"Are you OK Baby?" Roger asked as he helped Ava out of the car.
"Yes Roger, I'm fine. Really. I can do this by myself. I wasn't shot." she said looking up at him smiling.
"That's not funny Ava." he said taking her arm.
"I know, I'm sorry. But I'm fine." she said looking up at him.
"Roger, why don't you take Ava up to her room. I'll make her some soup." Ms. Parker said looking up at him.
"Mom, I don't need soup. I'm fine. I have homework to do." she said starting to go upstairs.
"I'll go with you." Roger said as Ms. Parker watched them go upstairs.
"Roger, I don't need a babysitter, you know?" I'm not gonna get drunk if I'm by myself." she said looking back at him.
"I know you're not. Me and your mom got rid of all the liquor you had in here. And all the liquor she had in the house." he said sitting on her bed.
"Roger, I promised you I wasn't gonna drink anymore. You don't trust me now?" she asked looking over at him.
"Ava, I just want to do what's best for you and this is what's best." he said looking up at her.
"I know. I'm sorry I yelled at you." she said sitting next to him.
"Ava, I love you. I don't want anything happening to you." he said putting his arms around her.
"I know. Are you still coming to the AA meeting with me tonight?" she asked looking up at him.
"Yeah, of course I am. My parents are coming over for dinner and then my dad's gonna take us." he said looking down at her.
"Why is your dad taking us? I thought my mom was gonna take us." she asked looking up at him.
"My dad has experience with this stuff." he said looking down.
"What do you mean?" she asked confused.
"My dad quit drinking 10 years ago. He was really out of hand with it when I was younger. I don't remember most of it, but he said it was pretty bad." he said getting up from the bed.
"I'm sorry Roger. I didn't know." she said looking up at him.
"Yeah well, he stopped drinking and now he's better. He still goes to meetings sometimes. But mostly to help people. That's why I don't drink." he said looking down at her.
"Roger, I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to do this." she said looking up at him crying.
"I know you didn't." he said kneeling in front of her taking her into his arms.
"I'm not gonna drink anymore Roger. I promise. I don't ever want to put you through that again." she said sliding off of the bed to sit on the floor with him.
"OK Baby. I know. I love you so much. I'll do anything for you." he said looking over at her as he brought her onto his lap.
"I love you so much too." she said laying in his arms as he leaned against her nightstand. Soon they both fell asleep.
"Roger, Ava get up." Ms. Parker whispered shaking Roger's shoulder.
"I'm sorry Ms. Parker. We were talking and we must have fallen asleep." he said looking up at her.
"It's OK sweetie. Your parents are here." she said smiling down at them.
"OK mom, thanks." Ava said looking up at her.
"Get cleaned up, OK? Dinner will be ready soon." she smiled before leaving the room.
"I miss waking up with you in my arms." Roger smiled looking down at her.
"Me too Baby." she smiled leaning up to kiss him.
"I missed kissing you too." he smiled taking her face in his hands.
"I'm sorry for everything Roger. I really am." she said caressing his face.
"Forget about it Baby. We'll get through this together." he said kissing her again before they got up to go downstairs.
"Hi Mr. And Mrs. Davis." Ava said coming down the stairs with Roger.
"Hi sweetie. Are you feeling OK?" Mr. Davis said hugging her.
"Yeah, I'm OK Mr. Davis." she said hugging him back. In the time she and Roger had been dating, Mr. Davis had become like a father to her. She wished he were her father. He was so attentive and enjoyed spending time with Roger and his friends.
"You look good Ava. I'm so glad you're home." Mrs. Davis said hugging her .
"Thank you Mrs. Davis." she said hugging her next.
"Dinner's almost ready. Why don't we all into the living room and talk?" Ms. Parker said smiling at them.
"OK." Roger said taking Ava's hand and leading her to the couch.
"Ava sweetie, we all love you very much and we want to do what ever we can to help you get through this." Mrs. Davis said looking over at her.
"Thank you Mrs. Davis. I love you all too. I know I'm sick and I want to get better." she said looking up at Roger before looking over at them.
"Ava, I'm gonna take you two to an AA meeting. Do you know what to expect?" Mr. Davis asked looking over at her.
"No, I don't." she said as Roger put his arm around her holding her close to him.
"Well, your gonna be in this big room with other alcoholics and they're gonna talk about different things. What makes them drink? Why they drink? How they feel when they drink? Stuff like that." he said leaning towards her.
"Are you gonna be there?" she asked as tears came to her eyes.
"Of course I am sweetie. I'm gonna be with you every step of the way." he said reaching over to take her hand.
"OK. I'm really sorry everyone. I didn't mean to let any of you down." she told them beginning to cry.
"Sweetie, you could never let any of us down. We all love you very much." Mr. Davis said leaning over to hug her.
"I'm so sorry Mr. Davis." she cried as Roger buried his face in his hands to hide that he was crying too.
"Avalon we love you so much. We just want you to get better." Ms. Parker said looking over at her.
"I know mom." she said looking over at Roger seeing that he was crying. "Roger, I'm so sorry." she cried wrapping her arms around him.
"I love you so much Ava." he cried holding her tight.
"I love you so much too Roger." she said as they cried together.
"Dinner's almost ready." Ms. Parker said wiping her eyes before going into the kitchen.
"OK mom." she said looking up at Roger.
"I do love you Avalon." he whispered taking her face in his hands.
"I know Roger. I love you too." she said leaning up to kiss him before they went to the dining room to eat dinner. After dinner Mr. Davis brought them to their first AA meeting. Ava was really scared but she had Roger and Mr. Davis by her side. Listening to everyone's stories made her think of her own story. She had a loving, affectionate boyfriend, a mother who loved her very much and supported her in anything she did and the Davis' who loved her as if she were their own family, but she almost threw it all away to fit in with her absentee father and his friends. When the meeting ended they got up and left.
"Are you OK Ava?" Mr. Davis asked looking down at her.
"Yeah, I'm OK Mr. Davis. It's just a lot to take in, you know?" she said as Roger held her around her waist.
"Everything's gonna be OK Ava, I promise. Me and my dad'll help you through this. We're not going anywhere." he said looking down at her.
"I know. Thank you Roger. I'm glad I have you in my life." she said looking up at him with tears in her eyes.
"You will always have me in your life Ava." he said holding her in his arms.
"I know Roger." she smiled looking up at him as he wiped the tears from her eyes.
"Who wants to go for coffee?" Mr. Davis asked looking over at them.
"I would like that Mr. Davis. Thank you." Ava answered as they went to the car.
"Are you OK Ava?" Maureen asked as they walked to school.
"Yeah Maureen. I'm fine. Thank you." she said looking over at her. Maureen looked so concerned for her. Ava and Maureen had become friends since Maureen had started walking to school with them.
"Hey Ava, are you coming to my party friday night?" Jimmy asked looking over at her.
"I don't know. I don't think it's a good idea since I don't drink anymore." she said as Roger held her hand.
"You know I never have any alcohol at my parties. Otherwise, my parents would never let me have them anymore." he said looking down at her.
"Do you want to go?" she asked looking up at Roger.
"Whatever you want to do Baby. I'll go if you go." he said smiling down at her.
"OK. I'll go. Thanks Jimmy." she smiled looking up at him as they continued to walk to school.
"Hey, we're still friends, right?" he asked looking down at her.
"Yeah, we're still friends Jimmy." she smiled looking up at Roger.
"Good." he smiled as they approached the school.
"Are you OK Baby?" he asked as she looked up at the school.
"Yeah, I'm OK. I'm just nervous about going in there after what happened." she said looking up at him.
"I know, but everything's gonna be OK. I'm gonna be around and you can always call my dad if you need to talk to someone and you can't find me." he said looking down at her.
"I know. I love you Roger. Thank you for taking care of me." she said as he turned to face her.
"Ava, you don't have to keep thanking me, OK? I love you. That's why I take care of you." he said looking down at her.
"I know. But thanks just the same." she said looking up at him.
"No problem Baby. Anything for my girl." he said leaning down to kiss her before they went into the school.