It has been a couple of weeks and it's the day that Mike has to return to L.A. He wanted to stay for a little long but Megan convinced him that he should save the remainder of his time off for other visits he will want to take to Austin in the future. Megan, Avery, T.K., and Jason are at the airport in the drop-off and pick-up lot of the airport to see Mike off. Owen had given T.K. a few hours off work to see Mike off with the three teens.

'Let me know when you land, yeah?' Megan asks her dad.

'Of course.' He nods as he pulls her in for a hug. 'I love you.' He adds, kissing the top of her head.

'Love you too. We'll talk soon.' She tells him as they part.

'It was nice to see you again.' T.K says, shaking Mike's hand.

'You too.' Mike nods. 'Thank you for looking after my daughter.'

'Always, she's pretty awesome.' T.K grins.

'That she is.' Mike agrees, proudly.

'Bye.' Avery says, as she quickly hugs Mike.

'Bye.' Jason nods awkwardly.

'Have a safe flight.' Megan tells her dad as he steps back and picks up his bag from the ground. Megan gives him one final hug as he turns and walks into the airport.

'Right,' T.K sighs, looking at Avery, 'are you coming back to the station with me?'

'Yeah.' She nods.

'I'll take Megan home before I head to work. It's on the way anyways.' Jason volunteers. They all nod in agreement.

'See ya later.' Avery says walking toward T.K's car as Megan and Jason head toward his.

.

Arriving at the 126, T.K. and Avery back walk into the station and up to the station where Owen is waiting for them.

'Did Mike get off okay?' He asks them.

'Yeah.' Avery nods. 'Jase took Megan home since it's on his way to work.'

'I thought you were going to Megan's today?' Owen questions.

'In a bit.' Avery replies. 'I'm just gonna chill here for a bit to pass time.' She adds, sitting at the counter.

.

It's later that day, Avery is chilling at Megan's place. She's sitting in her 'corner' which consists of her reading chair and a few of her books that she keeps at Megan's for when she visits. Megan is standing in the kitchen, cleaning, whilst talking to Avery over the counter. For the past few minutes, Avery has been talking about how Jason had been really busy the last few weeks and being really suspicious about what he has been doing. Megan, of course, know's why but Avery doesn't.

'Ave-' Megan tries to interrupt her friend but it's no use.

'-but I don't know because he keeps going off to do things and not telling me what. I mean I don't care, he has his life, I get that. I'm just annoyed I haven't figured it out yet.' Hearing this, Megan has to stop herself from laughing. They're interrupted by a knock at the door so Megan goes to answer it whilst Avery puts the book she's been reading down.

'Hey.' Avery hears Jason's voice. 'Hey, have you told her yet?' He asks quite loudly as Megan lets him in. Hearing this, Avery furrows her eyebrows and realisation dawns on her but she decides to play confused.

'I, err, I was just about to.' Megan says awkwardly as she nods towards Avery sitting in the corner. She stares at them both, acting confused.

'Oh. Whoops.' Jason says, stopping when he sees Avery.

'Tell me what?' Avery asks standing up, continuing to play the confused card. Megan looks at Jason and then back at Avery.

'I was about to tell you but you wouldn't shut up. So, here we go I guess.' Megan tells her, trying to think of how to say what she wants to say.

'Megan and I are dating.' Jason cuts in before Megan can say it. Avery looks at them, gobsmacked.

'I. FUCKING. KNEW. IT!' Avery yells.

'What?!' Megan and Jason exclaim, clearly shocked at Avery's response.

'One. It's very hard to keep shit from me. You should both know that by now.' Avery tells them both. She looks at Jason. 'Two. You've been acting suspicious. I suspected that it was because you've been seeing Megan, so when you asked if Megan had told me yet, that confirmed my suspicions.' She smiles. 'You've been dating since that coffee date, right?' Avery asks them both.

'Yeah. We wanted to take things slowly and see if they went anywhere before we told you or anyone.' Jason nods. 'You're not mad are you?' Jason asks Avery.

'Why the fuck would I be mad?' Avery laughs. 'Of course, I'm not! After all, I guess you guys have me to thank for you too getting together.' She adds, causing Jason and Megan to slightly laugh and shake their heads. 'I get why you didn't want to tell me soon. I've been non-stop pestering you both about it.'

'Oh thank god.' Megan sighs with relief. 'I was worried we'd hurt your feelings because we didn't tell you sooner, but like Jason said, we wanted to see where things went before we told anyone. Even you.'

'Look, I know as well as anyone how hard it is for Jase to get close to people. So that's another reason why I understand you wanted to wait and see where it all went before telling anyone.' Avey reassures them. 'On that note...' She grins mischievously. At this, Jason plugs his fingers in his ears. 'I'm so happy for you guys.' She squeals. She runs up to Jason and envelopes him in a tight hug and he wraps his arms around her.

'Ave, maybe take it down a notch,' Jason laughs, 'or ten.'

'Right, sorry.' Avery laughs slightly as she parts from him. She turns and hugs Megan. 'Guess I'm officially the third wheel.' She adds, causing them all to laugh.

.

A few days later, Avery is in her bedroom doing some work when Owen calls up to her.

'Ave, can you come down here for a minute?!'

'Yeah, one sec!' Avery shouts back. Owen goes back into the kitchen area where Carlos is.

'How do you think she'll react?' Carlos asks quietly whilst they wait for Avery.

'I honestly don't know.' Owen admits honestly.

'What's up?' Avery asks as she joins the three adults in the kitchen.

'Take a seat.' Owen tells his daughter. Avery frowns as she sits down on the seat that Carlos has just pulled out for her.

'What did I do?' Avery asks, thinking she'd done something wrong.

'Nothing, this isn't about you.' Owen tells his daughter.

'Okay then, what is it about?' Avery asks, confused.

'We've just spoken to Jason. Megan's been admitted to the hospital and she's being transferred back to Safe Space, back into rehab. That's where T.K. disappeared to. He's gone to be with her for a little bit.' Owen explains.

'Wh-what?' Avery sits there, shocked by what she had just been told.

'We don't know all the details surrounding it yet. Jason just said everything medication-wise from the shooting has really affected her. She was coping up until a few days ago, at least that's what she told him.' Owen continues to explain.

'So, what happens next?' Avery questions, wanting to know everything she could.

'She's currently being assessed and having the admission tests run, until that's over we don't know what happens next. She could be in there for a couple of days or a couple of weeks, we just don't know right now.' Owen finishes. 'We'll know a bit more when T.K. gets back. He's called Mike but Megan was insistent that he doesn't come since he won't really be able to do anything so we'll keep him updated.'

'Right...' Avery trails off, not knowing what to say. 'I'm erm- I'm gonna go for a walk.' She adds, standing up.

'Ave-' Carlos starts to say.

'I'm fine.' Avery reassures them. 'I'll probably go to Jase's for a bit.'

'Keep your phone on.' Owen tells her, knowing nothing they will say and do can change her mind.

'I will.' Avery nods. She walks out of the kitchen, grabs her coat from the closet and her keys from the table by the door before walking out.

Half an hour later, Avery is arriving at Jason's house. She knocks on the door and a few moments later, Jason's mom, Sharon answers.

'Hey.' Avery smiles slightly.

'Hey, Ave.' Sharon smiles back. 'Come in.' Avery walks in and Sharon closes the door behind her. 'Jase told me about Megan. How are you holding up?' Avery turns to the woman who has been a mother figure to her.

'I- I don't know.' Avery answers honestly. 'I'm worried.'

'Come here.' Sharon motions for Avery to follow her. 'I want to show you something.' Avery looks at her skeptically before following Sharon through to the dining room. In the corner sits a grand piano.

'Oh my god.' Avery gasps walking towards it. 'Is this the same one you had in L.A.?' She asks as she runs a hand over it.

'Yeah.' Sharon nods, joining her. 'I figured you could use the distraction. We kept it in storage in L.A. when we moved here. When you got back after what happened, Jason suggested getting it shipped here. It arrived this morning.'

'I don't remember the last time I played.' Avery whispers.

'Well,' Sharon places her hand on Avery's shoulder. 'I can't wait to hear to house fill with you and Jase playing again. And now, Megan.' She adds. 'It's already been tuned so you can play now if you want? Jason is on his way back so he'll be here soon.'

'Yeah.' Avery smiles slightly, nodding. 'Thanks.' She sits on the bench, takes her phone out, and finds some sheet music to play before propping her phone up on the sheet stand. The song she decides to play is Taylor Swift's All Too Well. She takes a deep breath and starts playing.

[There should be a GIF or video here. Update the app now to see it.]

After a few minutes, Sharon smiles before silently walking out of the room.

Five minutes later, Jason walks into the house. He sees Sharon sitting on the stairs smiling and can hear the piano.

'Hey.' He smiles. 'Ave's here?'

'Yeah.' Sharon nods. 'I know you wanted to surprise her with the piano yourself but with everything going on, I figured she could use the distraction.'

'No, that's fine.' Jason tells his mom. 'I'll go and say hi to her.' He goes to walk off to where Avery is.

'Jason.' Sharon stops him, standing up. He turns around to face her. 'How are you doing?'

'I'm- I'm good.' He nods unconvincingly. 'Worried, but I know she's in the best place possible.' He then turns back around and walks off. When he reaches the dining room, he leans on the door frame with his arms folded, smiling as he watches his best friend do something she hasn't done in a long time. When Avery finishes the song, she smiles to herself and sits back. 'It's nice to see you play again.' Jason tells her, standing up straight. Avery jerks her head over to him.

'I didn't realise you were there.' Avery states.

'Well, you always got lost in the music whenever you played.' Jason says, walking over to her. When he reaches her, he sits down next to her on the bench. 'You never let anyone distract you. Always tuning out your surroundings.'

'Yeah.' Avery sighs with a little smile. 'Do you remember all the times we used to sit at this piano? I'd play, you'd sing.'

'Hey,' he lightly shoves her shoulder with his, 'you used to sing too. Don't sell yourself short, Ave. You're amazing at this shit.'

'I guess with everything that's happened, I just forgot the one other thing I love most.' Avery says quietly.

'You can come over and play any time.' Jason tells her. 'Does Owen and T.K. know you play?' Avery shakes her head.

'There's still a lot they don't know about me.' She says sadly. 'I think I'm going to tell them about Ollie.' She looks at him.

'You want me to be there when you tell them?' He offers.

'No.' Avery shakes his head. 'This is something that I need to do myself.' She grabs hold of his hand. 'Day and night.'

'Day and night.' He smiles.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So if you don't remember, Ollie is Avery's younger brother! They share the same mom, but different dads.

We just love putting out characters through emotional damage, don't we? Haha. Remember to check out Addicted by DharmaWinter for Megan's perspective!

Let me know what you think!

Much love