Bad Waves

[Ava Logan]

As one might expect from a law student there was quite a lot of work and studying to be done and there were no scruples with this but it meant that there was very little time for a social life. At the beginning of the year Ava understood this and had followed this with the exception of some evenings when she needed to get out but now she made a commitment to spend time with someone. Granted, Ava liked this person or she would not have been best friends with him for a vast majority of her life and certainly would not be dating him as she supposedly was now. Doing this, dating your best friend, was not as easy as those horrible cliche movies had depicted. It wasn't that she thought it ought to be but she didn't feel like they were an actual couple because it was strange to hold his hand and to make kissing him mean something more than just a pre-cursor to sex and Ava didn't see that anything was going to change so as she walked through the cool streets of California she thought of how she would end her relationship with him delicately so they could go back to what was their norm. It may be more affectionate than friendships other people had but this way they weren't pretending to be something they were not. Avalyn hoped that Tristan didn't take this personally but they were just better off so neither would get hurt more than they needed to be. It was pre-emptive dumping, so to speak. Although Avalyn was sure that it would be uncomfortable at first it needed to be done because it seemed that Tristan's brother was more invested in this relationship than either of them were and though it was no ones fault it was still exceedingly strange.

Sooner than the blonde had wished, she was outside of Tristan's apartment and knocking on the door in a way that almost sounded morose. Ava Logan fixed the purple hat that rested upon her blonde curls as she waited for the door to open, well aware that she had a key but in almost the whole time that Tristan had lived in this apartment she had brought it with her once as she had known that she would have to let herself in but now hardly felt like it was her place to barge in when she was about to end this attempt in a relationship. Whilst she waited, Ava stuck her cold hands into the pockets of her grey coat.​

 

[Tristan Finch]

Tristan’s eyes dragged dully across the miniscule print, the mundane words clouting him with such a sense of fatigue that he had to reached out across his dinner table and grab at the half-drunken mug of coffee; his umpteenth for that day. The facts bestowed in the textbook before him seemed unable to lodge in his head for the louder thoughts that were marching around inside, reprimanding him for thinking entering in to medicine would be a good idea. The gruelling study almost made Tristan wish he’d chosen to make a living working at the gas station instead. Or better yet, that he wasn’t a squib so he could go around blasting spells to earn his dough – Izaak truly took his magical abilities for granted. The twenty one year old sighed jealously into the ceramic mug as he lifted it to his lips and took a sip of the stone cold liquid. Tristan found himself noting, once more, as he pulled a face that had he not been a squib, he wouldn’t have this problem either. He’d be able to simply whip out his wand and all would be well again.

But beneath what complaints he may have been making about his deprivation of magic, Tristan was truly grateful for the childhood he’d lived separately from his brother and sister. Without it, he never would have met Ava. Propping his chin up in the palm of his hand, a mellowed expression drifted across the youngest Finch’s features as thoughts of his pressing exams were swapped for those of his divine girlfriend. Their relationship had taken a surreal turn following the events of his brother’s wedding and still hadn’t retained the comfortable nature it had held before then. It was strange to share leisurely kisses with her and call her pet names and venture out on dates because, quite frankly, Tristan didn’t know how to be in a relationship – especially not one with his very best friend. It was as if nothing had changed when everything obviously had and that came with a particularly awkward backlash. But the young man was determined to make this work; he had secretly wanted this for years after all, right?

Before Tristan had the time to formulate an answer to his own question, a gentle knock at the door disrupted him. A good kind of disruption though, a tangible one that would distract him further from the mountain of books layered upon his dining table. His first thought as he rose from his chair, gingerly stretching his cramped limbs, was that it was Ava. But the closer he walked towards his apartment door, the more he wondered why she would knock when she could enter of her own accord. Figuring that it must have been another friend, perhaps even his landlord, Tristan pulled open door to a pleasant surprise. “Hey baby, I was just thinking about you.” He smiled, genuinely happy to see her, before leaning in a little more awkwardly to press his lips against her cheek. “You didn’t have to knock, you know.” The young man chuckled, holding the door open for his girlfriend to walk on through.

 

[Ava Logan]

Although Avalyn was committed to ending this bletcherous relationship she felt guilty, like she was abacinating her poor friend because even if he didn't know how to act within this relationship it could hurt him. But the blonde knew that if she was preventing anything worse from happening between them. So now they could at least try to return to where they had been. Egos may be bruised by there was no difference other than a few sparsely used nicknames. It wasn't that Ava demanded to be treated a certain way she just knew this was not a relationship, not a functional one anyway. This sense of guilt only worsened when Tristan opened the door and looked truly elated to see her. She nearly winced when Tristan kissed her cheek, it was uncomfortable but still sweet. "Oh yeah?" she retorted without her all her natural excitability in her voice, instead it was just hollow. "I was thinking of you too, Tristan," Ava added honestly, hoping that maybe the expression - or lack thereof - in her voice would speak everything that she had to but did not want to. If they were thirteen this would have been much easier because most conversations between couples at that age are through the same sex best friends that you eventually loose contact with during high school. But they were not, so she was here, nodding her head knowingly. "I know."

This was all the blonde woman said as she walked in, taking Tristan's hand in her own so she could lead him to his couch to talk quite seriously about this whole thing. "Take a seat, Tris, we need to talk," Ava said, as she sat on the couch unbuttoning her coat as she waited for her friend to sit beside her, hoping that he would understand that for once she need to be the ever-talkative one. Whilst the girl, the young muggle, waited she rubbed her rose dusted cheeks with the palms of her cold hands. Ava put her hands back on her lap rubbing the denim of her jeans anxiously as she looked anywhere but in Tristan's direction, unaware that to an idle spectator of their lives it would seem that perhaps she had been deceitful or unfaithful to the azure eyed man because guilt was easily read in different ways and the words she had spoken 'we need to talk' never meant anything positive for relationships. It almost made her glad that she had decided not to tell her family about this when they'd last visited because they all adored Tristan and would have been pressuring them for a summer wedding and children from the first mention of his name. Her dear friend had charm, she had to give him that, but even he could not charm his way out of seeing that this was just not for them. But after this there would be no afternoon delights or anything of the sort between them, they would both have to have more boundaries than before which would probably be more easily dealt with than the transition to a real relationship for the couple. With this decided she now looked at Tristan expectantly.​