Aiden was pacing on the porch when I pulled my car into his driveway.

"What's up?" He said, jogging down to meet me at my car.

I got out and pulled him into a hug before unleashing all my problems on him. He stood there holding me and comforting me while I cried into his shoulder. After a few minutes, he took my hand and brought me inside his house.

"Do you want to stay here tonight?" He asked me.

"You don't mind?" I felt bad for putting him out.

"Two conditions." He said bargaining. I groaned, waiting for whatever it was I was about to agree to. "Number one, you let me text your Mom to let her know where you are."

I nodded; it was probably better her knowing I was with Aiden and that I hadn't tried to run away to Ezra. Based off her accusations earlier, she was probably home right now, assuming I was in his bed. She made it very clear she didn't trust me or the decisions I was making. It hurt, it hurt a lot.

"Number two, we get Jessa in the morning and the three of us go get breakfast. I really want pancakes and bacon." He said, laughing at me. I rolled my eyes at him. Aiden had a way of making my problems disappear.

"Those are your conditions?" I snickered. "You're getting really bad at this. You should have held out for more."

"Well, I would have asked you to go down on me, but Kiera already took care of that a few minutes ago." He smiled wickedly. "You should see some of the things she can do with..."

"Aiden... stop." I said, sticking my fingers in my ears. I was glad to hear he and Kiera were getting along so well. It was about time Aiden found someone who drove him wild.

We went inside and Aiden sent my Mom a quick text from his phone. She responded back quickly and said to tell me that she would watch Jessa tonight so I could take a little time to think. I knew she wanted me to rethink letting Ezra come around, but he had just as much right to love that little girl as I did. Now that he knew about her, there was no way he would let me keep him away.

"Want to go cuddle in my room?" He raised his eyebrows and laughed.

"The couch is fine." I told him, shaking my head. Now that he had Kiera in the picture, we probably needed to establish some boundaries sooner than later. We were getting to be too old for random meaningless cuddle sessions. Nothing was going on between us, but I didn't want to give her anything to worry about. We understood it for what it was, but it didn't mean everyone else would have the same thoughts about it.

"Your loss." He shrugged before disappearing down the hall to go into his room. He came back a few minutes later with a stack of blankets and a couple of pillows.

"Blanket fort and a movie?" He asked.

"Sounds good." I laughed.

Aiden grabbed the remote and started pulling up the movies to stream. He was flipping through the movies noting all the ones he had seen. He moved to the romantic comedies.

"I swear if you try to put on anything with hand-holding and confessions of unrequited love, I'm out." I warned him when he started reading the information on one of the movies that caught his eye.

"You have no heart." He scoffed and moved down to the scary movies menu. He chose one about zombies and sat down on the middle of the couch. I climbed next to him and curled up in a ball. His arm wrapped around my shoulder out of habit and he pulled me into him. I sunk down and laid my head on his chest.

The movie turned out to be pretty terrifying. Aiden laughed at me when I jumped. A zombie jumped out at a little brunette girl and almost ate her face. The big bad hero guy swooped in and saved her before she could get bit. The little girl's mom should have kept a better eye on her in the zombie apocalypse. The mom should have gotten bit for being such a terrible actress anyway.

I yawned loudly and Aiden looked down, smiling. I wiggled myself deeper into him and he pulled a blanket over my lap. He ran his hand over my hair and twisted one of my curls around his finger. I sighed as I started thinking over everything that had happened over the last few days. JD and my Mom's words were like a knife twisting in my gut.

"What are you thinking, Ry?" Aiden asked, placing his lips on my head while he whispered into my hair.

"Aiden, do you think they're right? Am I a bad mom?" I asked, not sure if I really wanted the answer.

"Riley, that's a load of crap and you know it. There's nothing further from the truth. You sacrificed everything for the past three years to make sure that girl had everything she needed. You did what a lot of people couldn't do. You walked away from a man you loved because he was a danger to you and her at the time. If every woman was even half the woman you are, the world would be a better place. Now, quit trying to convince my best friend she is a terrible person or I will have to kick your ass." He leaned his head down on mine and hugged me tightly.

"Thanks for putting up with me." I whispered softly.

"Somebody has to keep you in line." He continued stroking my hair and playing with the curls until I drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

"Momma!" Jessa screamed when I walked back into my house. Aiden was right behind me. When she saw him, she ran straight past me.

"UNCA DEN!!" She screamed, balling her little fists and dove headfirst into him. Aiden was careful to stop her before she got too close. She was just the perfect height now and had drilled him a few times before he learned his lesson.

Aiden bent down and picked her up. He swung her around in a circle before bringing her to him and then proceeded to kiss her all over her face. She laughed and tried to tickle him.

My Mom walked out of the kitchen with a dishtowel in her hands.

"Hey, she has been all over the place this morning." She said, sighing. I took a closer look at my Mom and she looked exhausted. I suspected she was up last night crying. Jessa looked well rested, so I don't think it was because of her night terrors.

"I'm sorry, Riley." My Mom blurted out, catching me off guard. "I overstepped yesterday. I didn't mean any of it. I'm just really scared. Things were so bad for you back then. I don't want to ever watch you go through that again. I'm afraid of what might happen."

I sent a look to Aiden and he shrugged before carrying Jessa into the living room to give my Mom and me some privacy to talk.

"I get it, Mom. I'm scared too." I admitted to her.

As much as I hated to admit it, I understood why my Mom didn't trust my judgment when it came to Ezra. She needed to know that I had grown up a lot over the last three years. I wasn't going to make the same mistakes as before. We were learning how to co-parent like adults for Jessa and it was really hard trying not to slip into old habits with him. It was a tough situation since we never really had closure in our relationship, but we were trying to work through it for her. We spent a whole day together without trying to jump into bed with one another. That was progress in my book.

"Please be careful and don't hide things again. You always hid what was really going on whenever he was around. Be honest with me and I will try to stay out of it unless you need me. You are a good Mom and I trust you'll do what's best for her." Tears were spilling from my Mom's eyes. I ran over to her and pulled her into a big hug. She squeezed me tightly. I needed this and so did she.

When she pulled away, she wiped her tears from her cheeks and asked me what my plans were. I told her Aiden and I were taking Jessa out to breakfast. She gave me another hug before I headed upstairs to change.

I pulled a brush through my hair before deciding to pull it up in a messy bun. I washed my face and only put on a little makeup to hide the bags under my eyes. I could hear Aiden and Jessa wrestling downstairs. I didn't know which one of them was winning.

I pulled out a clean pair of maroon skinny jeans and wiggled myself into them. I pulled on a tight black ribbed sweatshirt that came up high on my neck. The shoulders were cut out, adding a little flair to the outfit. I kicked on my knee-high boots with the kitten heel and was ready to go overindulge on some breakfast food with my two favorite people.