My breath gets caught in my throat as I become torn between two decisions. Keep this a secret, or confess to Kyle before he has the chance to hear it from someone else. I don't want him to figure this out himself either. However, I have a feeling he's going to be hurt regardless of how he hears the news.

"I'm fine." I huff, losing my sudden moment of courage.

A part of me wanted to tell Kyle everything, to spill my gut and confess that I'd done something bad. However, the words didn't seem to leave my lips. Somehow, they'd been caught in my throat and I'm fine comes out instead.

I'd never had the gut for facing things head on, not like Kyle, Blake, or even Logan did. I wanted to keep everyone happy, but by doing that, it meant I had to keep sacrificing myself along with other people.

To keep Blake happy, I'd have to scream it from the tallest building in our city, but for Kyle to be happy, I'd have to remain that same Ava he'd met once upon a fading memory. But for me to be happy? That seemed to be a fading illusion I didn't know how to catch.

Kyle steps towards me which makes my mind snaps from the spinning thoughts. He places his hands on either side of my face, which draws my attention to him.

"You're hiding something from me, Ava baby," he whispers, his warm beer stained breath fanning over my face.

As his brown eyes search, desperately looking for an answer within them, I lock away my emotions to safeguard us both. We'd both get hurt if he found out right now.

He draws my face closer to his, which prompts my breath to come out raggedly.

"Ava," he prods, his voice a warning.

"Maybe." With my mind hazed and confused, I suck in my bottom lip to chew on the drying skin. In my moment of weakness, I give Kyle the one thing he needs, a sign to confirm what he fears.

"Why are you hiding secrets?" A swirl of amusement, a hint of excitement reaches the depths of his brown eyes. The sight almost makes me sick. He'd never realise how serious this secret is until it leaves my lips.

My silence doesn't go down well, not for the cat and mouse position we're in. Kyle backs me into the corner counter of the kitchen without much resistance. One hand remains on my face, which guides me head to focus on his piercing eyes, while the other hand locks around my waist to keep me there.

"Ava," he warns again, but this time, his sharp voice doesn't affect me. With my emotions and secrets tucked deep inside me, I don't feel the pain of his words, I don't feel the urgency to explain everything I'm going through. I remain a distance between us, despite the close proximity of our bodies.

"Secrets hurt, Kyle." I heave.

"And?" The excited playful swirl traveling through his eyes comes to a halt. The brown turn a shade darker as the emotion on his face transforms to a brooding annoyance. The sudden flick of emotions has me gasping with fright.

"I don't want to hurt you." The thought of hurting Kyle brings tears to my eyes. Out of everything, hurting my best friend is the last thing I want to do.

"The only thing hurting me is the fact you can't share your secrets with me," responds Kyle. "Didn't your momma teach you to not keep secrets?" The use of momma makes me laugh with relief.

"Some secrets are with the burden."

"What do you need protecting from?" he questions. "What has Blake done to you?" Anger consumes his features, which makes his body stiff with tense. He tries to step away from me, but I wrap my arms around his waist and rest my head on his chest.

"It's not me that needs protecting," I mumble into his chest. "It's you."

"I don't need to be protected, Ava, that's my job for you." As I close my eyes and listen to the sound of his breathing, it takes me back to the countless times I'd run into Kyle's arms for protection. It felt odd to be seeking refuge in the arms of a man I'll hurt.

Somehow, I'd always managed to find people to hurt.

"Please tell me everything is going to be okay." I move away from his chest and look into his eyes for reassurance.

"I-" He huffs. "I don't know, Ava baby."

"Oh." The look of worrying clinging to his broad face makes me slump back into his arms for comfort.

Kyle kisses the top of my head and holds me tightly. Things would feel better if my best friend said they would be.

The sound of the front door opening sends us a part. Kyle scratches the back of his head and then opens the fridge door to grab another beer out. He gives me a longing look before exiting the kitchen and disappearing down the hall.

Blake's curious face pops around the side. Without needing to say anything, he wraps his arms around my body and nuzzles my face into his chest. As my cheek leans against this cold wet chest, I don't feel the sense of comfort from him.

"Are you okay?" The sound of the question sends my blood boiling – I'm tired of people continuously asking if I'm okay, of course I am, I can't not be okay.

"I'm perfectly not okay, I'm a fucking mess," slips from my lips instead of the pre-planned, no attention needed, I'm fine line that almost always works.

"Then talk to me Ava, stop shutting me out." The anger easily slips into Blake's voice. When I step out of his arms to look up at his face, I see the broken anger consuming his vivid green eyes.

While I was trying so hard to protect Kyle from getting hurt, I was stabbing Blake in the chest unknowingly. There was only so much I could keep from Blake, to stop him from knowing until it made him break just like me.

"I'm so sorry." I frown.

"I want to be there for you, but I need you to be there for me, like a team." Remorse slips onto his face, which is a comforting emotion to see on his face.

"I think I need some space, Blake. I think it's what we both need. Looking after someone else's child is fine with me, but having one of my own so early on. . . It's eating me up alive, and I don't know if I can be that strong person on the team to support you, when I cannot support myself." It burns my heart to admit this, but I realise we're more of a danger being together than apart to work through these struggles.

"No, Ava, please, no." He begs, a set of uncertainty and devastation consuming him.

"I'm going to spend some time at my parents' house." I nod my head in an attempt to convince myself it's the right thing to do. If I have time to myself to work out this mess, then I'd be able to come back and be strong for Blake.

"The best thing is for you to stay, Ava. We'll get through this if we work on it together."

"I'm not leaving forever, Blake." I cup his face and stare at him directly. "But I need to go somewhere else and breathe in a new fresh air, like a plant." The use of the plant terminology makes Blake sigh with humour.

"Okay." He nods his head. "If you must return to your parents' house."

"Thank you." I lightly grin.

"Just know, I'll be sitting by the front door pining for your return."

"I know you will be." I laugh.

"Our bed is going to be empty without you, and I probably won't sleep okay," he adds.

"Yeah, I know." I nod my head.

"But." He sighs dramatically. "I'll do it if it means you come back to me healthy and happy."

"I will," I say. "You are my always."

"Always." Blake's lips find mine is a soft, yet passionate kiss which has my stomach flipping, and my heart racing. His hands grab at my waist as he lifts me onto the kitchen bench. I wrap my arms around his neck and my legs around his body.

"Don't go," he begs.

Blake's lips find my neck as my head rolls back with anticipation.

"Stay." His hand grabs the back of my head so that he can kiss my lips. All the while, he tugs at the shirt and starts to pull it up. The wet material sticks to me skin like a glove, so I help him remove the cold shirt and discard on the ground by his feet.

"I know what you're doing, Blake." I run my hands down his chest and towards his waistband. I hook my finger inside the material so that I can snap it back.

"Me? I'm not doing anything." He chuckles sexily.

"You're trying to seduce me into staying." I laugh back.

"Is it working?" Blake stops kissing my body so that he can look at my face.

"Maybe?" I blush.

"Then I better get back to convincing you." Blake grabs me off the kitchen bench and starts walking towards our bedroom. We make it part way up the stairs until we hear a noise downstairs. I try to untangle myself from his body, but Blake dashes up the final steps and closes the door behind me.

"What are you doing?" I ask.

"Convincing you to stay," he answers simply.

Blake places me on my feet so that he can lock the bedroom door. Before I can step away and regain a clear conscious mind, Blake's lips find mine and my head is murky with lust.

"Why?" I ask between passionate kisses.

"Because I know if you leave, you might never come back and that scares me." His words render me numb. My mind leaves my body, which makes it susceptible to follow Blake's every movement.

I let him guide me into the bathroom and stand in front of the vanity. He turns his attention to the shower so that he can turn the water on to heat up.

He slowly pulls the drawstrings of my bikini and tosses it to the ground along with my bottoms and his shorts.

"I want you, Ava Greyson, I need you right now." From the state of us both, I know this action wasn't a simple tease to make me stay, but a desperate act to cling to what we once knew, a small slice of paradise release to a mucky world we didn't know how to command.

I let Blake get lost inside of me, just as I did the same. Two bodies desperately trying to find where one starts and the other ends.

Our broken little ship wouldn't last forever, just as this temporary glimpse of satisfaction would be a quickly fading memory. The smooth sailing waters would be stormy soon, so it left me with a burning question. Would we make it out of the storm together?

Do you think will happen with Ava and Blake?