Page 60 of Alpha & Omega

“Oh!”

“It’s been eight fucking years, Ava. What the hell are you doing here?”

Her gray-blue eyes darted left and right down the street before she looked forward, staring at her feet.

Ava had aged a bit, but she was still recognizable. She kept her light-brown hair longer than before and pulled into a ponytail, and she stood half a foot shorter than me. She also appeared much thinner than she used to be.

Despite the years, she looked good, which only pissed me off more. I always imagined the worst, like she fell into drugs and died or got into a car accident… something, anything to explain her actions away. But no, she looked perfectly good and normal.

“What. The. Hell. Are. You. Doing. Here?”

“C-can I come… in?”

“No.”

She nodded and wrung her hands again. “I came here to… fix things.”

“After eight fucking years?”

She glanced around at her surroundings again before looking at me with pleading eyes. “Please, can we talk inside?”

“You have ten minutes. My boyfriend is here, and Hudson is sleeping.”

“Thank you.”

I stepped aside and led her into the kitchen. “Nice place.”

“I’m not going to ask how you found me. Out with it. Why are you here?”

Ava took a shuttered breath and nodded, sitting down at the table. I poured myself a cup of coffee, adding some sugar and creamer to it. I didn’t offer her any.

“H-how is he? H-hudson?”

“None of your fucking business. Spill it.”

“I… I know you’re angry, and you have every right to be, but—”

“No, Ava. I’m not only angry. I’m baffled, frustrated, and hurt. And right now, I’m in protective mode over Hudson.”

“We’d been so young, Harley, and we really struggled and… I didn’t feel like I was cut out to be a mama. You knew I never wanted kids…”

“We were fucking eighteen. You chose to keep Hudson.”

“Exactly. We were so young. Just that night… Hudson had been so sick, and I was so tired. You were in school and… I couldn’t breathe, filled with so much despair, frustration, and… I’m not trying to make excuses… just telling you where my head was at.”

I took a sip of coffee and sighed. “You’ve got seven more minutes.”

She quickly nodded. “Right. So that night after you got home, I just ran. I had everything packed up already. I… needed to breathe. The walls felt like they were closing in, and…”

I set my mug too hard on the table, sloshing the coffee. “Dammit!” I hissed as I stood to grab some paper towels to clean up my mess. “Youneeded to breathe? You left me alone with a hurt child, crying for his mother for fucking months!” I was being too loud, so I toned down my voice. “Do you have any idea of what we went through, you selfish piece of…”

Tears sprung in her eyes, making the blue stand out more.

“I know… I don’t have any excuse.”

“Why are you here now, after all this time? Why do you suddenly care now?” I asked, feeling exhausted.

Her lip trembled, and some tears slipped. “I’m dying… like, really soon. I’ve been diagnosed with metastatic melanoma. It’s… advanced.”

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