Bittersweet

Ava woke early the next morning as usual. She would of liked to have slept in with it being the weekend, but she and her parents had a plane to catch. Ava had already packed the night before stuffing items into a small duffel bag. She didn't find it necessary taking a suitcase, after all she wouldn't be staying long. As soon as the court case was finalized, she'd be returning back to Italy. Back to the same old boring life she was living now. By the time she'd arrived downstairs all dressed and prepared to leave, a set of confusion placed on the woman's face as her mother and father were nowhere in sight. She was expecting to meet them by the front door, but when she entered the dining room to see them both eating, Ava was a little surprised instead.

"Shouldn't we be leaving already?" she asked the elder couple. "We're going to be late."

"You mean you're going to be late?" Lucia said, not looking up from the newspaper she was reading. Ava frowned at them both as they were hardly paying any attention to her at all.

"Wait! You're not coming?" Ava replied with a bit of disappointment. She slumped her shoulders. "I thought the letter said we all had to go to London."

"The letter stated you had to leave Ava, me and your mother have other issues to attend that do not concern you. We settled things with the police before we even left from London. What happened with us and William is between the three of us. Same goes for you and William." Vincent explained. A set of anger appeared on their daughter's face.

"But we are a family, does this not matter to you?" Ava argued back. Lucia glanced up from her paper and sighed. She sat back up in her chair and listened carefully on what her daughter had to say. "This is a guy that has tormented you for months, he's wanted your money for years and you're telling me you have other concerns to attend to when this is far more important. Don't you understand? We get to see this guy go down for what he did even though I'm going to be asked lots of questions, I still need you to be there. I can't do this by myself."

"You won't have to be." Lucia said, raising from her seat and strolling over to her daughter. She placed her hands on Ava's shoulders offering her some comfort after seeing the distress look on her face. "Latoya is meeting you at the airport, you're going to be staying with her until the trial is done. We've been in touch and she'll be right there with you because she has also been asked to attend the stand as a witness." Lucia pulled her daughter into her chest and gave her a gentle hug. Ava simply stood still with her arms by her sides not bothering to hug back. "You'll be alright, I promise." Vincent also raised from his seat and made his way over offering his arms out to give Ava a generous goodbye hug.

"We'll see each other soon. You know where we'll be if you need anything." he said. Ava released from the hug and looked to both of her parents who had a look of shame written all over their faces. They honestly felt bad for making Ava go on her own, but this was something she would have to handle by herself as they were not needed. They knew she would be afraid; just as long as she had those around her, Ava would be fine.

"I just kind of hoped I would have your support by being there overall, but you can't even give me that. Sometimes I wonder, if you actually hadn't of given me up, maybe things would have turned out differently." she noted. She knew she was being a bit harsh. Ava gave her parents a small frown before walking away from them. She collect her bags from the hallway and left the house. Ava made her way over to the car outside. She didn't look back once as she quickly drove away, heading for the airport.

-

After Ava arrived at Venice Marco Polo Airport, she headed straight to check in before going through security. It wasn't too long until her flight departure got called out and she made her way to board her plane. Ava soon found her seat by the window and once she sat down, she relaxed. Her flight would roughly take 2 hours so by the time she arrived in London, it would be around noon. Once the plane started to take off, Ava closed her eyes in discomfort. She never liked flying alone and she was never keen on the take off, but by the time the plane was in the air, she'd be fine.

During the flight, Ava had begun reading a new book she had purchased back at one of the stores inside the airport to keep her preoccupied. While reading half way through the fourth chapter, Ava experienced some pain in her lower back which had began to irritate her, but she shrugged it off and told herself it was nothing. Although three chapters later, she had the same pain again and this time it lasted longer. The female dropped her book and shot up from her seat. Feeling sick, she ran to the back washroom where she vomited immediately. When she was done, Ava flushed the toilet and leaned against the wash basin. She took deep breaths before rinsing out the sickly vile taste from her mouth and then dried off. This was unnatural to Ava. She hardly got sick and she wasn't sure why this came on all of a sudden. When Ava returned back to her seat, she saw one of the flight attendants passing her way. The woman noticed Ava and became instantly concerned due to her pale face. "Is everything OK miss? You look quite peaky."

"Can I have a bottle of water please? I feel a bit unwell."

"I'll be back in one moment, we may have some medication for you as well."

"Thank you." Ava who remained still in her seat thanked the kind girl before she walked back to her trolley. Ava waited patiently for the flight attendant to return back quickly with the items before she would be sick again and she certainly hoped she wouldn't. The next hour would be a long one.

-

Ava landed at Heathrow Airport safely and surprisingly, she felt a lot better as soon as she stepped off of the plane. The medication the flight attendant gave her must have helped. She still had a bit of pain, but it wasn't as bad as it was on the flight. Ava collected her bag from luggage and went out to wait on the front where she hoped Latoya would be waiting for her. She looked around the area and searched for the brunette who appeared to be no where in sight. Ava frowned until at last she spotted someone standing by a lamppost. A tall girl who was grinning largely back at her, waved her hand at Ava. The female began to approach her before she picked up speed till she came nearer. Ava spread out her arms and the pair engulfed in a tight hug until the brunette finally let go.

"Oh god, it's so good to see you."Ava's friend said. "Jeez Ava, look at you. You look fantastic." the girl complimented. She glanced at Ava all over, taking in her new appearance. "I hardly recognised you over there for a second."

"Are you done? You know how I hate compliments, but thanks none the less. I appreciate them."

"Sorry, I've just missed you Ava and I'm so happy to see you, I'm glad my best friend is back." Latoya grinned, pulling the blonde in for another hug. Ava gave her a small squeeze.

"It's good to be back." Ava returned a smile to her friend and took a deep breath. Things were about to become a whole lot more serious.