Vault

Forty-Three

Hey guys! So I just wanted to make it clear that for the sake of the storyline, I'm going to be skipping over most days while Ava is at home in Wilmington soon. It's just too repetitive to constantly write the same thing about them being apart and talking on FaceTime and blah blah blah. So I'll be skipping over most weeks to just write about their weekends together to avoid the repeating. I just wanted to make that clear so I wouldn't confuse anyone.
Okay cool, onto your regularly scheduled programing.

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"What's going on Ava?" Ashton asked as I stepped into his office, unannounced, "you've had that look on your face since I got here this morning that tells me that you have something on your mind."

"I need to talk to you as my friend and kind of as my boss," I sighed as I sat down across from him.

"Okay, is this about pretty boy?" Ashton asked, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

"No, this is about after I graduate."

"Are you having second thoughts about staying on as a remote consult?" Ashton asked.

"Not exactly," I began, "so I've lived in this city alone since I was sixteen and I graduated from high school. And I applied to work here and you took a chance on me, and I will always appreciate that. Now, I'm about to graduate from college in December and the only thing I can think about is the family I left behind when I moved. I've been considering moving back to Raleigh if I could find an internship closer to Raleigh."

"I completely understand wanting to move home, what does that change for us right now?"

"I reached out to my internship director to see if there was any way I could get transferred to a different hospital, and I got a response this morning," I explained as I handed over the response to me email that I printed out.

Ashton read it over before he peaked over the page to look back at me, "does this mean you're resigning? Are you leaving me?"

"No, I'm just wondering if you'd consider allowing me to become a remote consult earlier than graduation if I were to find a house that I want to buy in Raleigh. I don't want to stop working for you, I love this job, but if I find my opportunity I have to take it," I smiled hopefully.

"You wouldn't just move in with pretty boy?" Ashton asked.

"No," I shook my head, "he doesn't know about all of this. None of my family in Raleigh does. They don't know about the email or the fact that I've already started looking through house listings. All they know is that I have an internship lined up here. Plus Karl already has two roommates."

"Well, I think we need to take a road trip then," Ashton smiled.

"What?" I asked.

"We're going to Raleigh. You're going to show me the houses you've been looking at and you're going to get me a copy of your current lease so I can make sure you have a clean way out before it's up. I made plenty of mistakes with the first house I bought, and my friends and I are going to make sure you don't make the same ones," Ashton insisted.

"What? We can't just go to Raleigh. You have clients and we have work to do. Your friends have work to do," I stammered, completely confused.

"Ava, I run this firm, I can say we're done for the day if I want to. Go get your coat and your stuff, we're going," Ashton laughed, "I'll call the boys and we'll all go together."

"Ashton, this is crazy," I scoffed.

"No, this is me helping you find the right opportunity for you," Ashton smiled, "don't tell pretty boy until we're in Raleigh. I want to meet the rest of your friends."

"You're serious?" I asked.

"Extremely,' Ashton smirked, "we're going."

I shook my head as Ashton shooed me out of his office to go get my stuff. I really did get lucky to have Ashton and his friends become my friends, they've actually been there for me which was never something I expected.

"Let's go, we're picking up the boys," Ashton smirked as he stepped out of his office.

"I can't believe you," I laughed, walking with him out of the office anyway.

As much as I thought this was an insane, bad idea, I got in Ashton's car anyway. We picked up each of his friends and Ashton started driving in the direction of Raleigh.

"So this is the first house you've ever bought?" Luke asked me.

"Well yeah, when my parents died I stayed in their house until I graduated and then I moved to Wilmington and just got an apartment because I was starting college and it was just me. There's a house in Wilmington that I fell in love with over a year ago, but I was never able to get myself to buy it," I shrugged.

"Can I ask," Calum began, "how did you live in their house after they were gone?"

"I didn't know where else to go," I shrugged, "I could've gone to live with Jimmy and his family, but that made me feel guilty so I didn't. And I was fourteen, no one was going to rent me a place."

"I get that, but how did you cope with it?" Calum asked.

"I didn't," I laughed, "I hated going home. I loved our house, but it wasn't my house so it was all just different being there alone. So I'd spend most of the day with the guys and pretty much only went home to sleep."

Ashton drove us to Raleigh, the guys being surprisingly excited about seeing the houses I was interested in. I hadn't looked at as many houses as they were probably expecting I had, but it was a new endeavor and I was just looking. I still don't know if he wants to live with me and I'm not buying a house with the intention of us living together unless I know for sure.

"First house, you ready Ava?" Ashton asked as he pulled into a driveway.

I nodded happily. This house was beautiful. It was the same size as the house Bailey, Ethan, and Karl live in now, but it had a beautiful back yard and a walk out basement.

"Do you see anything that jumps out at you?" I asked Ashton as we walked through the house.

"Actually yes, there's a lot of water damage," Ashton pointed out on the ceiling, "so I'd be concerned about the roof and if they're willing to drop the price for it. Also this house is being listed for way too much for what it's worth. I honestly think you'd end up putting more into it than it's worth, I think you should pass."

"Okay," I nodded, "I trust you."

Ashton smiled as we all left and made our way to the next house. The next house was gorgeous, it was secretly my favorite that I had found. It was a lot like the house I fell in love with in Wilmington. It was a big house, way bigger than necessary, but it was beautiful. Four bedrooms, two bathrooms, incredible space.

"Go big or go home," Michael laughed as he looked around the house.

"This one is just like the one in Wilmington that I couldn't get myself to buy," I laughed, "but I love it."

"I don't see anything wrong with it right away," Ashton smiled, "but if this is the one you choose, I think you should low ball counter offer so you can meet in the middle somewhere for the price."

"Really?" I asked.

"Yeah, I think it's a great house, way too big for just you so you better ask pretty boy to move in with you or else we're all coming to crash with you," Ashton laughed.

"He doesn't know this is a thing yet!" I laughed, "because I still haven't decided."

"Shut up, you're moving back. You miss your family, and you have way more reasons to move back then you do to stay in Wilmington," Ashton pointed out.

"I know," I groaned.

We had a good time, walking through each of the houses I had looked at online. I was still going back to the second house with each one we saw. I think it's perfect and it was only confirmed for me seeing it in person.