"You seem like you're a million miles away." Maddie playfully nudged her friend as they sat side by side on the swings with Carter taking turns pushing the both of them. "You're never this quiet."

Ava was still pretty concerned about her brother, but her mother was pushing her to go outside and play with her friends, which was something she had been doing a lot less of.

Karen wanted her to know that even though there were a lot of things going on in their lives, it didn't mean that she had to stop doing the things that she loved.

So when Maddie and Carter came knocking on the door, she urged Ava to go out and enjoy herself without taking on the problems and worries that the adults were supposed to handle.

Still, it troubled her.

"You know my Daddy has a heart condition?"

"Yeah, that's why he had a heart attack, right?" Carter pushed her higher.

And he knew just how far to push the both of them.

Maddie didn't really care all that much for going up high, but Ava seemed to be fearless in that department. She'd let the swing wrap around the top bar if she could.

"It's genetic." Ava shrugged. "Me and my brothers have a chance of having it, so we got tested."

"Do you have it?" Maddie stopped her swing at the same time that Carter pulled Ava's to a halt.

"No." Ava shook her head, watching her friends relax. "But Luke won't take the test."

"What'd your mom say?" Carter asked.

He knew Karen very, very well. He'd known her his whole life!

There was no way that she was going to let Lucas get away with not taking this test.

"She yelled at him for a really long time." Ava told them. "But I didn't stick around. She's really mad at him and everything's so weird at home."

Tensions were high at home, which was exactly why Karen wanted Ava to get out as much as possible.

She didn't want the girl to have to stick around in that environment. She and Lucas were butting heads and it wasn't very pretty.

"If I was your mom, I'd be mad, too." Maddie backed Karen up. "He could get really hurt."

She felt bad for Ava. If there was a chance that one of her sisters had HCM and they wouldn't get tested, she would've been really hurt.

And there was no way that her parents would allow it to go on for very long.

"He's not allowed to play basketball anymore."

"And he's still not gonna take the test?" Carter scoffed. "He's brave for that. Your mom is scary."

"Hey, I have an idea!" Ava hopped off the swing.

"What is it?"

"I can talk to his coach!" She smiled at her brilliant plan. "Coach Durham had to have surgery on his eyes and he wouldn't, but Luke told him he should, and he did! Maybe…..maybe if I tell him that Luke won't take the test, he'll talk to him!"

"It's worth a shot." Carter shrugged.

It definitely couldn't hurt to try.

"I'll see you guys later!" Ava immediately began running out of the park and down the street, her mood lifting significantly.

Tree Hill wasn't a tiny town, but it was small enough to know where anyone lived. Ava had been past Whitey's house a couple of times, so she knew exactly where it was without getting lost.

When she got there, she saw the man sitting on his porch, in a rocking chair, just relaxing.

She hated to bother him, but this was really important.

"Well, what brings you here?" He smiled, gesturing for her to sit down on the empty chair beside him.

Ava smiled back in greeting and clambered onto the seat, resting herself against its backrest. She could see why Whitey enjoyed doing this, it was so peaceful.

Especially with the lack of cars rolling by and the sound of the birds chirping in the trees.

"How are your eyes?" She asked him.

"They're fine now that I'm home. I'm taking it one day at a time." Whitey poured her a glass of lemonade. "Now all I have to do is relax and take it easy."

"Thank you." Ava accepted the glass and took a sip. "I have a problem…..and I thought since you helped my brothers, you could help me, too."

"What is it, honey?"

"Nathan took me and Luke to get tested for HCM." She started regaling her tale. "Me and Nate don't have it, but Luke won't even take the test."

There was a very pregnant pause that left the two rocking back and forth to fill the space.

"I'll talk to him." Whitey assured her after he took that moment to think of something. "Don't you worry your pretty little head about it, alright?"

"Alright." Ava nodded. "Thank you."

"Drink your lemonade."

"Now, you're sure that my staying here isn't an inhibition?" Andy asked as he and Karen brought his stuff into the house.

"Of course not." Karen shook her head. "We've got plenty of room."

"Well, the last time I had my hardwood floors refinished, it, uh, took almost a week."

"Oh."

"Hi." Ava waved at Andy from the couch, reading one of the books Haley had gotten her for her birthday.

"Hi, Ava." Andy smiled. "It looks like we're going to be housemates for a little while. That'll be fun, won't it?"

"Yeah." Ava nodded. She liked Andy.

He was really nice, and not in that condescending, babyish kind of way.

He was just really genuine.

And he treated her mother well. That was the main thing.

She liked anyone who could put a smile on her mother's face.

"Hey, Andy." Lucas greeted as he entered the hallway. "Uh, if you need anything, you know, stereo, Playstation…..clean underwear…check the garage."

"Thanks." Andy chuckled in confusion as Lucas walked away. "I will."

"Mama took all his stuff because he won't take his heart test to find out if he has HCM or not." Ava clarified, turning a page in her book.

In a last ditch effort to get Lucas to comply, Karen raided the teen's room and hauled everything out of it.

His CDs, books, bedding, clothes, if Ava could name it, it was gone.

As much as she would like to see Lucas take that HCM test, she thought their mother was going about it all wrong. This was only going to make Lucas want to outlast her and it was going to get them absolutely nowhere.

She wondered who would break first.

"Oh, I see."

"I took it, but he won't, because he's hard-headed."

"Ava, honey." Under normal circumstances, Karen might have laughed. "Why don't you go and find your friends and see if they want to play?"

"I said too much?"

"Just a bit." Karen nodded and pinched her fingers together.

"Okay, I'll go." Ava put her book down and stood up. "Can I go ask Nathan if he wants to play?"

"If he's not home, come right back." Karen didn't like for Ava to go all the way across town like that, it was getting dark, but if her brother was there, it wouldn't be a problem.

"Okay! Bye!" Ava lit up and raced out the door and down the street.

She knew the way to the apartment very well.

And if she took a few shortcuts and ran as fast she possibly could, it would only take her about ten or fifteen minutes to get there.

Now that she had dance a few times a week, which was going extremely well, she had more endurance.

Of course, by the time she had made it up the stairs to the door, she was out of breath.

The door was usually unlocked during the daytime, so she just walked right in and went straight to the fridge, getting herself a bottle of water.

But she didn't expect to hear two voices arguing.

"One more slip up like that, and you're done." She heard Nathan say from inside his room.

Knowing it was none of her business, Ava didn't think much of what he said, or who he was saying to.

She just kept on chugging her water.

"What're doing here?' She hadn't even noticed when her brother entered the room.

"I came to ask you something." Ava breathed heavily. "I wanted to know…..if….."

Nathan waved her off and motioned for her to keep drinking the water.

"I wanted to know if you wanted to come to the Rivercourt and play." She finished once she finally caught her breath.

"You ran all the way over here to ask me that?"

"Yeah."

"Whatever." Nathan rolled his eyes. It was plain as day that he was in a bad mood. "No, I can't play right now. I'm busy."

"Doing what?"

"None of your business."

Well, that was cryptic.

"Is that who I think it is?" A familiar voice cut in.

She hadn't heard it in a long time, but Ava knew that voice well.

"Taylor!" She squealed and launched herself at the older girl just in time for Taylor to catch her. "You're home!"

Haley would always be Ava's favorite James, but she was also close to her sisters.

And when she was a little bit younger, Taylor was practically her role model. She wanted to be just like her, much to the dismay of everyone around her.

Taylor relished in it. She loved whenever Ava would try to imitate the things that she did.

She was her little shadow.

"Hey, Mini Me!" Taylor lifted her up onto her hip. "How's my favorite little sister?"

"I'm fine." Ava answered, playing with the girl's blonde locks. "I'm happy you're home."

"Just fine? That's it? It's been a really long time, that's all you got for me? No boyfriends?"

"No." Both Ava and Nathan spoke at the same time, making the former give her brother a strange look.

"And there better not be for a while." Nathan added.

There would never be any boyfriends if he had anything to say about it.

"Aren't you the overprotective brother?" Taylor smirked like a cat that just caught its mouse. "Cute."

"How long are you staying?" Ava asked, resting her hands on Taylor's shoulders.

"As long as Nathan and Haley will have me."

Unbeknownst to Ava, there was already a lot of tension going on in the apartment and if it continued, there was no way that Taylor would be around for very long.

But no one was going to tell her that.

"Yay!" Ava cheered. "Can we play makeover?"

That was her favorite thing to do with the blonde. Haley never let Taylor dress her up like a little doll, but Ava was always eager to be included.

"I thought you'd never ask." Taylor set her down and ruffled her hair. "Let's go. I'm sure I have something you can wear."

"Keep it clean." Nathan didn't think that he'd be one of those brothers, but there was no turning back now.

"Relax, Nate. We're just gonna have a little fun."

"I mean it, Taylor." Nathan gave her a look. "She's nine years old."

"She's that old?" Taylor scoffed, not taking him seriously at all. "Wow, you're growing up fast, Girly."

"Go look in the mirror." Taylor smiled once she was done with Ava's makeup.

She hadn't realized how much she missed this until they actually started. Ava was so fun to be around and she was always so agreeable. The little girl was ready for anything and they hardly ever argued.

Ava shuffled off of Nathan and Haley's bed and ran to the full body mirror, giggling at the sight of herself.

She looked so different. Like a tiny adult.

She had on bubblegum pink lipgloss and bright blue eyeshadow that made her brown orbs pop more than usual.

Taylor even found an old pink tube top in her luggage and had her to try it on. Of course, it was too big, so she pinned all the excess material towards the back and wrapped a light blue scarf around Ava's neck.

There were some perfectly good butterfly clips laying around that neither girl could let go to waste, so they ended up in Ava's hair.

"What do you think?"

"I think Mama's gonna have a cow." Ava giggled.

It was so...Britney meets Lizzie McGuire.

She loved it!

"We'll take it all off before you go home." Taylor promised, snapping a picture when the little posed with a big smile. "Go show your brother. Let's see if he loses it."

Ava nodded and dashed back out into the kitchen with the energy of a whirlwind. "Look, Nate!"

She wasn't expecting him to be on board with the look, but she hadn't really thought much of him freaking out about either.

Not until Taylor brought it to her attention.

Still, the way he choked on the sandwich he had been eating was a little funny.

"What did you do to my sister?!" Nathan's eyes widened. "Is that makeup?"

"Just a little eyeshadow and some lip gloss." Taylor rolled her eyes. "Nothing major."

If he was this freaked out about makeup now, she wondered how he was going to react when Ava decided to actually start wearing it.

"Nothing major? She's in a crop top!" Nathan's voice jumped a couple of octaves. "In what world is that, 'nothing major'?!"

Now, Nathan wasn't a 'kid person', but he had a strong idea of what was appropriate from what wasn't.

This was not appropriate.

Not today, definitely not tomorrow, and if he could brainwash Ava the right way, it wouldn't be when she got to be Taylor's age either.

"I'm home!" Haley greeted as she entered the apartment, stopping short when she caught wind of Ava. "Taylor, I swear—"

"—Relax, Hales. She looks fine."

"She looks like she's ready for her first date." Haley glared. "At a bar."

"Does that mean you don't like it?" Ava asked softly.

That was kind of a bummer, because she liked it a lot.

She wished she could dress like this more often. Taylor did.

"Yes!" Nathan and Haley nodded.

"Go wash your face and get out of that top before your mother actually rips me apart."

"Do I have to?" Ava questioned.

"Havana-Rose Scott, if I count to three and you're not in the bathroom, washing your face, I'm gonna—"

"—I'm going!" Ava knew when to stop playing games.

This was definitely the time to stop.

Haley was pretty dangerous when she got mad and Taylor was kind of an, 'every man for himself' kind of gal.

Besides, she didn't like the outfit enough to incur Haley's wrath.

"Wow, I knew you'd flip, but I didn't think you'd scare the kid." Taylor smirked. "Mom's signature move, huh?"

"This isn't funny, Taylor." Haley ran a hand through her hair. "It starts out with little makeovers, then she'll really start to dress like that, and act the part, because she wants to be just like you."

"And what's wrong with that?"

"Nothing! If you would just get yourself together!" Haley snapped. "Taylor, that kid is the one person that doesn't see your flaws! She looks at you, and she sees a role model. Why don't you try acting like one?"

"What? Like you?"

"No." Haley shook her head. "Like you. All of this isn't you. It's somebody else. And I think you know that."

"Much better." Nathan let out a breath he hadn't even realized he was holding when Ava returned clean faced with her regular 'PowerPuff Girls' shirt.

"Can I still wear the scarf?" She asked hopefully, sporting the item.

"Yes, you can still wear the scarf." Haley smiled.

"I think you look better this way anyway, Weasel." Taylor smiled when Ava practically beamed at the compliment. But she couldn't help but whisper something else in the girl's ear. "I'll send you the pictures sometime."

"Read to me." Ava instructed her older brother as she laid down next to him on his bed. After the whole makeup fiasco, she knew it was time to go home before she could really get into trouble. "I like when you read to me."

Lucas smiled and lifted the throw blanket their mother had so graciously given him, and allowed her to crawl under. "I'm not sure you'd like it."

"What is it?"

"A book of sonnets."

"What's a sonnet?"

"Fourteen lined poem."

"Read it anyways."

"Okay." Lucas shrugged. "My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun; coral is far more red than her lips' red; if snow be white, why then her breasts are dun; if hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head. I have seen roses damask'd, red and white; but no such roses see I in her cheeks; and in some perfumes is there more delight than in the breath that from my mistress reeks. I love to hear her speak, yet well I know that music hath a far more pleasing sound; I grant I never saw a goddess go; my mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground; and yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare as any she belied with false compare."

"What's it mean?"

"A man is comparing his lover to everything we find beautiful…..or pleasant." Lucas began to explain. "But she doesn't measure up to any of those things. Coral is more red, perfume smells better than she does, and music sounds better."

"That's mean."

"You would think so, but what he's trying to point out is, she'll never measure up to all of that because those are false comparisons. She is who she is. One of a kind. She doesn't need to measure up to society's standards, because she's beautiful all on her own."

"Oh, well, that's better."

"Hey, am I interrupting something?" Keith knocked on the doorframe.

"Uncle Keith!" Ava waved him in. "Luke was reading to me."

"I'll bet you two were having a good time."

"What's up?" Lucas asked.

"Well, I didn't know how soon I'd see you again after yesterday. So….."

"Yeah, I know." Lucas sat up, pulling the blanket off. "I've been thinking about that a lot. I came down pretty hard on you. You weren't the only one running away to Charleston."

"Yeah, well, don't worry. You weren't any harder on me than I was on myself." Keith moved further into the room and lifted Ava up, taking her spot on the bed to have her sit on his lap. "But, um, that's not what I wanna talk to you about. This, um, HCM thing…..'

"Look, I don't care what Mom told you. I'm not taking the test."

"Yeah, that's what I said." Keith shocked the two kids. "You know, we've got the same genes, Luke. I'm just as at risk as you are. And I've been off the test, too. You wanna know why? Because I'm scared."

"You're scared?" Ava looked at him.

"I sure am." Keith confirmed. "Everybody gets scared."

"Yeah." Lucas sighed. "Me, too."

"But I've decided I'm gonna take that test, if it'll give Jules peace of mind."

"Jules wants you to take the test?"

"She's been bugging me about it for three weeks. You know, just like your mom. You know, that's what people do if they care about you, Luke. How about we go together? Not for us, for them."

"Yeah, and if you get scared, we can sing the name game." Ava piped up, making her brother crack a smile.

"See?" Keith nudged him. "Just give it some thought, huh?" He looked down at his watch and sighed, realizing the time. "Okay, I gotta get going." He kissed Ava's cheek before standing up and setting her back down.

"Hey, Keith? Thank you for being here for me."

"Always."

"And I just want you to know, I'm here for you, too. No matter what happens."

"Don't worry about the test, Luke. Everything's gonna be okay."

"Well, look who it is." Dan smiled as Ava skipped into the dealership with her backpack flopping up and down. She only stopped once she reached his office. "Long time, no see."

"Hi." Ava smiled back, hopping onto his desk. It was something she had been told several times not to do, but for some reason, that space was always cleared. "How's you heart?"

"It's doing much better." Dan chuckled. "How're you doing in school?"

"Good. I got an 'A' on a test today."

"That's great! What subject?" He asked as he stood up to close the door, sitting back down again with an exaggerate grunt that made Ava giggle.

"History. The thirteen colonies."

"And what are they?"

"New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North and South Carolina…..oh! And Georgia!"

"Nice!" Dan gave her a high five. "You know, we'll have to go out and celebrate."

Looking back at all the mistakes he made with Nathan, he was trying to be better with Ava. Part of that, was making sure that she knew he was right there, supporting her.

"Burgers and milkshakes?"

"Is there any other way to celebrate?"

"Sweet!" Ava pumped her fist in the air, doing a little dancey dance.

"There's something I wanted to talk to you about."

"What is it?" She noticed that her father almost seemed nervous to ask whatever it is he wanted to ask her.

What was he so nervous for?

She was just a kid.

"You like spending time together, right?"

"Sure I do." She cocked her head to the side. "Why? Are you leaving me again?"

Ava thought that always had a really good time together, but maybe it was all one-sided.

Maybe having a daughter wasn't what he thought it was going to be like.

Maybe he just didn't like her anymore.

"No!" Dan hastily shut that down before her thoughts could run any further away from reality. "Nothing like that."

"Then what?"

"You're my daughter. I've missed out on nine years of getting to know you. I don't want to miss anymore."

"Me neither." Ava still had no idea where he was going with this and she wished he would get to the point.

"I want to file for joint custody. Do you know what that means?"

"No." Ava shook her head.

"It means, that I want to share you with your mother…..legally."

"Does that mean I'll live with you?"

"Depending on what the judge says, you might live with me for a while, or you might live with your mother for a while."

"Oh."

"I'm not gonna stop you from seeing your mother, Ava." Dan got a haunted look on his face, like he knew something she didn't. "I promise."

"Well…if you promise….." Ava still wasn't very sure about this, but she trusted her father enough to see it through.

"I do." He spoke sincerely. "And I always keep my promises."

"Okay."

She didn't really see the harm in accepting.

Dan was her father and they both missed out on a lot of time.

Joint custody didn't really seem like so much of a bad thing.

She just...had to find a a way to explain that to her mother.