Here With Me

March 17th, Sunday

I could feel a hand on my wrist, the fingers pressing against my skin. "What are you doing?" A female voice asked.

"Just making sure she's still alive."A male voice replied, placing my wrist back down beside me.

A loud sound of a smack came immediately after.

"I'm kidding!" He laughed.

Slowly I opened my eyes; my vision still a little fuzzy. Two figures stood over me as I was now waking up on the couch. "Oh good, she's alive!" Kennedy laughed.

"Avery, sweetie. Are you okay?" Gemma smiled softly as she knelt down beside me. I furrowed my brow and just stared at her.

"Oh no." Kennedy gasped.

Gemma turned and looked over her shoulder at him, "What?"

"We're too late. She's brought out the Barbra Streisand movies." He held up a pile of DVDs. She looked back at me with a concerned look on her face. I grumbled as I sat up, pushing the blankets and comforter off of me. "What are you guys doing here?"

"Well, we were worried about you. Avery...it's that bad, huh?" She sat down beside me as Kennedy looked around the living room. I shrugged my shoulders, feeling over-tired and drained.

"Barbra's always been her giveaway." Kennedy sighed, watching us.

"And Blue Valentine? Ave, this has to be like, the worst movie to watch right now." Gemma sighed, taking the DVD case from Kennedy.

"Uh...how'd you get in?" I asked, dragging my hand through my hair.

"Spare key." She replied. I just nodded.

"Have you been on this couch the whole time?" She asked. I sighed and shook my head, "No, I was in the bedroom for a while, I just wanted to watch some movies, so I came out here...last night."

She slowly nodded and looked me over, "Well we wanted to come see you. How are you doing?"

Pulling my knees close to my chest and hugging them, I looked down. "Not too good." She half-smiled and took my hand in hers, squeezing it gently. "You and Hudson haven't spoken since it happened?"

Again I shook my head, "I called him Friday night. It went straight to voicemail, so I left him a message. He never got back to me."

She looked down. "I'm sorry...but we came over to spend some time with you, to talk if you want to. Have you had dinner yet?"

"No." I replied.

"Well then how 'bout this; I run you a bath, Kennedy will start dinner and we can spend the evening together?" She smiled softly. I thought for a moment and then nodded, smiling back at her. "Okay."

So she ran me a warm bubble bath and lit some candles to help me relax. While I sat in the tub soaking in the warmth of the water, she stayed with me and we talked.

"He just needs his time, Avery." She spoke.

"I know. I just wish I hadn't been so stupid and careless. Then things wouldn't be this way." I sighed, watching the bubbles in my hand dissolve.

"Well, I think this time, this break, is good for both of you. I know it may not feel like it now, but you're giving yourself that time to focus on your feelings. And I know both of you, you're mad, passionate lovers like Romeo and Juliet. Things will work out. I know it." She smiled, taking a lock of my hair and wrapping it around her finger.

"I hope you're right." I reaching behind my neck and undoing the clasp of the necklace he brought back for me, I handed it to her. "He brought this back for me, from England. I think he had it custom made."

She smiled and she studied the small details of the charm. "This is so pretty." I just nodded. After a small pause, she looked back at me and bit her lip. "Avery...I know this might be a bit of a personal question, so you don't have to answer it if you don't want to, but we all know that Hudson's pretty...well...wealthy. How did he acquire all this wealth?"

"Hudson's grandmother's name was Anne Spencer, she was a cousin to John Spencer, Diana's father-"

"Diana as in...Princess Diana?" She furrowed her brow.

"Yeah. Anyways, Anne married a pilot named Timothy Holbrook Hudson and they later had Claire; Hudson's mother. So he's kind of distantly related to the Spencer family, he just doesn't have a title or anything like that. And prior to him and I meeting, he was the UK's most eligible bachelor. But with the wealth thing, aside from Charles being successful on Wall St., Claire had put away a trust fund for Hudson and in her will, left everything for him."

Gemma stared at me, her eyes wide and her mouth slightly open. I just smiled, "I wore that same expression when he first told me."

"That's...that's kind of crazy..." She smiled.

"It is. I try not to think about it." I lightly laughed. "It's still difficult to adjust to everything."

"I bet. So Claire left everything to him, he doesn't have any brothers or sisters?" She asked.

I shook my head as I gently scrubbed a loofa along my arms. "No. He has a step sister, but he hates her. So do I. He's an only child. One time he told me that because he was sent away to boarding school not long after his mother passed, he became very lonely. He said that Jules became his only true friend; and they met in Culinary school."

"How long was he in boarding school?" She asked with a sad look on her face.

"Five years. He went when he was 13 and graduated when he was 18. He then went to St. Andrews University afterwards, but only for a semester. He dropped out. Then he went to Le Cordon Bleu."

"Whoa, that's...incredible." She stared off into space.

A loud clatter then came from the kitchen. Gemma started to laugh, "I should probably go check on him, I'll be right back."

So she left and I let out a sigh, resting my head back on the porcelain. My poor Hudson was lonely. It breaks my heart just thinking about it.

Sitting together at the kitchen island, we were having dinner and talking, but I was finding it hard to eat. Kennedy was laughing as he told us a story about a photo shoot he did recently, but then clapped his hands. "Oh yeah! I've got some good news."

"What is it?" I asked.

"I landed a gig for Italian Vogue." He grinned, "They're gonna feature me in the May issue."

"What? Ken that's great, I'm so happy for you. Good job." I smiled back.

"And we have another teeny bit of good news." He smiled, looking across the island at Gemma who was beaming. She then held up her left hand, showing a a gorgeous engagement ring. I gasped and covered my mouth. "You're engaged! Guys, I'm so sorry I've been such a drag this whole time. Congratulations!" I hugged her and then got up to go hug Kennedy. "I'm so happy for you both, when did you get engaged?"

"Last night." She smiled.

"We were gonna swing by and tell you, but we uh, got a little carried away with our own celebration." Kennedy smirked. Gemma blushed and scolded him.

"Aw, you guys, this is so sweet." I smiled.

"So we're gonna go to McGees this Friday, to celebrate with our friends. You up for going out?" Kennedy asked. "Hudson should be there, he said he would."

I bit my lip and thought for a moment. Gemma placed her hand on my shoulder, "Please Avery."

I then smiled and nodded, "Of course I'll go."

"That's my girl." Gemma grinned, hugging me. Kennedy got up and began clearing our plates and putting them in the sink. "You girls up for a movie? Or are you all movie-d out?" He asked.

I lightly laughed, "I can watch movies all day. What did you wanna watch?" We went into the living room and Gemma and I took a seat on the couch I was sleeping on. Ken went through the drawer of DVDs and took out a selection.

"Okay, so it's Sixteen Candles, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, or Breakfast Club." He held up the movies.

"Ferris Bueller's Day Off." Gemma and I replied.

"Reminds me of our college days." She smiled.

"We were such bad kids." Kennedy laughed.

"Yeah, we were." I lightly laughed, but I couldn't help but be distracted. If Hudson and I still remained...distant, and then we'd both end up at McGees this Friday...

Ugh, I just can't help but be nervous.