Alec's POV

Frank is a great person and after talking to him for a while, he has sort of become like a friend. No wonder, Avery and he share more of a friendly relation than grandfather and daughter. He has so many stories to tell from his time when he was serving in the military, and the more I spend with him the more I have become fond of him.

We share an understanding, because of some similarities in our life. It makes conversation with him easy.

I wonder if this is how Avery's life is with her Pops, then I envy her.

I never had a chance to see any of my grandparents, but I hope if they were alive they were just like Frank.

"Want to enjoy leftover food before lunch?" he asks while taking out the last night's leftover food, "Because we will starve to death if we will wait for Avy to wake up."

"I don't mind," I shrug and smile.

We finish eating, while Frank asks me all sort of questions about the Battleground. He even asks whether he can come there sometimes, to which I happily agreed. I would love to show him around and show him all the facilities we have there. While I asked him about his garage, and we even talk about cars. 

"Avery also works at the garage?" I ask clearly surprised because honestly, she doesn't seem like working types. 

"Yes," he nods his head, "She mostly handles my accounts, but actually, that girl loves to boss around people. My staff fears her more than me. Trust me, their face visibly brightens when Avery doesn't come to work," he laughs.

Light footsteps on the wooden floor halt our conversation, as Avery comes down sleepily and lies on the couch in the living room without even looking in our direction.

I arch my eyebrow questioningly at Frank, after glancing at Avery who is resting on her side with an arm and leg dangling off the couch as she silently stares ahead.

"She is in her waking up phase," Frank quietly says, "If somebody disturbs her now, then she will be cranky all day long," he smiles fondly at her.

"It is better not to disturb the dragon," he lightly laughs.

She is weird.

Frank busy himself in preparing sandwiches and warming up some milk, while I help him because I am enjoying his company and I don't have anything else to do. After half an hour, Avery stands up and walks back in the direction from where she came. Still ignoring us.

She is so good at ignoring people, that if I were alone I would have thought maybe I became invisible.

Later, she comes down freshly showered, Frank pours hers a glass of warm milk and she hoists herself on the counter, thanking him for the milk.

"Pops, he has a gun," she points at me.

"Okay, so?" Frank turns to her raising an eyebrow, while I am confused where this conversation is going.

"Can I have one, too?" she innocently... no, too innocently asks while I frown at her.

"No," he shakes his head as if it is normal for her to demand such things.

"Why do you need a gun?" I ask narrowing my eyes at her.

"I don't know," she shrugs, "Just like that."

"Don't bother much," Frank tells me as I am about to question her more. I want to know whether somebody is troubling her that is why she is asking for a gun.

"A few weeks ago she developed a sudden liking towards katana, and before that, she wanted a dagger," he tells me as I look at her in disbelief. She looks too innocent and it is impossible to imagine her with any weapons.

"You want to eat inside or outside?" Frank asks Avery, completely ignoring her sad pout, as he has finished preparing sandwiches.

"Out," she says while taking a sandwich from the plate and walks outside still pouting.

I get a message from one of my men, that they are keeping close eyes on our enemies, and till now they have not noticed any suspicious activities. They also inform me that it is safe to leave, but I am having too much fun that I don't want to leave so soon.

Maybe I can spend some more time with Avery and Frank. It is been a long time since I have actually sat and had some quality time with someone, sort of family time... not mine, but still a family. Once or twice a month Mom and Dad visit, but the rest of the days it is just me. And I do miss how it feels to spend time with your family like we used to do a long time ago.

"What took you so long?" Avery asks when she sees me.

"Nothing," I shrug taking a seat beside Frank, "just got a message that everything is fine and it is safe to leave."

"But you are not leaving now, right?" she questions with raised eyebrows.

"No, if you will allow me to stay here," I answer her while looking at both of them.

"You can stay here as long as you want," Frank answers giving a friendly slap on my back, but trust me it made my back sting.

"Thanks," I politely reply, trying to keep away grimace from my face, but inside I am feeling relieved that he doesn't kick me out.

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"What are you doing?" I ask Avery. 

Her eyebrows are pinched together in concentration while her eyes are fixed at the screen of her mobile in her hands.

"Shhh..." she replies without even looking up from her screen, while continuously tapping the screen. Sitting next to her, I lean towards her side and get a peek of her mobile screen. 

There is a thing which loosely resembles a bird or fish, I don't know, which she is trying to keep afloat in the air while continuously tapping on the screen.

"Shit," she groans as throws her phone in her lap, her hands clenched in tight fists.

"I can never cross this score in this stupid game," annoyance visible in her voice, which seems amusing to me.

"Can I try?" I ask her extending my palm gesturing her to give me her phone.

"Yeah, sure," she hands me her phone and sits closer to me.

"You have to keep tapping the screen so that this stupid bird doesn't fall down, also don't let it hit these pipes," she explains the game.

"Okay," I nod as she taps the play icon.

After playing it for six times, and not able to even score three, I feel annoyance rising in me. The same annoyance which Avery was feeling just a few minutes ago.

Exhaling a quick breath, I nod to myself in determination to change the score to two digits...a digit which is more than ten.

A bead of sweat slips down my scalp, trailing down my neck, as I fully concentrate at the task on my hand. As soon as the score crosses the mark of fifteen, Avery squeals giving me a side hug, which brings a small smile on my face.

"You are so worth being my friend," she happily says while the bird has hit the pipe because I haven't bothered to keep tapping the screen after hearing her squeal.

The feeling of contentment which slowly consumes my heart, seeing her smile, makes me realize that we don't need much to be happy. Sometimes a simple yet stupid game can also become the reason for our happiness. The sense of accomplishment which I am experiencing is not because I have crossed a certain score, but it is because I have managed to bring a smile on Avery's face.

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Thank you for reading. If you like this chapter then, please don't forget to vote, comment, or share.

Author's Note: My other story It's Complicated is nominated for the Best General Fiction Story in the Fiction Awards 2019.

I would be really happy if you guys will vote for it. For voting, all you have to do is make an Inline comment +1 next to It's Complicated in the Best General Fiction.

You can vote as much as you want, so go crazy and make your favorite book win. 

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