This Is Not the End

Jacky's POV

“Where's Elise, bro?” Ronnie asked me as I walked into the living room. He was sitting on the couch, eating cereal and watching TV. I walked over and sat beside him.

“I think she's hanging out with Ava.” I replied. “She might be bringing her over later.”

“Oh really know?” Ronnie said, turning to look at me with his eyebrow raised.

“Yeah... Max told me that she was giving her a second chance. She said that it wasn't Ava's fault about what happened. That Riley's friend was in on it and kept her from Elise.” I said

“And Riley would do that shit. He must have known that Elise wouldn't go anywhere without Ava.” he said.

“Yeah...” I muttered.

Elise finally got to the house around three. She was wearing a black tank top and jeans and had a bandage over her left forearm.

“Hey love!” I said as I approached her. I wrapped my arms around her and kissed her. I heard Ronnie gag from the couch. I flipped him off and turned back to Elise. “What happened to your arm?” I asked.

“Oh, Ava and I went to get tattoos. I got a phoenix.” She smiled. Ava walked in after her. She was carrying a few DVDs in one hand, and a grocery bag in the other.

“We brought movies!” she laughed as she shut the door behind her.

“And snacks!” Elise added as she flopped down on the sofa. Ava went to the kitchen and set the bag down on the counter and came back into the living room and sat next to Ronnie. Ronnie gave her a dirty look as she did.

“Do I know you?” she asked, sounding confused.

“No, but you know my brother.” Ronnie said coldly.

“You mean Riley?” she replied.

“Yeah, that's him.” he said with a hint of venom in his voice. I took a seat beside Elise and put my arm around her.

“I don't even fucking talk to him anymore. Not after what he did to me and Elise.” Ava said. I looked at her.

“What did he do to you? Give you bad dope?” Ronnie retorted.

“No. He tried to get into my pants after Elise left. He woke up and pushed me into the wall and shoved his hand up my shirt. I punched him in the junk and stormed out.” she replied. “I didn't know what he did to Elise until this morning.”

Ronnie said nothing and started flipping through the channels. Ava put her hand on his shoulder.

“I only hung out with him a few times... and, to be honest, he gave me the creeps.” she said.

“Yeah, he tends to have that effect on people.” Ronnie said. Silence fell over the room for a short time.

“So, what did you guys bring?” I asked, reaching for the DVDs that Ava had set on the coffee table

“'Paul', 'Grown Ups', and 'Get Him to the Greek'.” Elise said happily.

“We also bought popcorn, Skittles, M&Ms, Cheetos, and Sour Patch Kids.” Ava added.

“Your basic movie night foods, then?” Ronnie asked.

“Yep!” Elise said. “Do we want to order pizza for later?”

Everyone agreed and Ronnie got up and ordered three large pizzas, one with pepperoni, one with ham and pineapple, and one with everything on it. He came back into the living room with four cans of Coke and Ava put in 'Grown Ups'. I dimmed the lights as Elise went to the back to get some blankets. She came back with two and threw one over her and myself, and gave the other to Ronnie and Ava.

“I'm not sharing a blanket.” Ronnie said.

“I'm not poisonous... jeez.” Ava muttered, throwing the blanket over her and Ronnie. He rolled his eyes and pushed play on the DVD menu screen. Elise curled up next to me and rested he head on my shoulder and wrapped her arm around my waist. I kissed her forehead and smiled.

“Get a room!” Ronnie shouted.

“Get a girlfriend!” I retorted with a laugh. Ronnie flung a few pieces of popcorn at me and Elise, causing Ava to laugh. The pizza arrived and a fight ensued over the supreme pizza.

“Hey chickie, get your own fucking pizza!” Ronnie said, swatting Ava’s hand away.

“I like supreme though,” Ava laughed, reaching for a slice. Ronnie made to grab her hand, but it was too late. Ava had succeeded in taking some of Ronnie’s pizza. “Ha!” she gloated, poking her tongue out at him. Elise and I exchanged looks and went to our own pizzas. I had a pepperoni all to myself, and Elise had ham and pineapple.

We watched the remaining movies without another word. After the end credits to “Paul” had finished scrolling through, Ronnie flipped the DVD player off and switched it back over to cable and started flipping through the channels. Ronnie was really annoying when he had control of the remote. He never settled on any show in particular. He would watch one channel for a few minutes, and then changed it. There were many times where I wanted to rip the remote out of his hands and clock him over the head with it a few times over.

“Hey! I like that show!” Ava protested as Ronnie changed the channel again.

“Me too! Put it back!” Elise added.

“Too bad, I have the remote.” Ronnie said, waving the remote in the air in front of Ava’s face. Ava snatched the remote out of his hands and changed the channel back to the program she liked.

“Excuse me!” Ronnie shouted.

“What? Did you fart? You’re excused.” Ava said, not taking her eyes off the screen. I doubled over, clutching my sides in a fit of uncontrollable laughter.

Ronnie turned bright red, causing me to laugh even more. “No! Give me that back!” he said, sounding flustered. He leaned over and tried to take it from her, but Ava tucked the remote under the blanket and out of sight. Ronnie flung the blanket off of them and launched himself on top of her, in a mad attempt at retrieving it. Ava started laughing and tossed the remote aside, and it landed on Elise’s lap. Elise took it and flew up off the couch and ran toward the door. Ronnie realized that Elise had his precious and tried to get off the couch to go after her, but Ava seized him around the waist and yanked him back down on the couch. I stood up, avoiding the crossfire, and went to protect Elise. Ava was sitting on top of Ronnie as he struggled.

“Come on man!” Ronnie shouted, trying to get Ava off of him. “This isn’t right!”

“Aw! Poor Ronnie!” Ava laughed, leaning down to his face and kissing his cheek.

“EW! Get off of me, weirdo! I don’t know you like that!” he shouted.

“That hurts… Jacky, you see how he’s treating me?” she said in a tone of mock hurt.

“He’s secretly gay. Don’t take it personal.” I said with a laugh. Ronnie sat up, pushing Ava off of his stomach.

“Take that back! You know that’s not true!” Ronnie shouted. Elise stepped from behind me.

“It’s okay Ronnie! You’re among friends, you can be yourself.” She said with an unmistakable giggle. Ronnie looked outraged as we all laughed at his expense. Ava was absolutely dying and Ronnie started turning red in the face.

“I’m not gay!” Ronnie protested.

Ava patted his head. “It’s okay, Ronnie…” she said. Ronnie sat up and grabbed Ava, pulled her close to him, and kissed her. Elise stopped laughing at once and whistled. I remained silent, soaking in the absolute feeling of shock surrounding the moment. A few seconds later, Ronnie released her. Ava looked around looking baffled and turning pink in the face. She got up and bolted out of the room, covering her face, shielding her embarrassment.

“Wow…” Elise whistled, walking after her friend. I walked over and sat down next to Ronnie.

“I didn’t know you liked her. I thought you hated her.” I said.

“I never said I hated her. She’s just… made mistakes. She’s a pretty girl… and she seems sweet. I just hope I didn’t fuck up my chances with her.” Ronnie sighed.

“Only time will tell, man.” I said, patting his shoulder and passing him the remote. Ronnie laid back on the couch and covered his face in his hands. I stood up and went to find Elise and Ava. I found them in my room, sitting on my bed.

“Everything okay, ladies?” I asked.

“Yeah, everything’s fine. She’s just in shock.” Elise said. “She thought Ronnie hated her… after the Riley thing.”

“No, he doesn’t. Actually, he fancies her.” I said, sitting down on the bed. Ava looked at me.

“Really?” she asked. I nodded and her expression changed from shock to utter delight. She got up and ran out of the room. Elise turned to face me. I leaned in and pressed my lips to hers. She smiled into the kiss and wrapped her arms around my neck. I pulled her into my lap and wrapped my arms tightly around her waist. I pulled back and looked into her beautiful grey eyes.

“I love you,” I said. Elise stared at me in shock. She pulled away from me completely and ran out of the room. I ran after her, but by the time I made it to the living room, I heard the front door shut, and I heard a car start. I ran outside in time to see her peeling out of the driveway in the car that Max had left in her care.