"Hey, Lil Bit." I opened my eyes when my big brother whispered in my ear. JD placed his hand on my hair and ruffled it. "We got here as soon as we could."

I glanced over to Ezra and Jessa and they were both still fast asleep. I gently shifted to get up and Ezra pulled me back into him while grumbling about me trying to get away from him.

Sleep Ezra was not ready to let me go.

JD raised his eyebrow at me as he surveyed the scene before him. I blushed and he rolled his eyes at me. This was the first time he had seen Ezra since they fought years ago. I could have never predicted this was how they were going to see each other again for the first time.

"He always liked being on Riley duty." JD laughed with a few small tears in his eyes.

I had cried so much today. I thought I couldn't possibly have anything left. When I saw my big brother's face, I knew I wasn't done. His eyes were red-rimmed and he kept trying to smile to cover his misery. Tears fell down my cheeks and I tried to muffle them so I wouldn't wake up Jessa and Ezra. Ezra opened his eyes when he heard me and his hand moved to my face to wipe the tears away.

"Don't cry, beautiful." He whispered to me and leaned down to kiss my temple.

Ezra saw JD out of the corner of his eye. His body tensed a little until JD smiled at him and nodded. Ezra pulled up one corner of his mouth slightly before closing his eyes again and laying his head back.

A few minutes later, Aiden walked in carrying more of their bags and Anna followed him in the room with a little butterball clinging to her. I untangled myself from Ezra and went to go get a closer look at baby Kurt. He looked like a little blond cherub. She put her hand in mine and squeezed. I could see the tears in her eyes.

"Where's Mom?" JD asked, looking around the house.

"She locked herself in her room. You should go up. She'll want to see you." I said to him. He nodded and lightly jogged up the stairs. We heard a knock and the door creaked open. Sobs filled the hallway until the door shut behind him.

Anna sat down in the chair with little Kurt and leaned back, closing her eyes. She looked so tired. I felt bad for her as I remembered how exhausted I was when Jessa was firstborn. I looked into the hall where Aiden was standing silently as he watched Ezra as he held Jessa against his chest. Aiden motioned his head for me to come follow him. No one else in the room noticed our silent exchange. My best friend had something he wanted to say to me.

"I'm going to get some water." I said to anyone listening. "Does anyone need anything?" Anna and Ezra both shook their head no. Ezra was still staring at me when I turned to go leave the room to go with Aiden.

"What?" Ezra asked defensively.

When I turned back around, Ezra was looking at Anna, who had turned her head and was watching his reaction to me leaving the room with Aiden. She smiled and her gaze softened. She snuggled into her little butterball and closed her eyes.

I grabbed Aiden's hand and pulled him to the kitchen to follow me. Aiden and I haven't had much one on one best friend time with everything going on. I could tell he was just as worried about me as I was worried about how he was handling Ezra being back. Aiden somehow always ended up in the middle of my problems. I was scared I was hurting him again without knowing it. He had always been so involved in Jessa's life. I was afraid he would think this would change things between them.

I grabbed a glass from the cabinet and filled it with water. I took a small sip and watched him as he continued to stare towards the living room.

"What's on your mind?" I asked him since he wasn't just going to come out and say it.

"He's really good with Jessa. It's like he's different somehow but still him." Aiden said, looking back towards the living room.

"I know. I didn't really know what to expect. It's like she knew him when she met him. It's the strangest thing. You do know you are still Jessa's favorite person, right?" I was still in shock about how drastically life had shifted in only a few weeks. Aiden needed to know that I still wanted him to be in Jessa's life even if she did have her Dad around.

"I know Riley. I'm not worried. She'll always be Unca Den's girl. No matter what happens." He proudly grinned.

"Yeah, it's not like Ezra will be around all the time anyway."

"You're an idiot." Aiden said, catching me off guard.

"Excuse me?" I asked, not sure if I had heard him right.

"You are ridiculous." He spoke slowly, spelling it out. "You do realize he still loves you, right? It is all over his face every time he is near you. He hasn't moved past you. He will always be around."

I choked on the sip of water I had just taken when he spoke. Aiden hit my back, trying to help me cough up the fluid in my windpipe.

"No, he doesn't love me. We just have some unresolved stuff. That's all it is. There's too much bad history between us and besides that, he is engaged. She's a complete bitch, but he is still with her. He cares about her."

"Riley, there is no way he is going to marry her now. He has you back in his life. Do you really think he is going to let you go again? It has always been you. He is in love with you. Open your eyes."

"Aiden, he doesn't have me. We are not together. We are trying to be civil for Jessa's sake. It's not like that anymore."

"Ry, no offense, but you are a shitty liar. You love him too." He looked at me and raised his eyebrows.

I couldn't deny it.

I knew it was true.

Aiden was right and he knew it. Ezra had done some horrible things to me and I still felt more like myself when he was near. It was like everything fit perfectly when he was touching me. We were two puzzle pieces that were made to snap together. He had a lot of rough edges, but I did too. No one else would ever fill the space the way he did.

"It's not like that anymore. When we kissed..."

"Wait, you two kissed?" Aiden laughed.

"Well yeah, but Jessa stopped us before it went too far." I blushed,
thinking about the little girl who walked in on us. I was not sure what would have happened if she didn't come in.

"Went too far?" Aiden's hazel eyes grew. "Geez, Riley, this is exactly what I am talking about. You guys have been around each other for like five seconds and can't keep your hands off each other. You are in some serious denial."

"I'm not sure what I am doing. I'm scared. I don't know how I'll feel if he doesn't feel the same way. I don't want to get hurt again." I looked at my best friend, who had been there since the beginning and had supported me even when I used him and tossed him away. Aiden was one of a kind.

"You want some advice?"

"Yes."

"Go in there and tell him you love him." Aiden said like it was the easiest thing I could say.

"What if he doesn't say it back?"

"Seriously, Riley? There's no chance of that happening. You know I am here if you ever need anything, but I think its time for me to head out so you two can talk. You need some time together to figure some stuff out. Call me and let me know how it goes." He ruffled my hair and pulled me into a hug wrapping his arms around my shoulders. "I'm really sorry about your Dad."

A small tear escaped my eye and glided down my cheek when he mentioned my Dad. I really missed him.

After Aiden left, I shut the door behind him locking it and leaned against the wall watching Jessa and Ezra sleep. Everything had changed so fast for us. I lost my Dad tonight, but I finally figured out what I wanted from Ezra. I couldn't keep carrying on with him like this if he didn't want the same thing from me that I wanted from him.

We would have to talk soon, but tonight was not the night for this. I could pretend it is just our little family tonight, but when we wake back up, he would need to decide if he wanted me too. He was engaged to another woman and I couldn't be the girl he ran around on the side with. I was not that type of person and it wasn't how I was brought up. I didn't want to be a homewrecker and Jenna would never let him near Jessa again if she thought he was sleeping with me.

We were either going to do this or it had to stop now before it went too far.