I could not believe that I'd been convinced to take two days off work and fly back to Canton. I never wanted to go back there. It was full of too many bad memories. As soon as I landed, I came out of the arrival's gate and spotted my Mom in the crowd of people looking for their family and friends. Her and I took the forty minute drive from Massena International Airport to our house.

I wasn't feeling very good when we got there. I really didn't like it in Canton. The memories all seemed bad now that I thought about it. I'd lived a full happy life here, but one year of things going bad ruined everything about that place for me.

I was really silent all the way home, only humming in response to my mother's stories, and then we arrived at home and something happy finally happened. Seeing my father so excited and happy to see me, made my day. It made the visit worth it.

"Alright. We have to go shopping immediately." My mother said to me.

The wedding was in a few hours, which meant I needed a dress and to my mother, that meant shopping.

"No, Ma. I'm just going to wear my prom dress from highschool." I said to her.

"Are you sure?" Mom asked.

"Yes. I'm sure." I said to her. "And you guys aren't coming to this wedding."

"Alright. Whatever you want, Sweetie." Momma smiled, kissing my cheek and walking off, leaving me in my pastel green room, I looked at my desk and saw all the preparation lists I had for the move to Vancouver.

I saw my jewelry on the vanity. I saw books and papers everywhere. Some of them even on my bed. Mom and Dad hadn't changed anything since I left and I liked that. I tied my hair up in a bun and I started cleaning up the papers, a horrible nervous feeling settling in my stomach as the time passed.

I put all the books and papers on my bookshelf. I vacuumed, I put away all the clothes I'd left lying around and then I proceeded to take everything back out of my closet in search of something to wear to this wedding. I didn't really want to bother much. I was going to go see Jordi, and then leave as soon as I could.

I put on my old prom dress, a pair of black and white sneakers and some lip gloss and off I went to the wedding venue. I took my mother's car, and when I got there, I avoided all people. I kept my head down, not wanting to see someone I knew.

When I got to the dressing room, Jordi was there in front of the mirror. She was doing her makeup. She looked almost more miserable that I did. The second she saw me through the mirror, she gasped.

"Ava!" She said, jumping up and running over, hugging me tightly and crying over my shoulder.

"Jordi... get off me, please." I said softly.

I couldn't just act like she never did anything horrible to me.

She pulled away, taking a step back, looking very upset.

I noticed her cheek looking a little puffy and maybe a little red from some blush. I gently lifted her head, looking at her left cheek a little more carefully.

"Tell me what's going on, now." I said to her.

"The groom is Alec... from back in highschool and back when you and Noah broke up.... I've said a lot of things I never wanted to say to you, I've done a lot of things I never would've done... Ava, please forgive me." She said to me.

"It's not the time for this... come here." I said, pulling her to the chair in front of the mirror. I grabbed a makeup remover and I put some on a washcloth I saw on the table beside me. I gently wiped her makeup off her puffy cheek to reveal a bruise. She hissed a little and she started to cry.

"Jordi?" I said, my own eyes watering.

"I'm sorry." She cried.

"Look me in the eye and tell me truthfully. Who did this?" I asked her.

"A-Alec." She said.

"Then you aren't marrying him." I said to her.

"He'll kill me if I don't." She said.

"He won't be able to find you. You're coming with me. I don't even care about your objections right now. Let me take you somewhere, Jordi, and don't you dare refuse. Just for now. Come with me." I said to her.

I looked at the girl I once told everything, the girl I spent so many nights staying up and being crazy with, she was different now. She was tired, she was bruised, she was hurt. I didn't like this at all.

"Let's go." She said, a determined frown forming on her face.

I took her hand, handed her a sweater I saw on the bench behind her.

"Put it on." I told her.

She did as I said and I took her hand. I opened the door to the dressing room and saw Alec walk by in the hallway. I pushed her back into the room and then I walked out, pulling my hair down to cover my face. I walked around for a minute until I saw him disappear into the other dressing room. I went back, grabbed Jordi and then I pulled her out of the building.

We got in my mother's car and I drove her to my place. Jordi was shaking, clearly scared of being found.

"Jordi. Get out, let's go!" I said to her.

"He's going to find us here. He knows you, remember? And he's been getting suspicious that I called you." She said, tears streaming down her face.

"Jordi. He's not going to find you. Get out of the car." I said to her, going over to her side and pulling her out. I packed my bag up again, said goodbye to my parents, telling them I'd explain everything later and then I booked Jordi and I flights to Vancouver.

I had my father drive us to the airport, but we had to drop by Jordi's place to get her passport and some of her stuff. Then we were off.

Our flight was in an hour, and Jordi was scared the whole time, thinking he was going to find her. Half an hour into the wait at the airport, her phone started exploding. Phone calls, text messages, a bunch of people asking where the heck she was. So I took her phone and I shut it off, putting it in my backpack.

"Ava. Why are you helping me?" She asked me.

"I'm helping you because even though I haven't been talking to you for several years, there was a point in time where I could tell you anything, rely on you for anything. We had fun together, we did everything together. We were best friends, and that doesn't mean nothing to me." I said to her.

"Ok." She said softly, returning to her new habit of looking down at her hands as she fiddled with them. I decided to take her mind off of everything.

"Hey, Jordi... Remember when we went to the beach when we were in grade four?" I asked her.

"And we built that amazing sand castle." She smiled.

"The waves were like double our height and we played in there for hours." I laughed.

"Oh yeah. But the best part was the hot dogs after all the swimming." She said to me.

"They were pretty amazing. I think we were just super hungry from all the swimming." I chuckled.

"Yeah. Remember the crab?" She asked me.

"The one that pinched my toe? Yes." I laughed. "I'm never going to forget that."

"What about the trip to Florida before highschool?" She asked me.

"That was pretty amazing too." I chuckled.

"It was so pretty there. I hope I can visit Florida again sometime." She said to me.

"That would be fun." I smiled, happy she wasn't thinking too much about her fears.

After reminiscing on our fun times together for half an hour, it was time for our flight. We boarded and before long we were off. I could see Jordi getting really emotional. I saw the look in her eyes. It was like she felt liberated. I gave her time to process everything and then she rested her head against my shoulder. It felt weird after so much time thinking she was horrible. I decided my feelings weren't important at the moment. So I wrapped an arm around her to comfort her.

This had turned out a lot more chaotic and emotionally destructive than I thought it would be. I felt completely drained, I couldn't even imagine what Jordi was going through. I just sat through the rest of the seven hour flight worrying about how Jordi would be feeling right now and trying to make sure she was comfortable.

We landed in Canada and I truly felt relaxed now that we had landed. I was home. I was comfortable. No one could chase me down here. I took a taxi to my apartment and then I called my parents to let them know that I arrived safely.

"A-Ava..." Jordi said softly from the couch.

"Right.... uh... go take a shower, relax. Then I'll get you set up in the bedroom." I said to her.

She looked exhausted and she wasn't used to staying up, I guess. I was quite accustomed to lack of sleep, but I knew I was going to let myself sleep all day because I had work in the morning. It was early in the afternoon though, so I wasn't sure if I'd be able to sleep.

I ordered some takeout knowing Jordi and I hadn't eaten in a while and then she finished her shower and came to sit beside me.

"Why didn't you tell your parents, Jordi?" I asked her.

"I did. They didn't believe me." She said with a sigh.

"Alright. Well, you're ok now." I said to her. "You're safe here and I just need you to think about what you want to do now." I said to her.

"I have an aunt who lives somewhere here, I think I'll just call her and see if she's willing to take me in and not tell anyone." Jordi sighed.

"No. First you need to get some legal documents signed and stuff. They'll protect you from him in case anything happens and then I want you to relax. You can stay here as long as you need. After that, think about moving out if you want to." I said to her.

"Are you sure I can stay? I don't want to get in your way." She said to me.

"You're not in anyone's way." I said to her.

"After everything I said to you... I don't understand why you're being nice." She said.

"Jordi... Why did you say all those things to me back when I came to you after my breakup?" I asked her.

"Because... because I wanted to get rid of you... well Alec did." She sighed.

"But why wouldn't you just tell me what was going on?" I asked her.

"Because I still had feelings for that monster." She cried.

"Jordi. Please don't cry." I sighed. "Did he just hit you... or?"

"He actually didn't sleep with me... I don't know he never seemed into it... maybe he just didn't see me like that." She cried.

"It's ok. That's a good thing." I told her.

"Ava... I want to be very honest with you right now." Jordi told me.

"What?" I asked.

"I like this guy. I have for like four years now." She sighed.

"Who?" I asked her.

"You're going to hate me for this." She said, tears streaming down her face.

"Noah?" I asked.

She nodded her head slowly.

"Jordi. I'm not going to hate you for that. But like... did you ever really care that he cheated on me? What about my feelings?" I asked her.

"Of course I cared, that's why I never liked him for two whole years after what happened to you... but he was there for me, Ava... He was there when even my parents refused to help me." She said.

"I get it. I really do and I'm not mad, ok? But I am still upset with him. There was something there for a while. He really tried to get me to trust him and when I did... it turned out it was all about getting in my pants and he cheated on me after we talked about our future as a couple. Now, thinking back, I don't think I was ever truly in love. We didn't have enough of a connection, really." I said to her.

"He really wants you back though. He's dated two girls since you, and he couldn't continue with either of them. He told me that neither of them were as good as you." She sighed.

"Does it upset you that he's still stuck on me?" I asked her.

"A little bit. But it's not my place to interfere if he likes you." She said to me.

"Are you ok with the fact that he's a player?" I asked her.

"That kind of changed. He sees women differently." Jordi informed me.

"Really?" I asked her.

"Yeah. He stopped sleeping around. I don't think he's slept with anyone since cheating on you." She told me.

"Wow." I chuckled. "Maybe I did do some good then... Maybe he can make another girl happy, but just not me. I want nothing to do with him."

"That's fair." She said. "I'm sorry. I can't help it. I really feel like he's changed and I couldn't help but start feeling things when he was there for me all those times I needed someone. I know he's going to be worried about where I am."

"Just please, I don't want to be contacted by him... you can tell him where you are, but leave me out of it, please." I told her.

"Of course. He won't know about this apartment, he'll know I'm in Vancouver, but not how I got here. Ok?" She said.

"Ok. Sounds good." I smiled, rubbing her back.

"Part of me still hates him for what he did to you." She said, looking so conflicted.

"I'll be honest with you. I don't trust him." I told her.

"I know." She sighed. "And your opinion matters to me. Will you listen to how he reacts when I tell him?"

"Sure thing." I nodded.

So she called him and I sat and listened to how he was with her.

"Hello?" He asked, noticing the unknown number.

"Hi, Noah." She said softly, her lip trembling.

"Hey, Sugar. What's going on? You ok? Where did you go?" He asked her.

"I'm in Vancouver." She told him.

"Just like that? No goodbye? No explanation? Just got cold feet and ran?" He asked.

"That's not it... I would've said goodbye if I could've. But he would've killed me if I stayed." She said, her voice trembling.

"What?" He asked her.

"He's abusive, Noah. I had to run." She told him.

"He hit you?!" Noah asked angrily.

"Yeah. And I couldn't just marry him. So I ran when I found the opportunity." Jordi explained.

"Where are you, Sugar? I need to see you." He said to her.

"Vancouver." She told him.

"Like in Canada?! Across the continent basically?" He said.

"Yes." She confirmed. "It's far and I just.... I needed to get away from there."

"I'm coming to you, alright, Sugar? Hold tight, don't you dare get yourself hurt." He said to her.

"You don't have to come... I'm alright." She said to him.

"Jordi, don't be so stubborn, you know I care about you, Sugar. I'll always be there for you." He said to her.

I couldn't ever understand how Jordi could get over the fact that he slept around and cheated on me. But if she could, I felt like he might just be perfect for her. They were childhood friends, their parents were always together.

I would rather have nothing to do with their relationship though. This was getting messy and stressing me out. After she finished talking to Noah, I saw a faint smile on her face. Then she looked up at me and a pained look crossed her face.

"I'm sorry. I... I don't want you to think that I was ok with him cheating on you, or that I'm happy that you guys didn't work out. I wish I could change that... change the way everything happened.... I'm sorry!" Jordi said.

"Hey, don't worry about it. Just... you do you, Jordi... I was over him before I ever agreed to be with him. I never really had feelings, I was lying to myself." I said to her.

My phone beeped and I looked down seeing an unknown number.

Unknown - So... that's why Jordi's in Vancouver, huh? Ava to the rescue... of course! Missed me, Ava?

I sighed looking at Jordi in annoyance.

"What's his number?" I asked.

"Noah?" She asked me.

"Yeah." I nodded impatiently.

She handed me her phone and I compared numbers, finding that they were the same.

"Lovely. Did you give him my number?" I asked angrily.

"No! Why would I do that?" Jordi asked.

"Whatever, it's fine." I said, blocking his number. "Alright. Get some rest... I'm going to get some sleep so I have enough energy for my next shift."

She nodded and thanked me again before resting in my bed. I went out to the couch to get some sleep, hoping for some sleep before my shift. But I wasn't that lucky because my ex decided to blow up my phone with another number.