you know? When we turn on them eventually, it's gonna put us in a lot more danger. We'll be targeted immediately, so we need to think everything through.'  

'Some of us won't make it out alive.' I said roughly, closing my eyes as the sickening realisation dawned on me. 'Some of us will come back and wish we were dead. Some will come back alive and breathing, but will have seen things that will plague their dreams long after we've saved the world.' I sucked in a deep breath and sat up.

'Don't you guys get it? Everything's about to change. Everything. And I'm scared out of my mind.' I whispered the last part, my head hanging low as I wrapped my arms around my knees and breathed, in and out, until I was sure I wouldn't cry.

'Change is necessary, Ave.' Maddie soothed, moving so she could run a hand up my arm, 'And with the way things are going here, we need a whole lot of fucking good change if anything's going to get better. It's going to be shit for a while, and then it'll get better. I promise.'

Jacob sat up and gave me a side-hug. Then he seemed to realise something as he stood up. 'The three of us need to do something, okay? We'll be back.'

And they all got up and left. If I wasn't panicking, I'd be slightly offended, but right now I was in no state of mind to do so.

And when a figure sat down next to me, that familiar scent drifting in the air, I wanted to cry with relief. 

Mason was here.

Mason was here and I would be okay.

'I miss you.'

So I looked up and wiped my tears. 'Take me home.'

***

M A S O N

Avery had decided she wanted to have a talk with me. Alone. In my house. But I didn't fail to notice the duffel bag she took with her when we stopped by at her house to pick anything up. Nor did I fail to notice her dad's strained expression when he hugged her at the doorstep and nodded when she whispered something into his ear.

I wanted her with me, sure, but I needed her to be happy more than that. And if happy wasn't with me, I'd find a way to deal with it.

Somehow.

We drove in silence back to the house, the radio on and pouring music into the car. I'd never been one for deep music, but something about the lyrics was getting to me.

I promise that one day I'll be around,
I'll keep you safe,
I'll keep you sound.

Right now it's pretty crazy,
And I don't know how to stop or slow it down.

Hey,
I know there are some things we need to talk about.

And I can't stay,
Just let me hold you for a little longer now.

Take a piece of my heart,
And make it all your own,
So when we are apart,
You'll never be alone,
You'll never be alone.

'Hey, are you okay, love?' I said, concerned as I parked my car and turned to face Avery. She was biting her lip, and her eyes shone with the promise of unshed tears. 

She blew out a breath and looked me straight in the eyes, and hell, seeing those sapphire eyes of hers in pain was like a sucker punch to my stomach. 'I want to do this inside. Let's go in and I'll tell you everything.'

I nodded, still confused, but followed her lead into the house, and then into the living room. The air-con was on and I sat on the sofa, taking Avery's hand and gently pulling her down with me. Then I waited for her to start talking.

'I don't know you, Mason. I really don't. And for any kind of relationship to work, both people need to know each other, and I think that's where we need to start.' She stared at me and then grinned a little. 'So go on, tell me all about yourself.'

'I agree with you, so here goes.' Though I was still a little confused as to what she wanted from this thing between us, for her, I'd go along with it. 'My name is Mason Elijah Woods, I just turned twenty-'

'You didn't tell me it was your birthday?' Avery gasped in mock-anger, but I had a feeling she was kind of hurt about it. 'You piece of shit!'

I laughed and ran a hand down her arm. 'I'm sorry, but it's not something I like to celebrate. Anyway, my favourite colour is khaki green, my favourite food used to be my mum's lasagne and now it's anything with chicken in it. I like to watch trashy rom-coms in my spare time, and I also am a fan of action movies.' I glanced at her and saw she was resting her head on one knee, smiling. 'Am I boring you?'

'Never. Keep going.'

So I did. We spoke about the most trivial things, and then deeper stuff, like fears and how many kids we wanted. And though I would've felt awkward with most people, I felt fine with her. The sun dipped, and it got dark soon enough, so I flicked on the lights, drew the blinds, and found some blankets we could snuggle into. Avery had taken the liberty to grab a bottle of wine from my fridge and was now sipping directly from it as we passed it back and forth. She had her hair out and a slightly sleepy expression on her face, but she was funnier than ever and adorably sweet.

'So tell me about your worst scar,' she mused, running her fingers over my DM tattoo lazily. 'And tell me the story behind it.'

That was easy. Hell, maybe I could have a little fun with this, too. I detached myself a little, and pulled my shirt over my head, hearing her sharp intake of breath as I did so. 

'Pick one and I'll tell you, love.'

***

Well, well, well. Our lovers are getting drunk, getting comfortable and getting nak-

Sorry, sorry, I'm getting carried away. What do you think will happen? And what do you think Avery wants to say to Mason?

The gala is coming up, and there may or may not be a few steamy chapters, so brace yourselves...

Vote and comment, my little assassins!

-M