Wind Wolf

6: friends it is

"Ava." a voice called from behind me.

A voice that I recognised.

I spun around. "Logan, hey. I thought you were supposed to be ignoring me," I joked lightly.

He stood awkwardly little distance away, like he was unsure what to do with himself. "Ignoring you? What, no. I would never do that. I just felt a bit weird about last night. I just wanted to say sorry about how things went down. I really did have a great time with you and I don't want to ruin things."

"Me too and I appreciate it but what exactly was that last night, Logan?"

He looked down. "I... I can't really explain it. I'm really sorry, I mean it. I just want to be friends again."

"Friends? Were we ever even friends to begin with?"

"I don't know," He sighed. "I'm not really looking for a relationship right now. Something... something happened-" A sudden sadness overtook his features which he attempted to covered up.

Something was going on here that went deeper than the surface. I could tell it was touchy and he did genuinely feel bad.

"You know what? It's fine." I interrupted with a smile. "Friends it is."

He looked up gratefully with his beautiful eyes and all I wanted to do was embrace him and run my fingers through his hair but that was never going to happen.

"My friends and I are going out for fish and chips later, do you want to come?" I asked.

He smiled. "Sure."

"We're meeting at 5 on the pier."

"Sounds good."

"See you then," I called as I got into my car.

That evening I was early. A silly mistake, one that old Ava would have made. New Ava always arrived fashionably late. Oh well, it was a nice sunset over the water and not too many people were around so it gave me a moment to myself.

I sat on the edge of the old wooden pier and dangled my feet over the water, watching the tiny fish dart around under the surface. A tiredness came over me, likely from the lack of sleep the night before. I laid down and relished in the warmness coming from the ground. The sea breeze washed over me gently and the setting sun shined softly on my face. I closed my eyes for a second, getting caught up in the peacefulness of the moment.

My head was banging softly on the pier as someone with a heavy gait walked along it. I opened my eyes. The sky was a lot darker, oops, I must have fallen asleep. I sat up slowly in a slight daze.

"Ava?" A voice asked from further down the peer.

I looked over to see Logan marching towards me with burrowed brows. The owner of the heavy footsteps, no doubt.

"Oh hey, what's up?" I asked.

"What's up?" He repeated, as if I'd said something strange, "How long have you been here? Did something happen?"

"What? No. I'm fine. I was just a bit early so I sat down here for a moment."

"For a moment? Ava, it's six o'clock."

I gaped at him. I fell asleep for over an hour?

"I was running late, the others are all already inside. They said you weren't here yet and couldn't get a hold of you," He continued.

I scrambled to grab my phone and sure enough, seven missed calls.

"Oh my goodness, I didn't realise the time," I panicked slightly.

Realising I was fine Logan loosened up a little and offered me a hand. I took it and he yanked me up.

"Don't worry about it, I was just worried seeing you lying on the floor there," he laughed.

I chuckled along with him, "Sorry, I think I'm just tired from last night."

"Ready to head in?" He asked, still holding me hand.

"Yeah, let's go," I smiled and we walked side by side towards the diner.

The door chimed at we entered and the group all turned and looked up.

"Ava," Alice exclaimed, "Where the hell were you?"

"Nice of you to show up, guys," Kyle mocked, taking a sip of his drink whilst staring at our linked hands with raised brows.

I blushed slightly, thinking about what this must look like. Logan seemed to realise the same thing and immediately dropped my hand from his before slipping into the booth, making his greetings.

My hand felt cold without the warmth of his but I tried not to let it get to me and sat on the chair opposite him, hugging Alice and saying hi to the others.

I watched him as he watched the others, observing their conversation, though not really taking part. He smiled enough to make it seem like he was involved and sometimes nodded too, but often he would look down at a blank space and his eyes would hold a kind of emptiness, like he wasn't really there.

Frequently I noticed he would watch the couples together, with their arms around each other and faces close. There seemed to simultaneously be a longing and a kind of disgust, like he couldn't stand watching but he couldn't look away.

Halfway through the meal he excused himself and headed out of the restaurant. He didn't meet my gaze. No one took much notice but I was worried, he didn't look himself.

"I'm just going to check if Logan's okay," I told Alice before walking out the way he went.

I found him some metres up from the diner sitting on the edge of the wall above the beach. He had a silver flask in his hand reflecting the moonlight. He took a swig and I could have sworn I saw a flash of light reflecting off his cheek, but he brought his hand up to his face and brushed it away.

I hesitated for a moment before walking over and sitting next to him, facing sideways. He didn't say anything.

"Hey," I said softly, "Are you alright."

He took another drink, "I'm fine." His voice was emotionless.

"What's in the flask?" I ask.

"Does it matter?" He turned to me and looked at me like I'd offended him.

"I guess not," I stopped myself from retaliating, "Can I have some?"

He paused before saying, "No. You shouldn't drink so much. You're a lightweight."

Somewhat true, but harsh.

"You've only seen me drink once and I had a fair bit so I'm not really sure you're an expert here. Besides, one sip is gonna get me drunk?"

He held it out to me without a word, looking into the distance. I took a sip before wincing in disgust.

"Straight vodka, really?"

"Told you you can't handle your alcohol," He took it back off me and took a long drink without so much as flinching.

"What's got you so shitty tonight then? You barely said a word in there," I nodded my head towards the restaurant.

He shrugged, "Guess I'm just not feeling it."

He paused and I had a feeling he had more to say so I didn't say anything.

"It's my birthday today. I'm officially an adult."

"Are you kidding?" My mouth fell open, "Why didn't you say anything? We couldn't done something more than go to some greasy diner."

"It's fine, I don't like making a fuss over birthdays. Something happened two years ago today and I thought maybe coming here would take my mind off of it but, here we are," He rose his flask.

"I'm so sorry. About everything. About not knowing your birthday and about whatever happened. Can I ask what happened?" I asked timidly.

"No, you can't," He stood up suddenly and turned to go, "Tell the others I was feeling sick or something."

I watched him go, frozen in place, "I'm sorry," I yelled after him as I watched his dark figure fade into the shadows.