Tradition Comes Third

Together

Author's Note: Happy Thanksgiving to all of my Canadian friends out there.

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 I struggled to sit on the edge of the bed as Ava searched through the dresser for a shirt. The pain in my temple was throbbing and I gritted my teeth. I curled my fingers into the blankets on the bed. Ava turned around with a grey shirt in her hands. She helped me pull it over my head, and was careful of the bandages.

She slipped my arm over her shoulders, and pulled me up onto my feet. She grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the room. I dragged my feet down the hall, and the stairs and into the kitchen. She hid behind me as soon as we entered the kitchen.

Mom was emptying a pan of scrambled eggs into a bowl. My shuffling feet were loud, and she looked up at us. Leah poked her head out of the dining room. A large purple bruise with streaks of black and yellow surrounded her eye. Jared came up behind her and slid his arm over her shoulders. A smile crept up on his lips.

"Good to see you up," he told me. "That was quite a bump you got there."

"Yeah," I said. "It still hurts."

I felt Ava's fingers curl into my shirt. I reached out behind me and set my hand on her hip.

"I haven't seen your hair this short in years," Mom said. "Sit down. You should have some breakfast."

I pulled Ava behind me as I went over to the dining room. Dad was sitting at the head of the table. He smiled when he saw me.

"You look better," he said. "Ava must have been taking good care of you."

"She is," I said sitting down.

Ava sat down next to me. She grabbed my hand, and didn't let go for the rest of the meal.

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Days, even possibly weeks, passed by and Ava never left my side. If we left our room, she was usually right behind me and clinging to my shirt. At night, she always fell asleep on my chest. If I rolled over during the night, I would wake up to her trying to wiggle closer.

Dad and Jared didn't have me go outside to help them. The girls would clean, and Ava made me rest in bed. When they were done, the four of us would sit in the living room before they would start to cook dinner.

We talked about escape. All the ideas we came up with seemed futile. The best planned seemed like waiting until Dad gave me my own key.

Leah was getting bigger and becoming more tired. The days were melting together, and watching Leah struggle to make her way around the house made me realize that more than just days passed by. She looked like she was about to have her baby any day now.

Ava's back was slowly healing too. She no longer winced when she moved and was even able to sleep on her back. Dad had cut the stitches on the side of my head off a few days ago. The wound on my temple was closing and becoming less tender.

I was shocked when I saw my reflection for the first time. My long curls were all gone, and I was left with black fuzz on my head. It was choppy and uneven from Dad's cut, so Ava fixed it for me.

After we finished dinner, we usually all separated. I was lying on my back when Ava came into the room after her shower. She was running a towel over her wet hair. Her skin was pink, and she had on a large T-shirt and a pair of plaid pajama bottoms. I couldn't help but smile at her. She looked as beautiful as the night I saw her at the party.

"What's that face for?" she asked me.

"What?" I asked.

"What's with that face?" she asked. "You look like a dork."

"I was just thinking about how beautiful you are and how lucky I am to have you."

Ava's lips lifted into a smile. She dropped the towel and crawled onto the bed. She lied on top of me and tucked her wet strands of hair behind her ear. She leaned down and pressed her lips against mine.

"I can't wait for California," she said.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"When we get out of here," she said. "We'll be in California and you can go to University. I can find a job to try and support us. But we'll be together and out of the this house."

"We'll get out of here."

I kissed Ava, and I felt her lay herself against my chest. My fingers slipped under her shirt, and grazed over the scabs on her back. Ava's lips traveled down to my neck, and her hands slipped down my arms. She pulled her shirt up over her head.

I had seen Ava without a shirt when I was helping her clean her wounds. This was different. I took in a deep breath, and looked to the side. Ava cupped my face with her hands, and turned my head toward her.

"It's okay," she said softly.

She kissed me again, and I tried my best to tighten my arms around her without hurting her. The smell of her shampoo filled my nose. Her hands slid down to my chest and grabbed my shirt, and pulled it over my head. I rolled her over, and placed her so that she was on her back. Ava let out a giggle, and I propped myself up on my elbows so that I didn't crush her.

"Remember our first kiss?" she asked. "You were so nervous. It was so cute."

"It was my first kiss ever," I said.

"And I took good care of you."

Ava leaned up and gave me another kiss. She pulled me down, and wrapped her arms around my neck. We tore each other's clothes off, and it was the first time I felt happy since being dragged to this house.