4 years later, back where I started [[Ava//Open]]

[ava louise riley]

Things in Ava's life had been far from simple lately from her separation to leaving the paper to..well, a lot. Everything was changing and though change wasn't a new thing to her, for once her world felt upside-down. She needed some direction. Maybe that was why she'd come to the beach that morning and now sat in the sand, looking out at the water and the surfers calling the waves home.

Running a hand through her hair, she took a large pair of black sunglasses from her bag and put them on before adjusting the simple white tank top she wore today with jeans, a pair of flip flops at her side. Most of her clothes were still at the apartment and though Rachel was being very generous with her stuff, she knew she'd have to go back at some point.

[stephanie michelle davis]

Lucas had been pissed that Madison had hollered at him like that the night before. She comes from wherever to stay at his house, and has the thought that she's going to have ultimate power over everything he does and says around her. Maybe she'd changed like most people end up doing, and that upset him a lot the more he thought about it. She used to be cool, somebody that he could just have a good time with, but now she seemed to get mad at the drop of a hat. Pretty much whenever he'd make any comment, he wasn't her little puppy before and wasn't going to be now either.

"Stupid bitch, who the hell does she think she is?" He blurted out as he walked along the sand. Two girls were walking against the waves and looked at him rather curiously. He just snapped a look at the two girls and they picked up their steps. He noticed a sillouhette in the distance which seemed vaguely familiar. He walked closer and noticed that it was none other than his old punching bag Ava. He'd had a good ol' time with her, the two of them had connected in a way that nobody else could with him. "Well shit, what the tide bring you in earlier with all the other trash?" He teased a bit walking over and plopping down next to her. Who cares if she was waiting for someone, or if she just wanted to be alone, this spot next to hers was his now. He was wearing a pair of swimming trunks (black with no design) that went down to his knees. Pair of sneakers, no-name brand, for some reason in the sand, and a wifebeater showing off the tattooes (the few of them) that were on either arm.

[ava louise riley]

Ava hadn't expected anyone so his voice came as a shock and made her jump a little. Still, if there was anyone that could have been there, she was slightly glad it was him. She needed a good laugh and with him she always got one. "Hasn't anyone ever told you not to sneak up on someone?" she asked with a small smirk as he sat down beside her. She dug her feet into the sand a little as she replied to his question. She shrugged. "Why not come down here? I was free and it seemed as good a place as any to be..I mean, it beats being at Rachel's and watching soaps."

She shrugged again and looked from him to the water then back to him again as she brought her knees to her chest. "What about you?" she asked him. "Not challenging some innocent bystander to a dance off?" she teased, referring to when she'd met him at the arcade playing DDR.

[stephanie michelle davis]

"No sneaking, not like I was hiding behind a rock or anything." He said matter of factly as he pointed out where his footprints (what ones he could make out as his own) were in the sand. "So in the end it's your fault for not paying attention to your surroundings." He teased as he watched her dig her toes in the sand. "Beaches are stereotypical to all skinny and fine looking women." He started replying to her first answer. "Surprised your not dawning your hottest bikini and all the fixings of a stuck up rich bitch." He snapped a quick wink her way as he looked out at the water.

The DDR comment made him laugh louder than he'd expected, and soon started to cough (more like hack). Ugh, that Madison has got him smoking a lot more than he should. "Nah, I save that for my Saturday nights." He teased again as his laughing, and choking it seemed, calmed down. "Plus, after my last rival took the thrown as queen of the dance...well the kings gonna take a break to practice those skills before he challenges said lady again." He had no idea what lame bullshit was coming out of his mouth right now.

"So princess, hows married life?" He asked not knowing anything about Ava/Blake/Jack. If he'd only known before he'd asked he'd have liked it better since he could have struck a nerve maybe.

[ava louise riley]

Ava followed his gaze to the trail of footprints and nodded. "Oops, stupid me...guess I should just pay attention to every small noise I hear. Who knows? It could be some psycho trying to kill me.." She replied sarcastically, joking with him. She laughed a little and pulled off her sunglasses so they rested on top of her head, not feeling a need for them anymore.

"Bikini?" she asked him. "For one, I might be thin, but I'm not a rich bitch...well, maybe a bitch, but far from rich or so my bank tells me." She shook her head, knowing he was joking. She'd learned not to take him too serious most of the time.

She listened as he went on into a confusing, nonsense rant about DDR and his "skills" before laughing again. "Well if I am ever looking for some entertainment on a Saturday I'll be sure to give you a call." she joked, smirking at him. "Oh and I'll bring my video camera..just to be sure I get said "skills" on tape."

As he mentioned married life, she looked away at the water again and sighed, as if having an inner battle with herself about telling him the truth. She finally decided to. "Shaky.." she admitted before sighing. "We're sort of.." she paused and took a deep breath. "..we're sort of doing this trail separation thing."

[stephanie michelle davis]

He cocked his head in curiousity when she'd said they were in the middle of a trial seperation. "Knew it wouldn't be long before there was trouble in paradise...let me guess, he slept with another bitch, a rich one because you seem to be lacking in that department, and now you're fuming? Well to make things easier for you I guess I could bone you." He teased as he leaned over and grabbed ahold of her pushing her to the ground and sliding so he was almost on top of her. "But then again married women don't seem to put out like single ones, so maybe i'll just go find my fix somewhere else." He laughed a bit as he sat back up and just watched her.

"Don't need relationships anyway," He started as he looked out at the water. "Who the fuck needs all that added drama?" He started to think about his new houseguest. Sure, they weren't in a relationship, and still there was already drama surrounding the two of them. "If anything they just make you want to gouge your eyes out with a fucking fork or some lame shit like that."

[ava louise riley]

"Married men don't seem to put out either.." she replied thinking about all the things she'd done to get Blake to spend more time at home..lingerie, candles..et cetera. Yes, she'd considered the fact he could've been having an affair, which may have been the initial reason she'd kissed Jack, revenge, but what was done was done. She shrugged a little. "I don't know...He was just never home and I kind of..freaked out and slept with my ex." she said, saying the last part in one breath and very fast.

She laughed a little thinking about what he'd said about eye gouging. "Well maybe you just haven't found the right relationship.." she replied, shrugging again. Ava had always been a relationship person..and over the last 4 years it was strange how those relationships had really only been Blake and Jack..oh and Matt when both were gone.

[stephanie michelle davis]

Finally relaxing enough to lay back on the sand, he honestly didn't care if he'd get sand in his hair (what little bit he had), and gazed up at the sky. Ava was the one person that he didn't have to put a front on for. He didn't have to act badass, and when he did she'd easily see through it. It was sort of nice to be able to just relax and actually have a conversation with someone, though he would never admit it to anyone (including her).

"Those ex'es...they just seem to have all the fun," He replied a bit calmly as he closed his eyes for a minute and then re-opened them. They were blurry for a second until they adjusted to the light, but soon he could see perfectly again. He started to think about Madison again, and then his brother, and he could feel his body tense right up, so he jumped back up into a sitting position and clenched his fists. "Only thing is it's not always with you..." He shrugged it off though not wanting to think about any of that right now. He was talking to Ava, and she had no association to Madison, so why would he even need to think of her?

"There is no right relationship," he snapped not even thinking about it as he spoke. He tried to calm himself down again taking a few deep breathes. "The only relationship I need is right here," He patted his hand to his pants and let out a little chuckle. "Hell, it's about the only one I know won't screw me over...and when I get bored with this one," He waved his other hand and looked over at her. "Guess I just can't settle for one..."

[ava louise riley]

Though they didn't see each other a lot, it was weird how well they meshed and just got instantly comfortable with one another. It was one of the few relationships she had in this town where there was barely any, if not no, subtext. Refreshing to say the least and the joking around was a change in her dramatic, usually hectic lifestyle.

She saw him tense up when he mentioned exes and wondered why. It seemed like something was bothering him, but she knew that he wasn't one to openly talk about these things like she was. He was more..closeted, for lack of a better word. Maybe it was a cover for his "tough" exterior image he tried to portray. One she'd learned was a complete facade a long time ago.

"Settle?" Ava said teasingly. "No, never..settling is for boring married people right?" she joked, not buying what he was saying for a second. No matter how messed up he was she knew he'd go monogamous for the right girl. It was just a matter of time. No man could be a play boy forever..

[stephanie michelle davis]

"And look where that gets you-" He blurted out laughing as he looked over at a girl who had settled and married the first man he'd thought she had a serious relationship with. "Telling you, i'm going to fucking stay single for as long as possible..." He was being somewhat serious right now as he looked back out at the water. "Screw as many women as I can, maybe get a few STD's, and than do something stupid and end back up in the joint. Pretty much how my life is going to end up turning out."

In the end Lucas would not mind settling down with somebody today if it meant that he didn't have to go around having numerous one night stands. It was getting boring to say the least, not every woman he went with seemed to know what she was doing, but he just hasn't found any girls that seem to even interest him in the slightest. Maybe someday soon a girl will come into his life.

[ava louise riley]

When he laughed after commenting about what her marriage had turned out to be, she was surprised to be agreeing and not defending her relationship. His thought about it being her first real relationship was a lie, though. She'd had a lot, even before she'd come to Pleasant...and then there had been Jack before he freaked and bailed on her. Blake was just the first one that had been different. She couldn't explain it, but whatever it was that had caught her interest in him seemed gone now. When she'd said she wanted to be with him forever and said "I do" she'd meant it...but now forever seemed to be getting short.

She shrugged when he mentioned his "plan" to stay single. Maybe he had a point. She wasn't a good advocate for commitment, that was sure. She sighed and looked away at the water again as a few of the surfers met her eye and smiled at her. She couldn't say it wasn't something she was used to. She was an attractive girl after all...almost girl next door like..though she didn't have an inflated ego about it either.

[stephanie michelle davis]

It seemed almost strange for Lucas to be actually having a conversation with someone without throwing stabs and trying to strike up an arguement. He just loved talking to Ava for some reason, she seemed to understand him which was odd considering the fact that nobody seemed to understand him. "Are we honestly having a meaningful conversation here? Better not have this getting out in the open...People might look at me as softer than I am." He laughed a bit getting more comfortable next to her.

The sad thing was when the two of them were together they seemed to know what the other was thinking without even needing to say anything. He used to like throwing a few punches her way, but didn't know how to do it in this sort of setting. Having her at the beach sort of threw him off considering he wasn't seen by the waters much.

[ava louise riley]

"Are we honestly having a meaningful conversation here? Better not have this getting out in the open...People might look at me as softer than I am."

Ava laughed too and nodded. "I think..we are." she replied, laughing some more before raising a hand in promise. "Don't worry, though. You're secret is safe with me." She lowered her hand again and smirked a little at him. Then out of no where she said, "Thanks...It feels good to talk to someone."

She looked at him and laughed again knowing she was getting sappy. She looked from him to the water and smiled to herself, pulling her knees to her chest and wrapping her arms around them. "So what's new with you?" she asked him, curiously. "What brings you here on such a nice day?...Minus it being a nice day, obviously."

[stephanie michelle davis]

"Eh, I know I can trust ya. I tell you what though, if people start calling me a pansy or some shit like that you're the one i'm gonna blame. Better hope those lips are as tight as the legs." He gave her a quick wink with a playful nudge. He never really thought about trying to score with Ava since they'd met, he would if he ever got the opportunity, but in the end the thought seriously never seemed to cross his mind. She was most definitely worth looking at though, and for some reason he had a hard time looking away for too long.

"God forbid a man goes outside when it's nice on." He laughed as he shrugged thinking about why he'd actually been down at the beach. "Water is calming or something right? Isn't it supposed to be some sort of fucking therapy? Thats why people go all out and get those damn fishtanks..." He was just throwing shit together right now. "Honestly have no idea why i'm down here to be honest. Just started walking and never stopped." Truth be told he was avoiding going home dealing with everything that was going on with Madison.

[ava louise riley]

"Eh, I know I can trust ya. I tell you what though, if people start calling me a pansy or some shit like that you're the one i'm gonna blame. Better hope those lips are as tight as the legs."

Ava laughed as he wink at her, shaking her head a little. "Consider them super glued...metaphorically, not literally." She then decided to add to her comment.."..and no, not in a kinky way either." She shook her head again, laughing a little more as she looked again from him to the water. She couldn't believe people were swimming...She guessed the water was freezing.

"God forbid a man goes outside when it's nice on."

"But you? Daylight?...Kind of a scary thought, Mr. North.." Ava teased, nudging him in the sight gently. It was fun playing around with him because he'd just send it right back. And it was all innocent, no subtext at all.

"Water is calming or something right? Isn't it supposed to be some sort of fucking therapy? Thats why people go all out and get those damn fishtanks..."

She laughed again at his lame excuse. "Right..Well I should really call whoever said that and give them a piece of my mind because I don't feel very calmed.." she said honestly, though in a joking tone too. She never took herself too seriously, at least lately. Where was the fun in that?

"Honestly have no idea why i'm down here to be honest. Just started walking and never stopped."

She sighed before finally nodding. "Me too." she said with a small shrug. "Not sure how long I'm staying though.."