003. IT'S LIKE A FAMILY REUNION

"HEY, MOM! WOAH, OKAY," Zara laughed loudly as her mother embraced her in a bone-crushing hug. Her suitcase handle digging into Zara's side wasn't a big help either.

"Hi momma," Avery smiled, kissing her mom's cheek as the woman pulled her in for a hug.

Elsie Valentine had missed her little girls more than anything. It had been almost a year since she last saw them and she was overjoyed to finally be with them once again. She waited patiently, bouncing with excitement, for her son and husband to make their way over.

"REMI!" Zara squealed, bolting straight past her father who just shook his head with a wide grin. The oldest daughter ran to her little brother, giving him a welcoming hug.

As Zara began to bombard Remi with questions (as an older sister does), Theodore Valentine made his way over to his wife and middle child. He grinned down at Avery, who always seemed to be a 'daddy's girl'.

"Hey, dad," she scrunched her face up to prevent the cheesiest smile ever and leaned into him. Theo chuckled, pulling her into his side to kiss the top of her head.

"Hi, darlin'."

Avery engaged in a conversation with her parents about how they had been over the past year and then finally gave her younger brother a tight hug, though still being cautious not to hurt his already hurt arm.

"Jesus, Aves, let go of me," he grumbled with a laugh, ripping her tight grip away.

The freckled girl smiled softly, not knowing if he was joking or being serious. She hadn't seen the boy in a year, who knew how much he would've changed?

Remi Valentine noticed the dull change in his sister's mood and instantly felt bad, he had no intention of what he had said coming off harshly. Remi sighed, giving his sister a side hug.

Avery smiled to herself, rubbing Remi's forearm sweetly. The Valentine family were buzzing with excitement as they piled into Zara's car. During the drive, the two sisters had basically turned into tour guides as they pointed out the local places they love.

Once they arrived home, Avery spotted three boys sitting on the porch steps. Immediately, they stood up and ran over to the car to say hello. All three of them were squeezed by the very enthusiastic woman, then created some random in-the-moment handshake with Theo and finally gave Remi a hug.

"Can we help with any of your bags?" Chris politely asked, making Elsie smile knowingly and wiggle her eyebrows at Avery who just groaned and gave Chris an answer.

"You may," she smiled, patting his shoulder as she went closer to the house and unlocked the front door. "Don't you guys have a key? You could've waited inside, it's freezing out here!" Avery frowned, smiling over to the stumped faces of the triplets.

"Ohh, facts!" Nick yelled with a nod.

She laughed to herself before walking back over to the car to give the triplets a hand. Matt had insisted they didn't need help but Avery only rolled her eyes at his humble excuse and grabbed the suitcase Chris had in his hands.

"Hey!" He whined, chasing after her.

Matt and Nick shared a look before closing the car trunk and making their way into the home. Elsie had already set herself up in the guest room which made the teenagers laugh as they walked in to see her cosied under the sheets.

"Don't worry, I'll cook dinner tonight! I just need a jetlag nap."

"Go for it, mom," Avery giggled, leaving her father's suitcase in front of the closet.

She and Chris wandered back into the kitchen where Remi, Matt and Nick were pouring themselves some cereal. Avery let out a laugh at how chaotic her house had become in the span of twenty minutes.

Zara had earlier excused herself to edit a YouTube video that she needed to upload by tonight, and Theo Valentine was scrolling through Netflix to find one of his movies.

"Have you finished filming for Top Gun: Maverick yet?" Matt asked Theo as he took a seat beside the movie star.

"We finished the very last cuts last week, actually! The movie comes out in December this year," Theo grinned. He was always happy when he could talk to the triplets about his movies as they (along with his children) always seemed so interested.

An hour later, the doorbell rang. Avery shot out of her seat, followed by Chris who instinctively jumped up after she did. Matt coughed loudly on purpose which made Chris whack the back of his brother's head, knowing exactly why he had coughed.

Avery walked toward the front door, unlocking it to reveal Dylan, Anabell and baby Sophie standing outside. She grinned excitedly, ushering the three in as it was windy outside.

"Sophie!" Avery smiled, taking the young girl from Anabell's arms. The three teenagers (and baby) walked into the living room with smiles on their faces.

The triplets crowded around Sophie who began to sputter and giggle as she attempted to pull on Chris's hair. Christopher joking gasped, softly pulling on the toddler's wavy hair. Avery felt her stomach do flips as she watched the encounter, she rapidly tried to shake the butterflies away but they just wouldn't budge.

"Dad, this is Belle's girl Sophie," Avery explained to her father who had stood up to greet Dylan and Anabell already.

Theo gasped in admiration, extending his pinky finger to the little girl who gladly latched onto it, flashing him a, nearly toothless, smile.

"Hi, Sophie!" Theodore cooed, gently taking the toddler from his own daughter's arms. He took a seat on the sofa and began talking to Sophie Carter, who could barely form full sentences.

Baby fever seemed to take over the eldest Valentine as he would barely let the teenagers take Sophie away from him. He missed when his kids were little, but to be fair: they were still his little girls and boy. He played games with little Sophie all night long, taking a large toll of stress and anxiety off of Anabell's back.

"Theo, you are a saviour," Anabell praised him as she stole a sip from Elsie's glass of red wine.

"I appreciate the compliment, kid, but I don't need you getting drunk," he chuckled, pointing to the glass she held in her hand once again.

Elsie snorted from the stove where she was currently boiling pasta. She reached over the kitchen island to snatch her glass from Anabell who pouted, took one last sip, and then handed it back to her.

"I'm a mom now too, Elsie! Give me more," she complained, throwing her hands around jokingly.

"One day, Bells. One day," Elsie blew the teenager a kiss.

Huffing in defeat, Anabell lay her head on Dylan's shoulder. Dylan laughed at her desperation for alcohol and just stroked her hair in a friendly manner.

"Chris, lovey? Would you mind grabbing the pesto from the fridge for me?" Elsie asked the taller boy as she watched her daughter struggle to reach all the way to the back of the top shelf.

Christopher nodded with a smile, ready to annoy Avery with how much taller he was than her (which was only by three inches but he loved to rub in it). He stood over Avery reaching for the pesto and latching his hand onto it. He looked down at her with a teasing smile, handing her the plastic container of the Italian sauce.

"Thanks," she huffed with a small smile making its way onto her face. Chris proudly grinned, blowing her a kiss which Avery pretended to throw on the floor and stomp on.

Chris's smile faded away into a challenging look, he grabbed a grape from the charcuterie board and aimed it at Avery's head. He threw it towards her but Avery was too fast and caught it in her mouth, celebrating with Matt and Nick.

She handed her mother the pesto with a smile and then turned back to where Anabell, Dylan, Nick, Matt and Chris were sitting. In that order too. Avery leaned on the other side of the island counter and was face to face with Nicolas who held eye contact, widening his eyes in a scary way.

"Fuck!" Avery whispered as her eyes began to tear up and she blinked. Nick whooped excitedly but laughed loudly as Elsie turned around laughing too.

Zara walked down the stairs, seeing her father with little Sophie, her sister and her friends, her mom cooking and her brother mindlessly roaming around the house. She glanced around in confusion, did it really take her over a year to finish editing? How did her home's population evolve so quickly?

"Holy shit, it's like a family reunion!" She joked as she walked into the kitchen. Anabell chuckled at the joke and stood up to hug the older girl. "Hey, Belle! Hi, Dylan."

"Hello, Z," Dylan waved with a friendly smile, standing up for a hug as well.

Zara took the empty stool beside Chris and sat patiently, staring directly at her sister. Avery was in her own world, she was humming the lyrics to some Taylor Swift song and cutting some herbs from the small potted plants that sat on a shelf above the stove.

"Aves," Chris called softly, determined to startle her. He knew a little whisper was not going to pause her daydream.

"AVERY!" All six teenagers, that sat on the stools, yelled.

Avery yelped, dropping the scissors on the counter and spinning around in fear. She rolled her eyes as she realized it was just her best friends attempting to frighten her, which they did (she'd just never admit it).

"What?" She asked, taking a seat on top of the counter. Avery grinned at her older sister, blowing the girl a kiss to say hello.

Zara chuckled, winking back jokingly.

——————

"DINNER WAS SO GOOD, thank you, Elsie," Matt grinned over to the older female as he wiped his mouth with a napkin.

"Of course, darling. Anytime! Oh, do let your mom know that I'd love to catch up sometime," Elsie kindly replied with a smile.

The six teenagers all stood up together, thanking the couple before helping clean up. Theodore, Elsie and Remi had to head to the hospital now to get a higher-tech X-ray on the fourteen year olds arm, and the teenagers, minus Zara who'd be babysitting Sophie, had plans to attend an old school friends party.

Anabell and Avery raced upstairs to change out of their sweats, advising the four boys to stay ready so they can leave when they finish. Avery decided on an off-the-shoulder black dress while Anabell stole blue dress pants and a white tube top from Avery's closet.

"Where are you going? The Oscars?" Dylan snorted as he saw Avery rushing around the house to find her purse. Chris laughed with a nod, doing a handshake with the boy.

"At least I don't look like I just woke up," Avery fired back, continuing to dig through the shoe cupboard downstairs for her favorite purse.

Dylan Alcaraz smiled and nodded in defeat, circling back around the house to where Matt and Nick were arguing. Chris, who still stood behind Avery, began to sneakily look around the cupboard. Acting as if he hadn't hidden her purse behind his back.

"Have you seen my purse?"

Chris gave her a fake, sympathetic smile. "No."

Avery gasped, unable to shake the smile off of her face. She playfully lunged at Chris and began to tickle him, Chris yelped in surprise and revealed the purse from behind his back. He waited for Avery to stop tickling him and when she did, he ran for his life.

"Chris!" Avery yelled, chasing him around the house. Her shoes padded across the wooden floors. After five solid minutes of her chasing Chris around the home and the other four teenagers cheering Christopher on, Avery finally got her purse back.

Chris obviously had to make a dramatic scene before handing the purse back and that's exactly what he did. He began hyperventilating and pretended to stab himself in the heart as if to say that's what Avery had just done to him. "Jackass."

He beamed down at her, messing up her freshly straightened hair. Avery shrieked, shoving his hand away and holding it to keep him away from touching her hair tonight.

"Let's go!" Matt rushed everyone, bidding Zara and Sophie goodbye.

Avery thanked her sister once again for babysitting and was out of the door in seconds. The six piled into the minivan, Matt and Dylan in front, Anabell and Nick in the middle seats, and Chris and Avery at the back.

The drive was filled with excited chatter as it was the first time in five months the friend group had been to a party like this. After Anabell had Sophie the entire group agreed to take a break from their (sober) partying and help out with the newborn. Though now that Sophie was a toddler, they were able to get back out there and this time Anabell was more than happy to drink.

"Okay before we go inside, is anyone drinking tonight? Apart from Belle," Matt spoke from the driver's seat as he parked down the road from their location.

Nicolas and Christopher both frowned and shook their heads, Dylan shrugged answering with a 'I'll let you know when we get inside', and Avery hesitantly shook her head. The girl had never had been drunk in her life, yes she had the occasional glass or sip of alcohol but never anything big. However, tonight, Avery Valentine was feeling a little bit rebellious.

"You're not drinking," Chris settled for her.

Scoffing, Avery turned to him and looked him dead in the eye. "You're not the boss of me."

Chris rolled his eyes at her childish response and shoved Nick and Anabell out of the minivan so he and Avery could also get out of the car. The six excitedly walked towards their old school friends' house, music was thumping and lights were flashing but Avery could've sworn her heartbeat was faster and louder.

Once they entered the house, Chris and Matt were dragged off by friends from their old lacrosse team, which in a way upset Avery as Chris had promised to stick by her side the whole night but she sucked it up. Dylan escorted Anabell to the drinks table because he had seen a good-looking guy standing around there and had rushed over excitedly. This left Nick and Avery awkwardly standing in the doorway of this ginormous house.

"Let's socialize!" Nick cheered, giving Avery a knowing smile. Avery widened her eyes and shook her head, there was no reason to socialize!

Who cares if she dressed nice tonight, style before socializing, right?

"God, Nick, no! Uh, haha, hi," Avery sputtered as one of her best friends just shoved her into a blonde boy.

The blonde gave her a smile, fixing up his hair.

"Hey, I'm Elliot," the blonde gave her a subtle wink.

Avery almost threw up at how awfully he winked, she smiled politely instead, not wanting to be such a bitch to someone she just met.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Avery," she chuckled, almost falling over on her own two feet. Elliot stabilized her by wrapping an arm around her waist.

Avery felt her stomach do somersaults but they weren't the same kind that happened whenever she hugged Chris. It felt weird to feel this way for someone that wasn't Chris. Did this mean that so far, Avery spent her whole life thinking it was normal for your stomach to do backflips when you were with your best friend? Apparently so.

"Woah, wouldn't want you falling for me just yet."

Avery nervously laughed, she felt nauseous, How the fuck did her friends flirt so effortlessly with strangers without getting an ick? Alcohol had never been calling her name so loudly before. Unwrapping his arm from around her waist, Avery turned to apologize.

"Sorry, do you know where I can grab a drink?" She nervously asked him. Avery was unable to put a finger on why she was so nervous, was it the fact she was in the mood to down a few shots of tequila (which never happened) or was it because she didn't want this Elliot boy to follow her to the drinks table.

"For sure, just in that room and to the left is the kitchen, you'll find the good shit there," he nodded with a grin, obviously now too intoxicated to continue flirting with her.

Avery walked away, turning around to see Elliot chatting to another girl already. She giggled at how helpless some boys were and shoved through the sweaty bodies to find herself in the kitchen.

She spotted a clearly very drunk girl pouring some fruity-looking drink into a red solo cup and began to walk towards her. Avery awkwardly stood beside the ginger girl, not really knowing how the getting-a-drink process worked.

"Uh, what's in that?" Avery stiffly asked the redhead who was swaying her hips while chugging the mystery orange liquid.

"Pure fuel, my friend. Pure fucking fuel," the girl commented as she stumbled away from the kitchen counter.

Avery frowned with a shrug, what's the worst that could happen? She grabbed a red cup from the stack and filled the ladle with the liquid, pouring it carefully into the plastic cup. Bracing herself, Avery took a large sip, ignoring the burning sensation in her throat, she squeezed her eyes shut and continued to gulp down the rest.

"Woah, take it easy, sailor," a voice chuckled from behind her as Avery went for refills.

She turned around to see Nick Sturniolo with a cheesy smile on his face as he witnessed one of his best friends drinking for the first time. Officially.

"It's a really good punch!"

Nicolas pursed his lips and held back a laugh. "I'm sure it is, how about we hold back for a while though?"

Avery shook her head, violently moving the cup away from his reach. Thankfully there was no liquid in the plastic cup. Nick rolled his eyes, still attempting to grab the solo cup. Avery downed her third, or fourth (who's counting?), helping of the alcohol and began to see two of Nicks' left arms trying to snatch the cup.

"Stop!" She complained as Nick finally got ahold of the plastic cup. Nicolas grinned in her face, dumping the rest of the alcohol into the sink, right in front of Avery's face. "Hey..."

Avery gave Nick her best puppy-dog eyes in an attempt so she could be allowed more alcohol but Nick would not give in that easily. He shook his head and lead her outside to where the pool was.

"Sit down," he instructed her, holding her steady as she sat and unstrapped her heels, dangling her feet in the pool.

"I'm sat," Avery giggled.

Nick rolled his eyes at her drunken state, it wasn't far off from her usual self. "Ha ha."

The boy sat beside Avery with crossed legs, not in the mood to dip his legs in the cool water. Avery rested her head on Nick's shoulder, humming some random tune.

"Nick! We need you!" Matt yelled out with a smile, Avery's drunken element going completely unnoticed by the other triplet.

Nicolas sighed but shrugged, he is the best at beer pong so why not? Maybe he'll just get someone else to drink his beer for him.

"Stay put."

Avery saluted him jokingly, waving sloppily and watching as he disappeared through the glass doors of the house. She kicked her feet in the water, laughing to herself as she made funny faces at her reflection in the water.

After fifteen minutes and Nick still not being back, Avery decided to go for a little wander around the home. She shook the water off of her feet and slid back into her heels, making her way around to the less isolated area of the backyard.

As she walked aimlessly, Avery spotted Chris's familiar figure and body language. She smiled excitedly having finally found someone she knew. As she neared closer toward the boy she noticed he wasn't alone. At this moment Avery felt like she was the next Sherlock Holmes.

"Oh my God," Avery whispered to herself, still very intoxicated. "I'm the chosen one. I'm Sherlock!"

She laughed to herself as she stumbled across the grass, sneakily trying to figure out who it was that her best friend was talking with. Who was the person he'd left her for earlier? As Avery crept closer to the two figures she noticed Chris leaning in.

A small gasp left her mouth as she inched closer to get a better look. Since Avery was still drunk, she wasn't exactly as sneaky as she thought. Matthew Sturniolo was silently observing her from the other side of the backyard, a can of Dr Pepper in his hand.

Avery's eyes widened as she saw Chris kissing a random blonde girl, just as she was getting ready to run away and chug some more alcohol, she knocked over the metal watering can. Avery winced at the sound impact and opened her squinted eyes to see Chris already glaring daggers at her. She widened her eyes, beginning to run away back into the house. Her drunkenness was not helping at all, Avery almost fell over about four times while making her way back into the house for a drink.

Pushing through the sweaty bodies once again, Avery found herself in the kitchen. She reached for a new solo cup and poured herself some 'punch'. Chris was not far behind her but was struggling to even get inside because Matt was stalling.

"Matt, I know you're stalling. Move," he grumbled, shoving his brother out of the way and making his way to the kitchen.

When Chris arrived inside the kitchen, he immediately spotted Avery downing yet another cup of this mystery alcoholic punch. Christopher huffed and stormed towards her, he reached over her to try and take the cup off of her but Avery resisted with a snarl on her face.

"You weren't supposed to drink tonight," he commented, still fighting her for the plastic cup.

"Said who? Not me," Avery gave him a sloppy smile, her words badly slurred.

Chris sighed, trying to catch her off guard while snatching the cup. However, drunk Avery was surprisingly quicker and yanked her cup back but ended up spilling the sticky orange liquid on her exposed collarbones.

Avery gasped at what just happened, looking up at Chris. "Look what you did!"

"That was your fault, what the fuck!"

Chris followed Avery as she stormed down the hallway and into the bathroom. He locked the door behind them and watched as Avery scavenged drunkenly for a towel. Chris spotted one in the vanity cupboard and ran it under warm water.

He grabbed Avery's forearm to keep her still and began to dab the wet towel on her chest. Avery squirmed in Chris's grip, forgetting completely what just happened.

She shoved his arms away like a bratty child. "Stop it!"

Chris sighed, resting his arms by his side. He held Avery's lower back and guided her out of the bathroom and outside to the front porch.

"Sit," he instructed her, pointing to one of the stairs on the wooden porch.

"Woof woof."

Chris rolled his eyes at her child-like behaviour and called his brother. In five minutes' time, Nick, Matt, Dylan and Anabell were all outside with Chris and Avery.

"Not even I drank that much," Anabell chuckled after seeing the state of her drowsy friend.

Chris laughed softly, pulling Avery off of the ground and helping her walk to the minivan. Matt had already unlocked it so it was easy for Chris to slide Avery into the back seats.

"You're mad," Avery sang with a giggle, leaning her head on Chris's chest.

The boy sighed and avoided her eyes. "Great going, Sherlock."

Avery frowned, sitting up straighter. She moved her body away from Chris and gazed out of the window. Christopher rubbed his eyes in defeat, he knew she wouldn't remember this tomorrow but he still has to stand his ground either way.

(💐) MAL SPEAKS,

aha, hey. . .

it's literally chapter three but
who doesn't love some angst? 😻

anyway, thank you to mak and jaden
for being so excited about this chapter
coming out today! (yes, THE jaden
reads my stories #imfreakingout !!!)

enjoy your day slays! & thank you for
being so patient with me :)) i had covid
so i slacked on writing but i wrote a
4,000-word paragraph to make up
for it :)))

xoxo, mal <3