Holding Onto You

Ch. 46

Demi's pov

I lightly knock on Ava's door and walk in to see her staring at me in tears, "Come on, let's go." I say.

"I don't want to."

"I do, so come on. I haven't gotten to spend time with you alone in a while." I say.

She reluctantly gets out of her bed and I smile before watching her grab her phone. I lead the way downstairs and out the front door.

"Where are we going?"

"Not too sure yet, I'll figure out someplace." I say.

I unlock my car and get into the drivers seat and close my door before putting my seatbelt on. I start the car and drop my keys into a cup holder as Ava puts her seatbelt on.

"Don't you think you should figure it out before we leave?" She sniffles.

"Mmm, I have a few ideas in mind."

I back out of the driveway and put the car in drive and make it to the security gate, "What are they?" She asks.

"You'll see."

A few sentences later I get past the security gate and am on my way towards the highway, "I don't like not knowing."

"But if I tell you that'll ruin the surprise wouldn't it?" I ask.

"No."

"Yes." I chuckle.

"I don't even want to go anywhere anyway, so you could at least tell me where I'll continue to be miserable at."

"I don't know, you didn't really seem miserable at the skating rink when I used to take you skating to spend time with you alone." I say.

"I guess."

Well I'm not hearing a no, I'll take it as a win.

"How are you feeling?" I ask.

"Not good."

"I'm sorry angel."

"It's not your fault. I mean at least he's a great guy and that's why it hurts. I'd rather it feel like this than be hurt because of a situation like Maya was in. I can't imagine how hard that had to have been for her. I mean I can imagine, but I know it doesn't come anywhere close to how she felt in that relationship."

My heart aches thinking about it. Mayas such a sweet soul and I don't know how she managed to find someone like Kenzie. Maya didn't deserve to be in a situation like that at all, no one does.

No one should be in an abusive relationship. No one should feel that amount of pain because of someone else. No one should go through what she had.

It's just so hard for me as a parent to know that Maya did. I never in a million years thought I'd have to see something similar to my past happen in my own daughter. I never wanted something like this to happen. It kills me knowing Maya had to go through that.

"Maya went through something very rough and I continue to hope and pray that her next relationship is not like that. No one deserves that pain and I just hope the next person she ends up with treats her right. I don't want to ever see her have to go through something like that again. As for you, Ava, I am happy that he makes you happy. But I hate to see you so down like this. Pains, pain. I don't like to see you in it Ava." I say.

"I know, I'm just saying that it could be worse I guess. I mean I love him and the reason it hurts is because I love him. But it's not like bad. He treats me right and it's because of that it hurts when there's separation. Or physical separation at least. We still facetime and text."

"Well, I'm happy you've found someone who makes you happy. That's all I want to see for you." I say.

"Thanks. I never said it was Jacob though. How did you know I was taking about him?"

I laugh, "Ava, I was a teenager once too. I know you're not at a friends house when you say you are. I know you're at his house. I did the same thing when I was your age."

"So you'd rather me just be honest about where I'm going then?"

"I would, but I have a hard time believing you would."

She turns her head to me, "I mean I would if you wouldn't say no. But if you're gonna say no then why would I?"

"You're going to college next year Ava. I can't baby you forever. I'm not going to say you can't do this or that. You're old enough to make decisions for yourself and I might to like them, but you'll do them next year when I'm not there to stop or prevent them. So I might as well let you have that freedom. I'd rather know where you are than not. I feel uneasy not knowing where you really are."

"You're surprisingly a lot more calm than I thought you'd be."

"I've thought about a lot of things, and how I'd handle them, when you were young. I wanted you to trust me and be able to come to me. I wasn't able to do that with my parents and I didn't want to have that happen to you. I didn't want to have the relationship I had with my mom, when I was a teenager, with you. Or even Maya." I say.

"I trusted you and felt comfortable telling you things. It was dad I was worried about. His views aren't always the same and I know you two talk and figure things out together. I didn't want to tell him I had a boyfriend and assume I was only going to be sexually active every single time we hung out. I didn't want him to assume every guy I hung out with was my boyfriend. Really I just feared him saying I'm too young to know what a real relationship was and that he didn't approve. I would've told you but I knew you would've told him, which is why I didn't say anything."

"Ava, if you ask me not to tell him something. I don't. I keep my word on that. You don't have to be nervous about me telling him everything. But he does love you and wants to see you happy. He does worry about you and he does get nervous when you seem off." I say.

"I know that now, thanks. I know he does."

*time skip*

When we get to the skating rink, I grab the skates with Ava and head to a bench to put them on, "I can't believe you're actually gonna skate."

"Of course I am. I did when you were little." I say.

"Yeah but you're also not in your 20s anymore."

"Doesn't mean I can't skate." I smirk.

"I mean, we'll see. It's been a while since you've gone skating."

"Oh so you don't have faith in me do you?" I ask.

She laces her skates up with a shrug, "I don't know, it's been a while."

I lace my skates up and stand up as Ava gets onto the floor and backs up to let me get onto the floor. I do just that and hold onto the wall causing her to smirk, "Need a bit of help I see."

"Gonna make fun of me Huh?"

"I have to a little bit. It's kinda funny." She giggles.

I smile as I hear that giggle. That's what I was aiming for today and it looks like I just got one. Maybe this will cheer her up a bit. It's all I wanted to hear and seeing her smile makes me happy.

"Well, as long as you help me up when I bust my ass, I'll let you laugh."

She laughs, "Ok."

I knew today would be fun and I'm happy seeing her cheer up a bit. It's been too long since I've spent time with the girls alone and it's definitely something I need to do more often. Especially with them leaving soon.

That is still a scary thought to think about. I am not ready to see them move out even a little bit. It's a painful thought...