"Baby, are you OK?" Roger asked looking down at Ava as she lay on his chest in her bed.
"Yeah, I'm OK. I just missed laying here with you like this." she said looking up at him.
"I did too. I hate not being able to sneak into your room to hold you in my arms." he smiled leaning down to kiss her head.
"Me too Roger." she smiled looking up at him propping her chin on his chest.
"Ava, come away with me this summer." he said smiling down at her.
"Away? Away where?" she asked looking up at him.
"I don't know. Just away. We're both 18 and I wanna go away with you before we have to go to school." he smiled looking down at her.
"Like a vacation?" she asked sitting up facing him.
"Yeah, why not? It'll be fun." he said reaching up to caress her face.
"I think that's a great idea." she smiled leaning down to kiss him as he pulled her on top of him.
"So I guess we're going on vacation together. Now all we have to do is figure out where we want to go." he smiled leaning up to kiss her passionately.
"Ugh, as long as where ever we go has a bed, I'm fine." she whispered submitting to him.
"Me too." he whispered kissing her again as they began to make love again.
"You really did miss me, huh?" she asked laughing as they laid on their backs smiling at one another.
"You can definitely say that." he smiled reaching over to caress her face with his thumb.
"Good. I was afraid the college girls were gonna be all over you." she smiled looking up at him.
"No way Baby. I only have eyes for you." he whispered leaning over to kiss her before holding her in his arms.
"Me too Roger." she whispered holding him tight.
"So, what do you wanna do tonight? Anything you want. Just name it and I'll make it happen." he smiled looking down at her.
"Anything?" she asked looking up at him.
"Oh no. I'm in for it, aren't I?" he asked looking down at her.
"I just want to spend the night alone with you." she smiled looking up at him.
"Here in bed?" he asked looking down at her.
"Yep. In bed. Just you and me." she smiled leaning up to kiss him.
"I like that idea. But what about your mom?" he asked looking down at her.
"She's agreed to make herself scarce tonight and even said you can sleep over. Since I'm 18 and your 19 and we're gonna be living together in the fall and everything, she didn't see the big deal. And your parents said you could too." she smiled as he looked at her surprised.
"Really? How did you...?" he started when she leaned in to kiss him again.
"Everybody loves me. And they know how much we love each other. Plus we're adults now, so it's not like they can do much anyway." she smiled holding him closer.
"And we're getting married when we get out of school, right?" he asked looking over at her.
"Yes we are." she smiled kissing him again.
"Come on, let's get dressed." Roger told her getting out of bed.
"Where are we going? I thought you wanted to stay in bed all night?" she asked looking up at him confused.
"How about we go out to dinner, and see the gang and then we can come back here and spend the night in bed?" he suggested as Ava looked up at him.
"Why do we have to go out? We can order in." she asked looking up at him.
"Oh come on. We can call Jimmy, June, Sophia, Will and Maureen. It'll be fun. I missed hanging out with everyone." he said slipping into his boxers smiling down at her.
"Roger, why can't we just spend your first night home in months alone? Just you and me?" she asked looking up at him.
"Ava, what's the matter? How come you don't want to hang out with our friends?" he asked sitting on the bed next to her.
"I just missed being with you so much. I want to spend the night just you and me." she said sitting up to look at him.
"OK Ava. You win. I'm gonna go downstairs and order something for dinner and we can spend the whole night here alone together." he smiled looking down at her.
"Thank you Roger." she smiled looking over at him.
"Ava, I love you. There is nothing I wouldn't do for you." he smiled leaning over to kiss her.
"I know, I love you too Roger." she smiled wrapping her arms around him to hold him close.
"Will, let me ask you something. How's Ava doing, really?" Roger asked looking over at him as they sat in the pizzeria.
"She's fine Rog. She really loves you, you know? You're a lucky guy." Will said looking over at him eating his pizza.
"I know. I'm extremely lucky that a girl like Ava agreed to have anything to do with me." he smiled looking over at Will looked down at the table.
"I kissed Ava a couple of months ago." Will blurted out looking across the table from him.
"You did what? When? Why didn't she tell me?" he asked looking over at him putting his pizza down.
"I'm sorry Roger. I don't know what I was thinking." he said looking over at him.
"Why would you do that Will? You know I'm in love with her. Will, you're my cousin." he yelled standing up in the middle of the pizzeria.
"I said I was sorry Roger. It just happened. I didn't mean it to happen, but I love her too Roger." he said as Roger stared down at him stunned.
"You... you love her? My girlfriend. The girl I wanna marry, you love her?" he asked wanting to punch him right there in the middle of the restaurant.
"Yeah Roger, I love her. She's amazing." he said looking up at him.
"Don't you think I know she's amazing? She's my girl Will. I wanna marry her. But hwy would you make a move on her knowing how I feel about her?" he asked looking down at him.
"I'm sorry Roger. I didn't mean..." he started looking up at him.
"I can't be in the same room with you right now." Roger yelled storming out of the pizzeria. He was so hurt by what Will had just told him. Why wouldn't Ava have told him about what happened with Will? The closer he got to Ava's house, the more hurt he was. When he got to Ava's house he rang the doorbell.
"Hi Baby. I thought you were going to the pizzeria with Will?" Ava asked as she opened the door.
"Why didn't you tell me about Will kissing you a few months ago?" he asked angry and hurt.
"Roger, how did you...?" she started when he cut her off.
"Will told me. But it would have been nice if you told me. I mean, you are my girlfriend." he said entering the house.
"Roger, I'm sorry. I didn't want to hurt you. He kissed me and I pushed him away right away and told him that I love you and that I'm with you." she said as they entered the living room.
"But Ava, you should have told me." he said looking down at her.
"I know. I'm sorry Roger. I should have told you, but I was really freaked out and the last thing I wanted to do was hurt you. I mean, not only is Will your cousin but he's one of your best friends. I didn't want to hurt you." she cried looking up at him.
"Ava, how can I trust you when you don't tell me things like this?" he asked starting to raise his voice.
"Roger, I'm sorry." she cried sitting on the couch.
"How could you not tell me something like this Ava? I mean, I'm all the way in Boston and my cousin is making the moves on you." he yelled as Ava just sat on the couch crying.
"Roger, I didn't want him to. I pushed him away and I stayed away from him. I swear. I love you Roger. We're going away to school together in the fall." she cried looking up at him.
"I have to get out of here. I need to think." he said going towards the door.
"Roger, don't go. Please. I love you. I just didn't want to hurt you." she said rushing after him.
"Ava, I love you too, but I need to go for a walk. I'll call you later." he said looking down at her before leaving the house. Ava just stood by the door crying watching him walk down the block. She leaned against the wall and cried harder. As she slid to the floor she hugged her body and thought about how much she loves Roger. All she wanted to do was protect him and now he didn't trust her anymore. She couldn't take it. She knew her mom kept liquor in the house, but she kept it hidden since Ava's alcohol poisoning incident the year before. Ava started searching the house and found a bottle of vodka in the cabinet over the refrigerator. She opened the bottle and began drinking from it as she sat on the kitchen floor.