She knew it wasn't her place to pry, but she had been so curious to find out the truth that she ended up texting the number Ethan had given her for his associate. Dalton? Deacon? Dylan.

"Is he dead?"

She didn't really expect a response. She thought herself kind of rude for asking, especially over a text message.

"Yes." Her breath caught in her throat at the reply.

So it's true. Ethan really is dead, and only minutes after I saw him. She had known Gunner wouldn't lie about something like that, but in the back of her mind she had hoped it had been some kind of mistake.

"I'm sorry." She offered, not actually knowing how close they were or how the loss affected him. She waited for a reply that never came. When her phone finally dinged, she jumped at it, feeling a slight jab of disappointment at Emma Decody's name on her screen.

"Can I come over?" Ava bit her lip, staring at the screen. She wasn't sure how to respond.

When Emma had first moved to the United States nearly five years prior, the pair had become fast friends, they'd been almost inseparable. In the months since Ava's mother had been murdered, their friendship had fallen apart- slowly at first, and then all at once. Ava strayed away from almost everybody besides a select few. The fewer the people she surrounded herself with, the fewer there were to appease and lie to. After the first few months of trying to stay in contact, Emma had gotten the hint and eventually given up.

The message currently displayed on Ava's phone screen was the first message Ava received from her old friend in ages. She figured Emma must really need something if she was attempting to reach out again.

"Okay." Ava replied quickly. She cursed to herself, remembering that Gunner would be arriving within the next ten minutes. "Gunner is going to be her as well."

"Nevermind." The response was almost instant. Ava's brow furrowed. Emma had never had a problem with Gunner in the past. What could be so secretive that Emma won't talk about it in front of Gunner?

"Are you okay? I could ask him to go home." Ava offered. She'd feel like a gigantic douchebag, but she'd do it.

"No, I'm fine. I shouldn't be talking about it anyway." That sounds suspicious as fuck, Ava thought to herself.

"Emma, please tell me what's wrong." She pleaded, her fingers moving like lightning over the screen.

"Not over text. Can we meet tomorrow morning? At the cafe on Beaumont." Emma requested. Ava sighed and relented, happy that she was getting somewhere.

"Okay. 10:30?"

"See you then." Ava let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding and set her phone down after reading the text. She bit her lip, a nervous tic she had had since she was a child. Something was wrong with Emma, and she wanted to know what it was immediately. She groaned, knowing she was going to have to wait till tomorrow.

Her phone dinged once again, and Ava checked it expectantly.

"I'm here." Gunner. That was quick, she thought to herself.

Ava left the solitude of her room to greet her best friend at the door. His hair was sticking up all over the place, and his eyes seemed to be a bit redder than she had ever seen. Had he been crying, or is he just super high? Gunner looked rougher than she had seen him in ages.

"Jesus, dude. What happened to you?" He gave her a scathing look and she quickly shut her mouth, stepping out of the doorway to make room for him.

"Food's in the kitchen. Take whatever you want." She called softly as he stepped past her, knowing his way around the house as if it were his own. She made sure the locks on the door were in place before following him. "For real though, what happened?"

Gunner took a moment to respond, instead focusing on piling up his plate. Ava frowned when she realized that her father hadn't taken much food. She knew that this case revolving around Keith Summers was eating at him.

"I thought you were dead, Ava." Gunner finally snapped, frustration clearly evident in his voice. Now that he could see her, and see that she was perfectly fine, the anger he felt over her ignoring him had finally started circulating in his system.

"But it's okay, Gunner. I'm right here, I'm ok-" Gunner cut her off with a fierce glare.

"I didn't know that, Ava. The phone call with Ethan cut off before I could figure out who got shot, and then I tried calling you, your phone just kept ringing and going to voicemail, and my texts went unanswered. It took so long for you to answer. You can't do that, Ava. You can't. I spent a solid half hour thinking you were dead." He exploded. "You have no idea how afraid I was, Ava."

But she was starting to, the emotions clear as day painted on his face. She observed him in his entirety. He was tense, his grip on the countertop so tight that his knuckles were white. His face was flushed from his verbal explosion, and his eyes looked watery from tears he wouldn't let fall. Ava didn't know how to proceed, knowing that Gunner's feelings were coming and going a mile a minute. He wanted to be mad at her, to push her away and not speak to her, but he also wanted to scoop her up and hold her, making sure that no harm could come to her. He was relieved, pissed off, and everything in stared at him, unknown emotions filtering through her body.

Ava did what she thought would calm him down in that moment. She pulled him away from the counter with a gentle tug and buried herself into him, wrapping her arms around him tightly. He sighed deeply, but accepted the hug.

"I'm sorry, Gunner. I didn't know. I jus- I thought you were still wanting to talk about earlier, and I didn't want to talk about that." Ava explained as best as she could. "I know it's not an excuse and it was immature to ignore you. I promise not to do it again." She didn't know if she'd actually keep that promise, but she wanted to appease him in the moment. She knew he was most likely emotionally fried for the day.

"Thank you, Ava." He mumbled, squeezing her tightly, as if to make sure she was actually there.

"Wanna go find something on Netflix? Movie night?" Ava asked, detaching herself from him. He nodded, grabbed his plate of food and followed her to her room.

It had been an almost a weekly tradition before Gunner had started working for Gil. They would spend a night each week at each other's houses watching the lowest rated movies on Netflix with binge eating some form of take-out. Ever since Gunner agreed to work for Gil down in California, they saw way less of each other. For now though, Ava had her best friend to keep her company, her drugs to keep her mind settled, and some kick-ass Chinese food to fill her stomach.

Ava groaned when a pillow hit her square in the face, and her groan only deepened when she finally recognized the noise of her phone's alarm blaring annoyingly loud.

"Jesus Christ, Ava," Gunner grumbled, "How the hell do you sleep through that?"

"I don't know, I just do." Ava yawned, feeling around for the phone to shut it up. Once it was silenced, she felt around for the pillow that had been used to assault her.

Gunner finally started to move, dragging himself out of bed. Ava sat up a bit, watching him as she stretched in her spot. She winced as she felt her back pop in several spots.

"Why did we need to get up this early anyway?" He questioned, trying and failing at stifling a yawn of his own while rubbing the back on his neck.

"I'm meeting Emma at 10:30. I have to start getting ready." Ava explained, debating in her head if she could get away with five or ten more minutes of sleep.

"So that means I can go back to sleep?" He asked, making a move to get back into bed

"Not a chance!" Ava said indignantly. She launched the hidden pillow at him, a revenge attack for the pillow in the face earlier. Her plan hadn't fully been thought through though, as Gunner quickly ripped the warm comforter and sheets off of her.

"Get dressed, loser." Gunner ordered before falling back onto the bed, pulling the comforter up completely over his head to prevent any other attacks Ava may have had planned.

Even though she knew he couldn't see her, she stuck her tongue out at him, but climbed out of bed quickly, noting that her clock read 9:30.

"What the hell do you mean the carpet fiber is missing?" Ava cringed at the harsh tone of her father's voice that was practically radiated through the wall of his office into the kitchen where the pair was currently walking through. Ava glanced at the shut door and then back at Gunner.

"That doesn't sound good." Ava murmured, taking in the expression on Gunner's face. He was frowning. "You want something to eat?" She asked, trying to change the subject.

"Nah, thanks. I think I'm gonna head out. I don't want to be here when he finally comes out." Gunner grabbed his jacket off the back of the barstool in the kitchen, quickly shrugging it on. Ava nodded in agreement, deciding to go to the cafe earlier than need be as she didn't particularly feel like running into her father either.

"Think you could drop me off at that cafe on Beaumont?" Ava asked, giving him her best puppy dog eyes. Gunner fake sighed, but nodded.

"Let's go, Aves."

Although Ava had arrived early, Emma was already at the cafe, perched at a table with her laptop open in front of her. Ava waved at her in a silent greeting, opting to grab her usual chocolate croissant and cappuccino from the barista before she settled into her seat across from Emma.

"Hey Em, you look good." Ava greeted, setting her things on the table.

Emma smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. The knot in Ava's stomach from the night before returned, seemingly growing from the size of a golf ball into a tennis ball instantly. Emma was always happy, and when she wasn't, there was cause for concern.

"Hi Ava."

"So what's so super-secret that you couldn't say in front of Gunner?" Ava asked, fiddling with the lid of her cup.

Emma frowned, feeling the sting of hurt creeping through her at the thought of Ava continuing her friendship with Gunner, but not herself. She brushed it off as best as she could, reminding herself of the subject at hand.

"Do you know Norman Bates?" Immediately, Emma wanted to slap a hand to her forehead. Of course Ava Romero knew Norman Bates, or at least knew about him.

"Never been acquainted." Ava said, smiling wryly. Personally, she didn't want to be either. She'd seen the awkward boy around school, and once at a party right after he had moved to White Pine Bay. That didn't mean she hadn't heard plenty about the boy and his mother. The latter of the two was currently at the center of her father's current murder case. Oh yes, she had heard plenty about Norman Bates.

"Right, right. Okay." Emma sighed, "Ava, I need your help with something, like, I really need your help with something. But I can't tell you what it is until I have your word that you won't tell your dad, at least not yet."

"And this 'something' has something to do with Norman Bates, whose mother is being investigated for murder, and I can't tell my father, who is the sheriff?" Ava cocked her head, staring at her friend in disbelief. "Sorry Em, but I really don't think I can get involved in that kind of a situation."

"Ava, please." Emma groaned, "Just hear me out, it has nothing to do with his mom or the murder investigation."

Ava weighed her options. It was obvious Emma needed help, and badly. While most probably couldn't see it, Ava could see through her friend clearly even with their months apart. Emma was freaking out, in over her head with whatever situation was currently weighing her down. Ava wanted to help her.

On the other hand, Norman Bates being involved complicated things. His mother was currently under investigation for Keith Summers murder. She'd have to sneak around if she were to be gallivanting with Norman and Emma around town, because if her father knew she was hanging around Norman Bates...She shuddered at the thought.

It wasn't like she didn't keep things from her father, in fact, she kept a lot of things from him. This would just be another drop in the sighed as she made what she hoped was the right decision.

"Alright, Emma. I'm listening."

Hi guys! Happy 2020! Crazy. Lots and lots of stuff has happened in my life since my last update, (and I'm sure your guys' as well!) but here it is! I hope you haven't given up on me! I also truly hope you all are staying safe and healthy during this crazy time. I decided to use this time to try and pump out some new content. So my lovely readers, how was it?! Did you love it? Hate it? How do y'all like Ava? Anything you're curious about? Just super surprised to hear from me again? Let me know with some Reviews, Follows, and Favorites!

P.S. For those of you who had asked, Norma will be playing a part in this story- just you wait;)

Until Next Time, my Lovely Readers Xx