All I Ever Wanted

Chapter 18

The first thing I notice when I open my eyes is the familiarity of the room, and I relax into the pillows as relief fills my body. Finally, I'm back in my apartment.

As soon as I try to sit up, pain shoots through the side of my face, and I gasp as my hand flies up to touch the swollen skin. Throwing off the covers, I run over to my dresser and freeze when I see my relflection.

My cheek is swollen, and a dark angry bruise is forming. If someone walked in and saw me now, they would think that I got into a fight with a WWE Diva.

"Mommy! You got an ouchie!" Hope's surprised voice startles me, and I quickly whip my head around to see her standing in my doorway with a frown in her cute little face. Trying to force my lips to form into a smile, I walk over to her and give her a hug.

"I know, Hope. I... I fell."

Hope tilts her head up at me and frowns harder. "I fall too, mommy, but I don't get ouchies that bad."

Knowing that she is too smart for her own good, I laugh it off as I usher her out if my room and down the hallway to the living room, hoping that I can find something there to distract her.

"Mommy will be fine, really. Um...is...who else is home?" I ask nervously as my eyes scan the visible parts of the small apartment. Just because the coast looks clear doesn't mean that it is.

"Ava! Mommy is up!" Hope sing sings as she skips into the kitchen, and I stand at the end of the hallway nervously, not knowing what to expect from my friend.

As soon as Ava walks into the room, I become worried. This girl is one of the most expressive people that I know, and the fact that her face is competelt void of emotion makes me wonder if she knows what happened.

The two of us stare at one another for a few moments, and the longer her gaze remains on me, the more nervous I become. I could really use a friend right now, and if she turns her back on me...

"Does it hurt?" She asks quietly, nodding to the angry bruise on my face.

Slowly, I nod my head as I reach up to touch it again. It feels like it is getting worse every few minutes.

Ava nods her head once. "Good."

My eyes widen and my mouth forms into a small 'o' as I watch Ava bend down to Hope's level and tell her to go to her room, which she happily complies with. As soon as the sound of the door clicking shut rings out, I know that I am in trouble.

"So who hit you? Klay or Nick?"

My brow furrows. "Nick, but it wasn't on purpose. I-..."

"Damn," Ava says with disappointment as she snaps her fingers and sighs dramatically, "it should've been Klay. I'm really upset he didn't get a crack at you. The least Nick could have done was throw everything he had into that punch.

My eyes narrow and I reel back as if I have been slapped all over again. "What?"

Ava glares at me, and if looks could kill, I'd have been dead in an instant. "You...you...you're an ungrateful skank! Klay gave you freaking everything you wanted and so much more, and you threw that all away for what, one night with team slag?"

Before I can argue, Ava stalks towards me like a hunter in the prowl.

"He deserves so much better than you! You're beyond stupid, you know that, Logan? You're officially the stupidest person that has ever lived because you gave up the greatest thing that ever happened to you!"

"Ava, I-..." I try, but before I can continue, she lets out a loud growl before pouncing on me.

I gasp in pain as her hand slaps my bruised cheek, and it takes all of my willpower not to collapse onto the floor and bawl my eyes out. God, that hurt.