It's been a while since I went to that wedding. I slowly settled with Jordi. I sent her to see that lawyer, Romeo Ferrari, because I didn't have time to go with her myself.

Jordi got her restraining order, and he helped her get settled here, she got herself an ID and officially moved here. Then, she contacted her aunt and went off to live with her in Alberta. I was honestly glad that she went to live with her aunt. She told me how grateful she was for everything I'd done for her and we promised to keep in touch, maybe even hang out some time.

The problem was that she was good friends with my ex. A man I never wanted to see or speak to again. He wasn't worth my time. He was bad for my mental health. The way he always got angry because I didn't give him what he wanted and then tried to make me feel bad about myself. It was just a pain.

She was going to meet Noah in Alberta and I was happy in Vancouver with my new life. Once she left, I felt like I finally had real peace. I was able to understand more about what really happened back in Canton. I didn't feel bad or hurt about it anymore, and Noah stopped bothering me after Gabriel spoke to him.

Then as time passed, I built a friendship with Gabriel. I trusted him, I just wasn't sure if I trusted him with my heart. I wasn't sure I trusted myself with giving my heart to someone, actually.

Gabriel was very patient. Every once in a while he'd ask if I was ready for more and I said no every single time. I had moments where I was too happy about seeing him to be rude, and we just sat down and talked a little. Then, there were other moments where I acted indifferent and annoyed by his presence. He knew I was partially joking, but I just didn't want to let him think he was getting to me. Which he totally was.

I was genuinely just scared. The man was too perfect. I couldn't find a single thing to be wary of. Other than the fact that he was excessively cheesy sometimes and acted like an annoying idiot, he was perfect.

Before I even knew it, many months had passed. And all of a sudden it was a whole year and a half since I'd met the guy and I was in bed weeping. I had just talked to him at the hospital about how I wouldn't want a relationship until after my residency ended. He accepted it, actually seeming happy that he had gotten a timeline for when we could begin our relationship.

I had six months left before my internal medicine residency ended. Dr. Ferrari had actually asked me if I wanted to join him in opening up a clinic with one other doctor. He said he was tired of long hours at the hospital and he wanted to open up a clinic closer to his place where he could be more easily accessible to his family. He wanted to split the hours so that we could all work fewer hours at the clinic and actually have personal lives.

Working at the hospital was actually exhausting, so of course, I was happy to decrease my hours and I immediately accepted his offer.

He was handling most of the legal stuff and dealing with getting the building and the clinic ready. I just had to sign in a few places. But now I knew I'd have more time to live a regular life outside of work. I had more time for a relationship and I was ready for it to be with Gabriel.

It may or may not have been that time of the month for me. But I was curled up in bed, hating myself for being a stubborn idiot and trying to plan how I would slowly ease into letting Gabriel in. I wished he could be more pushy. Yes, I was wishing that a man would be more pushy so I didn't have to worry about looking like I'd fallen for him, even though I definitely had.

I fell asleep after hours of exhausting myself with my insane thoughts about this man that I had accidentally fallen head over heels for. I decided to just go with the flow, and I waited for him to push for a relationship, which I wasn't sure he'd ever do.

We developed a catchphrase over the next few months. This man was something else.

One day, I was walking out of a patient's room and he hurried over, repeating my name.

"Ava! Ava! There's a problem!" He said urgently.

"What is it?" I asked in alarm.

"My brain! My head is spinning! Oh my God! Ava! My stomach feels weird and flip floppy! And my heart! It's skipping beats. I think I might pass out! Ava!" He said urgently.

"Oh my.... Gabriel... what?!" I asked him, looking around in shock.

"See what you do to me, Ava Dara?" He asked, suddenly standing tall and smiling.

"Gabriel!" I growled angrily.

"What's your diagnosis, Doc?" He asked me.

"Sounds like you have heat exhaustion.... go drink water and sit down." I said to him, knowing he was kidding and trying to be funny about his feelings for me.

"Ava! You're not a very good doctor are you?" He asked me.

"Shut up, idiot. You're so annoying." I sighed, pushing him away.

"Please, Doc. I need to be treated." He said to me.

"With what?" I asked him.

"A kiss?" He asked, pointing to his cheek.

"I think not... go away." I said, slapping him lightly on his cheek.

He gasped.

"Oh my goodness! I was touched by an angel!" He beamed.

"Oh my God... get lost." I said, rolling my eyes.

"Ava! Please, please, please! I want to go out for coffee and I want my favourite doctor to come with me." He begged.

"Gabriel... we talked about this." I said to him.

"I can't wait that long... you're taking forever to finish this residency... aren't you supposed to be smart? Speed time up with your smartness, Ava! Please!" He said to me.

"Gabriel! She has patients to see! Get lost!" Dr. Ferrari called out.

Gabriel groaned and then he leaned down, kissing my cheek and walking off.

My stomach dropped when he did that. It felt weird, like my stomach did this weird flip that made me shiver. I felt tingles in my neck and my head turned hot. I'd never felt that way.

The next day, he came back and he was rubbing his head. My heart squeezed at the sight of him and my stomach did something really strange when I saw him, but I ignored the feeling.

"Ava!" He whined.

"Gabriel!" I teased.

"You're cute." He chuckled, looking over at me.

"What's wrong with your head?" I asked him.

"I ran into the door." He said, removing his hand and showing me the large red bump on his head.

"Oh my goodness... do you have to be so clumsy?" I asked him.

"Yes! I don't have time to look where I'm going... there's a pretty doctor waiting for me here." He said to me.

"You're an idiot." I sighed, pulling him to a seat and putting some cream on his head to help with the inflammation and then putting a Cinderella band-aid on his head, just so I could laugh at him.

"Ava... coffee... please!" He begged me.

"Gabriel..." I said, actually fighting with myself to say yes to his request.

"Fine... I know..." He sighed, standing up.

He handed me a bag with some breakfast in it and then walked off saying his students were waiting.

He came back that afternoon with glitter in his hair and a pout. I felt my entire mood change. Suddenly, I had energy, my heart was beating really fast like I was nervous and excited and my stomach flipped again.

"Ava... a cinderella band-aid, really?" He asked me.

"Yes." I chuckled.

"You and Lily are going to kill me." He sighed, ruffling his hair and making glitter fly everywhere.

"Hey! This is a hospital, stop it!" I scolded him.

"Sorry." He sighed.

"What happened?" I laughed, pointing at his hair.

"She dumped glitter on my head because I made her do her math worksheet." He told me.

"I love this girl." I laughed.

"She's adorable. All she ever wants to do is read her books and draw. Or drive me insane, that's another hobby." He said.

"I like this girl... what's her name?" I asked again.

"Lily." He smiled, his eyes sparkling.

"Favourite student?" I asked him.

"I don't have a favourite student!" He said defensively.

"Sure you don't." I teased him, giving him a little push and walking off to see a patient.

When I returned, he had eaten my the entire sandwich that he'd gotten for me and he was beaming at me.

"I hate you." I growled.

"No, you don't, you love me." He smiled, taking my hand in his and kissing the back of it.

I pulled my hand away and he smiled.

"Date? Please?!" He asked me.

"No, Gabe... I told you, after the residency, I might be ready for a relationship." I told him.

"Ava! Why are you so stubborn?" He groaned.

"Get used to it." I sighed.

"I already am, that's the problem." He sighed, wrapping an arm around me and squeezing me in a short side hug and then walking off.

"I'll see you tomorrow, take care, Ava!" He said. "Don't miss me too much!"

I shook my head in amusement, feeling a little upset about him leaving. The way I reacted to seeing him come and go was the kind of thing my mother always said she felt when my dad came and went. I was beginning to realize the severity of the situation. My feelings were getting out of hand. But for some reason, I felt the urge to just let them continue to grow out of control. Maybe that's how these things happened. Maybe they were meant to grow out of control until you found yourself unable to resist.