“Home is a place..." [Ava&Lance]

[ava louise riley]

“...you grow up wanting to leave, and grow old wanting to get back to.”

Ava hadn't gone for a run in ages and knowing that bothered her dearly..mostly because she was feeling fat and ugly already due to her pregnancy, which in reality was hardly the case. She'd barely gained any weight at all. Still, in her rare free time amongst school and working, she'd decided to go running through the park.

Wearing a pair of black yoga pants and a white t-shirt, her hair in a ponytail, she soon came to the park. She'd barely left the apartment and already she was exhausted. Ugh. She was so out of shape, but that just motivated her more to push herself into it...Carefully, of course. She was happy about being pregnant and she knew that meant being careful not to go overboard as she normally did, giving everything 110 percent.

Sighing as she looked out at the path, she grabbed her water bottle from her running belt and took a drink.

[lance warren wright]

Lance had regretted not going with Rachel back home so while he was at their place alone for a few days he got rather bored. He decided to call in and see if he could get the next few days off his boss was happy to oblige. Lance had found the first flight out, but hadn't told Rachel about it. He wanted to suprise her by 'bumping into her' somewhere. Once Lance had gotten back in town he had gotten a hotel for a day just to relax and sight see by himself for a bit before meeting up with Rachel.

Lance found himself out at the park shooting some hoops with a few old friends he had phoned up. He was having a good time and kicking ass like old times. As the guys were wrapping it up and deciding on where to go to eat a girl caught Lance's eye. The goofy grin of his came to his lips as he noticed it was Ava. He grabbed his bag and put it over his shoulder jogging easily over to her. Lance was glad he had kept in shape while living up in NYC. As Lance pulled up beside Ava he looked down and smiled seeing how hard she was concentrating on the path ahead of her.

He nudged her in the side with his elbow but stayed silent as he attempted to keep a straight face forward.

[ava louise riley]

When he'd seen her, she'd completely not seen him, which was funny considering how perceptive she normally was to her surroundings. She liked knowing what was going on...mostly because she scared so easily it wasn't funny! And that was just what happened as Lance nudged her.

Her water bottle falling to the ground, Ava almost choked turning to see who'd nudged her. She was surprised to see just who it was...Wasn't he suppose to be..? Like in a completely different place? "What...?" Words were lost as she just looked at him, then at the water bottle that had fallen. She let out a small laugh, then pulled him into a hug. She released, then smiled as she looked at him again and spoke. "Hey!" she said, still surprised. "What are you doing here?" she asked, picking up the bottle.

[lance warren wright]

Lance knew how easily she scared which could have constituted what he had done as mean but it was Ava she was cool. He laughed with her as she dropped the water bottle. The look on her face was absolutely priceless. He hugged her back lifting her off the ground slightly before setting her back down. "Gosh Ava you have always been good with words haven't you?" He smirked teasing her as he placed his arm around her shoulder in a friendly gesture as they walked and talked.

"Yeah i'm supposed to be in New York right now, but you know me I get bored with out Rachel." He said shrugging his shoulders. "So I caught a flight out here to surprise her, but i decided to chill on my own for a day or two before bumping into my lovely bride to be." He said the smirk constantly plastered on his face as it always was.

"How is the lovely Ava doing?" He asked curiously as he cocked an eyebrow and looked down at her. "...and how's Blake?" He asked curiously not knowing about the current marriage to Jack situation.

[ava louise riley]

Listening to Lance talk, she could sense he was happy. And she knew Rachel was happy. She was glad. They deserved it. She just wondered if he was planning to see Kennedy and their son while he was in town. Had they even stayed in touch? Ava tried to stay out of that whole thing ever since her and Lance had repaired their friendship. Still, she was curious.

"Well, I'm sure she'll be very happy.." Ava replied with a wide smile, as she started walking along with him. The running could wait and being excited to see him, she couldn't stay still. "Speaking of the bride, did she tell you she wants to go backpacking for the honeymoon yet? Rachel Miles does not backpack...anywhere." She laughed and shook her head, thinking of their conversation. "But I guess Miss. Media-Mogul is a changed woman now.." she teased, referring to her friend's successful fashion line.

When he asked how she was, she was about to speak, then he mentioned Blake and again she couldn't speak. "Actually ..I haven't spoken to Blake.." she said, before answering the confused look on his face. "I guess Rachel hasn't told you." she said. "Um, we're divorced as of a few weeks ago." She filled in. "Things just sort of...faded I guess. Maybe we were too young when we got married, I don't know.." She paused thinking about it as she often did. She never could figure out just when things had died between her and Blake, the point where it had all..left, figuratively and literally speaking.

She took a deep breath. "But it's okay...and, I'm pregnant and with Jack again. It's good. Really, really good."

[lance warren wright]

Lance couldn't help but laugh with Ava at the backpacking idea. Sure Rachel had mentioned it but Rachel's version of "backpacking" was probably different than the normal, but that was okay with Lance because he would follow Rachel to the ends of the earth. As he walked and Ava started to talk about herself he listened to her intently. When he heard the news about the divorce a look of concern washed over Lance's face. He was about to ask if there was anything he could do for her until she went on about Jack. "I'm so sorry..." Lance simply stated about the divorce, "..but i'm glad you're happy." He said smiling giving her shoulder a light squeeze as they walked.

"Pregnant eh?" He asked smirking as he looked down at her. "Just a little heads up i'm gonna be the cool 'uncle' and spoil that child like crazy." He said grinning wickedly knowing it would mean a lot to Ava. Lance had always been good with children....except his son. Lance had stayed away from Kenn and kept contact to a minimum. The only contact he had was sending checks for his kid every month to help out. He was curious though to see his child while he was in town. Of course he would have to do this without Rachel's knowing. She had never really gotten over the fact that he had a kid with Kennedy. He felt bad though for never being in his son's life he regretted it, but knew it was for the best.

[ava louise riley]

When he mentioned being the "cool uncle", she laughed, though knowing he was being completely honest. She'd always thought of Rachel as a sister and so obviously Rachel was going to be the baby's aunt, possibly even godmother, and Lance would be the uncle. She grinned. "You'd better." she replied, laughing again. "Because when things get insane I firmly plan on sending him or her to visit his aunt and uncle in the city." She was only kidding, but knowing they would be there was a great relief. "Oh and you guys better come visit...Have I told you yet that I hate you being in New York? I never see you."

[lance warren wright]

He laughed along with Ava as she joked about sending her baby to them when things got chaotic. "Well not like we wouldn't mind that." He said grinning so wide. He was so glad to see Ava again he had missed having an old friend around. "I missed you." He said looking down at her and then back at the path they followed as they talked. They had gotten pretty far he hadn't noticed it cause he had been so involved in the conversation. He laughed once more and nodded, "I do regret leaving this place sometimes as well especially when it comes to good friends." He said truthfully as a serious face replaced his smile he had been wearing since he had seen Ava.

He did truly miss this town he had hardly any good friends back in the city. He had a few friends here and there but they were all coworkers and it's not like Lance went and did stuff with them after work. He knew Rachel had been worried about his no friend nature lately. Usually Lance was the outgoing guy making friends left and right and somehow he couldn't find himself doing that anymore. He sighed, "Can I ask you a question?" He asked curiously cocking an eyebrow as he looked down at Ava.

[ava louise riley]

When Lance said that he'd missed her, she nodded. "I missed you too." she said, seriously, thinking about the last time she'd seen him, though she could barely remember it. It had been too long ago..far too long ago. She listened as he said that he sometimes regretted leaving and she nodded, trying to lighten the mood. "But you look happy..I mean, you're happy, right?" she said, smiling at him.

She didn't want to believe it, but there was a sadness in his eyes that she hadn't seen before. Was the grass not as green on the other side as she'd hoped? "Shoot." she said, stopping on the path and turning to him so they could talk together.

[lance warren wright]

"Okay I need you to not alarm Rachel about this because I don't even know what this is at the moment." He said quickly to Ava knowing he wasn't making sense but it would in a moment. "Okay...so i'm having second thoughts about the wedding..." He said trailing off as he looked away from her not wanting to see her reaction as he told his friend this terrible news. He didn't know what it was, but he didn't see the marriage going well. He wasn't happy now and they hadn't even said I do! He loved Rachel to death he just wasn't sure the romantic aspect of the relationship was left. He thought she was beautiful and could have any guy she wanted but she picked a loser like him. One that could never know what he wanted and change his decision at the last crucial minute.

He let out a huge sigh as he cracked his knuckles out of bad habit, "I just don't know what to do. I can't tell Rachel cause I don't want her to worry about it and I don't want to upset her i've already done that one too many times." He said clenching his fists a few times. He was so nervous about this whole situation. He finally shut up so Ava could say something about this tremendous load of information he had laid on her. It was all bad too. He felt bad that he had to come to Ava about this but he had no one else to turn to besides Rachel because he had alienated himself from everyone else in his life....even his own son.

[ava louise riley]

Ava watched every expression in Lance's face as he started talking, but she was confused..until he said that he was having second thoughts. No. This couldn't be happening. Lance and Rachel weren't exactly the perfect couple, but who was, right? They could make it work...unless Lance's unhappiness was do to that. A marriage, a relationship couldn't just be one-sided and she'd learned that the hard way. It took two people.

"Lance you have to say something...before this goes any further.." Ava said to him, knowing this was going to kill her best friend. "The girl is planning backpacking trips! And the longer this goes on the worse it's going to be..." She looked down at the ground, shaking her head a little as she thought about this again, wondering why he'd be feeling like this. She looked up again at him. "This has to do with Kennedy, doesn't it?" she asked him. Kennedy now worked at the diner and she ran into the girl a lot since Jack owned the diner and well, now she sort of did too. That wasn't to say they were best friends.

[lance warren wright]

He sighed as he placed a hand over his face taking a deep breath, "I can't hurt her again Ava. I love her I truly do, but I don't know if I can marry her. She's an amazing person and i'm the last person she deserves. She deserves something so much better." He said pouring out what he truly believed. He knew Rachel could do much better than him. He kinda felt bad she had taken him back at this point. He couldn't cheat on her and he wouldn't, but ending their relationship was just as bad. He couldn't see her hurt and he knew once and if he ended things the chance at being her friend were slim to none. "It's going to be bad either way....but I can't see that hurt expression on her face. I can't know that she cries over me cause i'm not worth crying over. I just can't put her through this again." He said referring to the last time he had crushed Rachel. He felt like a monster.

When Ava mentioned Kennedy's name his heart skipped a beat. He cursed himself for letting that happen. "I ran into her, but that girl won't talk to me. I don't know why I can't just leave things be with her, but she just draws me in." He said shaking his head knowing he was being an idiot. "I want to be in my son's life....I just don't think Kennedy will let me in again." He said quietly, "I'm sorry I shouldn't be talking about her I know you don't like her and I don't blame you." He said looking at Ava for a moment before looking back at the ground, "You must hate me." He said quieter as he squeezed his eyes shut. He was so disappointed in himself for feeling the way he was. "God damn why does this have to be so complicated?" He exclaimed as he looked up at the sky like it was going to just give him an answer.

[ava louise riley]

Ava couldn't believe what she was hearing; she didn't want to be hearing it. She was horrible with these types of things and keeping all this from her best friend was even harder. "Lance, if you don't do it, end this, then who will? You can't start off a marriage unhappy...because even if you think it will get easier and maybe better, it won't." She sighed, thinking about her marriage with Blake. It hadn't exactly been the same since it had been great at first then gone sour, but still. "Marriage is tough and if it's not working at the start, it's only going to fall apart later. Trust me once money and kids and all that comes into play, things change and holding it all together has to be the fact that no matter what, you're willing to love and cherish her forever."

Ava shook her head, realizing how corny she was being, but it was really how she felt. "Hurt her now or do it later..." she said. "It's all the same in the end, only if you do it now, maybe she can move on." She pulled him into a hug again as he seemed to be falling apart in front of her. "I love you and I love Rachel and I just want you both to be happy." she told him, letting go. "And if that isn't together, then I can't stand up there and be Rachel's maid of honor."