Chapter Ten:
"Daddy What's wrong with Grandpa Dan?"
"What do you mean?"
"He didn't come to my birthday party." Jamie pondered as Nathan tied his shoelaces. "I really wanted him to come."
"Yeah, I know you did, Buddy. But your party was still pretty cool, right? You had fun sleeping over with Lily."
"Yeah, but Grandpa Dan said he missed me. And I bet he misses Ava, too."
"Well, you know that old jersey that you love so much?"
"Yeah."
"That was from your Grandpa Dan."
Nathan didn't really want Jamie to know more about Dan than necessary, but seeing how sad he was that his grandfather wasn't at his party, changed his mind.
"Really?!" Jamie perked up. "I knew it!"
"Knew what?" Ava smiled teasingly as she and Haley made themselves known.
"Grandpa Dan got me this birthday present!" Jamie showed off his jersey.
"Wow!" Haley pretended to be thrilled. "Can I talk to you for a second?"
"Yeah, sure." Nathan stood up. "You two keep yourselves out of trouble, okay?"
"Okay."
"Do you know what they're gonna talk about?" Jamie asked.
"Not a clue." Ava shook her head. "But it doesn't sound good...why don't you play with your new toys?"
"Okay!" The five year old got excited once again and slid off of his bed, sitting down on the floor to pick up his superhero action figures.
They had actually been a gift from Ava herself. With the money she was making at Clothes Over Bro's, she was able to splurge on both him and Lily. So, Jamie got some action figures that he'd been gawking at for months, and Lily was given some Barbie dolls that she'd had her eyes on. They added to her growing collection.
Ava was a pretty intimate gift giver. She didn't like giving people things in front of an audience for fear that they wouldn't actually like what she bought. So she left the gifts hidden in their rooms where they would eventually find them. It was sort of like a little treasure hunt.
Of course, those two would love anything Ava gave them as long as it came from her.
"He's dying, Hales." Nathan told his wife once they were safely in the kitchen.
"What?"
"Dan needs a heart transplant. He says it's his HCM. He's got six months to live, maybe not even that."
It was true. After seeing the gifts that Dan had left, Nathan had stormed over to his beach house to tell him off for it. He didn't want Dan anywhere near the two kids and he was going to make sure that he knew that.
But then Dan threw him completely off balance and told him that he was dying. That day they ran into him at the hospital, was the day he found out that his HCM was getting worse. It was only a matter of time before it killed him.
"Do you believe him? He's not even that old."
"I don't know." Nathan was clearly conflicted. "I mean, it's Dan. But he's even drawn up a will, and he's leaving us the beach house, among other things. And this time, he seemed…scared. I mean, I've seen my father be a lot of things, Hales, but never scared."
That was the most frightening part of it all. If Dan was scared, then that meant he was telling the truth.
"Well, if it is true, at least now we know why he wants to spend so much time with Jamie." Haley mused. "Nothing like a ticking clock."
"We'll, ticking clock or not." Nathan spoke firmly. "Dan's not spending any time with Jamie. Or Ava."
"It's like history is repeating itself." Ava walked right into the beach house without so much as a knock. "Again."
"Hi, Ava." Dan smiled politely, knowing his relationship with his daughter was now strained.
"Dan." Ava reciprocated.
"What brings you here this time of day?"
"I got your gift." She shrugged, holding up her wrist. "The music box and the bracelet? They're beautiful. Thank you."
At first, she didn't know whether or not she should accept them. But returning a gift to someone was the ultimate insult no matter who it was from.
Dan had obviously put a great deal of thought into what he did and Ava would have just been petty if she had given it back.
"You're welcome. It doesn't change anything, I know. But I wasn't gonna ignore your birthday."
"I know." Ava acknowledged. "Jamie loves the jersey, by the way."
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah. He practically sleeps in it." Ava chuckled despite herself. "We can hardly get him out of it."
"I'm glad he likes it. How's Nathan?"
"He's stubborn."
"That hasn't changed." Dan cracked a genuine smile at the thought of his younger son. "He'll get it back."
It was only a matter of time before Nathan was back on the court again. He just needed to keep working hard at it and have patience.
"He will." Ava returned the gesture and headed for the door. "Thanks again."
"Thank you."
Ava wasn't really sure why he was thanking her, but she wasn't going to open up another discussion when she was halfway out the door.
And she didn't come here to kick the man while he was already clearly down.
She just wanted to tell him that his gifts were appreciated so she could go on her way.
"Hey, where've you been, Girly?" Haley greeted Ava, who was making her way into the kitchen.
"Just walking."
That hadn't been a lie.
After she had gone to see Dan, Ava had spent a few hours aimlessly strolling around the neighborhood. It seemed like that was happening a lot more often than not these days.
"Yeah? Cleared your head?"
"Somewhat."
"If you need to talk, I'm here."
"I know."
"Mama?" Jamie approached Haley. "Where does Grandpa Dan live?"
"Uh, why?"
"I need to thank him for my birthday present. Can you take me?"
"Um, well, I can't do that right now, 'cause well— Grandpa Dan lives on the beach, and it's getting kind of late. But I'll tell you what you can do. You can write your Grandpa Dan a thank you note, and I will make sure that he gets it."
"Cool! I'll write the best thank you note ever!"
"Okay! Cool!"
"Nice save." Ava quipped once her nephew was safely out of earshot. "Are you really gonna give him the note?"
"No." Haley cringed. "I feel awful. What do you think?"
"Me?" Ava scoffed. "I think it's gonna backfire."
"Wow." Ava whistled as Q shot an air ball with his uninjured hand. "No wonder you quit the team, with a shot like that…" She joked lightheartedly, catching the ball and passing it back to him.
"You heard about that, huh?"
"Yeah." Ava nodded, the cold wind, making her shiver under her rusted orange sherpa. The water by the Rivercourt wasn't making it easier to bear the chill. "A couple of the guys on the team told me. The question is, why?"
During her walk, she had run into Carter, who was on the team as a small forward. The two were pretty good friends and have known each other for years. So naturally, he would tell her what was going on with her boyfriend.
And if that wasn't notice enough, she ran into Preston, who she didn't know as well as Carter, but he never rubbed her the wrong way. He was a quiet guy, he had a small circle of friends outside of the team and he kept his nose out of trouble.
He and Ava hadn't spoken more than two words at a time to one another, which is why she was so shocked when he actually came up to her to have a conversation. He was new, so she guessed it was pretty hard on him to put himself out there.
"Uh, Ava?" Q held up his cast, giving her a blank stare.
"So?" Ava scoffed. "I thought you loved this game. Why are you letting a broken hand stop you? You've got another one."
"It's my shooting hand. I can't play like this."
"You know." Ava took the ball from him and shot with her left hand, nothing but net. "When I was a kid, I broke my arm."
"Doing what?"
"Car accident." Ava waved her hand at the detail, catching the ball again. "The doctors told me I couldn't play basketball until I got the cast off. But I didn't listen. I went out and I started using my left hand for everything and it made me stronger. As inconvenient as this is, it's an opportunity to strengthen your non-dominant hand."
Q hadn't thought of it like that.
But trust Ava to put an optimistic swing on something negative.
"Try again." She passed him the ball. "And you know you're not gonna be perfect at the first go around, but stick with it."
Q chuckled despite himself and shot the ball again, still not making it in the basket.
"You're shooting like me now." Nathan joked, catching them both by surprise.
"Yeah, we're both former Ravens now, too."
"What? Why?" Looks he didn't get the memo either.
"Oh, well." Q pretended to mull it over. "I don't know. Let's see…..this thing?" He held up his cast once again. "Hm?"
"You're still part of the team, Q. You can't just quit because you're injured."
"You sound like your brother now. I mean, I expected a little grief from you, but what's Lucas know about playing injured?"
"Let me tell you something about Lucas." Nathan stepped closer to the two. "Lucas played injured his entire senior year. It cost him a lot of playing time, but he never gave up on his team. And what if they make the playoffs?"
"They won't. Even if they do, man, it's my shooting hand, Nate! I ain't gonna be ready for playoffs anyway."
"Well, then, you'll have to learn how to play differently. You're gonna have to reinvent your game."
"Reinvent my— Man, that ain't that easy, okay?"
"Who said it was gonna be easy?" Nathan questioned. "But what are you gonna do? Are you gonna quit? Are you gonna throw away everything you've ever worked for?"
"No, I'm not going to. I already did, okay? You know I punched that dude for you?"
"Oh, come on. I've thrown a lot of punches, and every last one of them was selfish. Now, face it, Q. You punched that guy for you. Deal with it." Nathan gave him a look. "I'll see you later, Pidge."
"Must you give him a hard time?" Ava asked, once her brother was far enough away that he couldn't hear. "He's only trying to help and he literally just said the same thing I did."
She didn't get why it was okay when she said it, but when Nathan brought it up, it was a crime. It was like Q was allergic to authority or something.
"I know, he just…bugs me."
"He bugs me, too." Ava laughed softly. "But he means well and you know that he's right."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Q flippantly responded. "Are we doing this or what?"
"You're so stubborn." Ava rolled her eyes and checked him the ball. "Shoot. Five in a row. You miss one, you start over."
"So, without Quentin, we have no inside game, no defense."
"And no assists." Jamie piped up, looking at the same game plan his aunt and his uncles were.
The Ravens couldn't afford another loss. So now was the time to buckle down and figure out what was going wrong. And that's exactly what they had gone to the locker room to do. They weren't leaving until they figured out how to make this team perform better.
"So in a nutshell, I'll be cheering for a losing team." Ava deadpanned.
"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Pidge."
"I got an idea." Skills spoke up.
"Let's hear it."
"I say we push the temp and just shoot 3s." Skills said. "Like, almost all 3s. I mean, we still got some good outside shooters, and they're in pretty good shape, so if we push it, we might just run the score up high enough to when we don't need no big man in the paint."
"Almost all 3s, huh?" Lucas quirked a brow.
"Hey, it wasn't my idea. It was all him." Skills pointed at Jamie.
"That's a good idea, Jamie. But, see, with that kind of offense, we're gonna need a really strong player to distribute the ball and get back on D."
"You've already got that player." Nathan told his older brother. "Quentin."
"He quit."
"I talked to him. He'll come around. Trust me."
"Well, it's better than my idea." Lucas shrugged.
"What did you have in mind?"
"Put Ava in a short wig and have her play as one of the guys."
"That's not funny." Ava rolled her eyes as they laughed. "I'm so glad I have Lily, because the amount of male input this family has is astonishing."
"How about you and I go at it?" Q challenged. "One-on-one."
"Are you sure you can handle it?" Ava dribbled the ball, keeping her eyes on him. "I mean, you've been pretty rusty lately. I wouldn't want to humiliate you."
"Come on now." Q cackled loudly. "Let's go."
"Alright." Ava smirked and drove past him, making a a fade away.
"The fade away is weak, man." Q snickered.
"So weak that it got past you?" Ava checked him the ball, ready to play defense. "Come on, show me whatcha' got."
Q dribbled to the left and made a lay-up, but Ava's defense was really good.
He could admit that.
She hadn't made it easy to score.
"Can you show me how to do that?" Jamie watched on in awe.
"Sure." Q shrugged. "Why don't we start with foul shots?"
"Okay." Jamie made his way over to the foul line and observed how Q handled the ball.
"Alright, you ready?" Q released the ball and made the shot. "There it is. Hold your follow through."
"Nice!" Ava high-fived him. "I knew you could do it."
All that hard work was really paying off.
"Daddy, Quentin's teaching me how to shoot left-handed free throws!" Jamie proudly told his father, who had just entered the gym.
"Oh yeah?" Nathan smiled, but dropped it when he noticed Dan in the doorway. This guy just couldn't quit, could he?
"You wanted to see me?" Q asked.
"Yeah." He nodded distractedly. "Yeah, actually hold that thought, okay? Jamie, um, keep shooting. Pidge, keep working on that cross-over dribble. I'll be right back."
"What's wrong?" Ava asked him.
"Nothing. I just need to take care of something real quick. It's okay." Nathan waved her off. "Oh, and, hey, Quentin? You're not quitting the Ravens."
"You quit the Ravens?" Jamie was clearly appalled.
"Yeah, I got hurt, little man."
"My daddy got hurt, too." Jamie said. "Sometimes it makes him sad. I'd give anything to see him play again. I can tell he wants to."
"Hey." Ava smiled, putting a gentle hand on Jamie's head. "I told you he was smart."
"You realize I can make one phone call and have your parol revoked for coming around here like this?" Nathan snapped once he and Dan were outside of the gym.
"Just hear me out, Nathan." Dan didn't come to argue. "Once I've said my piece, I'll go and never come back, if that's what you want."
"Okay, you've got five minutes."
"I've never told anyone else this before, but when I was in prison, I tried to kill myself. I put a rope around my neck, and I tried to hang myself."
"Dan, I…." Nathan honestly didn't know what to do with that information.
"Just let me finish. When I stepped off that chair…..I'd truly given up on everything. But then the rope broke, and I took it as a sign….a sign that I wasn't finished on this earth, that my life was incomplete. So, you see, I need to fix it. I need to fix all of it— you, us. I need that peace before I die. Son, let me help you with what little time I have left."
"Good shot, Q!" They heard Jamie shout from inside the gym.
They also heard Ava's boisterously laughter and squeals of delight.
Nathan guessed Q and Jamie had done something to make her laugh so carelessly.
"Nathan…..please…..son. Don't deny a denying man his last wish."
"Hey, Nathan, you have to see this!" Ava ran out towards him. "Q just did the funniest—"
But she stopped short when she saw her father a short distance away. What was he doing here?
"Oh…..hi." Dan hated the way her beautiful smile had dropped once she had seen him.
But he had no one to blame but himself.
"Hi, Ava." He greeted.
"What are you doing here?"
"He came to talk to me." Nathan answered, his voice was hard. "Why don't you go back inside and show Jamie how to dribble with his left hand?"
"But—"
"—Havana." He shook his head, his eyes pleading for her not to push this right now, though his voice was stern. "Go. Right now."
"Okay." Ava got the message. "Bye." She waved at their father before disappearing back into the gym.
"Did you even tell her?" Her brother made sure that she actually went inside instead of trying to eavesdrop.
"Tell her what?"
"About your HCM!"
"I haven't gotten a chance to."
"Don't lie to me, Dan! I know she went to see you! Why didn't you tell her?"
"Because I didn't want any more to the pain I've already caused her." Dan explained himself.
"So what, you just weren't gonna say anything?!" Nathan snapped.
"Of course not! I'm going to tell her!"
"I hope for her sake, you do. I hope she doesn't have to hear it from anyone else."
"Brooke? Lucas?"
"Come in."
In all the chaos of the day, Ava totally forgot that she asked Brooke if she could tag along to Angie's doctor visit.
She still wasn't too fond of hospitals and doctors, but she'd suck it up for Angie's sake. The baby had a heart condition, which was the main reason she had been sent to Brooke in the first place. She couldn't be helped in her country of origin, so she was sent to America by her family to give the girl her best chance.
"Did you run all the way over here?" Lucas drew her onto his lap. There were no seats left to sit in, so this was a better alternative than standing up. She still fit perfectly, so it wasn't a problem.
"No." She shook her head, catching her breath. "Q dropped me off. I ran all the way upstairs, though. I thought I was late." She glared daggers at the empty chair the doctor was supposed to be occupying. "Guess I'm not the only one."
Angie, who had been sleeping, stirred as her eyes fluttered open. She looked around the room and found herself in a new environment, which didn't please her. But when she saw Ava, she lit up and babbled as if trying to have a conversation with her.
"Hi." Ava waved as Angie kicked her feet in delight.
"Sorry if I kept you waiting." A man entered the room and sat down behind his desk. "I'm Dr. Copeland. You must be Brooke Davis. Clothes, right?"
"Yes."
"I thought you looked familiar." He smiled and turned to Lucas. "Which must make you..."
"A friend." He shook the man's hand. "Lucas Scott. This is my sister, Ava."
Ava just smiled and waved shyly. She'd only seen good looking doctors on television, never in real life.
"Great." The man winked at her, sensing the child-like admiration. "So I just wanted to run through the surgical procedure so you can know what to expect. Are you familiar with Angie's condition?"
"Not really." Brooke shook her head. "She has a hole in her heart, right?"
"She has a number of holes, actually, but we're gonna fix them. We'll put Angie under a general anesthesia." He explained. "We'll stop her heart, and then I'll do the repairs."
They had to stop her heart?
Ava looked over at Angie and watched as the baby gurgled happily, blissfully unaware of what was going on around her.
What if something went wrong during the procedure? What if she got hurt? What if it didn't work?
"You have to stop her heart for how long?" Brooke inquired, concern etched all over her features.
"Two hours, maybe longer, depending on the extent of her condition."
"Two hours?"
"Yes, that's...that's how we do it, Brooke." Dr. Copeland tried his best to assure her that they were going to do the very best that they could for the child. "Angie will be on a heart-and-lung machine, which will keep blood and oxygen circulating her body. Then I will graft skin from another part of her heart and use it to fix the holes."
"How do you intend to restart Angie's heart?" Lucas swooped in once he realized that Brooke was on the verge of breaking down.
"After the repairs are complete, we will use an electric shock. Once she's stabilized, we'll take her to the ICU, and you'll be able to see her then."
"I know I don't have a choice here, but this seems so dangerous. Is there some other way?"
"I'm sorry, but, uh, no, there's no other way to correct Angie's condition."
"Dr. Copeland." Lucas lifted Ava so that she wouldn't slide off his lap and wrapped his arms around her, sensing her discomfort. "What's Angie's prognosis if she doesn't have the surgery?"
"A year, maybe two."
Ava's eyes widened at the unhopeful lack of time Angie would have left if she didn't get the operation. Either way was a gamble.
"And then what?" Brooke hated herself for even asking.
"She'll die."
"Look, Brooke. It's okay to be nervous, but I just want you to focus on what a great thing it is you're doing for Angie."
"Thank you."
"So, if there are no further questions." The man stood up. "I will see you next week."
"Actually, there is one thing." Lucas spoke. "Do you happen to know a Dr. Thorton?"
"So, explain to me again what this shopping spree is for?" Ava asked Maddie as they walked through the mall with multiple bags on their arms. "I mean, you texted me saying that you needed some retail therapy. What's up?"
"My mom and I got into this huge fight and I couldn't stand another second in that house." Maddie told her.
"Okay. I'm gonna need a little bit more to go off of than that." Ava chuckled, before her eyes caught a cute cropped sweater. "Ooh! It's on sale and it's my size!"
"See?" Maddie smirked. "Therapy."
"Sorry, I just got distracted." Ava shook her head, throwing the sweater over her shoulder. "What did you two fight about? You never fight. You're like Rory and Lorelai Gilmore."
It was true. For as long as Ava had known Maddie, and that was since, like, forever, she had never heard of an instance where she and her mother were fighting.
Those two were so close, they were like best friends!
"She's got a new boyfriend."
Well, that explained it.
Ever since Maddie's parents got divorced, it had only been just her and her mother all these years. Ava could understand why Maddie was feeling a little upset about this.
If Karen had started dating some guy (that hadn't been Andy) after Keith's death, Ave was pretty sure she would've been angry, too. The only reason why she didn't react when she started dating Andy, was because the two had been involved once before Keith died. Everyone already knew Andy and he respected how important Keith was to them.
"What?"
"I know!" Maddie scoffed, picking up a pair of socks just for the sake of it. "I couldn't believe it either!"
"Well, is he nice?"
"He's a great guy! He's nice and he treats her well!"
"So…..what's the problem, Madzilla?"
"The problem, Avalanche, is that he's too nice. No one is that nice."
'Madzilla' and 'Avalanche' were the nicknames the two had come up with years ago to match their silly personalities. They hadn't used them in so long, but Ava had literally just remembered them and thought it might ease Maddie's tension.
"Okay." She had to bite her lip to keep from laughing. "Don't bite my head off, but do you think that maybe your problem isn't with him?"
"Meaning?"
"Meaning, maybe you're upset because of something else?"
"Like what?"
"Like maybe….you wanted your parents to get back together?" Ava cringed, hoping her best friend wouldn't flip out.
"I don't know." Maddie sighed. "Maybe…..let's just shop. I don't really wanna think about it anymore."
"Sure, whatever you want. I'm here."
"I know. Thanks."
"Hey, wake up."
"What for?" Ava groaned, rolling over on her bed, Tramp tucked firmly under her arm. She had a really long night and wanted to sleep in. No one usually ever had a problem with her doing that, so she wondered why Nathan was trying to wake her up.
But she was too tired to actually ask...or care.
Nathan smiled at the way she held the stuffed animal so close to her. She didn't carry it around everywhere she went anymore, but it was still one of her most prized possessions.
She couldn't sleep without it.
"We have a big day today. It's game day."
"I know that." Ava rolled back over onto her back to face him, though her eyes were still closed. "Why are you waking me up so early? Go away, Baloo, I'm tired."
She had taken a liking to calling Nathan, 'Baloo' after spending so much time with him. He was silly, but he could be gruff. Most importantly, he was cuddly. That's what Ava liked best.
Just...not right now.
"Open your eyes."
Ava whined and pried her eyes open, eyeing the workout clothes her brother was wearing. "You're gonna try again?" She smiled, sitting up.
Now that was a reason to put her sleep in on hold.
"I'm gonna try again." He confirmed. "So, if you wanna keep me company, you'd better get up out of bed."
"Sweet!" Ava threw the covers off her body, ignoring how cold it was without them. "I'll be ready in ten minutes."
"I'll be downstairs."
Nathan couldn't help but shake his head in amusement as he left her room. His sister was so child-like and he loved it.
He hoped she'd never change.
"Knock, knock." He rapped his knuckles on Jamie's doorframe before leaning up against it.
"Who's there?" Jamie growled.
But Nathan knew better than to think that he was actually still trying to sleep. He had a long while before this kid hit the grouchy teenager years.
"A dad who's gonna leave without you if you don't drag your lazy bones out of bed."
"No! That's okay!" Jamie shot out of bed, fully clad in his mini Ravens uniform, proving his father's point exactly. "I'm ready!"
"I can see that." Nathan chuckled.
"Hey, Daddy? Knock, knock."
"Who's there?"
"Ya."
"Ya, who?"
"Yahoo!" Jamie sang. "There's a Ravens game tonight!"
"That's right, so we gotta get going, come on."
"Okay, I just have to get my cape." Jamie snatched up his trusty red cape before following his father out of the room.
"How're you doin', Dad?" Jamie asked as Nathan hauled both him and Ava as he ran in front of them. He was clad in his mini-Ravens uniform and Ava was in her cheerleading get-up.
They both were on scooters, giving Nathan some weight to pull as he jogged down the Riverwalk.
Ava may have been fifteen, but boy was she light.
Nathan could lift her up over his head with one arm if he wanted to.
"Hanging in there."
Yeah, by a thread. This work out was turning out to be a lot harder than he thought. He was out of shape from all those months he was sitting in that wheelchair, and now he had to rebuild his muscle mass and endurance.
"Good. 'Cause it feels like we kind of slowed down."
"Nah, we're good." He stopped once they reached a steep hill.
"Maybe we should turn around and go back." Jamie suggested.
"Yeah." Ava had to agree. It was a really really steep hill. "Or maybe I can get off and you can pull Jamie."
"Why?" Nathan panted. "You don't think I can make it up this hill?"
Jamie and Ava shared skeptical looks before the former spoke for the both of them. "We're not supposed to lie, right?"
"Watch your old man work." Nathan took one last look at the hill before sprinting up.
"Come on, Dad!" Jamie cheered him on. "You can do it! Push!"
"Don't stop! Keep going! You're almost there!"
"We made it halfway up…." Jamie tried to look at the bright side. "Well, almost halfway."
The three walked onto the Rivercourt with Jamie and Ava pushing their scooters while Nathan tried to catch his breath.
Nathan, had not, in fact, made it up that hill. Ava had to give it to him, though. He kept fighting all the way up until the very end when he had no choice but to call it quits.
"Yeah, that wasn't so bad." She squinted from the sunlight in her eyes. "Respectable even."
"I don't know, guys. I've got a long way to go if I'm ever gonna play basketball again. I keep trying to do the things I used to do and my body's just telling me I can't."
"I think you can." Jamie spoke confidently.
"Thanks, Buddy."
"Wanna borrow my cape?"
"Yeah, you know what? I think I might need it."
Jamie grinned and handed his father the cape, beaming when he actually put it on.
"Alright, thank you. You know what else I'm gonna need?" Nathan playfully wiggled his eyebrows at his sister.
"What?"
"That scooter!" He took it from her and began to ride away as she chased him, laughing the whole way.
"Hey!"
"I'll get it back for you!" Jamie hopped on his own scooter and joined the chase. "Hey! You get back here!"
"You're gonna have to catch me first!"
"You really are an old man." Ava smirked at her exhausted brother. "Look at you. You didn't even run two miles and you're falling apart."
"Hey, watch it." Nathan chugged his juice. "I have full grounding privileges."
"That you never use."
And she didn't think he'd ever use them, at least not seriously.
"That's because you haven't really given me a reason to. Are you telling me this is gonna be one?" He raised a brow as if to challenge her.
"Nope." Ava stuck her tongue out at him, sipping her ice cold water.
"You wanna take care of that for me, Baller?" Nathan handed his empty bottle to his son.
"Grandma….uh, I mean, Nanny Deb will do it."
"Dude, Nanny Deb is not your maid."
"Actually, she kind of is."
"Well, you can still pick up after yourself." Nathan pointed to the recycling bin. "Now, you little knucklehead."
"Yeah, save the planet, Shrimp."
"Stop teasing him, Bonehead." Nathan playfully shoved her before leaving the room.
"Hey, what's wrong?" She asked Jamie, when she saw the change in his demeanor.
"Look." He pulled the card he had made for his grandfather out of the garbage bin.
His mother told him that she would give it to Dan. That's why he made it in the first place. Why had she thrown it away? He worked so hard on it!
"Jamie…I'm sure there's a reason why it was in there…..maybe it was an accident or something."
Of all the places that Haley could have thrown that thing out, she chose the trash can in the kitchen?
"Yeah. Maybe."
"Don't think too much of it. If it means that much to you, I'll give it to him, okay?" And she meant it. That's what she should've done in the first place, barring on actually taking Jamie to see Dan.
But she didn't think Nathan and Haley would appreciate her doing the latter. How Haley was going to fix this one, she didn't know.
"We used to have a lot of fun doing that." Haley snuck up on Ava on the roof of Clothes Over Bro's.
Ava had worked a short shift at the store and was in the process of taking her break. She figured that since there was nothing she could be doing right now, she had ample time to climb up to the roof and fill a bunch of water balloons up. When Haley found her, she was just about to drop one on a random couple that passed by.
"What are you doing here?"
"I could ask you the same thing." Haley leaned on the ledge. No one but Millicent and Karen knew about Ava's little arrangement with Brooke. Millicent, because she actually worked there, too and Karen, because Ava needed her mother's permission to actually work since she was still a minor. "I got a call from Nathan, you left the house without saying a word. What happened? I thought you guys were having a good day?"
Ava didn't know why she hadn't told anyone. It wasn't a secret and she wasn't ashamed of what she was doing. She guessed part of her just wanted to keep it to herself. It was something she was doing on her own and she was proud of it.
"Oh no, we were….." The teen assured her, tossing the balloon from hand to hand. "I was just…..thinking."
"About what?"
"Dan."
"What about him?"
"There's something wrong with him, isn't there? He's acting funny and Nathan was actually talking to him the other day. Then Lucas asked to speak to a cardiologist and I know that he's not having any heart troubles, because he actually takes his meds now." Ava fiddled with the orange balloon in her hands. "You don't have to lie to me. I'm not Jamie."
"I shouldn't have lied to Jamie and I'm not gonna lie to you." Haley sighed. "Dan is dying."
"What?"
"It's his HCM. He needs a heart transplant."
"So…..there's a way to fix him?" Ava asked, clearly concerned. "I mean, not that I care or anything."
But she did care. She cared a lot. She was still in limbo with Dan, but that didn't mean she wanted him to die.
"It's okay that you do, Ava." Haley tucked the girl's stubborn hair behind her ear. "And yes, he will live if he gets a transplant."
"Oh." Ava nodded. "Why didn't anyone tell me?"
"Lucas, Nathan, and I decided not to tell you, because we didn't want to upset you."
"Why would I be upset?"
"Dan has done some disgusting and awful things, but he's still your father. You still spent time with him all those years ago. It would be natural for you to be upset."
"Even after what he did?"
"Even after what he did."
"I wish he never did it."
"Me, too, Ava." Haley rubbed the girl's back comfortingly. "But he did and that's something we all have to live with now."
"I know."
"I found Jamie walking by himself earlier." She graciously changed the subject, so Ava wouldn't have to sit with her thoughts.
"You did? Where?"
"A few blocks from the house. He must've left a little after you did."
"What was he doing?"
"He found the card he made Dan in the trash."
"Oh yeah. He showed it to me earlier. He was pretty upset."
"Yeah, I figured that out pretty quickly…..he was more upset about the fact that I lied. I only do it to protect him."
"He knows."
The two fell into a comfortable silence before Haley got an idea. "Hey, hand me that balloon, will you?"
"Here."
Haley smirked and leaned over the edge, looking for her first victim. Those preteens down below looked like easy targets. They didn't suspect a thing.
"Haley! Don't do it! You've got too much to live for!" They heard Peyton yell from behind.
"Huh?"
"Dude, Millicent calls and says you're all depressed-looking, you're headed to the roof. I get all freaked out. What's going on, Foxy?"
"I found my five year old son walking alone on the street today. You know why? 'Cause I lied to him…I'm worried I'm wasting your time with this record, Peyton."
"No, Haley, the record's gonna be great."
"Well, I hope so, but what about after that? Mia said that her life is so nomadic that she can't even imagine having a family, let alone a serious relationship. I have a husband and a son who need me, and Ava, and a classroom full of students."
"Okay, Haley? It's not wrong for you to want what you want. And you're not Mia."
"But I used to be. Do you remember how hard that was on my relationship?"
"That's because you ran off without saying goodbye and you were with Chris Keller." Ava grinned cheekily, but the joke didn't land.
She guessed it would never be one of those things they could look back and laugh about. Lesson learned.
"Alright, so this time, it won't be. This time, you'll do it differently. And this time, I'll help you." Peyton paused. "I like your water balloons."
"Yeah, Lucas and I used to come up here and throw some off the roof on a bad day. Ava tagged along as soon as she could walk."
"I did not tag-along."
"You did."
"Well, then you tagged-along today! I was up here long before you got here, remember? You made me miss my perfect target."
"What? On who?" Peyton got excited.
"Little kids, mean people, you know."
"I got Mama once. She didn't appreciate it."
It had been purely by accident. Well, not really.
The story was, Ava was five years old and she was desperate to hang out with her big brother and his friend, so they took her up to the roof to play with the water balloons.
Since she was willing to do anything just to spend time with them, they kind of took advantage of the situation and dared her to throw a water balloon and the next person that passed by. If she did it, then she could stay.
That next person just so happened to be her mother.
She didn't want to throw it down at her, but a deal was a deal. So, she let the balloon fall, right over her mother's head, drenching her with water. And boy did she yell. The kids were pretty sure the entire neighborhood could hear her.
Being the five year old that she was, Ava cried hysterically with guilt. She hadn't expected that her aim would be so good. So when Karen marched through the cafe and up to the roof, Lucas, who didn't like seeing his sister so upset, took the blame.
He felt like it really was his fault anyway. Ava never would've done anything like that if he hadn't put it in her head.
Long story short, they weren't allowed on the roof for the rest of the week. Karen didn't want any more surprises.
"You'd be surprised how good it makes you feel."
"Well, speaking of mean people." Peyton looked at Dan, who was on the sidewalk, reading a newspaper.
"We were just kids then, right?"
"Speak for yourself." Ava said.
"Yes, you're too mature to be doing that stuff now." Peyton snatched Haley's balloon away, letting it drop. "But I'm not!"
The balloon splattered right in front of Dan, making him stop short.
"Dude! The guy's gonna have a heart transplant!" Haley hissed, a big smile on her face as she and Peyton ducked down to hide. "He's gonna drop dead?"
"You didn't tell me that!" Peyton laughed. "But you were right, it really really was fun!"
Ava, who hadn't bothered to duck down, took another one of her balloons and waited for Dan to look back at his newspaper before she let her balloon fall.
Too bad he moved.
It splattered all over him and the paper.
Now that was therapeutic. It was better than having to see Linda each week.
"Uh oh!" Ava gasped as he tried to shake the water off of himself. But she didn't feel bad at all.
"Ava!" Haley slapped the back of her skirt, before pulling her down to hide. It was too late, really. Dan had already seen her.
"Okay, ow!" Ava sent her an unamused look to contrast with Peyton's smirk. "That hurt!"
"You're not supposed to throw them directly at people!"
"I wasn't trying to!" Ava defended herself, making Peyton laugh out loud. "He moved!"
"We are definitely doing this again."
"Go Ravens!"
"I'm surprised you didn't get locked in the library for this game." Maddie joked while she, Ava, and the rest of the squad cheered on the sidelines during the home game.
The gym was packed, camera flashes were going off everywhere, and Mouth was even doing a sport's report. It was a pretty big deal.
"Ha ha." Ava rolled her eyes, shaking her pompoms. "It was one time! Are you ever gonna let that go?"
"Not until something better happens. No."
"Go figure…..I threw a water balloon at my dad today."
"What?"
"Off the roof of Mom's old cafe…..I dropped a water balloon on him." Ava continued. "He was soaked."
"Ava!"
"What? I wanted to have a little fun! And Haley did it, too!"
"You guys are terrible."
"We add color to your life."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah."
"Yes!" They heard Lucas coach from the bench. "D up! Full-court! Go, go, go!"
"Alright, girls." Brielle, the captain of the squad turned to them. "Knock 'em Down' on three. One, two, three!"
"Knock 'em down! Roll 'em around! Come on, Defense! Work! Work!" They cheered.
A couple of cheerleaders did some cartwheels across the floor as the bases got ready to lift the flyers in groups of two.
And being that Ava was so light, she was a flyer.
"One, two, three!" Maddie counted her off as she and their group lifted Ava up high.
Ava's muscles clenched in order to stay balanced and she lifted her left leg, holding it as long as necessary before she was brought back down.
She loved being a flyer. Never did she ever think that there was a possibility that someone could drop her. She couldn't think like that if she wanted to do well. Part of this whole thing was, she needed to trust her teammates.
"Ten seconds! Ten seconds!" Nathan called to the players.
The Ravens scored just as the buzzer went off, sending the crowd into cheers and screams of joy. The whole gym erupted in noise and the cheerleaders did a little dance to celebrate.
"I need a drink." Ava huffed once they were done.
She and the team were giving it their all.
"Nice cheer." Q teased her as she made her way over to where he was by the bleachers.
"Nice play." Ava allowed him to peck her lips.
"Gross." Jamie screwed up his face in disgust. "That's disgusting."
"That's right, Jamie." Nathan ruffled his hair. "Kissing is gross. And I remember a time where Ava thought so, too, but I guess those days are behind us."
"We lost her to the dark side."
"Sorry." But Q wasn't the least bit apologetic.
"Q, how're you doing?"
"Man, who came up with this crazy plan anyway?"
"I don't know." Jamie shrugged.
If Q didn't thought the play was stupid, Jamie didn't want him to know that he was the one who came up with it.
"Sure you don't." Ava poked his side.
"Cause I like it." Q bumped fists with the five year old.
"Anyway, I just came to tell you that you're doing great. I need to go find something to drink."
"My water's on the bench." Nathan told her so she wouldn't have to go out and buy her own water.
"Thanks." With all the water on the bleachers, Ava knew exactly which one was his.
He had a special water bottle.
How very 'Nathan' of him.
"What's up with your brother?" Brielle asked Ava, watching Lucas shout and lose his cool.
"I don't know…..he was fine before the second half started." Ava shrugged, eyeing the blonde man.
He looked stressed and fed up.
And she had no idea what could've happened between half-time to now that had him acting this way.
But it must've been something big.
Lucas didn't get this angry over nothing.
In fact, the last time Ava had seen him like this was when she ran out into the middle of the street without looking to see where she was going.
Their mother had gone to the grocery store to pick up some items she was missing, and left Lucas to babysit his seven year old sister.
Ava wanted to play outside with her basketball, so he sat on the porch swing to keep a close eye on her. Everything was going well until the ball hit her shoe and went rolling into the street. Without thinking, Ava darted out into the road to get it, unaware of the car that was driving towards her.
Lucas didn't know how he had flown from the porch, across the yard, and into the street to snatch Ava out of harm's way, but he did.
The only casualty was her basketball. The car had run over it, flattening it like a pancake.
Seeing the now destroyed ball, Lucas flipped out on his sister, dragging her back into the house to yell at her. This was new to her, Lucas was always the one getting her out of trouble. He'd never yelled at her like that before and she was terrified.
She thought that he was upset about the ball being damaged. She had no idea that he was yelling because she had almost gotten hurt. He had been scared out of his wits.
That was the first and the only time he had ever put his hands on her.
Now that Ava was looking back, she couldn't believe she had been such a troublemaker. It was a wonder her brother hadn't lost his cool long before that.
"Unbelievable! Time-out!" Lucas called the entire team over.
"It won't! It won't!" The squad cheered, looking directly at the opposing team. "It won't go in! But it'll roll around the rim! It won't go in!"
"We've gotta learn some new cheers." Maddie couldn't help but laugh at what they were yelling.
"Yeah, these chants are a little outdated." Brielle had to agree. "We'll think of something."
The cheers were more than outdated. They were embarrassing, laughable even. They needed to have a squad meeting as soon as possible, because another year of these chants, and Ava just might be forced to bully herself for this.
"Bear Creek sucks!" The Ravens sounded off after being given the next play.
"Your brother is really—"
"—Losing it." Ava finished for her friend. "I know."
She shook her pompoms again as the game continued and frowned when someone from Bear Creek fouled Q.
"Ref, that's flagrant!" Lucas defended his player.
"No sir. It's one and one."
"So, he's just not gonna call anything?" Maddie raised an eyebrow.
"Looks like they're gonna have Q shoot his left-handed free throws." Ava whispered as Q made it to the foul line.
"Do you think he'll make it?"
"Definitely." Ava nodded. "I've been working with him."
Q dribbled the ball in place, before looking at his girlfriend who winked, giving him the wave of confidence he needed to continue.
He could do this.
So, letting the ball roll off his hand, he made the first shot.
"Go! Q!" Ava yelled.
"Nice shooting, Q!" Nathan encouraged him. He was sure that he could do it if he put his mind to it.
"Let's go, baby, one more!" Skills called out.
And Q had no trouble making the second one.
"Yes!" Maddie cheered as some of the cheerleaders did back-handsprings.
"I knew you could do it!" Ava held her hands over her mouth so that her voice would travel.
Q just smiled back, but his happiness didn't last for long.
A player on the opposing team knocked into his wrist, making him hiss in pain.
Everyone could see that it had been done on purpose.
"Out of bounds." The ref said. "Warrior's ball."
"What?!' Lucas growled. "You're kidding me! On the street, that's assault! You're not even gonna call that a foul in here?!"
"Technical foul."
"Oh, you're gonna 'T' me. You blow the call, and you're gonna 'T' me up?!"
"You're gonna get tossed, son."
"I've had enough." Ava huffed and strutted over to her brother.
She knew this wasn't going to just go away without escalating first. That ref was totally in the wrong, but judging how Lucas was practically fuming, he wasn't going to make things any better.
"You need to throw his sorry behind out." The player that had hit Q taunted.
And within a split second, Lucas grabbed him, making Ava break into a sprint.
"How do you like it, punk?" He retaliated. The kid actually had the decency to look startled.
"Luke!" Ava squeezed in between them and pushed him away. "You can get in trouble for this! Stop it!"
Nathan, who had been sitting with Jamie and Mouth, swooped in and pulled his older brother away from the boy.
"You're ejected, Coach." The ref told him.
"Yeah, you're 'ejected'." The teen taunted, feeling tough again, now that no one had a hold on him. "How's it feel having a girl fight your battles for you?"
"Man, shut up!" Ava hissed, glaring at him.
"I'm not afraid to hit a girl."
That sounded like a challenge if Ava ever heard one.
"Well, go ahead. I'm not stopping you."
The player wasted no time in shoving Ava back.
Ava just smiled and threw her pompoms down and shoved him back as hard as she could. And she didn't stop there.
"Ronnie!" His coach yelled. "What are you doing?!"
Ronnie just kept fighting the petite girl, who had no trouble holding her own. He was beginning to realize he had messed with the wrong kid today.
"I hurt your pretty little boyfriend." He jeered. "I can do the same to you."
He just kept taunting her to make it worse. Because she was so emotional, it was working. Her temper rose and she could feel the heat in her face, but she didn't stop.
"Do it!" Ava threw a decent enough slap, making his head turn. "I dare you!"
"Mouth! Look!" Jamie pointed to Ava.
Ava was fired up. All that anger she hadn't even realized was pent up inside of her, was making its way out, fueling her with energy to continue this fight.
It looked like she was out of control.
All she could focus on, was hitting this guy and making him regret everything he did. She didn't care how long it took, she was going to do it.
"Oh my goodness."
"Luke, what just happened?" Nathan asked after he managed to drag his brother into the locker room. Which, by the way, was no easy feat.
"That kid intentionally tried to hurt Q, you saw it."
"I know, but Luke, you grabbed him, man. Ava had to jump in between you two."
He wondered what Ava was up to now. She was probably just checking up on Q. He had been taken to the nurse to be checked out, so she most likely went with him to make sure he was okay.
He didn't believe that for a second.
"I should've knocked him out!" Lucas sat down angrily, trying to calm himself down.
"This is really bad, Luke."
Nathan wasn't trying to alarm him or anything, but he grabbed a kid! He was an adult now, he couldn't do things like that and get away with it.
"She's seeing someone else…Lindsay." The older of the two sighed brokenly. "She called at halftime…..I can't believe it. She's supposed to come back to me."
Now that made sense. Lucas could never get this fired up about a game. He was hurting over something else and it got out of control.
"Luke, I know you don't wanna hear this, but…what if she doesn't? What if she's not going to? You can't wait around forever. Maybe it's— Maybe it's time to move on."
"She's supposed to come back."
Why'd she have to call today of all days? Lucas was doing so well and then she called and it ruined everything.
"Guys." Mouth rushed into the room, holding the camera he had been using to film the game over his shoulder.
"What's wrong, Mouth?"
"It's Ava." He said. "She got into a fight with that guy who hit Q. It's bad."
"Only in Tree Hill." Nathan rolled his eyes. "I'll go get her."
Between Lucas and Ava, his two siblings were going to give him grey hairs. He was supposed to be the reckless one, not the responsible one. Maybe they were taking turns this evening.
"I'm coming with you."
"No, stay here. You're only gonna make this worse. You already grabbed him."
"Just make sure she doesn't get hurt."
"I'm on it."
Though, he really didn't think they needed to worry about Ava. He was more worried about the kid she was fighting.
"Ava, get off of him!" Maddie yelled.
She had already tried to stop the fight once. She wasn't trying to get involved in it again.
She knew this really wasn't Ava's fault, but she didn't want to see her get hurt.
Besides, she had Jamie to think about now, too.
"Haley!" She called the older woman, who looked like she had just come from the bathroom or something. "Haley, come quick!"
Go figure, Ava couldn't have gotten herself into this fight if Haley had been around when it started. There was no way.
"Mama!" Jamie shouted, clearly terrified of what was going on.
He had never seen Ava just…lose it on someone before.
She was always so calm and kind. At least around him.
She looked like a wild cat!
"Ava, cut it out!" Haley ordered as soon as she got close enough, unable to break the two apart because Jamie rushed into her arms. "Havana, stop!"
Her calls distracted the teen, giving Ronnie the perfect opportunity to deck her, making her fly onto her back.
He got her good, she was seeing stars, but she wasn't giving in.
"Are you crazy?!" Haley barked at him. "She's half your size! Are there any adults in this building?!"
The referee simply just shrugged his shoulder and watched on. "I ain't that kind of ref, lady."
"Unbelievable!" Haley grabbed Ava, but the teen ripped herself away and went back to wailing on the boy in front of her.
If he was going to hit her like that, then she wanted a chance to retaliate.
"Havana-Rose Scott, cut it out!" Nathan pushed through the crowd of nosy people that had come to watch. "Now!" He boomed, ripping her away from Ronnie with one harsh tug.
At first, Ava was still in fight mode, so she squirmed and tried to get her brother to release his grip in any way she could.
"Havana-Rose, you don't want to do this with me right here." He kept his grip on her, giving her a chance to catch her breath and calm down.
It took a few seconds, but she did relax in his hold, no longer willing to fight with him or anybody else. She looked at Ronnie and her eyes widened at the damage she had done.
Part of her was proud of herself for it.
"I told you I wasn't afraid to hit a girl." Ronnie smirked, despite having a bruised cheek, black eye, and a fat lip. "You're lucky your brother came to save you."
Nathan carried her away before she could get it into her head to pounce again, though. Too bad.
"Uh, excuse me?" Haley raised her eyebrows, going right into teacher mode. "Was that a threat?"
Ronnie seemed to realize what he had gotten himself into and shut his mouth momentarily.
"Sit down." Nathan pushed his sister onto the bleachers. "Have you lost your mind?"
"I don't wanna talk about it." Ava crossed her arms, giving her uniform a once over to find that it hadn't been damaged in the scuffle.
"Of course it wasn't a threat." Ronnie smiled.
"Where's your coach?"
"He's outside, ma'am." One of the other player on Ronnie's team told her. "And it wasn't her fault and she didn't start it. He attacked her right after your coaches left."
"Thank you." Haley nodded. "Can you take me to him? I think he should know what kind of players he has on his team."
"Sure thing."
"Jamie, stay with Daddy and Ava." Haley told her son before following the two boys out. She had business to take care of.
"Does it hurt?" Jamie cringed, looking at Ava's bloody nose. It was steadily dripping and she was trying her best not to get any of it on her clothes.
"Not really." Ava grumbled while Nathan pressed a bunch of tissues to it.
She was still pretty angry about the fight and she could've gone a couple more rounds with that guy if Nathan hadn't pulled her away.
"You sure do know how to get yourself into trouble, don't you?" Maddie joked, sitting down next to her and stroking her hair.
"It wasn't my fault."
"You're not supposed to be fighting, Havana." Nathan scolded, graciously accepting an ice pack from a concerned parent and pressing it to the girl's nose. "This is ridiculous."
"What's so ridiculous about it?" Ava snapped. "He had it coming."
"He really, really had it coming." Maddie backed her friend up. "He was looking for a fight."
"Yeah, and you gave it to him."
"Can't you just tell me how long I'm grounded for and leave me alone?" Ava rolled her eyes.
"I wasn't planning on grounding you at all, but if you want to keep it up….."
"Okay, fine."
"Are you okay?" Jamie was still super concerned, having seen her duking it out with someone else for the very first time.
"I'm fine, Jamie."
"You're not gonna be sad…like Daddy was before, right?"
Ava's eyes softened at the question and she wrapped an arm around her nephew. "No, I'm not gonna be sad. I'm just a little angry right now, but I'll get over it…eventually."
"I didn't like it when he hit you."
"Trust me." Ava had to laugh. "I didn't either."
She could feel that she no longer needed the tissue, so she pulled it away from her nose and keep the ice pack on the side of her face where she had been hit.
"You talked to his coach?" Nathan asked as his wife made her way back over to them.
"And his parents. It turns out, they were here, too." Haley had an air of satisfaction in her tone.
"Good."
"How're you doing, Honey?" She took Ava's chin in her hand and gave her a once over. She cringed at the obvious bruises, but Ava was no worse for wear. She'd be alright in a few days tops.
"I'm okay."
"You wanna tell us what that was about?" She sat down beside her after Maddie slid over to make room for her.
"After Luke and Nathan left, he told me about how he wasn't afraid to hit a girl and how he hurt Q and wasn't afraid to do the same to me." Just talking about it made Ava's temper flare again.
"He what?!" Nathan's eyes darkened. "Haley, is he still out there? I should've let Luke deal with him, that kid is a thug!"
The fact that this kid had full intentions of hitting his little sister made him seethe. He had been calm before to get Ava to relax, but now that she was in the clear...
"Nathan, he's gone. I spoke to his parents and they're going to meet with his principal. He's not going to get away with this. But you can't go out there and beat up a minor….no matter how badly you want to."
"Yeah, they'll arrest you for that." Maddie told him offhandedly.
"What happened after he said all that?"
"I told him to 'go ahead' and he pushed me."
"No, Ava." Maddie chuckled. "He shoved you. Hard. I'm surprised you didn't go soaring across the gym. Man, Mouth was horrified."
"And that's when I fought him. He attacked me first and I was just finishing it."
"And blowing off some steam?" Haley gave her a knowing look.
"And blowing off some steam."
"You shouldn't be getting into fights, Ava." She reprimanded, though on the inside, she was proud of how well Ava had carried her own. "You can get hurt, and there are better ways to handle things."
"Like what?" The teen rolled her eyes.
"Like, walking away." She listed. "Finding an adult. Diffusing the situation. You don't have to swing your fists."
But Ava liked swinging her fists. Sometimes it was the only way.
"Haley—"
"—I know you did what you thought you had to do, but do you think that some part of you knows that you went a little overboard?"
"I guess."
"You're grounded. One week." Haley kissed her cheek very gently, mindful of her injuries.
"Haley—"
"You weren't allowing yourself to get pushed around, I get it. But you had plenty of opportunities to walk away during that fight. You let your temper get the better of you. One week."
"Fine." Ava huffed and begrudgingly handed her phone over.
"Next time, we'll got to an empty parking lot." Maddie 'whispered'.
"Maddison."
"Hey, you're Ronnie Smith, right?" Dan Scott smiled, approaching the teen and his parents in the middle of the parking lot.
"That's right."
"You played well today." He held his hand out for him to shake.
"Thank you." Ronnie furrowed his eyebrows when Dan's grip got tighter and tighter.
He swore he feel his bones mushing together, but he didn't say anything. He was too afraid. Dan was so much...larger than he was.
"You plan on playing college ball?"
"Yes sir."
"Let me give you a little tip." Dan's hand squeezed the teen's a little harder and some of his knuckles cracked audibly. "I saw how you antagonized my son and I saw the way you attacked my daughter. If you ever put your hands on my little girl again, the only basketball team you'll be playing for is the YMCA. If you get that lucky. Got that?"
"G-Got it." Ronnie stammered, trying to school his features, but Dan's iron grip was starting to become unbearably painful.
"Good." Dan smiled and released him, turning his attention to the boy's parents as if nothing ever happened. "Great game today, don't you think?"
The two nodded as he walked away, but they didn't look the least bit fazed by what Dan had said or done.
It was almost as if they knew their son was a heathen.
"She wasn't as angry as I thought she'd be." Maddie nudged Ava, the two still sitting on the bleachers. "And you really did knock him flat. I don't think he was expecting it."
"Thanks." Ava smiled softly. "I scared the crap out of Jamie, though. Did you see the way he looked at me? Like he was afraid of me?"
"Yeah, but you didn't mean to scare him." Maddie assured her. "He'll understand."
"I hope so." Ava wrapped herself up in her cheer jacket. "Because I never want him to look at me like that again."
"Hey, Madz. Do you mind leaving us alone for a minute?" Nathan asked.
"Sure." Maddie grabbed her gym bag and stood up. "I'll see you at school, Ava."
"Bye."
Once Maddie left, Nathan sat down and looked at his sister. "Hey."
"What?"
"How are the war wounds?"
"I'm okay." Ava shrugged. Her nose had stopped bleeding a while ago, but her bruise was still smarting a bit, nothing she couldn't handle. "How's Jamie?"
"He's fine. The kid is tough. He was more concerned about you, though."
"Me?"
"He kept asking me if you were in any pain and if you needed him to make you feel better."
That got Ava to laugh. "Sorry."
She never meant to expose Jamie to whatever...that was. She hadn't been thinking when she was flying at Ronnie as their conversation turned into fisticuffs.
"Don't worry about it. I'd be a hypocrite if I came down on you for this." Nathan waved her off. "I've been in enough fights to know that it isn't easy to walk away. Especially when you've already got something on your mind."
"Huh?" Ava's eyebrows scrunched together in confusion.
"Haley told me that she told you about Dan."
"Oh, that."
"Yeah, that. I think that maybe that had something to do with the fight."
"I was just angry that he hurt Q and he provoked Lucas. I don't see how this has anything to do with Dan."
She didn't know why she felt the need to snap at him. It wasn't like he was lecturing her or anything.
Maybe he was right? She had been fine when she heard about Dan's HCM problems, at least, she thought she was fine. Maybe she had carried that through the whole day and finally lost it at the game. Ronnie had been the perfect target for her therapeutic release.
She certainly felt better after having it out with him.
"The anger in your voice tells me otherwise." Nathan pointed out calmly. "It's okay, I know the feeling. You and I are a lot a like."
"Yeah?"
"Oh, yeah." Nathan threw an arm around her. "We both have nasty tempers that get us into trouble. We have our dad to thank for that one." He joked. "So, that means, that we have something to work on."
"I'll help you if you'll help me." She gave him a toothy grin.
"Deal. And hey."
"What?"
"I love you."
"I love you, too."
"And don't tell Haley, but you really showed that kid he messed with the wrong person tonight."
"I won't." Ava chuckled. "Thanks for making me feel better."
"It's what I'm here for."
"Daddy!" Jamie ran over to the two. "I saw Grandpa Dan and I gave him my card!"
"You did?" Nathan pretended to gasp. "I'll bet he liked it."
"He did! He said I was his best friend."
"What a compliment." Ava humored him. "I know that card meant a lot to him."
"Do you feel better, Ava?"
"I feel much better."
"Good."
"It's a little late for ice cream, don't you think?"
"Oh." Ava dug her spoon into the carton, leaning on the kitchen counter. "I couldn't sleep, so I thought I'd come down here and read…..but then I got hungry."
"Ah, midnight hunger." Haley smiled, pulling her own spoon from the drawer. "Mind if I join you?"
"I don't mind."
"Mmm." Haley took a spoonful and gushed. "There's nothing like chocolate ice cream to wash all your troubles away."
"Yeah." Ava nodded distractedly, poking the frozen dessert with her spoon.
"Hey, what's on your mind?"
"Are we okay?"
"What do you mean? You and me?"
"Yeah."
"Of course, we're okay. Why wouldn't we be?"
"The fight?"
"We talked about this already. I'm not upset. I know you were defending yourself. Is that why you're down here?"
"I saw how Jamie looked at me earlier." Ava scooped out another spoonful. "He was terrified and he's never looked at me like that before."
She remembered how his beautiful eyes were wide with shock and how he flinched during that fight. All because she couldn't keep her emotions under control.
"He's never seen you fight like that before."
"I just thought that maybe he was a little afraid…of me."
"Now, that's just ridiculous. Jamie loves you." Haley stuck a hand on her hip.
"Well, I know that, but when I—"
"—He was terrified at the thought of you getting hurt." Haley explained. "He could never be afraid of you. You've never ever given him a reason to be. Not even at the game."
"It was just a thought."
"It was a silly thought." Haley chided lightly. "You know, he really looks up to you. To him, you're like a big sister. So when he sees you involved in things like this, it really shocks him."
"I'm sorry."
"I know you are, but you have to do better. He wants to do everything that you do, so as much as it isn't fair, you need to lead by example. It kind of stinks, but you've made an impression on the kid."
"I don't mind." Ava shrugged. "I wanted to do everything you guys did. It's only fair."
"You were adorable."
"I just don't want to do anything to mess him up. He's perfect."
"You're not gonna mess him up. You know how I know that?"
"How?"
"You love him."
"…Yeah."
"Besides." Haley nudged her side. "I won't let you."
A/N: Ava is fighting again, surprise, surprise. Those Scott kids' vice is their temper, isn't it? But hey, it was for a good cause. That guy had it coming! Messing with Q when Ava is around is the quickest way to make her your enemy.
Tania K, no worries! At first, I was confused, but I had a laugh when I realized it wasn't meant for me :)
Wow, 12k+ words this chapter? This is literally the longest thing I've ever written. Whoa!