Ava stepped inside the room and closed the door behind her before sitting down next to him on the bed. They sat in silence for a moment before Ava spoke up, "I'm sorry about earlier" she said softly, "I didn't mean to snap at you like that."

"It's okay" replied Ash as he reached out to touch her hand. "No, it's not okay" said Ava as she pulled away from him. "We need to talk about what happened between us." Ash could feel his heart sinking as listened and watched as she spoke. He knew that their relationship was complicated, but he couldn't help the feelings he had for her. "I know" replied Ash softly. "But we can talk about it later, when you're ready."

"I'm gonna take some time" said Ava firmly. "I'm gonna stay with a friend for a few days." Ash felt a surge of sadness in his chest at her words but nodded understandingly. "Okay," he said before reaching out to touch her hand once again.

Ava pulled away from him again and stood up from the bed. "I just need some space to think."

"Alright" said Ash kinda sadly as Ava left his room and went back into hers. Tossing her phone, charger, laptop and a couple of changes of clothes and such into a book-bag, leaving her room and closing the door behind her. "Where are you going?" Her mother asked. "I'm gonna go stay with Kayla for a week or so," Ava said. "What about Easter dinner?" Her mother asked. "I'll be back before you start preparing food. Don't worry."

Ava walked down the street, feeling a mix of emotions. She was relieved to have some time away from Ash and their complicated relationship, but at the same time she couldn't help but feel abit weird leaving. As she walked, she saw a couple holding hands and laughing together, all she could think is if only things were different. If only they werent legally siblings or if only their parents hadn't met first she thought. 

She arrived at Kayla's house and knocked on the door. "Heyy bestiee" Kayla said as she opened the door.

"Hey, sorry this was so sudden, I just need some time away from ash" replied Ava as they both walked into the living room and sat down on the couch.

Kayla raised an eyebrow curiously "Is everything okay between you two? He getting on your nerves?"

"It's complicated," said Ava with a sigh before changing the subject. "So, what do you want to do tonight?"

Kayla leaned back and got comfortable, "Not sure, I just miss you! God I can't remember the last time we had a sleepover. It was what? 8th grade?" She asked. "Yeah it's been a long time" Ava agreed. "Where is your mom btw?"

"She's staying with her sister for abit" Kayla replied. "Oh?" said Ava. "Yeah she just had a baby so mom's staying with her abit since it's her first baby" said Kayla. 

"Aw, that's sweet," she said as Marcus, Kayla's older brother, walked into the living room. He was wearing charcoal colored sweatpants and a black and red shirt, "What's up?" he asked before making himself comfortable on the couch next to Ava. "Just chilling" Kayla replied before turning her attention to a game she loaded up on her phone. Ava hesitated for a moment before deciding to join in on their conversation. "So Marcus, what brings you back home?" she asked, trying to keep the conversation light and casual. "Just came by to check on my little sister" said Marcus. "He's lying" Kayla replied without even looking up from her phone, "He only came back for the food" she joked.

Marcus laughed at his sister's comment, "Hey, I can't help it if our mom makes the best mac and cheese" he replied. "Told you so" said Kayla.

Ava couldn't help but laugh at Marcus's comment. It felt good to be surrounded by people that weren't family. They continued to talk and joke around until it got pretty late. "I'm starving" Marcus said as he stood up from the couch, stretching his arms out. "You wanna order some pizza?" Marcus asked. "Pizza sounds so good right now" replied Ava.

Marcus started to put the order in on his phone. "Kayla? Earth to Kayla??" Ava said as she nudged Kayla.

Kayla looked up from her phone screen and nodded her head. "Sure, I'm down for some pizza" she replied absentmindedly before turning back to her game. As they waited for the delivery, the conversation turned towards their plans for Christmas. Marcus talked about how excited he was to be back home for abit, and to see his family and friends while Ava remained quiet, still feeling uneasy about everything with Ash.

Suddenly, there was a loud knock at the door followed by a man's voice shouting "Open up! This is the police!" The three of them froze for a sec before looking at each other. Marcus quickly got up and headed towards the front door, opening it. "Eyyy, Devon!" Marcus shouted excitedly. "I didn't know you worked there man" Marcus said as he playfully put one arm around him. "Hey, don't make him drop the pizza" Ava said from the couch. "Yeah I recognized the address so I figured I'd scare you a bit" he said with a laugh. "And you're my last stop so. Mind if I come in for a bite?"

"No of course not man" Marcus replied "come on. Sit down, it's been awhile"

Devon put the pizza's on the coffee table and sat down on the couch next to Kayla while Marcus went into the kitchen for a moment before walking back into the living room. "Uh..Here" said Marcus holding out a bottle of pineapple Fanta" Ava looked up at him slightly confused, "Thank you" She said hesitantly as she grabbed the bottle from his hand. "Yeah I was uh, out earlier and Ava said you were gonna stay the weekend and ya know. I remember mom would always buy some when you and Kayla had sleep overs because that's all you would drink." he said before looking away. "When I was like ten, Yeah" Ava said blushingly.

Marcus grabbed the remote and sat down next to Ava. "hey save some for me, i paid for it" marcus joked as devon grabbed a second slice of pizza, "I delivered it" devon remarked back. The night went on as they ate and watched the show together, after finishing up they continued to talk for a few mins before Ava and Kayla went to Kayla's room to sleep while Devon and Marcus loaded up a game. Kayla fell asleep quickly, but Ava couldn't seem to quiet her mind. She kept thinking about everything that had happened with Ash and how complicated their relationship had become.

She opened her phone, 11:47 it read. Finally, unable to take it anymore, she got up from bed and quietly made her way into the kitchen for a drink of water. As she entered the kitchen, she found Devon and Marcus sitting on the couch smoking some weed that Devon had brought with him while playing back4blood.

"Hey," said Devon as he noticed Ava enter the room. "You want some?" He gestured towards his joint. Ava hesitated for a moment before nodding her head slightly. She knew she shouldn't be doing this, but at this point what did it matter? She took a hit from the joint before passing it back to Devon who continued smoking it with Marcus as they played their game. As Ava sat there watching them play, she felt herself relax for the first time since leaving home earlier that day. For just a moment everything felt okay again - 

Until Devon and Marcus lost the game they were playing. Devon put down his controller on the coffee table and passed Ava the rest of his joint. "Here shorty," he said with a smirk.

Ava took another hit, "you leaving?" Marcus asked as he leaned back onto the couch. "Yeah, I got work in the morning" replied Devon as he grabbed his stuff and headed towards the door. "Guess it's just us." Marcus said as he handed Ava the controller ~