Vault

Forty

"CJ," I smiled as I walked quickly up to him and hugged him tightly.

"Ava, you look incredible," CJ smiled, "sorry I missed you while you were here for your birthday."

"It's alright," I giggled, "I'm kind of around much more often these days."

I pulled back from CJ and stepped back as Karl and the guys all took a seat around the table.

"Ava, these are some of my friends on my team," CJ smiled, "this is Jacob, Aubry, and Garrett. Guys this is Ava."

"I remember Garrett," I smiled before I reached down to hug him.

"How are you?" Garrett asked happily.

"I'm good, how are you?" I asked.

"Good, you look amazing," Garrett complimented.

I smiled before I turned to say hello to both Jacob and Aubry. I recognized them both from CJ's videos. I took a seat in the open chair between Jimmy and Karl, Karl immediately resting his hand on my thigh. I looked over at Karl and he smiled at me with that adorable pouty look in his eye that I loved.

"How's school?" CJ asked me, "and work?"

"School's good, I start my last semester next week. And work is good. It's work," I shrugged.

"You love your job," Jimmy laughed, "what changed?"

"Nothing changed, I've just been considering looking for internships other places after graduation, that's all," I explained.

"Other places like where?" Chris asked, "you said yourself that you basically have a dream internship lined up."

"Other places like here," I shrugged again, "there are other research hospitals in the world."

"Karl, you should've met Ava sooner so she'd have an internship lined up here instead," Chris laughed.

"Chris, stop!" Karl and I groaned together.

"Woah, woah, woah," Cj interrupted us, "Karl and Ava are dating?"

"We're not together yet," Karl smiled at me, "but we're getting there."

"How the hell did Karl get a girl who looks like you?" Jacob laughed.

"Be nice to him," I demanded.

"She's very protective of Karl," Chris smiled, "even when she was mad at him, she got mad at us for being mean to him."

"Because you had no reason to be mean to him," I pointed out, "but we're done talking about that."

"But really," CJ laughed, "how did Karl end up with you?"

"We met when I was in town for my birthday and we just clicked," I shrugged.

"Okay no, I tell this story so much better than they do," Chris laughed until I reached up and smacked him on the back of the head, "ow!"

"What did I literally just say to you yesterday about keeping your mouth shut?" I questioned.

"Yeah, but this isn't a secret, Karl already knows that you want to kiss him and junk like that," Chris scoffed.

"Chris," I groaned as I put my face in my hand, "fine whatever, you just really don't understand the point here."

"Poor Ava's embarrassed," CJ laughed.

Karl squeezed my thigh in an attempt to comfort me, him knowing I wasn't embarrassed for liking Karl but I was frustrated with Chris. I really just wanted to have dinner with CJ and some of his friends, catch up after so long of not seeing him, but Chris really is trying me today. I love Chris, but somehow he just can't understand the concept of it's not his story to tell. It's mine and Karl's. I knew it really wasn't that big of a deal, but it's the principle of it all.

"What are you in school for again?" CJ asked me, finally changing the topic from Karl and I.

"Biomedical engineering," I answered simply.

"Oh so she's hot and she's like real smart," Aubry pointed out.

"She's kind of a genius," Jimmy smiled at me, "we're proud of her."

"Really?" I asked Jimmy quietly.

"Of course we are," Jimmy assured me, "always have been."

That meant so much more to me than I think he would ever truly understand. These guys, even when they infuriate me, are my family. They've always been there for me and they've never really let me down; I can count on them.

We made some small talk through dinner, catching up with CJ and getting to know his friends a little, but I just wanted to go back to my weekend alone with Karl. Which sounded so selfish, but what can I say? I love that man.

"Ready to go back to my place?" Karl asked as we left the restaurant.

"Absolutely," I nodded.

When we got to Karl's I really just wanted to go up to his room and watch a movie or something alone, but Bailey and Ethan were both sitting in the living room.

"Ava!" Bailey and Ethan both cheered when they saw me, "are you going to start coming here sometimes to see Karl so we can see you too?"

"Sometimes," I laughed as I hugged them both.

"I'm going to bring your bag upstairs, and eventually we'll get away from the roommates so we can be alone," Karl whispered in my ear, "I'll be right back."

I smiled at him as he grabbed my bag from me and climbed the stairs to his room. God I love him. I took a seat on the couch before a super fluffy grey cat jumped onto my lap. I smiled and held out my hand by his face, letting him scope me out before I started to pet him, earning endless purring as he lightly nudged his face into my thigh.

"You met Oscar," Karl smiled as he walked back into the living room, "and he likes you."

"I told you, babies and animals just like me and I really don't know why," I laughed.

"I know why," Karl smiled as he sat next to me and placed a kiss against my temple, "it's because you're just a genuinely good person and they can tell. They trust you and you give them more than you'd ever take. You could probably come across a great white shark or a wild tiger and they would just fall in love with you too."

"What makes you so sure about that?" I asked, doing my best to keep my composure about what he had just said about me.

"You can't fake being a good person, my love, and you can't fool babies or animals. They love you because you're so good."

My bottom lip jutted out slightly from Karl's words. I was literally pouting because of his lovely words; words about me.

"You're the cutest human being on the planet," Karl smiled as he watched my expression change from his words.

"You just... when you say things like that what am I supposed to do?" I mumbled.

"Exactly what you did," Karl laughed.

"You guys are cute, I don't think anyone could create a more perfect pair for each other than the two of you already are," Ethan smiled.

"Very cute and if Chris says one more things about how Karl is stealing Ava, I'll punch him," Bailey laughed.

"Chris can kiss my ass," I laughed, "I'm mad at him. Not really, but for arguments sake."

"No, I'll just steal you away for real and then we'll make him eat his words," Karl laughed.

"Now I'm going to hold you to that," I smiled.

"I would expect nothing less."