Chapter 9: 6 | the runaways

The venue for the launch party is an underground bar located a stone's throw away from Main Street.

In about two hours the guests will begin to file in – and Anna, Violet and Avery have exactly that long to spruce the place up, making it worthy of the party Anna's been organizing for the past weeks.

"You've got to be kidding me," Violet and Avery snap in their heads in Anna's direction, exchanging a quick glance at the exasperated breath leaving her lips. "There's no china. At all!"

She props her elbows up on the countertop.

"All I can find are these three bowls meant for nuts," She says, squeezing her eyes shut for a beat. "What on earth are we going to serve the food on if we don't even have any plates? Or silverware for that matter."

Violet pushes two tables together to make one and straightens up. She dusts her palms off on her trousers, carefully asking, "Why did Linda want this place again?"

"Beats me. I think this place reminds her of the theme of the novel – or something. You never heard me say this but I can't quite remember to be honest. It's a lot right now," Anna puts her palm to her forehead. "Okay, think Anna–"

Just then the door swings open, revealing Ethan on the threshold with a cardboard box in his embrace. "You needed these?"

"Great! Thanks love," A breath of relief escapes her lips. She quickly crosses the room, motioning for him to put the box down on a table as she rummages through her purse, emerging with a ballpoint pen held between her fingers. Grabbing a napkin from the closest holder she begins to scrawl something onto it. When she's done she presses it into Avery's hands, gaze moving over to her son. "One more thing to help your mother to not completely fail this launch?"

"Do I have a choice?" Ethan's quick to hold his hands up, lips cracking into a grin. "Joking, joking. What do you need?"

"Go with Avery to get the things on that list."

At her words Avery's eyes snap to the scrawled red ink making up the list. "I think I can manage some paper plates and cutlery by myself. So if Ethan has other–"

"Nonsense. Trust me, you do not want to go on your own. Besides, Ethan's got the car," Anna says, clapping her hands together. "Okay, let's see. One hundred and four RSVP'd yes. So, let's say... 115 plates for dinner. 115 plates for dessert. The appetizers are finger food being served on trays so no need there. That should do it for plates, right? That way we have extras. And then knives, forks and spoons that'll last us for days. Oh, and maybe nicer looking napkins," She pulls her wallet out of her purse, handing Avery the T.H Publishing debit card. "Try to be back in an hour top, okay?"

♡♡♡

"That's everything, right?"

Ethan looks from the list to the filled shopping cart. "Yeah, that's it."

A breath of relief escapes Avery's lips and she throws a glance at her watch, heart picking up speed again as she realizes they have about fifteen minutes before Anna wants them back at the bar to continue help set everything up.

She takes hold of the cold steel, stepping up onto the frame of the cart. "Let's get going then."

Ethan's brows rise but his lips curl into a small smile as he shrugs and without a word he begins to push the cart – and Avery – through the aisles towards the cashier.

Before she knows it he launches into a sprint.

Her grip tightens and she straightens up after almost falling backwards. "What are you doing?!"

"I get to have my fun too, okay?"

"Crashing me into a pile of canned foods is what you define as fun?"

He shoots her a look, rolling his lips together to hold back a smile. "Running and sliding is what I define as fun. It's not my fault your balance sucks."

Her eyes narrow as she levels them with his. "You tried to kill me."

"Dramatic much?"

She jumps off the cart, motioning for him to take her place. "Go on, I'll show you how to run with this thing without killing the passenger."

"And why would I trust you?"

"I guess you just have to."

After almost having torn down the entire shelf of diapers they decide maybe it's not worth it and instead walk the last bit to the cashier desks. Avery's midway through asking Ethan a question as they're getting into line but cuts herself short when her gaze lands on the cashier, frowning as she realizes that the girl has taken her eyes off of the costumer in front of her to look over at Avery – Avery and Ethan.

Swallowing, Avery pushes past him, grabbing two lollipops from the basket at the start of the queue, muttering something along the lines of 'fucking Easters' under her breath before she sidles up to the cashier desk.

She flashes a small recognizing smile the cashier's way, throwing in a pack of Juicy Fruit gum in there too. "Hey."

"Hi. Anything else?"

"No. No that's all, thanks." Avery makes a point not to look back over her shoulder as she grabs the two lollipops and the pack of gum as she hurries out of the sliding doors on her ballerina clad feet, swiftly leaving the store – and Ethan with their full cart – behind.

♡♡♡

Ethan arrives at the car a moment later with a scowl on his face. "Nice leaving me alone with all the stuff."

Avery pushes herself off of the wall she's leant against, relieving him of one of the paper bags in his embrace. She rests it on her hip as she waits for him to unlock the car. "Not only does Marlene go to my school but she's on the team with Lea. I panicked. Okay?"

Ethan opens the back trunk, automatically unlocking the doors as well. "Who the hell is Marlene?"

"The cashier!" Avery sets the bag down next to the other in the trunk before rounding the car to the passenger seat side. She holds up the two lollipops, shooting him a 'you won't stay mad at me for long'-smile. "But I got you one of these. Red or blue?"

Amusement flickers over his face as he slides into the driver's seat and she rolls her eyes, pursing her lips as the corners of her mouth twitch. "Oh. Well, obviously."

She hands him the red before unwrapping the blue, throwing a glance at the clock on the radio screen. "We still have five minutes. Better push that pedal through the metal."

A soft laugh escapes his lips and hers crack into a grin. He holds his hand up between them. "Good job."

She slaps her palm to his in a high five. "You too. Now let's go."

♡♡♡

"And here I thought you look good on a normal day."

"Sorry," Avery flits her eyes momentarily to the clipboard in her hand, hoping the redness that undoubtedly comes along with the warmth creeping onto her cheeks isn't easily spotted in the shadows cast by the building in the cool summer night. "But you're not on the list."

"Hah, you're funny. Who knew?" The crisp fabric of Ethan's white shirt brushes against her bare arm as he shuffles past her and she raises her brows expectantly as he pauses on the landing of the stone steps leading down to the door. "I'll see you in there."

Flickering her gaze back to the clipboard, the corners of her mouth curl up in the faintest smile. "I hope not."

Out of the corner of her eye she can see the way he smirks while slowly shaking his head as he continues down the stairs. She bites her lip down, eyes flickering towards the entrance of the bar where he's now disappeared out of view before turning her attention to the next group of people coming down the sidewalk. Running a hand along the dark fabric of her halter neck dress to smooth out any creases, she pulls her best formal looking smile as the group reaches her.

"Is this Linda Daveny's party?"

"Yes!" She takes the pen from where it's fastened on the clipboard, clicking it. "I'll just need your names."

♡♡♡

Avery swiftly squeezes herself in between Ethan and the girl he's talking to at the bar, lacing her fingers around his wrist. "I need you."

His brows dip together as his lips curl up in a faint smirk, amusement lingering in the depth of his dark gaze as he flickers his eyes over her face. "What?"

Not wasting any time she steps to the side, still holding onto him as she leads him through the room. "We're fetching some things at the office."

"We?"

"We."

They've only just rounded the corner of the street as Avery spots a group of teenaged boys walking in the opposite direction and as she focuses her gaze upon them she's quick to abandon Ethan mid conversation and dive behind a staircase leading up to one of the townhouses lining this particular street.

"What are you–"

"Taylor!" She hears a collective roar not even a second later, a stir in the huddle of boys she'd spotted from afar as they surround Ethan. There are a few strings of words thrown out in the likes of greetings and questions as 'What are you doing here?' And 'I thought you were in Atlanta bro'.

Avery swallows, tongue pressing to the roof of her mouth as she wraps her arms around herself where she squats behind the staircase, watching the boys out of the corner of her eye as she wills herself to stay invisible.

She sees Ethan throw his thumb over his shoulder, answering one of the many inquisitions. "Just helping mom out with a work thing."

"We're headed to Pearson's!" One of the guys says, adjusting his grip on the towering stack of pizza boxes in his hands and Avery's lips curl in distaste at the mention of the boy who'd did a more-than-foul tackle of Luke at last year's annual friendly game. "You should swing by too."

"Yeah, maybe. I'll see if I can get off the hook," Ethan rubs at his neck, motioning vaguely in the air. "But I really have to..."

"Yeah, yeah of course!" Another of the guys – Avery recognizes him as Matthew Puckett, running back of the Ace East Montagues – says, clapping his hand to Ethan's shoulder. "We should get going too."

Following a string of cavemen sounding bids of goodbye, Ethan waits until the boys are further down the street before turning towards Avery, that familiar flicker of amusement back to his eyes as his cheeks tighten with his smile.

"You can come out now."

She narrows her eyes, whipping her head in the direction of the still quite loud voices to make sure for herself before straightening up, dusting her palms off on her bare knees before pulling at the hem of her black dress. She pulls her shoulders back in a stretch before releasing an exaggerated breath of relief, lips pulling into a smile as it gets a chuckle out of him.

His eyes flickers over her as he waits for her to adjust the strap of her heel, falling into step alongside her as they continue their trek towards the T.H Publishing offices. "Close call."

♡♡♡

Aware that she's technically at work, Avery knows they should be getting back to the launch party but the silence of the offices is a nice change of pace to the crowded, poorly air conditioned, venue. It's only a ten minute walk – eight if you're quick on your feet – between the bar and the offices and a glance at the clock on the wall tells her they've been sat up here for the better part of an hour.

Flickering her gaze towards Ethan who's spinning himself around on her chair he doesn't exactly seem to be in a hurry either. She leans back on her arms where she's sat on top her desk, careful not to nudge the computer screen as a short sigh escapes her lips at the thought of having to eventually make their way back to the bar.

As if having read her mind, Ethan grabs onto the tabletop, his hand momentarily nudging the skin of her leg as he stops the chair from spinning. He leans his head back, gazing up at the ceiling.

"I realize the reference to Vaughn and Nora meeting in that bar with the jukebox only playing that one annoying song but who in the world thought it'd be a good idea to squeeze a hundred people into such a space in the height of summer?"

"One hundred and eight," Avery corrects him, tilting her head to the side, a curiousness to her eyes at his mention of the main characters in Linda's story. "You've read the book?"

"Yeah."

She presses her lips together to quell the grin creeping onto them. "I didn't realize you could read."

The effort to hold her grin back is gone as soon as he blows air out of his nose. "Would it kill you to be nice to me?"

"I am nice to you," She feels her cheeks lift with her smile and she drags the corner of her bottom lip against her teeth as a silent laugh bubbles up her throat. "Sometimes."

His eyes light up with his small smirk as he takes his gaze off of the ceiling, slowly shaking his head. She quirks her brows as he looks at her, pursing her lips together as she crosses one leg over the other.

"Speaking of," She says, eyeing the flaked polish of her nails. "I won't keep you here any longer. Lets get you back to your admirer."

Ethan's snort catches her off guard but it makes her laugh too. "I'm sorry," He raises his brows, lips twitching as a chuckle slips through them. "My what?"

"The girl you were with at the bar," Avery uncrosses her legs only to cross them the other way. "You two were obviously flirting and then bam – there comes Avery and ruins the day."

It seems his soft laughter is not going away any time soon and he shakes his head, his cheeks growing a bit warmer. "We weren't... whatever."

"Well, she was flirting with you."

"No-uh."

"Uh-huh," Avery grabs a post-it pad, riffling the notes with her thumb. "Very much so. I mean, it's not that surprising. You're attractive."

It takes her a beat before she realizes the words have left her lips and she resists the urge to flutter her eyes shut as he laughs. Growing redder by the second she attempts to clear her throat, heat rushing through her body and itching her skin.

"Objectively speaking. Of course."

His gaze lingers on her for a moment more than she'd like but she takes at least slight comfort in the tinted shade of his own cheeks. He nods once. "Of course."

Not bearing the thought of the silence wanting to enfold them, she picks at her nail polish.

"So, are you going to bail on us to go hang out at Pearson's," She pulls a grimace. "With whatever those other guys' names are?"

He's back to spinning the desk chair around again, much slower this time, walking himself in circles with his feet. "Don't plan on it, no."

"You sour about them not inviting you in the first place?"

"Not really," He shrugs. "We don't hang out that much."

"Aren't they your friends?"

"Teammates."

"Is there a difference?"

He pauses with both feet planted on the carpeted floor, casting her a glance before beginning to walk the chair into circles again. "Yes."

She jumps off the table, grabbing the stack of folders Anna asked for and holds them to her chest as she lets a deep exhale escape her lips. "Let's get going then, shall we?"

He gets to his feet, pushing the arms of his button down up to his elbows, nodding. "Yeah, I guess we should."

She follows him through the office, her palm coming out to switch the lights off before shooting him a smile as she slips past him and out the door he's holding up for her.

He casts her a sideway glance, eyes flickering from the stack of folders pressed against her chest to her face. "Looks like a heavy load."

She presses her lips together, corners of her mouth twitching. "Mhm."

"I can see why we the both of us needed to come here to get them. Definitely a two-man job."

They turn the corner to the next set of stairs as she nods, biting down the corner of her lip, a soft laugh escaping her lips. "I didn't feel like having to walk over here alone, okay?"

"Okay."

♡♡♡

After they are finished loading everything into the car, Avery wraps her arms around herself, rubbing the prickled skin of her arms as Anna brushes her palms against one another, beelining for the passenger door.

"Okay then," She chirps. "Let's get you home."

Avery suppresses the small yawn wanting to escape her lips and nods with a smile, getting the door to the backseat open.

Ethan, who's already sat on the opposite side looks up from the screen of his phone, opening his mouth as a small smirk appears on his lips but he closes it again as his eyes flickers to the front where Paul and Anna are seated – seeming to decide against saying whatever flickered through his mind. She offers up just as much silence, beginning to feel the long day creep up on her, as she climbs into the car.

She's just about to reach for her seatbelt when the door is yanked open once again, revealing a panting Violet with a basket bag firmly gripped in her hand. "Scoot over."

Anna throws a look over her shoulder. "Did you get the lights?"

Violet climbs into the car, literally pushing Avery into the middle seat. "Yes."

"And everything went well locking up?"

"Yes," Violet leans over the middle console, handing Anna a small pouch. "The keys."

"Thank you," Anna drops the pouch into her purse where it's placed in her lap before turning to Paul. "That's everyone. Let's go!"

Struggling to get her seatbelt to fit, Avery freezes as Ethan leans closer, the tips of his fingers grazing against hers as he helps her. She mumbles a close to incoherent 'thanks' and the corners of his mouth quirk up again.

She keeps her gaze on the road through the windshield as they make their way through the dark night. The air coming through the vents is quite cold and now that she's sitting down it's even harder to fight against the tiredness following the long day. She blinks, pushing back a yawn, relaxing slightly in her seat.

The volume of the radio's turned down low, only offering a mellow background noise to Anna's questions about how Avery experienced her first book launch and she tries to focus on answering them instead of letting her mind wander to the warmth radiating off of Ethan's body next to her. She smiles and nods with her words, never once letting her gaze drop to her knee where it's leant against his.

♡♡♡

Her house is the first stop on their drop-off tour – Anna had been very insistent in her offer to take Avery home at the end of the night – and Ethan makes a show of sliding out of the car as they pull up to the sidewalk, holding the door open with a grand gesture of his arm.

Her lips pull into a stupid smile at the whole ordeal and she internally scolds herself as he does, knowing this exchange is the least they need after this day – it's beginning to be too easy to slip into these moments with him and if she gives into more of them it could possibly give cause to a series of complications she shouldn't even let her mind entertain.

So, she flickers her gaze away from his, focusing her eyes on the two story house that is her home and the small path leading up to it. The kitchen lights are still on and she knows her mother's probably sat in there with a cup of tea and a book awaiting her arrival.

Turning her head back over her shoulder, she thanks Anna and Violet for the night – as well as the ride home.

Anna beams back at her. "Did you have a good time?"

Avery's eyes flicker momentarily to Ethan, she can't help it.

"Yeah," She nods, rolling her lips together. "It was great."

She bids her goodbyes and then, just as she's about to walk up to her house she feels something graze against her calf. Turning her head over her shoulder, she realizes Ethan kicked her lightly with his foot. His elbow's propped up on the frame of the open car door, left corner of his mouth lifting in a smile.

"See you around Waters."

A soft laugh escapes her lips. "See you around."