Perfect (Third book to the series Senior Year) - jb

12. Questions

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Justin's POV

I couldn't be happier about the reaction Ava got when I introduced her to the Goodwin family. They were all so welcoming and warm towards her. And even Ava, herself was enjoying the time she spent with them. I could tell she seemed to like Jessie also, even though just yesterday she thought she was my new girlfriend. They did exchange a few words the moment they met but I didn't really hear what they were talking about. But I kind of already knew Ava was going to like her because it was so easy to like Jessie. She was kind, giving, funny and positive. Just like her parents. Not ever had she said anything bad to me or to anyone else. I guess I needed that kind of energy in my life when Ava was away. This family did honestly help me a lot. Without them I probably wouldn't be here on this day.

Later on, after me and Ava ate a little bit of the leftovers Laura had left on the kitchen counter, we moved outside to enjoy the chilly evening. The sky was pitch black with a thousands of stars lighting it up and making the view beautiful. Me, Ava and Stephen and Laura sat around a semi-big bonfire on sunbeds. Ava had a blanket around her shoulders as she sat just a few inches away from me, while Stephen and Laura were on my right side, side by side, romantically. Jessie was out with her friends and Mila was inside already sleeping, so it was just the four of us, outside, enjoying the nice evening. Or should I say night since it was almost 1 in the morning.

"So are you guys together now or still thinking what to do?" Stephen looked at us both while he had his arm around his wife, warming her up.

I felt Ava's eyes on me as I just stared at the fireplace in front of me. We had been talking about deep stuff just a few minutes ago so I wasn't surprised that Stephen brought us up.

"I think we still have things to discuss about and stuff like that." Ava replied for the both of us.

She was hundred percent right. We needed to know what we both wanted after all that happened to us. It really shook us to the core, so much that one left to a mental health center and the other had to live with a religious family.

"Have you recovered from your..." Laura decided to speak up, trailing off from her sentence since she was trying to avoid the particular word she was going to say.

Funny how everyone was afraid of bringing it up as a subject. I glanced at Ava, wondering if she was fine talking about it but she seemed like it was just nothing. For me, I still thought to this day about how close we were to having our own little family. It hurt me to think that events caused by me, lead to her accident. I guess I wasn't really over it, though, no matter how hard I tried to forget about it...

"Well, yeah... To say the least. It's just tough to think that- I don't know." Ava shook her head, clearly hesitating on what to say.

"It's okay, you can tell us." Stephen encouraged her warmly, though not pressuring her into anything she wasn't comfortable with.

But they were easy to talk to. They knew how to approach people in the right way.

Ava sighed, wrapping the soft, white blanket around her more tightly since it was getting a little chilly.

"It's tough to think that we were so close to our happy ending, you know? I still get nightmares and sleep paralysis from it, even though I'm on the road to better." her voice was trembling a little so I knew the subject made her emotional.

Of course it did. But I had no idea she had sleep paralysis. That was the scariest thing that could happen to you while sleeping. You had no control over your own body but you were witnessing your worst fears in front of you. Gosh, it made shivers go down my spine even just thinking about it.