Chapter 202 - Meanwhile...

"Hey, what are you guys doing here?" was the first thing Sebastian asked as he noticed the twins fighting over what to do while Connor simply gazed at them back and forth staring at them awkwardly.

"She wants to go to the mall" Ariel rolled her eyes pointing at Ava.

"Yeah, it's better than some lame park" Ava rolled her eyes.

"Don't you have a date you should be on?" Ariel snapped at her sister.

"Don't you have a boring essay to write?" Ava snapped back.

"Girls! Girls"! Sebastian shouted as he noticed things getting out of hand. "What… is happening?"

"We can't decide where to take Connor," Ava sighed.

"Did you… ask him?" Sebastian asked awkwardly. 

"Yeah, we did," Ariel sighed.

"He wants to go to that laser tag place" Ava sighed.

"So? Do that?" Sebastian shrugged, earning a dull expression from the twins. They looked at him as if he had lost his mind. "What?"

"Do you even know where that place is? It's a three hour ride away"! Ava explained.

"I see," Sebastian mumbled. He took a few steps towards Connor and spoke, "What else do you wanna do? Laser tag isn't an option". Sebastian mumbled.

After a careful thinking Connor answered, "I wanna talk to Dad" 

"That doesn't sound so bad" Sebastian smiled and looked at the girls. 

"Caleb is on a plane. Christian called him to go where he is and now he is gone too" Ariel sighed. "He sent me a text to look after him" She held out her phone with a sarcastic smile. "Apparently I am available at his service" she remarked followed by an eyeroll.

"Come on. You knew he wouldn't have asked you to do that if he had a choice" Sebastian snorted before becoming quiet. As the idea hit him, he realised that he was so concerned with avoiding Christan that he didn't even realise that Christian was gone.

After a lot of debate they finally agreed to go to an ice cream parlour. Connor took almost everything in the mix. While Ava got chocolate while Ariel went for a mix of Butterscotch and pistachio. Meanwhile Sebastian took simple vanilla. As they had their ice cream suddenly Ava froze in her spot.

"Brain freeze?" Ariel, who noticed her sister, asked. She gently shook her head and gestured at her back. There stood the same guy whom Ava declared as a mate. "Isn't that…"?  Before she could finish herself, Ava cut in

"We need to leave. Now" Ava dragged Connor who was sitting right next to her and Sebastian and Ariel tried to follow her. Sebastian shot a quick apologetic nod towards the unnamed guy before he ran out of the parlour.

"What's going on?" Ariel asked Ava when she finally stopped running. "I mean, I know you avoided him at the ceremony? But why now? Aren't you… happy to have a mate?" She asked.

"I don't know," Ava sighed. "I never imagined I would have a fated mate. They are really rare. I am twenty three, I pretty much gave up on that idea" Ava shrugged.

"So what?" Ariel frowned. "You remember Caleb's friend? He told me that she met her mate when she was twenty two".

"I know! People meet their fated mate even at 50" Ava groaned. "But, I probably didn't wanna wait till 50" she shrugged. Ariel frowned and so did the awkward spectators who decided it was better not to butt in.

"What I am trying to say is, I have a boyfriend." Ava sighed. "His name is Ben. He goes to my uni, and… things have been going pretty great. He is a human, so he won't get all this mate stuff, and… I don't know how to break up with him". She sighed. 

"So you don't wanna hurt him," Ariel sighed.

"Of course I don't. He is a great guy. And, just because I have a mate doesn't mean I can just walk all over him just like that. I need to justify it properly" Ava shrugged. 

"What about him?" Ariel asked. "I mean, I get it… but, don't you think you should tell him, your mate I mean, about this. Won't he be confused?" 

"Ian. His name is Ian. I did talk to him that evening. I said I need a bit more time, but it's still awkward being around him." Ava sighed. "I haven't even told mom yet. You know how protective she is, she will definitely freak out" Ava groaned. "When did relationships get so complicated?" she groaned. 

"How would I know? I have never been in one" Ariel shrugged. "Don't worry sis, you will figure it out". She hugged her twin sister from the side.

"Tammy!" Suddenly, Connor shouted looking at the distance. They noticed it was none other than Matt, who was carrying his baby daughter on his head. Connor didn't have a lot of friends, however Tammy was definitely a friend of his. She was younger than him, but nevertheless with her energetic attitude they got along well. 

Matt, upon hearing Connor approached them, "Hey, what brings you here?" He asked.

"We were just… playing around I guess" Ava shrugged. "What about you? When did you get back?" Ava asked cheerfully. 

"This morning. Man, it's been eight years, and Courtney is still not fond of me" Matt groaned. 

"I mean… you did knock up her daughter" Sebastian decided to chip in and tease.

Matt shot him a glare before answering, "She is my wife!" He sighed. "Anyways, I do miss her though, but I know she is more comfortable at her parent's house… so I get Tammy for two weeks" he informed the lot with a smile.

"It's been a while," Connor smiled.

"Conni!!" Tammy shouted from Matt's head who finally noticed the tiny boy between all the adults. "Tammy missed you"! She chirped.

All the adults started cooing at her adorable call. "Where is Caleb?" Matt asked. Ava explained how he had to leave abruptly so they were tasked with watching over Connor. "If you want, I can watch them?" Matt offered. 

"You sure?" Ava asked and Ariel gazed at him with delight. 

"Yeah, with Tracey back at her house, I do have time. Also, I think Tammy would love to play with Connor" he shrugged.

"Thank you so much" Ava gave him a quick tight hug before disappearing.

"That was fast," Ariel mumbled while staring at Ava's back. 

"Well, I should get going I guess. Come on Connor" Matt put out his hand to hold Connor's hand and took them away together.