𝐍 𝐎 𝐀 𝐇 ' 𝐒 𝐏 𝐎 𝐕

I am in love with Avalon Rose Miller.

There is no doubt about it and there never has been. How long have I been in love with her? I mean, I always knew from the beginning she was someone I could see myself loving and spending the rest of my life with. Why haven't I told her? I don't know if she loves me. If I tell her I love her. I don't mind if she doesn't tell me the same straight away. Everyone falls in love at different times. I guess I'm just scared of her reaction.

The week between when I decided to come to New York with her to meet her dad and the flight had flown by. Ava told her dad I was coming to New York with her, and he was glad he was finally going to get to meet me. Since Ava and I have been dating for four months now. Am I nervous? Extremely. I know how important her dad is to her, and his opinion means everything to her. Meaning if I want to keep dating Ava, I have to get his approval. I am shitting myself.

Looking down, seeing Ava asleep next to me with her head resting on my chest and her arms wrapped around me as she is cuddled into me. We have been on the flight for a good couple of hours now. We had gotten up really early this morning to catch the flight, so Ava is still tired. I can't sleep. I'm more nervous to meet her dad and worrying about if he'll like me or not. Thankfully, Ava and I are grabbing a cab to her house since her dad will be at work and she doesn't want him to miss work since he's already taking the next two days off.

"You two make an adorable couple," An elderly lady says who is sitting on the aisle seat. She hasn't said much all flight. She had greeted us when she sat down and had kept to herself. "How long have you two been together?"

"Thank you, we've been together for four months now. Feels longer though in a good way," I say and she smiles.

"Me and my husband were like that. The spark you have in your eyes when you look at her never left ours in our sixty years of marriage. I'm sure you'll be the same," She smiles. "What are you traveling to New York for?"

"Meeting her dad," I say, not wanting to tell a stranger about her mom's death anniversary. "How about you?"

"Visiting my children and grandchildren. They keep trying to get me to move to New York with them ever since my husband died, but the house holds too many memories to leave," She smiles. "You really love her, huh?"

"I do," I smile kissing Ava's head. "She means the world to me. Hey, sleeping beauty," I chuckle seeing Ava slowly wake up.

"Have we landed yet?" Ava yawns, sitting up properly.

"No, not yet. Another hour to go," I tell her and she nods, resting her head on my shoulder. "Sleep okay?" I ask her, stroking her hair.

"Yeah. Can you pass me the water?" She asks, and I hand it to her as she takes a sip.

"Who have I got to win over more? Blue or your dad?" I ask her and she laughs.

"Hmm maybe Blue, he's chased away a pizza delivery guy who hit on me once," Ava laughs, making me chuckle. "Plus he bites," She smirks as I roll my eyes. "They'll both like you, don't worry so much," She says resting her head back on my shoulder. I see the elderly lady smile at us before returning to her book. An hour later we land at JFK airport, and make our way through customs and baggage claim, before flagging down a cab.

Driving through New York, we pass by the skyscrapers and soon enough we're heading into a neighborhood full of brownstones. Getting out and paying the driver, we get out our bags before heading inside.

"Welcome to my home," Ava says as we walk into her house. "This is the suburban and quieter area of New York. We're close enough to the city to drive to it. But far away enough so we don't get the traffic or the noise," She explains as I put our bags down.

"You grew up here? It's really nice and homely," I tell her, looking around. "This is your kind of place," I tell her and she chuckles, wrapping her arms around me resting her head on my chest. "It's nice to see where you grew up."

A bark sounds, and a grown husky runs into the room.

"Blue, come here boy," Ava smiles, kneeling down as he runs straight into Ava's arms as she wraps her arms around his neck, hugging him. This has to be the cutest thing I've ever seen. Animals love her. "I missed you," She says stroking him as he lays his head in her lap. I chuckle and Blue shoots his head to me, standing up. "Blue, this is Noah. Be nice. Noah this is my dog Blue, one of three important men in my life."

Crouching down and putting my hand out to stroke him, not wanting to scare him, Blue tilts his head back and forth as if seeing I'm worthy enough to date Ava. This dog is smart, he barks before running into my hands, licking my face as I laugh and stroke him.

"Hi Blue," I say, scratching behind his ears. "You're Ava's personal bodyguard, huh?" I ask him as he barks, making me laugh. "Good boy," I say, patting his side, and he rolls over as I rub his stomach.

"Oh my lord," I hear and look up, seeing Ava astonished and a man. I'm presuming her dad, stood there with a proud look on his face. "Looks like you've won over the most important person in this house," He chuckles. "Some bodyguard dog you are. You're supposed to keep all boys away from Ava."

"Hi dad," Ava says hugging her dad and I stand up. "Dad, this is my boyfriend Noah, Noah this is my dad Ben Miller."

"It's nice to meet you sir," I say, shaking his hand.

"You too, and just call me Ben. I already like you better than Ava's last boyfriend. He threw a smirk my way when we met and I wanted to punch him right then and there. Thankfully Blue chewed his shoes up," Ava's dad laughs. "He stopped coming over the house after that. Think Blue scared him and plus if Blue likes you then you're alright in my books."

"It's a miracle a guy both my dog and dad like," Ava laughs, shaking her head. "We'll go put our bags upstairs, and then we can get started on dinner, I'm hungry."

"You're always hungry," I tell her chuckling and she sticks out her tongue at me, rolling her eyes. "Mature."

Her dad laughs. "She's a handful alright, good luck with that."

Ava's jaw drops. "Great, the last thing I need is both of you agreeing how much of a handful I am, and sharing stories."

"You did the exact same thing with my grandma and got her to show you embarrassing pictures of when I was younger," I tell her and she waves me off, grabbing my hand as we walk to the stairs.

"Noah goes in the guest room, Ava. Even though I like him I'm not that cool," Ava's dad says and I see Ava roll her eyes.

"Told you he'll like you," Ava smirks at me and I roll my eyes. "I'm surprised Blue likes you, he's never liked any guy I've dated. It must be fate," She smiles and I chuckle. "Anyway, first this is my room," She says opening a door leading to her bedroom ."Welcome to Casa Avalon," She smiles and I chuckle putting her bag down on her bed for her, my eyes trailing over the very Ava like room. My eyes land on a picture and I pick it up seeing a younger version of Ava, her dad, and a woman who must be her mom.

"Is this your mom?" I ask her and she nods, smiling sadly as she walks over to me. I wrap my arm around her waist as he delicately holds the frame in my hands.

"Yeah, it is. She was beautiful. My dad always used to tell me he was star struck when he first saw her. She reminded him of an angel. I remember that day actually, we went to the city, and it was the first time I remember going to the center of New York. The other times I was too young to remember, but we made a day of it. Did some shopping, explored the more unknown parts of it," Ava says. "It was actually the last picture we took together."

"You look just like her," I tell her and she nods. "I understand why your dad was star struck. I thought the same when I saw you in the bar," I tell her, and she smiles up at me before kissing me. "As much as I'd love to carry on kissing you I don't want to anger your dad when I just got him to like me."

"Come on, I'll show you your room, and then we can make dinner," She says, pulling me out of her room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Ava tells me you play as the quarterback for the USC team, she tells me you're really good too and got to play with the Patriots," Ava's dad makes conversation. We had spent the last hour or so making dinner. Well me and Ava had. She wouldn't let her dad anywhere near the kitchen claiming he's a fire hazard.

"Yeah, they invited me to train with them for a week, which was brutal compared to college level," I chuckle, before looking over to him. "You're a big football fan, right?"

"Jets all the way," Ava's dad says. "I tried talking to Ava about sports and teach her about it but trying to talk about sports with Ava is impossible."

"Hey! I've gotten a lot better, Noah, tell him," Ava says and I purse my lips.

"Well, she knows what a football is," I say, and he laughs as Ava slaps my arm. "Hey! That's a compliment. You know I'm joking," I tell her, kissing her head and she smiles at me.

"It's fine your mom doesn't know about football either and she's been married to your dad for twenty years. Whenever you're talking about football with your dad or Liam. She just tells me more embarrassing stories about you," She smirks and I playfully glare at her.

"I'm taking your family like Ava, then?" Ava's dad asks.

"They love her, pretty sure more than me as well," I chuckle and he laughs. "Especially my grandma."

"You're close with your family as well, then?" Her dad asks, and I nod my head.

"Yeah, they live in L.A. I go to see them maybe three times a week. We're really close and have a big family," I explain.

"He's not joking he has four siblings and an endless amount of aunts, uncles and cousins," Ava says. "I still don't remember all their names. I tried to at Thanksgiving and then at the wedding."

"Don't worry, grandma doesn't either," I say and she laughs. "She calls them honey or something like that when she's talking to them. Then when she's talking to anyone else, she says grandchild number 1 or you know that weird looking one."

"I'm glad you have someone who cares about you to look after you while you're in L.A," Ava's dad tells her.

"Dad, I'm 19 I can look after myself, I know you worry about me but you don't need to," She says.

"I know, but I like knowing Noah is there to take care of you if anything happens. He seems to make you really happy," He says. "For once in your life I approve of a guy you date, just don't go dating anymore. I like this one."

"I won't, I'll keep him," Ava smiles at me wrapping her arms around me...god I love this girl.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Knock Knock!

"Come in," I say confused. After dinner and we had cleaned up. While Ava took Blue out for a walk, Ava's dad and I watched some football and talked about sports. Ava said he doesn't have someone to talk about sports with since his girlfriend's son isn't a sports kind of person. I was happy to talk about sports, of course he gave me the 'you hurt Ava I'll hurt you speech'. But it is a good feeling knowing he approved of me. We had retreated to our separate rooms not long after she got back. Even though I wanted to share a room with Ava, I don't want to risk her dad finding out when he's just given me his approval.

"Hi," Ava smiles walking inside with Blue, who comes and jumps on the bed straight away. I chuckle and pet his fur. "Can we sleep in here tonight?" Ava asks, kneeling on the bed. "I don't want to be alone tomorrow morning."

"What about your dad?" I ask her and she shrugs.

"He kind of caught me coming out of my room, but he knows tomorrow is hard for me. He told me to tell you no funny business and hands above the hips but below the waist," She giggles and I laugh before opening the covers for her as she climbs in cuddling into me. "Blue is comfy," She giggles and I chuckle looking over at him as he is lied at the foot of the bed. "Meeting my dad wasn't so hard now, was it?"

"I was fucking terrified. I know he means everything to you. I don't know what I would have done if he hadn't approved of us dating," I admit, and she giggles. "He does like me, right?"

"Yes he does. He told me he can see how much you care about me. He's happy I have you," She leans up to kiss me. "I wish my mom could have met you. She would have loved you," She sighs. Pushing her hair back and cupping her cheek, I softly kiss her resting my head against hers.

"I wish I could have met her too, then she could see how you mean everything to me and I could tell her what an amazing person she raised," I say and she smiles, blinking back the tears. "I'll be here for you tomorrow, ok? And every year after this too," I say and she nods her head, moving, so she lies on top of me, fully curling into my chest as I wrap my arms around her tightly. "Goodnight baby," I whisper, kissing her head.

What I wouldn't do for this girl.

𝐀𝐔𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐑 𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄

I'm loving these double updates and I hope you guys are too. Been informed that the american college football season ends December/January, and this was actually super helpful to know so thank you to that person because this is something I can fix and I appreciate you letting me know. I will be fixing this in editing more than likely because I would like my story to be more authentic.

Tasha Jade <3