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And, then, she winked

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For a second, I felt as if I had imagined it.

I wish I had.

But, I knew that it wasn't just a figment of my paranoia. I could tell just that from seeing the smug smile on her face after as she walked into the living room. She had actually winked at me.

I could only draw one possible conclusion from her actions yet I didn't want that to be the answer. I didn't want to think of Avalon as such a person without sound evidence. Just because she winked, it didn't mean she was purposely trying to come between me and Aaron- that couldn't be it.

Yet, the more I thought about it, the more plausible it felt. She obviously has feelings for Aaron, that much was apparent. From this, it would be reasonable to deem that she'd want to get back with him.

Could she have possibly been trying to showcase how close they were and how he let her touch him with ease? I mulled over the thought as I followed them in.

Aaron smiled at me from his position on the couch.

"Justin's complaining about how Danny won't shut up. God, I'm so glad I'm not in that car." He said, showing me his phone. I laughed along with him, but inside I was crying.

God, I'd kill to be in Justin's place right now.

Avalon joined in the laughter and I, suddenly, had to stop because of the sheer resemblance my laugh had to a dying horse when compared to hers. Her laughter sounded like bells; like the singing of angels; like a harp- any beautiful sound you could think of, it could be compared to her laughter and I fumed with envy.

The envy didn't cease when I turned to Aaron to see him with a look of affection on his face. He was looking at the ground, yes, but I knew he was mesmerised by her laugh and his words confirmed this. He sat back into the sofa and ran a hand through his hair.

"God, I missed that laugh." He said, a euphoric smile on his face and I could do nothing but stare at him in despair. It was clear he was in love and I was getting in the way. Avalon smiled at his words, looking down as a blush covered her cheeks.

On the verge of tears, I sighed in relief as my salvation- in the form of a door knock- echoed into the room and I ran towards the door to open it. Upon opening it, I looked gratefully towards the two boys whom I hadn't seen for so long.

They didn't seem to notice, however as they were too engrossed in their bickering.

Danny tutted loudly, throwing his arms up dramatically.

"I'm telling you, Justin! It's completely normal. Everyone's doing it! " He said loudly as if he wanted the whole neighbourhood to hear. He nudged Justin in the arm a couple times as he spoke and I was surprised he didn't go flying into a nearby bush given the past experiences I had with Danny's nudges.

Instead, Justin sighed tiredly before looking Danny in the eye- a blank look on his face.

"Since when has it been normal to throw carrots into people's front yards from the car window?" He asked, folding his arms. From the look in his eye, I knew he was expecting an idiotic reply and Danny gave just that.

Shrugging his shoulders, Danny grinned cheesily, his eyes alit with excitement.

"It is normal at this time of year. They'll probably think it's the Easter Bunny!" He exclaimed, hopping like a rabbit as if doing so would persuade Justin to dismiss his line of argument and hop along with him.

Instead of doing that, Justin sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"The Easter Bunny doesn't give carrots. It gives eggs." Justin spoke slowly, acting as though he was explaining to a 5 year old.

Danny thought for a minute, itching the top of his head before looking behind at the neighbourhood.

"I suppose, we could egg their houses, right?" He said, rubbing his chin.

I laughed at his ridiculous words, shaking my head.

"I don't think they'll think it was the Easter Bunny that did that, Danny." I joked through chuckles and, suddenly, the attention was on me and they weren't arguing anymore. They just stood, staring silently.

I opened my mouth to break the strange silence, but- before I could- I was enveloped in the tightest hug.

From Danny, of course.

Panting for air, I hugged him back pathetically, tapping his arms as he hugged me, shouting sweet affectionate words into my- now- defective ears.

I pulled back before sucking a large breath of air and turning to the five-foot eleven male that had nearly suffocated me.

His expression didn't look as though he nearly killed someone, however. He stood, his shoulders broad and a large smile on his face.

"I thought, we weren't going to see you again. Why are you here?" He questioned and I struggled to find a decent answer given the fact that Aaron had forbid me from telling them about my current treated state. Danny looked at me in eagerness and anticipation. He was waiting for an answer and I had to provide. I coughed, looking anywhere but in his eyes. I felt it uncomfortable to lie to him, but knew it had to he done.

"Oh, Aaron forgave me. He came to a realisation that it's my decision and he respects that. He's still upset, but he knows he'll regret not spending time with me." I said, faking a smile. I was hoping it would go unnoticed and, thankfully, it did just that.

Danny clapped his hands enthusiastically before hugging me once again.

"I missed you so much, Alexis! I'm glad you're here!" He said, shaking me around as if I was his personal set of maracas. At long last, he let go and I inhaled another deep breath, but not before turning to Justin.

He hadn't said a word since seeing me or since the Danny affection fiesta; he just remained silent, staring at me. I looked away from his stare.

Had he figured out I was lying to Danny?

He stepped forward towards me, a blank look on his face and stopped upon coming withing reaching distance of me. I was expecting 'The Glare'; I was expecting the slap over the head. However, what I was not expecting was to be pulled into a hug. It was stiff, yes, but I melted into it nevertheless became it came from Justin. He was uncomfortable with showing this level of affection, that much I could tell from his rigid stance and the way he stared dead ahead and I couldn't help but laugh into his chest. I was about to thank him for the hug, but was interrupted by Justin's deep voice that sounded into my ear as I hugged him.

"I'm glad you're here, Alexis. I- I missed you.... a lot." He said awkwardly and I relaxed at the sound of his voice.

I whimpered when Justin began to pull away and he smiled slightly. Only slightly though.

He turned to Danny with a blank look on his face.

"Why don't you go and raid Aaron's cookie jar?" He said tiredly, raising a dark eyebrow.

Before I could question what that even meant, Danny had let out a shrill squeal of excitement and dashed pass me to the kitchen. Once he had fully left, Justin turned to me, shrugging his shoulders lazily.

"Sorry, it's the only way I could get rid of him." He muttered, dragging a heavy hand through his hair.

I looked at him, my eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"Why do you need to get rid of him?" I asked, looking back to the kitchen door where I could imagine Danny inside, eating Aaron out of house and home.

Justin looked at me, his grey eyes getting darker with worry.

"I didn't want him to get upset. I wanted to ask you, how is Aaron feeling now? Is he still upset? Are you sure he's okay with your decision?" He asked, his voice steady and I cursed at the fact that his beautiful eyes were looking directly into my very own. I couldn't lie to him, it'd be hard; but I knew I had to.

I rubbed my arms from the cold and thanked Justin when he saw this and closed the door behind him.

"He's fine, Justin. You don't need to worry. He's alright with it." I reassured him, nudging his arm in comfort.

He put his hand over mine, stopping it in its movements and turned to look at me. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but I immediately interrupted him because the lies were too hard to say.

"Look, Justin, I don't want to talk about this right now. I just want to hang out with you guys and forget about it all for a while. Please, understand." I pleaded, looking up at him. He groaned in disagreement for a second before nodding his head in relent and I smiled at him in thanks.

I moved out the way, so Justin could make his way through and he lead the way to the living room.However, before we could enter, Danny- who had been standing at the entrance of the living room the whole time looking in- halted us in our path. His eyes frantically looked back and forth from the living room to Justin's eyes and he chuckled nervously.

"Hey, Justin, I feel sick. Can you drop me home? Come on, let's go!" He spoke rapidly, pulling Justin by the arm.

Justin's eyebrows furrowed at his words. He seemed just as confused as I was.

"You seem fine. Why don't we go get you a tablet from the kitchen? You'll be alright." Justin said, pointing towards the kitchen door.

Danny shook his head at an alarming pace before turning to look back at the front door.

"No, I really think, we should leave!" He shouted, attempting to pull Justin's arm again.

However, this time, Justin yanked his arm out from Danny's grasp. He looked at Danny, suspicion clouding his grey eyes and Dannygulped loudly.

"Move." Was all that Justin said to him and I had to control my bladder to prevent peeing in my pants.

Danny seemed to be in a similar state to me as he looked into Justin's eyes. He looked scared beyond relief, but-nevertheless- he still shook is head in refusal.

This didn't cause Justin to falter and he moved closer to Danny, a dark look in his eyes.

"I said, move, Danny." He asked, looking straight into his eyes.

Danny gulped again at this before sighing heavily and moving out the way in defeat. Justin nodded his head towards Danny and made his way into the living room, me following closely behind.

Justin suddenly halted in his tracks and I hit into his hard back. I watched as he stared down and I followed his line of sight.

Aaron and Avalon, both sat on the sofa, laughing. There were a deck of cards between them and some in their hands. Aaron was just jokingly accusing Avalon of cheating and she replied by sticking out her tongue. I watched in despair as he reached out snatching her cards with a laugh.

"Aaron, let go!" She exclaimed, a smile on her face.

Aaron smirked back at her and shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, I guess you shouldn't have stuck your tongue out to me then. This is your punishment." He joked, throwing her cards on the table to which she nudged him with her arm.

Feeling teary-eyed, I turned to look at Justin to see how he felt at the sight, but he wasn't looking at what I was looking at. He hadn't been looking the whole time. He wasn't looking at the both of them like I was.

He was looking at her. Just her.

And the look of pure hatred on his face was visible- the first proper expression on his face. He folded his arms and opened his mouth to speak.

"What is the bitch doing here?"

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