Another Love | C.C

•Ch.20•

Ava made her way to the kitchen and sat herself on one of the counters, red cup in hand. Emily walked into the room also and as soon as they locked eyes, Ava diverted them to the ground. There were a few other people in the room getting themselves drinks, but this was the quietest room throughout the party and all Ava wanted right now was peace.

"Hey" Emily said softly.

"...hi" Ava hesitated, taking another swig of her drink. Emily stepped towards her and stopped just in front of her.

"You okay?" She asked, in hope of receiving an answer. Ava stared at her and Emily caught on.

"Right, sorry" she said, remembering she obviously wouldn't be okay after what had just happened. Ava remained silent and drank the rest of her drink pretty quickly, wanting ease the pain and frustration she was currently feeling.

"I know you probably really don't want to talk to me, but hear me out right now. Crawford never intended on hurting your feelings back there. That boy is so head over hills for you, yes he may have a funny way of showing it sometimes...but he's serious about you. He may not have said it yet this time round but he definitely loves you. Everyone makes mistakes. And this time round there's gonna be lots of things that happen between you two that could be seen as something gone wrong...but if you don't build with each other and work around things and move on from things, it's all going to get bad again. He's freaking out out there because he's petrified of losing you. That's coming from a guy who 1) has already lost you once before and 2) hasn't even got you back properly yet...it shows how much this all means to him. Yes he's an idiot for smoking, but he's a 22 year old who's still learning...you just gotta give him some time, just like he had been with you. You gotta learn to mould together again and work through things as a couple and not individuals" she advised the girl, meaning every word.

Ava knew she was right and surprisingly she didn't even care that she was right. Her words helped a lot and she appreciated it. It opened her eyes to things.

"Y-you're right. Thank you, Emily" she smiled at the girl stood in front of her.

"It's no problem. And hey, I just wanted to say I'm sorry about everything. I know what I did was unforgivable, but I hope in the future we can become friends" she told her. Emily hadn't even been drinking so she was completely sober and Ava recognised that, appreciating everything she was saying so much more.

"I'd like that" Ava nodded and smiled.

"Uh...hey. C-can we talk?" The familiar voice questioned from the doorway. Emily and Ava turned their heads to look at him and there he was, awkwardly stood with his hands in his pockets, avoiding all eye contact as he was too unsure on what to do with himself.

"I'll leave you to be" Emily said. She smiled at Ava one last time before slipping past Crawford and heading out of the kitchen. Crawford awkwardly approached her and stood just before her where she was still sat on the counter.

"I'm sorry Ave...I-I wasn't thinking and I-"

"Stop. Please. I-I don't want to fight..." she told him gently. He finally lifted his gaze to lock eyes with hers and noticed himself how cautious she felt also.

"I don't wanna lose you again- like, I know you're not my girlfriend but I like where things are going and I don't wanna fuck up again but it feels like that's all I'm capable of" he began. Ava opened her arms wide, gesturing for him to hug her and he didn't hesitate to accept it. He buried his head into her shoulder as he stood between her legs and held her close to him.

He was high. But he was thinking straight and everything he was feeling right now was real.

Ava pulled away and looked at him, smirking slightly at how red his eyes were.

"You look stupid" she joked lightly, he laughed also and nodded.

"Because I am stupid. I guess after we broke up I felt as if I didn't have anything to motivate me not to do that shit anymore...so I started it up again and didn't think about it all when you came back into my life again last month..." he explained to her.

"I understand. Let's just forget it happened and move on from this okay? Just don't do it again" she chuckled softly. He smiled and nodded.

"Thank you" he told her, keeping his hands rested on her thighs as he admired her.

"Now we need you to sober up though, I still don't like the idea of knowing you're high" she laughed, him doing the same. He nodded and made himself a glass of water from the sink, drinking it immediately. They both knew it would be a few hours until he came down, but it didn't hurt in trying to speed up the process.

Crawford's mind started to wander as he drank his drink and seeing as he had no filter when drunk and high, he wasn't scared to bring up this next topic.

"Can I ask you something?" He questioned her.

"What's up?" She asked, swinging her legs as they couldn't touch the floor from where she was sat.

"Do you ever wonder if maybe...you know, Colby sees you as more than a friend?" He questioned her, standing back between her legs again after he placed his glass down.

She stayed silent for a moment, wondering where this was even coming from.

"...not really, no, he's like a brother to me. He was there for me when no one else was and at the end of the day if it wasn't for him I would be back in England right now, he stopped me at the airport that day" she explained, mentioning the airport story to him once again. Crawford nodded and shrugged.

"Okay. I don't know, just sometimes you both seem super close and he treats you different to all the other girls..." he muttered, feeling slightly embarrassed for even mentioning it.

Ava laughed softly.

"I wouldn't stress, he's just my best friend. He doesn't see me as anything more and I don't see him as anything more. What I have with you, I'm in it for the long haul...I just wanna make sure I'm 100% ready before we put a label on it again" she told him, reassuring him.

"Okay. And that's fine, take as long as you need" he smiled at her, placing a kiss on her forehead.

He wanted to kiss her on the lips, but he didn't want to push his luck for the evening. He knew it would happen when the time was right, and in that moment, he just wanted to embrace his feelings for the girl and how well things were going between them.

Ava felt happy, but she also started to think about what Crawford had just said and whether he was actually right in terms of Colby. She tried to shake of the thought and believe her own words that he only sees her as a best friend and chose to just enjoy the rest of her evening with Crawford and her friends because she didn't want anymore drama to happen for the night.

A/N: I really enjoyed writing this chapter :) I hope u all liked it. Remember to send me anything or ideas you want to maybe happen in the story or that you want me to include! I love being inspired so am open to suggestions. Also, I just want to say THANK YOU one last time. At the start of the day this book was on around 400 reads and now it's OVER 650 as I'm posting this! INSANE! I can't believe it, thank you so so so much! I was wondering if you would all like to get to know me a little bit better? In the next chapter I can post some facts about me so u can get to know me a little bit. Lmk what u think x