Exhausted&Lost

Chapter Twenty Four

Ava spent the next few days busy with the store and spending time with Elliott, she hadn't had much of a chance to even speak to Dave on the phone, nevermind see him and tomorrow he was picking the girls up from school to keep them for the weekend, so she wouldn't see him until at least Sunday night and she was starting to feel a little itchy.

She flopped down on the sofa and blew away a hair that had loosened from her french braid and had stuck to her sweaty forehead. She had spent the entire morning reorganizing the stock room at The Hideout and the afternoon scrubbing every inch of her house and trying to find the bottom of her laundry basket and now she was exhausted.

She shifted a little to get access to her back pocket and pulled out her phone. She debated for a moment on whether to text or call Dave, eventually deciding to call him. She was sure he was probably busy, but she needed to hear his voice. Just as she pulled up his number, the buzzer to her front door made her jump and she scrambled to keep a hold of the phone in her hand.

She pulled herself up and headed to the door, not even bothering to look through the peephole before wrenching it open. Standing before her was Dave holding two coffees and she felt her jaw drop a little. He was the last person she was expecting to see as she knew he was busy in the studio all week, but he was a very welcome surprise.

"Surprise," he laughed, holding up the two cups in his hands. He stepped in to give her a quick kiss and breezed past her to step into the kitchen to set down the coffee.

"Ooh, smells like bleach in here, you've been busy," he quipped, wrinkling his nose.

She realized that she was yet to speak, and shook herself out of her shock, "Yeah, my poor house was feeling a little neglected, I had to show it a little love."

"Hmm, you have been cheating with my house a little," he nods, rubbing his beard.

"Shh, don't say that too loud, it might hear you," she hissed, rushing over to cover his mouth.

They both stood together laughing for a moment before she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him close.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, her voice a little muffled by the black denim of his jacket.

"I missed you," he said simply, dipping his head a little to rest his chin on her head. She could feel his long hair tickling her cheeks, but she couldn't bring herself to move out of their embrace.

"You could have given me a little warning so I could have changed out of my sweaty clothes," she grumbled, pulling back from him to gesture to the loose shirt hanging from her shoulders.

"Are you kidding?" he laughed, "and miss you looking all hot and bothered. Don't be crazy, lady."

She playfully shoved him away and reached for the coffee that her body was suddenly crying out for, she realized she hadn't had any coffee since first thing this morning despite running around all day.

"Will you stay with me tonight," Dave asked suddenly, spinning around to face her on the stool he was perched on.

"Um, I can call my dad, see if El can stay with him," she replied, a little taken aback by the urgency in his voice.

She noticed how his shoulders relaxed when she ended her call with her dad, confirming that he would pick El up from daycare and keep him until tomorrow.

"Good," he said with a slight smile as he took a sip of his coffee.

*"Babe, wake up!"

Ava groaned and rolled over and groaned, "What time is it?"