Chapter 40: 37 | rivalries never die

One week later, Avery stares out at the ocean from where she's sat in one of the lounge chairs on Ethan's porch. Hearing the wails of a lone bird somewhere above, she finds herself wondering it it has returned for spring already, or if maybe it never moved away for winter in the first place.

Looping her arms around her knees, she rests her chin atop the flat of them as she lets her nose sink into the fabric of the knitted sweater she's in. Her lips curl into a small smile at the scent – it's pure Ethan – melting together with salt of the ocean air.

The past half hour plays out in her mind on a loop. They'll both be here next year.

No one's moving to the Pacific coast. No one's packing up their bags to move thousands of miles and miles away. There's no more worrying of having to do long-distance. They'll both be right here. Not as in Acebridge, but as in North Carolina, a mere hour between them at worst.

The sound of the door sliding open and shut behind her has snaps her out of her thoughts. Turning her head over her shoulder to glance at Ethan, her lips twitch in faint amusement. A small puff of air – disbelief melted together with only somewhat feigned exasperation – leaves her lips.

"I can't believe you're doing this to me."

Steam rises from the two cups of tea he carries with him as he crosses the porch to come sit down on the other end of the lounge chair. He hands her one of them before placing the other on the porch floor.

"Still processing I see," He leans over to tuck an errant strand of blonde hair behind her ear, a soft laugh leaving his lips as she lifts her shoulders in the smallest shrug. "These are supposed to be good news. We're supposed to be happy about this."

She likes the way he says 'we'. They're young. They haven't been together long, not even a year, she knows that. But they're a 'we'. Still, she doesn't quite give him the satisfaction of seeing her smile, eyes narrowing instead.

"Duke? You're going to Duke?"

She only groans as Ethan's lips crack into a sheepish grin.

At first, upon hearing them this morning – she'd been too busy comprehending his words to realize exactly what he'd been saying. Too busy comprehending the fact he's staying next year, of slowly imagining her plan, dream even, of going to UNC becoming true.

Only as she'd been about to raise the question of the few bad seasons the Tar Heels have on their neck it had dawned on her. Only then had his words melted together with what she had already known. Ethan had gone up to Durham the days before. Not Chapel Hill. Durham.

And here she had thought they were done with rivalries.

Meeting his gaze now, she can't hold back her smile any longer. Her shoulders sink, chest seeming lighter as relief washes over her – tension she hadn't even realized she's been holding dispersing in one swift rush.

She moves to the side of the already narrow seat, lifting her cup to her lips as he twists around and scoots back to sit next to her. "I hate you."

His fingers cold against her skin, he hooks them underneath her chin to bring her lips to his in a kiss. "No you don't."

She lets her forehead fall against his, a breath of air slipping her lips – it's not quite an exhale, not quite a sigh. "I do. But only on principle."

He inches back, lips twitching ever so slightly as he takes her free hand into his own and leans back in the chair. "I guess I can work with that."

Setting her cup down on the floor, she leans into his side as his other arm wraps around her. She casts her eyes to their intertwined fingers before tilting her head back, finding his dark gaze again. "Are you sure this is what you want?"

"It's exactly what I want."

"Okay but –," She loops her arm around his torso, smile softening as he traces a featherlight line on her palm. "What about Oregon? Coach O'Connor? The commitment you made?"

Letting his hand slip out of hers, Ethan absentmindedly traces a pattern on her leg. "I've spoken to them."

"The last thing you should do right now is to complicate things. This is your future we're talking about."

He pauses, eyes flickering her way before he leans closer to brush his lips to her hair in a light peck. "There's no bad blood there, that all understand. You don't have to worry about that."

She nods, pressing her lips together as she reaches her hand up to sprawl her fingers through his hair. "It's about your dad, right?" She asks, recalling their conversation from months ago. "Wanting to be your own person. That's why you don't want to go there anymore. That's why, when Duke came along, you didn't hesitate for a second. Right?"

"Partly yeah."

Sucking her cheeks in, Avery knows the slight worry in her gut is highly hypocritical. Only twenty-four hours before she had been ready to pack up her bags and leave for Oregon. She would've done so in a heartbeat, even though she's known for weeks now that it has more to do with choosing Ethan than it does with choosing the school. One part of her tells her to leave it alone, the other tells her to push for more. So, she pushes for more.

"What else?"

"It's too far from home," He says, no hesitation at all to his words. "From mom. Ella. You."

"What if I decide I still want to go to Oregon?" She challenges but he simply rolls his eyes, calling her bluff before she's barely gotten it out there. Twirling one of his curls around her finger, her lips twitch into the smallest smirk. "Looks like we'll be forced to do long-distance after all."

"You were never going to go to Oregon."

"What makes you so sure?"

"If you got into UNC right this moment, would you want to go?"

"I won't know if I get in for at least another week."

"Okay," Ethan catches her hand, their palms melting together as he intertwines their fingers once more. The gesture has her lips softening into a small smile. "Say you knew," He presses his thumb to her palm. "You just got in. Do you want to go?"

She rolls her lips together. She knows her answer. The last few days she's found herself wanting to freeze time, press pause for just one moment. One moment to gather her thoughts. One moment to find a solution – any solution other than being thousands of miles apart. Now it's here, as if having fallen out of the sky into their laps, and it almost feels too good to be true. She's aware couples do long-distance all the time. They could do that and make it work. They can do that, Avery knows they can. She just doesn't want to.

"I–," She lets out a small sigh. "Yes. If I got in today, yes I would want to go. But..."

"But what?"

The pieces have fallen into place. This is when she lets it be. This is when she smiles, instead of exhausting the conversation further. She doesn't. She wants to make sure. He has to be sure. This is his future. Their future.

"You shouldn't stay here. Not if it's because of me. I don't want that."

Her eyes flicker to the ocean, watching the waves splash onto the shore behind the railing of the porch as she blinks back a few tears prickling at her eyes. She does want that. Selfishly, she does want him to stay here for her but she'd never say so aloud.

"This is what I want," Ethan reassures her, his hand gently cupping her cheek to bring her attention back to him. His gaze is steady, unwavering as he speaks. "I've always wanted to stay close to home, or as close as I had the opportunity to,"

"I didn't reach out to Oregon," He reminds her. "They came to me – it would have been a great opportunity, it would have. But then I... I thought about it and I realized I just– don't want to go."

"You could have told me. That you were thinking about it I mean, I could have listened while you figured it out."

A faint glow comes to his cheeks, having nothing to do with the chill of this winter morning, as the corners of his lips tug up. "I should have."

"But you fell back into not sharing," She says, knowing from the hint of understanding in his eye he got that reference. "It happens to the best of us."

"We should probably work on that."

"Probably," She nuzzles closer and tilts her head back to brush her lips over his jaw before burying her face in the crook of his neck. "But we have time to get it right."

"That we do."

"You're really staying?"

His hold around her tightens. "I'm really staying."

In her relief, her hold tightens in return as her lips crack into a full smile. Mumbling against his skin as she relaxes into his embrace. "I'm so happy for you,"

Angling her head back ever so slightly, she smiles at him before resting her cheek against his chest – using it as a pillow as her breath falls into sync with his. A short of silence passes between them, only the waves and the slightest chatter from a porch a few houses down drifting through the air.

"Okay," She says softly. "So, tell me about it – the meeting, the campus, the team. Everything."

Out of the corner of her eye, she notices his lips quirk up. A hint of a smirk etches into his features. "Not sure if I should. We're rivals after all."

"Technically, we won't know for sure for another week," She points out, trying to shake the slight uneasiness appearing as she realizes her fate at UNC is yet to be determined. Reaching her hand out, she lets her hand close around her cup of tea and straightens up in her seat. She brings it to her lips, a smile against the rim of the cup. "Come on, I want to know everything."

♡♡♡

"We'll visit each other all the time," Callie takes her eyes off the pages of her book and reaches her pinky out to Avery where the two are inclined upon Lea's couch, as to remind her of the promise they've made one another more than a handful of times through the years. "Right Ave?"

Lea speaks before Avery has the chance to.

"Not the same thing. I'm serious," She pauses with her paintbrush hovering over the sketchpad wide open in front of her on the coffee table. "Graduation could be the last time we're all in the same place in a long time, okay? So let's do it right – let's go to my grandparents in Silves."

"One could dream."

Avery shifts carefully as she sits up straighter, earning a glare from Whiskers who has made himself comfortable on her chest. Next to her, Mira presses her tiny head into Avery's palm to demand her attention. How both cats suddenly find her interesting she has no idea, but she's scared they'll begin to fight one another soon enough if she doesn't make it perfectly clear she appreciates them both equally much.

"Not dreaming, Ave. Doing," Lea grabs a grape from the bowl stood on the floor. "We can spend the days exploring, drive down to the beach–"

Nic looks up from his painting, the newspapers Lea has laid out to protect the table – or rather protect herself from the hell her mother will bring upon her if she finds out they've brought paint into this room at all – creasing loudly beneath his elbow.

"We live at the beach."

Lea looks tempted to throw her next grape at him but pops it into her mouth instead.

"Not the same thing," She reaches across the table, gently lowering Nic's hand and the paintbrush he holds up high, her eyes never leaving the blue paint seeming only a second from dripping off it. "And please be careful."

"Yeah," Luke echoes, moving his painting – which looks more like one big splotch of different colors than anything else – away from Nic, as if afraid he'll ruin it. "Be careful."

At the sound of his voice, Mira lifts her head as if just now realizing the boy's presence despite the five friends having been sat in here for hours. Leaving Avery's side without second thought, the cat launches onto the table only to have her path intercepted by Lea.

"And now you'll have to go in the sink," She mutters, eyeing Mira's paws now coated in paint. She gets to her feet, heading down the hall. "Karma Mira, karma. Gabriel! Come take care of your damn cat."

"Funny how it's always my cat every time you're sick of her," Gabriel calls back, the sound of his steps echoing through the house as he runs down the stairs. "Come on Mira, I'll save you from Lea. She's evil."

Returning to the living room, Lea relieves Avery of Whiskers – taking him into her arms as she sinks into a cross legged seat on the edge of the couch.

"At least you still love me, right?" She asks the cat, inching back as he attempts to slap her with his paw. "Well, we can always pretend."

Avery exchanges a look with Luke, upward tilt to her lips as she settles back in the couch. Next to her, Lea sighs.

"I'm going to miss this next year."

"Your cats hating you?" Nic asks, having Luke shove him in the side.

Lea simply rolls her eyes. "This," She runs her hand over Whiskers's back. "Just being sat around like this. February is tomorrow. Before you know it we've graduated and then we'll never see each other again."

"Well aren't you pure joy personified?"

Avery's mood falters for the first time in a week. "She's right. Kind of – if you look past the dramatic flair."

Callie lowers her book, lips slipping into a small comforting smile. "We'll make plans. Just like last summer. We'll do video calls and we'll check up on each other all the time. And there are the holidays. And you–," Callie turns to look at Avery. "You and I are only going to be five hours away from each other, four and a half if traffic runs smoothly. That's– okay it's not nothing but it could be worse. So we'll see each other all the time. It'll be fine."

Avery nods, reaching her hand out to scratch Whiskers between his ears.

"Wasn't the whole point of this morning to take our minds off the future for a while? Hence Luke being busy painting– Actually I have no idea what that's supposed to be."

"It's a sunset, Ave."

Nic cranes his head to the side, brows knitting together. "Are you sure?"

Luke reaches out to swat him in the chest but Lea gets there first. "Be nice."

Avery's lips twitch in amusement but her attention is soon diverted as her phone buzzes against the couch cushion and her lips slip into a wider smile as she glances down at the screen. "Speaking of the future, I should get going. Mom just got back from 'With Sprinkles On Top'."

Lea smiles. "That's really sweet."

"It's silly, but she's determined we celebrate."

"No, that's sweet," Callie says through a wistful sigh. "Sarah's so sweet."

Avery's phone buzzes again and a breath of surprise leaves her as she picks it up, spotting the image attached to the text.

"Oh God, she got us the whole thing," She laughs. Glancing up her friends, she raises her brows. "Anyone want cake?"

Nic shoots to his feet, almost knocking over a tray of paint in his eagerness. "To Ave's it is."

After a few minutes spent cleaning up after themselves and dusting their clothes free of cat hairs, they're pushed out the door before they've barely gotten their coats on.

Lea pauses with her hand on the handle, her scarf haphazardly thrown around her neck. "We're headed to Ave's for cake! Don't do anything dumb while I'm gone."

"Cake?" Gabriel calls back from the upstairs. "Can I come?"

"No."

The door falls shut after that, having Avery's lips lift in amusement as she angles her face toward the sky and the faint sunlight having crept onto it.

Lea nudges her in the back, closing her hand around the keys to her Audi. "Let's go."

♡♡♡

"Stop that."

"Stop what?"

Avery flickers her gaze to Ethan as she slows her step ever so slightly.

"That. Don't look at me like that," Corners of her mouth in an upward tilt, her cheeks warm with her smile. A silent chortle leaves her lips as his expression softens. "I'm serious. You're going to trip if you keep looking at me instead of where we're going."

He rolls his eyes but listens, turning his attention to the street before them as they whirl through yet another neighborhood. Swift in her step, warmth flushes Avery from inside out, her flushed cheeks bracing against the bite to the chill air.

"Jake's headed to UNC too."

"He is?"

Ethan shoots her a sideways glance, nodding and Avery's lips settle into a content smile. It'll be nice to have a friend – or whatever Jake is to her – there.

"You'll be there tomorrow, right?"

"When you announce to the world that I'll be forced to spend another four years committing treason? Wouldn't miss it."

Ethan clicks his tongue in amusement, quick to catch up as she kicks up speed. "So dramatic."

"I'll be there," She shoots him a sideways glance, cheeks tightening with her smile. "You have to wear a suit, right?"

"Yeah."

"I'll be there."

Her grin only widens as shakes his head, nudging her in the side before taking off to their left. It's light enough to have her laugh but it still has her momentarily loosing her balance.

"Hey!" She calls, the houses lining their path barely a blur in her vision as she breaks into a sprint, eyes on Ethan's back.

"Not my fault you can't keep up."

The cold strains on her airways as she pushes herself further, quick to catch up.

"We've been through this," A faint smirk slips onto her lips. "I'm faster than you,"

Sprinting past him, she leads their way up the beach trail – only slowing down as she knows she's ahead. Careful as not to trip on any roots, she whirls around to face him, coming to a stop altogether.

"Wait," She puts her hands up. "Time-out."

Letting her palms come to her hips, air leaves her lips in misted clouds as her chest rises and falls with her heavy breaths.

Ethan laughs softly. "You okay over there?"

A few errant strands, having loosened themselves from her ponytail, fly in the wind as she's exposed to the front of the ocean below. Her eyes doesn't flicker away from him for a second. "Just admiring the view."

His lips quirk up in faint amusement. "Oh so you're allowed to look at me like that?"

"Duh," She walks over to him, her fingers cold against his skin as she cups his cheek. Reaching up on her toes, she presses a swift kiss to his lips before inching back. Hand still lingering on his jaw, she sweeps her thumb gently over his skin with a smile. "You're very pretty."

He rolls his eyes, lips slipping into a more permanent smile as he lets his hand come to rest on her hip. Absentmindedly tracing a pattern on her hip, his brows etch together as he regards her – her eyes casting to the dark blue of the ocean for one flickering moment.

"What are you thinking about?" He asks and her gaze returns to his, notching the curiosity crossing his eyes. "There's something on your mind, I can feel it."

Weighing back on the soles of her runner shoes, she flattens her palm to his chest with a small smile. His heart is still beating hard, just as hers. Tapping her fingers lightly against the fabric of his sweater, she bites down at her lip.

"You know how it's the Super Bowl this weekend?"

"I'm aware, yeah."

"See... We usually do this thing– Or well, Tammy and Harold usually host this whole thing at their house that day. You know, starting into the afternoon and lasting into the night once the game is over and it's usually really fun and–," Cheeks warming, she cuts her ramblings short with a small laugh. "Do you want to come?"

"To Luke's house?"

"Yes," She lets her palm fall from his chest to his hand. " The invitation came from Luke. Well, sort of. I asked if I could invite you. He said yes."

"You weren't holding a knife to his throat or something?"

"No. And he wouldn't have agreed if he wasn't okay with it. I know Luke, if he says it's fine then it's fine."

Hesitance crosses Ethan's features. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"Would you think about it? For me? Because I would love to have you there."

Letting go of her hand, he loops both his arms around her. His breath tickles her as he speaks his words over her lips. "I'll think about it."

Her smile widens, sure to have her jaw ache in the morning if she keeps up with it any longer, knowing from his tone of voice those words are as good as a 'yes'.

She loops her arms around his neck, not missing the way Ethan's gaze drops to her lips. "Thank you."

Her eyes flutter shut as his lips connect with hers, fingers barely having knotted in his hair as the sharp sound of a ringtone cuts into the air.

"Ignore it."

Breath hitching ever so slightly, Avery lets one of her hands fall to his shoulder. "It's getting late. Could be Anna,"

Ethan barely inches back as he gets his phone out, both of them glancing down at the screen. 'Dickhead' stares right back at them as the device continues to ring.

Taking a small step back, Avery says, "You should invite him too."

"You think Jake's going to agree to spend a day around a bunch of Westers at Luke Adams's house?

Avery's lips quirk up, thinking of her impression of the boy so far. "Well, yes – actually."

Ethan regards her, feigning a small sigh as he slides his finger over the screen. He puts the phone to his ear, having her squirm away with a laugh as he points his finger into her ribcage.

"Hey," He says into the phone, shooting Avery another look with a small amused shake of his head. "What are you doing Sunday?"

. . .

(going to keep this short)

friends!! hi!! how are you?

I've actually had SUCH a good day today, so I truly hope you have as well.

much love always xx,

linn