"We seriously need to talk, Alexis."

************************

I moved further into the room she was stood in, cautiously. She motioned behind me to shut the door and I nodded my head in acknowledgement, closing the door slowly behind me.

Careful, Alexis. This is the part, in the movie, where a gullible character like you gets killed off.

I stood in a rigid state, swaying from left to right awkwardly and waited for her bitter tongue to seep the venom that was both usual and expected from her. However, no such words came and with a roll of her eyes, she moved closer to me.

"You know, I don't bite, right?" She said, a slight smile on her face. But, this wasn't the smile I was used to receiving from her, but rather a different smile altogether. She, suddenly, took me by the arm and led me over to the bed that was set on the other side of the room. I was not used to nor comfortable with the physical contact that just occurred, but stayed mute due to the fact that, at this moment, my curiousity exceeded my disgust. Fortunately, she removed her hand from my arm and settled down on the edge of the bed, patting the spot next to her, indicating for me to sit beside her. Reluctantly, I sat down on her right and folded my arms.

For what seemed like decades, there was an achingly long silence, in which Avalon seemed to be lost in thought. Biting her inner lip, she looked into the distance as though she was mentally phrasing her words carefully. Finally, she seemingly found the right words and spoke, her voice more gentle than what I was habituated to.

"Look, I'm gonna say this once and I'm gonna say it very fast, so try pay attention. I guess, I may have been a bit 'catty', in regards to my behaviour over the course of today, so I'm gonna apologise. Okay, now that's done, we cool?" She said, all in one breath, putting finger quotes around the word 'catty'. It took all but 2 seconds to process what she said and, when I did, I couldn't believe my ears.

Avalon had apologised to me?

I narrowed my eyes in thought. This couldn't possibly be real or genuine. Her sudden change in demeanour had to be anything, but innocent. I put my metaphorical 'Holmes' hat on and thought hard: What could she possibly gain from being nice to me?

Just as much as she could gain from not being nice to me.

So, there wasn't any obvious reason as to why she was being nice, but I was still reluctant to believe her. First impressions matter, and my first impression was created by hearing that she had cheated on Aaron, so she wasn't exactly a Virgin Mary, in my eyes.

She must have noticed the look I was giving her as she tutted, putting a stray blonde hair behind her ear.

"Yeah, yeah. I know, it's probably easier to think that I'm up to something, from what you've seen or heard, but I literally won't gain anything out of this. Look, do you want the apology or not?" She huffed in an exasperated manner

I mulled over what she said. Did I want the apology? The thought of Avalon apologising had never even occured to me, before this incident. And, if it did, I would have thought of it to be more satisfying than this.

Well, in my head, I always imagined her apologising on her knees, so...

Nevertheless, at this this moment, I was speechless. I didn't know how to feel or what to say, so I said the only word that felt appropriate.

"Why?" I muttered, more to myself than her, but the look on her face indicated she heard me.

She sighed heavily, before standing up and looking out the window; her back to me.

"Look, I love Aaron." She said, gently, but- to me- it felt like a punch in the face. Something about the way she said his name pained me. I shook my my head, dismissing the thoughts that were clawing at my insides. I listened intently as she continued.

"Aaron has been through so much and it's been so long since I've seen a smile on his face. I want him happy again." She said, turning to me slowly, a thoughtful look on her face and I resisted the urge to point out that she was a main player in his sadness.

I opened my mouth to speak, but before I could, she put a hand up to stop me, an apologetic look on her face.

"For me, Aaron's happiness is everything and if you're what makes him happy, then I guess I'll be willing to tolerate you" she said, a hint of amusement in her tone; she nudged me playfully and my mouth dropped open in shock.

She moved forward and sat beside me, once again, but only this time, she sat closer. And yet, only this time, I let her.

"So, what do you say, truce?" She said with a smile, jutting her hand out towards me.

I looked down, scanning her hand with cautious eyes. I pursed my lips in thought. I had always been the type of person who was able to make up their mind. I had a strong opinion and always stuck by it, no matter the consequences. Yet, here I was, questioning my initial opinion of Avalon. Was she still the person I had previously dubbed her to be: the person who left Aaron, the person who broke Justin's trust, the person who insulted me every chance she got.

But, circumstances change and so do people. I've had first hand experience with this when it came to either Justin, Aaron, or even me. I've always harboured the belief that everyone deserves a second chance, no matter how big be their mistake. Should I give her a second chance? However, before I could come to a conclusion to my mental debate, her voice snapped in the air, diminishing my thoughts.

"Come on! My hand's are getting tired. Truce or not?" She whined, sticking her hand further towards me.

Right then, I did the only thing I felt was right- I reached forward and clasped her hand in mine, gripping it firmly.

"Truce" I whispered, smiling at her.

****************

"And, then he literally dropped the whole thing. It was like complete c-chaos!" Avalon spoke through fits of laughter and I clutched my stomach, in an attempt to relieve the stitches that were beginning to come about from laughing too much.

I wiped my tears with one hand and nudged her with the other, panting heavily.

"And, then, what happened?" I asked, taking a nacho from the plate that was settled between us.

She pushed her hair back, the reminiscence of laughter still bubbling in her voice.

"Then, nothing. He apologised like 10 billion times or something, I guess. But, a birthday's not just defined by having a cake. It's about the people who are present to enjoy it with you." She said, before dipping a nacho in salsa and bringing it up to her mouth.

I smiled, nodding in agreement, before looking at a picture of Sam on the bedside table of the room we were sat in. Judging by the feminine look of the room, it must have belonged to her. I gulped down the emotions that threatened to seep out and cleared my voice before speaking.

"The thing about birthdays is you're never gonna know which one is your last." I muttered, my tone resonating the sound of unspilt tears.

I know, that there was a point where I had to accept the fact that she was gone, but I just couldn't seem to get my head around it. Not just Sam's passing, but the whole concept of death. It was both sad and unsettling to know that a person could just disappear out of your life just like that; you could miss them with all your might, but it wouldn't bring them back. You could cry all the tears that your body contained, but it still wouldn't dull the ache in your heart.

I wasn't embarrassed or ashamed to admit- I was scared of death.

Avalon followed my eyes to the photo on the bedside table. She rolled her eyes, knowing what had dampened my mood and moved closer, before continuing.

"I'm gonna put this as nicest as I can, but you can't keep milking the same old cow. Yes, she's gone. And, are we hurt by it? Yes, we are. But, beyond that, there's nothing more to do. Honestly, if I feel sorry for anyone, it's the people on this rotten, corrupted soil . A genius had once said..."

She looked off into the distance, a seemingly heroicly look on her face, before she spoke again.

"Death. Death is easy; life is hard." She muttered, her eyes clenched shut.

I sat up slightly, moving closer and chuckled slightly.

"Seriously? Twilight?" I teased, folding my arms to which she punched me in the arm.

She held up her hands in mock surrender, a teasing smile on her face.

"Hey, don't judge me. So, I'm guilty of liking the movies. Sue me." She said in a defensive tone, giving a casual shrug.

I smiled before remembering why I was upset. Sam. My mood dampened again and I frowned, chewing angrily into the nachos.

Avalon seemed to notice this too and she bit her lip, her face indicating that she was deep in thought. She stayed like this for a while, until a light bulb seemed to go off in her head and she grinned widely. I was about to ask what had suddenly happened to her, but she moved away from me and closer towards the chest drawer that was in the corner of the room. I watched intently as she opened it slowly and skimmed through the box.

Finally, she stood up and moved closer to me, hiding her hands behind her back. Again, I was on edge. But, we had been talking for about 20 minutes so, for the sake of that, I didn't say or stop anything.

I looked on and she pulled out her hands from behind her back, a small, silk material in her hand. Well, small being the size of my upper torso. It was covered with various pictures. I looked up to Avalon, a confused look in my eyes. She nodded her head before explaining.

"This is Aaron's baby blanket. He used to wear this when he was a small child. Around the age of three and a half, he had grown out it, but Sam hadn't. Sam was very close to Aaron; he was her only son. She was upset about the fact that her boy was growing up. So, she had this wonderful idea about turning the blanket into a memoir of him growing up. So, every year, on his birthday, she would take a picture of him. She'd get it printed out in cotton and sew the little piece into the blanket. This meant so much to her and, in essence, so much to Aaron." She had started big and strong, but- by the end- I was straining to hear her whisper of a voice.

I peered at the pictures that covered the surface of the blanket. Ah, so Aaron had also been cute as a child. Well that's good to know. I turned my head to look at her, my eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"Why would you show me this?" I asked, my voice raw with emotion.

Avalon shrugged lightly in response before using a hand to stroke over the blanket.

"I can see how hurt you are by Sam not being here. I just want you to know that, even if she's gone, a little part of her lives on through the things she instilled her love and care into." She said sweetly, handing the blanket over to me. I took it from her hands, stroking the soft material with my fingers.

"Thanks." I whispered, too engrossed in the blanket itself. But, I was thankful to her showing it to me.

She smiled in response, dismissing me with a gentle wave of her hand. She sat down, yet again, taking a nacho from the plate and putting it into her mouth.

Being too engrossed in the blanket, it took me a while to notice she was choking on a nacho. I panicked, moving closer and tapped her back. This seemed to only worsen the cough and I quickly retracted my hand back.

"I'll get some water for you, okay." I said in a rushed tone before racing down the stairs and filling a glass with cool water. I made my way upstairs and into the room.

"Hey, I got you so-" I stopped, looking around to see that no one was there. Avalon was gone.

I placed the glass gently on the table before moving into the room.

Maybe she went to ask the boys for help.

I was just about to go check, until something caught my eye. I moved closer to confirm if what I was seeing was right and it was. I put a hand to my mouth in shock.

The blanket was ripped into a billion pieces and was scattered across the floor, next to a pair of red scissors.

No, this can't be happening

I picked up a few of the pieces trying to push them together, in a feeble attempt to repair the blanket, but it was to no avail. I gripped at the pieces in my hand in despair. I moved to stand up, picking up some of the mess off the floor.

Before I had fully gotten up, a gasp emanated from behind me. I turned around to see Avalon stood there, her eyes wide in surprise and her hand pressed against her mouth.

But, that wasn't all.

Behind her, stood Aaron, Danny and Justin- a look of shock on their face.

And, their eyes were on me.

Me, with shreds of the blanket and a scissor, in my hand.

__________________________________________