Chapter Forty Three - "Serious As A Heart Attack, Joshua."

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Avery's P.O.V

"Yeah, I know. She has been like that ever since she got home from Logan's a few nights ago." I hear Joshua explain to Claire outside of my room. I continue to lay in my bed, covers up to my shoulders, as my eyes stare at the wall.

"Has Logan called? Last time I checked, they were still dating."

"To be honest, I have no idea. I don't even know why she is being so closed-off. The only person she will even talk to is River and I'm pretty sure she has no idea what Avery is going about anyway." Joshua says and I roll my eyes, just wanting Claire to leave. I know she is going to knock on my door in a minute and when I don't answer, I'm pretty sure she will kick the door down.

Yes, my best friend will go to that extent.

But she should know that when I'm in one of these moods, I want to be left alone, except when River is around. Right now though, Dad took her to the park when Claire came over and Mom went out to get a few things from the store. How I know that is because they both sent me a message.

But I know the real reason why they left the house and that's because when I'm in a mood and Claire is around, that shit is about to get crazy, which is exactly what I don't want.

"Has she been eating?"

"Only when she thinks everyone is asleep." Joshua says and this makes me roll my eyes again. Why is Joshua even awake at three o'clock in the morning anyway? He should be the one to be asleep before anyone else.

"Ugh, okay." Claire says and a few seconds later, I hear knocking on my door. "Avery? Open the door."

I don't answer and I don't plan to. Closing my eyes, I begin to block out the sound of Claire's knocking, knowing that all I can do right now is ignore her.

After what happened three nights ago, when I told Joshua everything about what happened recently, and how I figured out that Logan must know something about Ryan getting arrested, to when Logan let me listen to the conversation between Katie and Jade and how I realised that all of this is my fault, I've been staying in my room.

I haven't been talking to Joshua, my parents, Logan, no one, except my River, seeing as she is my daughter and basically needs me as much as I need her. Just her face makes me feel somewhat happy but when my mind drifts back to three nights ago, I feel upset and guilty again. It's a continuous thing. I feel happy one second, ready to just leave the house and be myself, but then those thoughts come back into my mind and I fall back into bed. And before you say I have a choice whether or not I leave my room and be myself in a click of my fingers, you have obviously not been through the guilt trip.

"Avery, please. I know you can hear me." Claire says and I continue to lay in my bed, listening to the sound of Claire's persistent knocking.

"She won't answer the door, Claire. Trust me. We have all tried." Joshua says and I hear Claire laugh.

"You obviously haven't tried enough." Claire says and I sigh, knowing that this is the part where she threatens to kick my door down. "Avery, if you do not open the door to your best friend, I will be forced by the best friend code to kick it down."

Told you.

"Wait, are you serious?"

"Serious as a heart attack, Joshua."

Suddenly though, before Claire can even start a countdown, I hear a familiar voice.

"Let me talk to her."

And I recognise the voice as Aunty Heather.

. . .

"Oh, Avery." Aunty Heather says as she wraps her arm around my shoulders, pulling me towards her. "You really are going through a lot." She mumbles once I have told her everything.

Claire, who is in the corner of my room, sitting in my spinning chair, has her resting-bitch-face on, staring at the wall, obviously in thought.

Yep, I eventually let my best friend in along with my Aunty and brother, seeing as Aunty Heather practically dragged both of them along with her into my room when I had opened the door, which gave me no time to argue.

"Why do you look like your about to murder someone?" I ask, leaning my head on Heather's shoulder as I wipe the remaining tears from my face.

"Not someone - a few people, actually. And I'm going to start with Katie, seeing as she has had this coming for a long time." Claire hums, earning a chuckle from Joshua.

"Well, my fist is feeling like kissing someone's face so I might as well join you." Joshua says and all of a sudden, my parents come into view with River in front of them.

"Who's fighting who?" My mom asks, her eyebrow raised as she looks at Claire and Joshua. They both look away like they didn't do a thing while River squeals in delight.

"Mommy!"

River runs past Claire, not even acknowledging her presence which makes Claire's face drop a little, and she jumps onto my bed, attacking me with a warm hug.

"Hey, baby." I murmur, hugging my little girl as a small smile spreads onto my lips. I see both my parents send me a small smile, obviously impressed with the fact that people are in my room and my door isn't locked anymore.

"Okay, um, I'm just going to do a few errands-" Claire begins but is cut off by the sound of my mother's voice.

"I know that tone, Claire Jane Dawson." My mom says, making Claire groan at the use of her full name by my own mother. Claire sits back down on the chair and sighs loudly, throwing her hands over her face.

"Oh, my God, please do not ever use my full name in that tone ever again." Claire mutters and my mom smiles, walking over to Claire and giving her a hug.

"I love you too, Claire."

. . .

After having dinner with the family, plus Claire, I'm now in the bathroom with River, cleaning her body as she plays with one of the toy ducks that my father had bought her today.

"Are you okay now, mommy?" River asks and I smile, rubbing my daughter's head with my free hand.

"Now that you're home, yes." I say, watching as River returns my smile. Suddenly, the sound of my phone goes off and I reach over and grab it, checking who would be calling me at this time of night.

Logan.

I shake my head, placing my phone back on the floor, protected by the towel so no one slips from the water that River sometimes splashes everywhere.

"Who was that?" River asks and I force the smile back on my face.

"Wrong number." I say and River thinks nothing of it, continuing to play with the duck. As it goes quiet in the bathroom, I hear the sound of my father talking to someone extremely loudly which makes me curious.

"C'mon, Riv. Time to get out." I say, standing to my feet and grabbing a towel from the rack and holding it up for River. When she stands, I hug the towel around her body and lift her out of the bath, standing her on her feet. As we begin to walk out of the bathroom, my father's voice gets louder and suddenly, I can hear another voice.

"Go wait in mommy's room, okay?" I tell River and she nods, walking off with her towel close to her body. I walk to the stairs and look down at the living room to see my father standing at the door, staring at the guy who had just called me seconds ago.

Logan.

And when he makes eye contact with me, my father immediately stops talking as he looks over his shoulder to see me staring back down at Logan, eyes wide with shock but also with anger.

"Avery..." Logan says clear enough for me to him. I gulp, not knowing how to react. I haven't talked to him in days, haven't even seen him in days, and I feel so many emotions running through my body all at once.

"Oh, just let him in." Heather says, breaking my intense stare with Logan.

"Heather-"

"She's right." My mom says, a small smile on her face as she stands from her seat on the couch. "Just let the two talk it out."

And when my father steps away from the door after a few seconds is when I feel my own smile spread on my face, especially when Logan sends me the smallest smile in return.

. . .

Hello everyone! I hope you are proud of this update, seeing as I didn't take forever to update it. And I know I said I will update over the weekend but I was surprisingly so busy with school work and drama... I know, I broke my promise. But I hope I made it up to you with this update :)

Lofd - "Know you got it bad when you're stuck in the house..."

-XmysterysmileX