Chp. 76 “Welcome Home”

“Are you sure you have everything?”

I looked at Avery in annoyance, wondering why she babied me so much. I mean sure, I had been through some traumatic shit within the last month of my life but I was still capable of packing my stuff to leave.

I responded, “Yes Avery.”

I threw the last of my clothes into my bag, zipping it up and walking over to my nightstand. I picked up my phone and everything I had sitting on it, including the pictures of Avery and I in the photo booth. I smiled, feeling Avery stand behind me and wrap her arms around my stomach, “Those girls are super sexy together, don’t you think?”

I smiled, blushing at her breath in my ear. I responded sarcastically, “The blonde’s pretty hot, but I don’t know about the other one.”

Avery puffed in my ear, letting me know I had gotten under her skin. She pushed me back onto the bed, crawling on top of me and pinning my hands above my head. I felt myself grow hot, and I internally thanked my sarcastic humor for the response I had given her.

She brought her lips down to mine and whispered, “You’re right, the blonde is pretty hot.”

Her lips sealed mine immediately and I felt my skin tingle under her touch. I closed my eyes, allowing her to take control over me because I was literally too tired to play her sexual games. It was late, and we were going to have to wake up pretty early tomorrow to catch our flight back to Jacksonville.

She stopped kissing me and pulled back, allowing her to see the tiredness that was overtaking me. She tilted her head, “You’re tired.”

I frowned slightly, wishing I wasn’t so I could make love to her, but the way I felt right now that just wasn’t going to happen.

I gave her a sad pout, “I’m sorry.”

She fell on top of me, groaning, “But I want you so bad!”

I laughed at her childishness moans of disproval as we both turned on our sides to view each other. I ran my hand through her hair which was in a pony-tail, and noticed she looked just as tired as me. Although, I knew Avery could keep herself awake for hours if she really wanted to.

I just wasn’t that lucky.

I cupped her face, “It’s been a long day, and we have to wake up early. But don’t believe for one second that I don’t want you, because that’s not true.”

She climbed on top of me again, straddling my waist as she peered down at me, “A quickie then? Please? It’s just… it’s the first time I’ve seen you without that weird bandage thing on your head and you’re just extremely attractive.”

I crossed my arms, “You didn’t think I was sexy with my head wrapped?”

She scrunched her nose at my comment and shook her head, laughing slightly, “You looked like a mummy.”

I rolled my eyes, turning my body in an attempt to get out from under her, but failing miserably. She leaned down, hovering her face inches from mine as I retorted, “That’s not funny.”

She smiled, “But a cute mummy.”

I remembered my bald spot that I had hidden under the rest of my hair, and for some reason I was self-conscious about it. I was scared you could see it, but Avery claimed you no one could. I was just afraid she was lying to me to spare me anxiety. And judging by her next response I figured she had seen the uneasy look I had on my face.

She kissed my lips and smiled, “You’re still beautiful Andy, and you look no different than before. I promise.”

She then turned down the covers and pulled me under them with her, holding my body close to hers as she flicked off the lamp. I could barely make out the contour of her body but I could feel her against me.

She whispered again, “We’re going home tomorrow.”

I smiled into her chest as I hugged her closer to me, feeling her body warmth surround me like a blanket. I nodded, “I know. I can’t wait.”

Her arms pulled me closer, and for some reason this always made me forget everything that I was going through. It had always been that way with Avery. No matter what I was going through or how I felt, when she would hold me it would all just disappear. I pinned it on the fact that I was in love with her, but maybe it was something more.

Maybe she was my soul mate or something.

I wasn’t much of a believer in fate and all that crap, and how we all had someone out there that was made for us, but lying here with Avery made me think otherwise. I had really never felt this safe with anyone in my life, but I did with her, and I loved it so much.

And she was all mine.

I was just ready to get home and get away from this place that held so many bad memories. I wanted to start fresh, maybe go to college and move out with Avery.

That actually didn’t sound too bad.

She whispered, “Goodnight Andy.”

I felt my eye lids grow heavy as I whispered before drifting off completely, “I love you.”

~ ~ ~ ~

“Fuck, I hate the landing.”

Avery’s hand was in mine as I squeezed tightly, feeling the plane jerk under us as we touched down in my home state. She laughed slightly at me, “You escaped a building full of gun-shooting maniacs and a plane landing still scares you?”

I looked at her from the side, “I can’t heal anymore, remember?”

She kissed my cheek, “Yes, I just keep forgetting. I’m sorry.”

“So if the plane bursted into flames at this very moment, we would die together.”

She shook her head at my comment, “God you’re so pessimistic.”

“I hate plane rides, I’m sorry,” I lifted our bags out from the storage bin above us as I handed Avery hers, knowing we would be ushered off of the plane soon.

We began walking off as Avery spoke, “Have you ever seen Snakes on a Plane?”

I shook my head, “Nope, it sounds horrible though. Snakes and planes are my biggest fears.”

She laughed as we walked down the terminal towards the airport, and I pulled out my phone and checked the time, hoping my parents would be in the lobby waiting for us. I missed my parents, and even though I had seen them at Max’s funeral it had been a really horrible day for me. I just couldn’t wait to hug them and tell them how much I loved them and missed them.

She kissed my cheek, “I’ll rent it on Netflix and we can watch it.”

“Nope, you can watch that alone.”

“Oh you’re such a pussy.”

I looked at her, smirking slightly as I pulled her away from the crowd, whispering in her ear, “Well, I am what I eat.”

She laughed, hitting me in the chest as she covered her mouth, “You’re so vulgar.”

We continued through the airport and eventually saw the lobby, and I felt my heartbeat pick up at the sight of my parents. I saw Avery’s dad and brother there too, along with her mom, which was something I was actually surprised about. She had done a lot of explaining to Chris when we had come down for Max’s funeral, considering he had thought we had gone to California for vacation, but he had taken it fairly well.

But there was a lot of explaining still to be done throughout Avery’s family, but I would be there for her through it all.

I rushed into my parent’s arms as Avery did the same to her family, and I felt my dad’s arms pull me into him. She kissed my forehead, “Andy, God we’re so happy you’re home.”

I pulled my mom into our group hug as I felt tears welling up in my eyes, knowing it was because it felt so good to be home. My mom kissed my forehead as she spoke, “Looks like the procedure went fairly well.”

I smiled, looking up at her, “Yea, everything looked fine after.”

I glanced over at Avery who was still hugging her dad, and I felt a good kind of ache in my heart. She hadn’t seen him in so long because of his job, and now that Pearce was dead she was able to see her father again. No telling how long it had been since she had seen him, and now she was able too because of everything we went through in the last month.

My dad picked up my bags, speaking, “Come on, I’m sure you want to get home. We have lunch planned, and we invited Avery’s family over.”

I looked at my parents, wondering what was going on. Had they been conversing the time Avery and I had been gone since Max’s funeral? And if so, what had they exactly talked about?

I followed my parents over to Avery’s and my dad spoke, “Y’all are still coming for dinner right?”

Avery’s entire family nodded but Avery looked just as shocked as I had, but she seemed accepting of the idea.

We finally made it to our cars and down the highway towards my house, Avery sitting next to me the entire time. She leaned her head on my shoulder as she spoke, “It feels so good to be home.”

I smiled as we pulled up into my driveway, instantly seeing a car I thought looked familiar. I looked at my parents and spoke, “Whose car is that?”

My mom smiled, “It’s a surprise.”

I felt my heart beat pick up as I rushed out of the car and into my house, feeling overwhelmed at the fact that she was here. I bolted through the door to see my mom, Teal, sitting on the couch reading the newspaper. I felt emotions flow through me at the sight of her, and when she looked up she smiled, “Andrea.”

I ran over to her, wrapping my arms around her as I pulled her into a hug, feeling the strong bond we shared that connected us emotionally and not just biologically. In the last month I had broken two bonds, and it was the most horrific feeling ever, but being with my mom now only strengthened my heart. She cupped my face, smiling, “Sandra and Ryan told me about your procedure.”

 I nodded slightly as I heard everyone else join us in the house, knowing Avery’s family was going to be quite shocked at how much I resembled this lady in front of me. I felt tears fall down my face as I answered, “Y-Yea, I’m no longer a Healer.”

She smiled, “That’s extremely brave of you honey. Your father would be so proud of everything you’ve done.”

I hugged her again, listening to everyone’s voices fill my house as Avery walked up next to me. Teal stretched out her hand, taking Avery’s, “Nice to see you again, Teal.”

Teal smiled, and I saw something in her eyes that I saw in both my other parent’s, something that said “we trust you with our daughter”. Teal shook Avery’s hand, “You too Avery.”

My mom called from the kitchen, “Everyone come eat! Lunch is ready!”

And so we did, and I knew we had a long day ahead of us because we would be explaining everything that happened from the time we left to the Avery and I arrived back. There were a lot of gaps to fill and stories to be told, along with information.

But I couldn’t ask for a better welcome home party.