Chapter 16

A/n: I'm really really really really sorry for taking soooo freaking long in updating. I've just been really lazy. And unable to tear myself from the Meg Cabot Book Club website. But it's down today, so I can work on it.

This chapter is dedicated to Lucy, who finally made me remember that I hadn't updated in months, and gave me the initiative to update. Thank you!

Ava's POV

"I remember, back in Seattle, I was set up on a blind date by my friend Emily," Paul began suddenly, after a few moments of silence. "It was a disaster. Her cousin, Maria, well, hey boyfriend had died in a car accident 6 months earlier, and Em waned to get her back in the dating scene, you know? Move on. Well, Evan – that was her boyfriend's name- wasn't too keen on that idea."

"Oh no," I breathed, giggling, guessing what was about to happen.

"He showed up in the middle of dinner at this really high class restaurant. He must have know I could see him somehow, because he started yelling and swearing at me. I tried my best to ignore him, but Maria must have thought I was insane, since I kept wincing and covering my ears instinctively. Evan didn't like that I was ignoring him, though, and when I was taking my plate from the waiter, he hit the bottom of it so all of my chicken parmesan ended up all over me. It appeared to everyone else that I had just dumped my dinner down the front of my suit." I started laughing, and he grinned at me sideways. "That's not the worst part of it. I excused myself so I could go to the bathroom and try to clean myself off, but he shoved me into a nearby table, so everyone else saw me stand up and throw myself at the other table. It was at this point of the evening that the owned kicked me out, for 'causing a disturbance.'" He paused while I laughed. "Needless to say, Maria never called me back.

"God. That sounds like a clichéd bad teen movie," I said as we pulled up into the parking lot. We got out of the car and headed into the restaurant.

Paul's POV

I don't know why I found myself telling Ava about the incident at the restaurant two years ago. That has to be my most embarrassing moment- being kicked out of a restaurant, with chicken and marinara sauce and Caesar dressing all down my front. But I felt some sort of connection with her, and it just slipped out. After I opened up to her, conversation flowed. As we walked through the parking lot and waited for our table, we talked about anything and everything- being Mediators (quietly, though- we didn't need any suspicious looks from other diners at the restaurant), school, music, our lives before Carmel. It was refreshing, talking to a girl who neither insulted me nor flipped her hair back and said, "like" every other word.

The dinner was wonderful. No obtrusive ghosts, no spilled food, no angry exes. And, it wasn't until later, that I realized that I didn't think of Suze once throughout the entire dinner. The only thing on my mind was Ava.

Suze's POV

Jesse and I hung out at the house while we were waiting for Ava to come back, as we'd instructed Paul to drop her off here. At a little after 11, we heard the crunch of gravel and saw his headlights beam through the windows and producing a glare on the pictures on the wall. Jesse looked up from what we were, uh, doing, stood up, and pulled me off the couch.

"Come, Susannah. They're home." He went over to the window and pulled back the curtain ever so slightly, to see what was going on. Since it was so dark, though, all we got were muffled voices and two shadows standing near his car. The two shadows embraced, then one got back into the car while the other headed towards the house. Paul pulled out, and I went over to the door and let Ava in. She flounced in happily.

"How'd it go?" I asked, and she collapsed on the couch. I saw Jesse's mouth smile slightly, and he rolled his eyes in a good-natured, teasing way at Ava's excitement.

"Wonderful! Oh, Suze, thank you so much for setting this up for me and Paul. We had SUCH a good time." I couldn't help laughing at her enthusiasm.

"C'mon, Ava. Time for bed." Jesse and I brought her upstairs, where I tossed her a pair of pajamas and closed the door, giving her privacy to change.

"I'd say it worked well," Jesse said, wrapping his arms around me. I sighed, and collapsed against his chest.

"Thank God," I mumbled tiredly and hugged his waist. He laughed, kissed the top of my head, and stroked my hair.

"Go to bed, Susannah. I'll see you in the morning." He gave me a soft, perfect kiss, then retreated to his room and shut the door, giving me a small smile before the door latched.

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Okay. This is pretty much the end. I'll attempt to write an epilogue soon, just to finish up everything. I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. Now, don't forget to review!

Love always, reesespieces88 (also known as qui tacet consentit to all you MCBCers.)