[UNEDITED][JASON]

        It had been two weeks since I last saw Chloe. Two weeks since the episode between Matthew and Chloe. Two weeks since I was last told about anything which was going on where my sister was concerned.

        Erin had been acting weirdly but she wouldn’t tell me what was going on and it was really beginning to piss me off now. If she knew something which I didn’t, then I feel I had a right to know it as well.

        I checked the time, seeing that Erin should be back from her office any minute and I had decided that I was going to corner her. I wanted to know what the hell was going on and I wasn’t going to let her go anywhere until she had told me.

        I was sitting on the sofa with that day’s paper in my hand when the door closed and she walked into the room, looking as amazing as she always did in her work uniform.

        The skirt, long enough to make her look professional at work, but short enough for me to get my hand up there in the evening. The blouse, smart enough for the office, but thin enough for me to be able to get her excited. The blazer, well, that was just to show people she was the boss and that was the first thing to go whenever she got home.

        “How was work?” I asked, putting the paper on the table and looking over to where she was standing.

        “Well, I managed to secure a deal for the Parker wedding and I also signed a deal in which I became joint owner of L’Ovier. So I guess you would call it a good day,” Erin chuckled as she threw herself down beside me, her head falling on my lap and her legs over the edge of the sofa. A smile on her face and her eyes on me, the same thing which happened every day she came home. “How about you?”

        “Well, we’ve had to put back the opening day by a month because we’re not going to finish on time. There was something dodgy with the foundations under part of the building and it ended up collapsing,” I sighed.

        “That’s not your fault though. That’s the fault of whoever surveyed the area and said it was safe to build there,” Erin reasoned.

        I wish it was that simple. I am the site manager and, before building even started, I should have double checked the site but I didn’t bother. I simply agreed that it was safe and my men started building.

        Because of my laziness, four floors have collapsed and they now have to be rebuilt from scratch. I don’t think a month is going to be long enough, but the dick who employed us to build the damn thing believes it’s more than enough time.

        “Yeah. I guess,” I muttered, running my hand through Erin’s hair with something which was supposed to be a smile on my face.

        “Is there something else bothering you Jason?” Erin finally broke the silence which had fallen.

        “What happened when you took Amanda back?” I spat out before I could back out. I needed to know what the hell was going on because, if there was one thing I didn’t like, then it was not knowing things.

        “Nothing,” Erin replied and I knew she was lying.

        “Just tell me what happened. I know something happened and it’s beginning to piss me off that you won’t tell me what,” I said and it came out angrier than it was supposed to, but I was done with being lied to by people.

        “We’re going to dinner tomorrow night. Chloe told me to make sure you’re there,” Erin said casually.

        “That’s not answering the question.”

        “Trust me, all your questions will be answered tomorrow night,” Erin shrugged as she sat up and looked at me.

        I would have pushed her further but I wasn’t in the mood. It was clear that she wasn’t going to tell me and I was only going to end up getting more annoyed if I continued to ask her about it.

        I would have to wait until tomorrow night, though I was surprised that we were going to dinner at my sister’s place. She told me that she didn’t want to see me again and, after her little speech about how I was no better than her husband, I didn’t really think she would want me to be around her again in a hurry.

        “Fine. I’ll wait,” I sulked, annoyed that she was really going to make me wait until tomorrow to find out what all the fuss is about. “What time?”

        “Half seven. Wear something decent,” Erin replied.

        “I always—“

        “You met my parents, half naked, wearing nothing more than a pair of jeans which hung far too low,” Erin reminded me and it took a lot for me not to burst out laughing in that moment.

        Erin had told me that her parents were coming over and she wanted me to meet them, only I forgot which day it was and when they turned up, it was too late to change into something more appropriate.

        Her father really wasn’t impressed but, after a long conversation about motor racing and golf, he soon came round to the fact I was dating his daughter. He even told me that he would love to take me to the golf course at some point so I could show him what I had.

        His mother, well, she was just as stubborn as Erin. She walked in not knowing who I was and she walked out wishing she still didn’t know who I was. I heard her mumbling to Erin about how she could do so much better than me because I looked like the type who was only going to hurt her when I got bored.

        “I apologised for that,” I shrugged.

        “My mother still hates you,” Erin laughed.

        “Your father loves me though and he’s the one I needed to impress,” I grinned as I picked the paper up from the table and continued reading, turning to the back pages so that I could see what was happening in the world of sport.

        “I have something to ask you,” Erin suddenly spoke.

        “So you’re allowed to ask questions, but I have to wait until tomorrow?” I joked, looking at her over the top of the paper.

        “Chloe and Matthew. Are they actually married or—“ Erin trailed off at the end. I knew she was going to wonder about that sooner or later, especially after the comments Amanda made about them getting married properly.

        No one other than the people involved knew that the marriage was arranged and, at the time, neither of them wanted it. They played the happily married couple to perfection and no one suspected a thing, though I suppose the fact they were genuinely in love with each other helped with that.

        “Legally, they are married but neither of them wanted to be married,” I replied, lowering the paper so that I could look at her properly, taking in the look of confusion now covering her face.

        She opened her mouth to say something, but she found herself unable to say anything, settling for closing her mouth and staring at me instead. I knew that was a sign for me to explain to her what I actually meant.

        “When Chloe told Matthew that she was pregnant and he was the father, he wanted nothing to do with either her or the baby. He told her to get an abortion and, if she wanted to keep the baby, then as far as he was concerned, he was dead and she wasn’t to go to him for anything,” I paused for a moment to make sure Erin was still with me. She was looking at me intently and with some serious interest. “She ended up breaking up with her boyfriend, but he turned out to be a complete arse anyway who thought of her as nothing more than a slut who didn’t know what love was.”

        “Chloe told me that it was New Year’s Eve when she told Matthew that she loved him and kissed him for the first time. How did they get to that point?”

        “Long story short, Chloe admitted to John—“

        “John?”

        “Matthew’s father. He was my father’s best friend and he had been our doctor for as long as I can remember,” I chuckled as I watched Erin’s facial expressions go through about seven different phases in the space of thirty seconds.

        “I think I’m still with you.”

        “Chloe admitted to John that Matthew was the father of the baby, they had a massive argument in the middle of the hospital, our father found out and he wasn’t impressed. He told Chloe that she was going to have to marry Matthew because it was the only way to ensure he would always be there for her,” I smiled at the irony of everything.

        Matthew was adamant that he would never have anything to do with Amanda. He was certain that, even when he was married to Chloe, he would resume his ways and nothing was going to stop him. He was definitely sure that he was never going to fall in love with Chloe.

        Now you never see Matthew without Amanda and he stopped his old ways the moment he realised he was in love with my sister.

        “Chloe was in hospital at the end of that December because of Braydon—“

        “Braydon?”

        “Chloe’s ex-boyfriend. He stressed Chloe out to the point that she collapsed and was out cold for two days. He then told Matthew that Chloe was his problem and he wanted nothing to do with her, only to try to apologise for everything he had said when she woke up.”

        “But she wasn’t that stupid. To him it was just words, but to her it was so much more than that and she knew then that they didn’t have a future together,” Erin stated and I smiled at her as she worked out for herself what happened after that.

        I think Chloe realised long before that point the two of them didn’t have a future together. I think she was simply trying to deny her feelings for Matthew for as long as she could because she didn’t want to accept that she had fallen in love with him, not after years of hating him and wanting nothing to do with him.

        “New Year’s Day is Matthew’s birthday and my sister had roped me in to help her with his present. When my Nan died, she left her caravan to the both of us, so they spent the entire week there together.”

        “It’s like an unexpected twist in a fairytale. She got her prince in the ending and she got to be a princess,” Erin laughed and I had never looked at it like that before.

        A fairytale which broke all the traditions and had an unconventional happy ending. There was no denying that Matthew treated Chloe like a princess and that he did everything to make sure she never felt alone in the world again. He paid so much attention to her that it almost made me jealous.

        “Please just tell me what’s going on. I don’t think I can wait until tomorrow,” I sighed.

        “When I dropped Amanda off, Charlotte turned up and Chloe went absolutely mental at her. I am pretty sure the only reason Charlotte’s face is still in one piece is because of Amanda.”

        “I am surprised that even that stopped her. I wouldn’t put it past Chloe to be thinking of a very imaginative way to make her pay for everything she’s done,” I muttered.

        “Is inviting her to dinner an imaginative way to make her pay?” Erin laughed nervously.

        “What?”

        “Chloe invited her to dinner. Told her to bring Braydon with her, told Marcus to bring himself and I have to make sure you’re there with me,” Erin replied and I understand now why she was so reluctant to tell what had happened that day.

        The nerve Charlotte had to turn up after everything she had done amazed me. I couldn’t believe that she had gone to the house, but I couldn’t believe that Chloe had managed to keep her cool around her.

        If I was in her shoes then I would have pulled her hair from her head and told her precisely what I thought of her. The fact Chloe has invited her to dinner worries me slightly and I don’t even want to know what she has up her sleeve but, whatever it is, I am sure it’s not going to be good and the day is only going end on a terribly low note.

[CHLOE]

        “I hope you know what you’re doing,” Matthew said as I prepared the table for the dinner I had spent all day cooking.

        “Don’t worry about a thing. I know exactly what I’m doing,” I grinned, putting the last plate in place and taking a step back so that I could admire my work.

        The table had been set for seven people, Amanda was with John and Vivienne for the night and I was feeling seriously confident for some strange reason.

        “You are only going to make things worse,” Matthew sighed as he put his hands on my shoulders and actually made me look at him. This was the first time in two weeks I had properly looked at him and he looked exhausted.

        His expression was blank, he had dark circles under his eyes and he looked like he was about to break down in tears. I looked emotionally broken, like he was just about ready to give up with everything because of how tired he was.

        “I need to do this. I need to know why,” I muttered.

        “You could have done it some other way. Tonight is going to end badly, you know that as well as I do,” Matthew replied, his right hand moved to my cheek and his thumb rubbed small circles as his hand remained where it was and his eyes never left mine.

        “This is the only way I can do it without losing my temper. If we do this anywhere other than here, on my terms, our daughter will be growing up without a mother. Please understand?” I practically begged.

        If everyone was here, there was less chance of me losing my temper and doing something stupid. I didn’t want to risk being sent to prison for the sake of a stupid bitch who came as close as she’s ever going to get to ruining our relationship.

        “I want you to promise me something though,” Matthew replied and it practically came out as a whisper.

        “What?”

        “When this is done, when you have proved your point, I need you to work on us,” Matthew paused as he looked at me, searching for anything which may tell him what I was feeling. I didn’t know what he wanted me to say, I don’t even know what he wanted me to do.

        I knew we had problems. Like any marriage had problems but these problems weren’t going away, they were just making the both of us miserable. I loved Matthew, I really did, but we were arguing so often that neither of us were truly happy anymore.

        I had constantly told him that I didn’t love him and that agreeing to marry him properly was the worst mistake of my life. I didn’t mean it, it just came out because I was angry, but I knew how he took those words and he was drifting further away from me.

        “You know I love you Matt,” I muttered. My eye contact moving to the floor which suddenly seemed all the more interesting than discussing the issues in our relationship.

        “I love you too Clo, I really do, but we can’t keep going like this. The arguments are too much and they are pushing us apart. They are ruining our marriage,” as the words left his mouth that was when I knew it was real and that we did have a problem.

        I couldn’t stand the thought of losing Matthew. I had only spent one night without him and I couldn’t sleep because I knew there was something missing, I knew the other part of me wasn’t here and he was elsewhere doing whatever he was doing at the time.

        Matthew was my family. He was my husband. He was my best friend. He was my other half.

        I didn’t a future without him because it would be pointless. He was the one who put a smile on my face, he was the one who let me cry on his shoulder without ever questioning it, he was the one who took Amanda when she got a little too much for me to cope with, hell he was the one who gave me a reason to wake up every single morning and get out of bed.

        “We’ll talk. Tonight. I promise,” I said quietly. I wrapped my arms around his waist and pulled myself into his body, my head resting on his chest as I listened to the gentle sound of his heartbeat. I soon felt his arms wrap around me in response and his chin resting on the top of my head as he let out a slight sigh.

        We stayed like that, just enjoying the silence, before the sound of the door forced the two of us apart. I looked at Matthew with a smile and he smiled back at me, his hand coming to small of my back as we walked to the front door.

        “I know it’s going to be hard but please, for me, try not to lose your temper,” Matthew’s words were calming as he put a kiss on the top of my head and then opened the door.

        Marcus was stood there, wearing jeans and a t-shirt, his blonde hair all over the place and a smile on his face. He always pulled off the causal look, even when he was being profession, he still pulled it off and I had often wondered how the hell he did it.

        “Chloe,” he greeted with a smile, pulling me in for a quick hug and putting a kiss on my cheek before he walked over to Matthew, who he quickly embraced in a man hug. The events of two weeks ago were forgotten after the two of them had a long, drawn-out conversation about things.

        “Any girls we should know about?” I heard Matthew laugh.

        “No. Well, there is a girl, we’ve actually been talking for a while now, but I doubt she’s interested,” Marcus chuckled and it amazed me that, at school, he had been as bad as Matthew at times with the girls.

        He would move from one to the other like they didn’t have any feelings. He would sleep with them and then never speak to them again, but something inside him changed not long after Matthew and I got married.

        “Have you asked her on a date?” I smiled.

        “No. I don’t want to be turned down,” Marcus replied shyly.

        “Since when is Marcus Thomas afraid of being turned down?” I found myself laughing. I knew it wasn’t funny, well, the fact Marcus was worried about being rejected was absolutely hilarious. I didn’t meant to laugh but I couldn’t help it, it was just too much.

        “Since he saw his best friend settle down and realised there was more to life than fucking everything he sees,” Marcus shrugged and the fact he referred to himself in third person only made the laughter worse.

        “Don’t worry about her. She left her manners in the ditch I found her in,” Matthew chuckled.

        “Hey,” I complained, turning round and hitting him on the arm. It wasn’t meant to be hard but it was hard enough for him to mutter ‘ow’ under his breath.

        I loved it when we were like this because it’s like there wasn’t anything wrong. I could pretend we were a happily married couple who didn’t have any problems and we were still those kids who fell madly in love with each other.

        I looked out of the open door and saw the other four people had now arrived. They were all walking up the path in total silence, worried about who was going to speak first and what they were going to say.

        I found myself unconsciously grabbing hold of Matthew’s hand for support as the fear of what tonight was going to bring rushed through me. He continued speaking to Marcus about the girl he had met but his thumb was running over the back of my hand, relieving some of the tension I had suddenly found.

        “Chloe. It’s wonderful to see you again,” Erin smiled and I embraced her in a quick hug before taking in what she was wearing. Her blonde hair had been curled and pushed slightly to one side, her red dress was strapless and ended just below her knee and she had a pair of black heels on which just about brought her up to Jason’s shoulder.

        “You look amazing,” I grinned. She nodded politely before moving towards Matthew to say hello to him and this is where it got awkward.

        The three people now in front of me were people I had never wanted to see again.

        Well, I was always going to see Jason and I meant to phone him, but I always chickened out every single time. I didn’t want to hear the hurt in his voice as I spoke to him and recounted the conversation I had with him. The moment I said the words I regretted them, but I couldn’t take them back and I could only imagine how much they hurt.

        “Charlotte, Braydon,” I greeted the both of them with a simple nod, though my eyes never really left my brother.

        “What’s your game Jenkinson?” Charlotte muttered so that Matthew couldn’t hear her and it was now that I realised I was stupid to do this. I wasn’t going to prove anything besides how childish I was and I was only going to end up hurting the people that I loved.

        “There’s no game Charlotte,” I sighed.

        “Then why have you invited us all here?” she said and I guess it came out a little louder than she planned for it to since she covered her mouth when she saw that everyone was now looking at us.

        Originally, I wanted to bring her here so that I could humiliate her. I wanted to make her feel the same pain she made me feel when I thought Matthew had slept with her. I wanted to her to leave here hurting so much that she never laid a finger on a male again.

        But I couldn’t do that. If I did that I was definitely fuck up my marriage with Matthew and Jason would never forgive me.

        I already didn’t have either of my parents in my life and, although I saw Jodie from time to time, I didn’t have any real friends. I lost all the people I cared about and I was left with absolutely no one.

        “Because life is too short to hate people.”

        “What’s the supposed to mean?” Charlotte asked in shock. I looked around at all eyes which were now on me, but the only pair I found myself looking at where Matthew’s and there was something I hadn’t seen in them in a while.

        Happiness. He knew what I was doing and, with a smile he nodded in my direction, I knew I was doing the right thing. I knew this was better than what I had planned.

        “Look, before you fucked my brother over and tried to sleep with my husband, I didn’t think you were that bad. Sure, you were bitch and you weren’t one of the nicest people in the world, but you were like the sister I never had. You became my best friend Charlotte and what you did, what you did fucking hurt and it made me despise you,” I paused as I felt the tears coming to my eyes, I used the second my back was turned on them all as I closed the door to wipe the tears before I looked at her again. “When you turned up here two weeks again, I was so angry and I wanted to make you suffer. If Amanda hadn’t have been there, then I probably—“

        “I’m sorry,” I heard. Charlotte took a step closer to me and she looked genuinely sorry. “I should have left Jason because I wasn’t happy. Well, I was happy, but I just, look, it’s complicated.”

        “When I thought of this idea two weeks ago, I wanted you all here because you’ve pretty much all hurt me in some way and I wanted to make you all suffer in the way I was suffering,” I muttered. I was so focused on the floor that I didn’t even realise Matthew had moved from the other side of the room and was now stood behind me, his arms wrapped safely around my waist as he pulled me into the warmth of his body.

        “What do you mean?” Marcus spoke up.

        “You, for example, you slept with the woman who ruined my family. You took her lie as religion and didn’t question it further and, before you say you didn’t know her, I know that’s bullshit just like you do,” I said, but it wasn’t harsh and I wasn’t trying to hurt his feelings.

        I was so tired of lying and playing games right now. I felt like being honest was the best thing right now. I had seen where lying had gotten us and I didn’t want to go back to that place again, I didn’t want to be alone and without a single person in the world.

        “Yes, alright, I knew who she was. I did it because I was jealous,” Marcus admitted.

        “Jealous?”

        “Yes. The real reason I stopped talking to you and Matthew wasn’t because he accused me of sleeping with you, it was because I was jealous of you and your relationship. You had everything I wanted,” Marcus said and I could have sworn he was close to tears as he said the words.

        “Mate, you can have anything you want. You should know our relationship isn’t all too perfect,” Matthew replied, my head falling back onto his shoulder as I let him take over the talking for a while. He knew how I was feeling and I didn’t need words to tell him either.

        “Looks pretty perfect to me,” Marcus muttered.

        “The last two weeks have been hard. In fact, the last six months have been hard,” Matthew paused and my eyes caught my brother’s as he looked at me with a sadness.

        I knew I should have told him about mine and Matthew’s problems but I didn’t want to bother him with it. Not when he had his own issues to deal with at the same time, that wouldn’t have been fair.

        “Since the miscarriage, nothing has been the same. All we do is argue and piss each other off, hell we’re not even sleeping in the same bed because we end up shouting at each other about something the second we do get into bed.”

        “W-why didn’t you speak to me?” Jason finally found his voice and I continued to look at him.

        “You had your own problems. You and Charlotte had just broken up, you were having trouble at work and you were always with Erin because you didn’t know what the hell you wanted,” I sighed.

        “It wouldn’t bother me Sparky. You’re my baby sister and the only family I actually have left. It’s my job to protect you and help you, regardless of what shit I have going on in my own life.”

        “Why don’t we go through to the dining room? Erin, if you could start serving dinner please,” Matthew said to the others and they didn’t need telling twice, they all walked through to the dining room leaving Jason, Matthew and I in the hallway.

        “You’re looking good,” I heard a voice say and I turned my attention to the gap between the hallway and the dining room to see Braydon standing there.

        He looked different. His hair was a little longer and he had some stubble as well. He looked mature and like he had grown up a hell of a lot, even more so in the suit he was wearing.

        “Braydon?” I found myself saying in disbelief.

        “Five years and you still look as good now as you did back then,” Braydon laughed and I couldn’t help but crack smile, noticing that his personality hadn’t changed all that much.

        “Watch it Sanders,” Matthew muttered from behind me. I still loved how jealous Matthew got whenever I was talking to other guys, he would always be there, making sure they knew I was taken and there wasn’t a hope in hell of them ever getting with me.

        “Don’t panic Jenkinson. I got a wife and son back home,” Braydon smiled. “Sophia and Jacob. The best two things to have happened to me.”

        “Good. I’m glad you’re happy,” I smiled and I was genuinely happy for him.

        Before he kicked the crap out of Matthew, put me in hospital for three days and I told him to stay the hell out of my life, he was a good guy.

        Sophie was one lucky girl and I could just imagine Jacob being a miniature version of Braydon.

        “I know we can never go back to the way we were before but, perhaps, we could work towards being friends?” Braydon suggested. “It’s just, in the last five years, no one has ever really understood me in the same way you did.”

        “You sure you’re married?” Jason asked and I couldn’t help but laugh. An over jealous husband and an over protective brother sure made life exciting.

        “Yes, Jason, I could phone her now for you if you like?” Braydon chuckled.

        “No. It’s fine,” Jason muttered.

        “We’ll have a proper catch up after dinner. Alright?” I said and Braydon nodded before walking into the dining room with the rest of the guests.

        “So—“ Jason dragged out his word, obviously unsure of what to say.

        “I’m sorry,” I said before he could say anything else. “I didn’t mean anything I said. I’m not ashamed to call you my brother, you don’t disappoint me and I definitely don’t hate you.”

        “Why did you say it then?” Jason asked and it was a reasonable question. “And don’t you even think of sneaking off Jenkinson. I got things to ask you.”

        “Why do people keep calling me by my surname?” Matthew complained and I let out a low chuckle as I moved to where he was now standing and leant against his body, his left arm quickly wrapping itself protectively around my body.

        “Firstly, it’s kind of hot,” I whispered to Matthew and then looked back as Jason, “and, secondly, I was angry. You told me that you thought you saw Matthew cheating on me and you never told me. I hated you for keeping it to yourself and it genuinely felt like you were picking him over me.”

        “I never meant to hurt you. You had just lost your son and I knew if I told you about Matthew then it would break you and, honestly, I would never have been able to cope with that.”

        “Can I just point out that there was nothing to tell anyone about me since I did nothing wrong,” Matthew muttered angrily.

        “That’s not what it looked like from my perspective. It looked like you were enjoying a damn good bl—“

        “Yeah. I don’t need to hear about it,” I interrupted. I haven’t forgiven Charlotte for what she did, not even close, so I don’t know to be hearing what she did to my husband in my brother’s bedroom.

        It was bad enough imaging the two of them together in the first place so, actually knowing what they did, it would make me want to be sick.

        “Not being funny though, I never liked Charlotte and I hated that you were with her to be honest. So why the hell would I sleep with someone I hate?” Matthew asked and Jason was silent because even I knew Jason couldn’t answer the question.

        Matthew had never hidden that he hated her or that he thought Jason was an idiot for being with her, hell Matthew even told him he was a ‘fucking twat’ for asking the girl to marry him.

        I never hated her. Sure, she wasn’t my favourite person in the whole world and I didn’t want Jason to marry her, but she was still like the sister I never had and there were things I spoke to her about which I never told the others. She was like an awkward best friend where you liked each other but also had the understanding of hating each other at the same time.

        “Do you love my sister?” Jason finally asked.

        “There aren’t enough words in the world to tell you how much I love her,” Matthew replied.

        “And you love your daughter?”

        “What kind of question is that? Of course I fucking love Amanda,” Matthew snapped. I knew how angry he got when people questioned his love for his daughter and Jason did as well. I didn’t know what game he was playing but he was heading for dangerous territory.

        “I understand you asked Chloe to marry you? For real this time?” Jason asked. His eyebrow was raised in a humorous manner when he asked the question though.

        “Yes…” Matthew said, dragging out the ‘s’ at the end of the single word.

        “Then do it. Stop thinking about the past and look to the future,” Jason said. “I know losing your son was hard, fuck it was hard for me too, but you need to move forward not backwards. You have a beautiful daughter and you have the rest of your lives to try for another baby. Please, don’t throw what the two of you have away.”

        “When did you become a relationship expert?” I joked.

        “About the same time I realised I never really loved Charlotte and Erin was the one for me,” Jason grinned.

        Words couldn’t express how happy I was to have Jason back. It didn’t matter what had happened, he was still there and he was still helping me, despite my childish behaviour and immature ways.

        He was always going to be my brother and I was always going to need him, just like I was always going to need Matthew.

        “Which was?” Matthew prodded.

        “Doesn’t matter.”

        “Oh, come on brother, don’t be like that,” Matthew laughed and I couldn’t help but smile to myself for the thousandth time that day as Matthew referred to Jason as his brother.

        “I don’t know. Maybe about six, seven months ago. I kind of realised I couldn’t just settle for having sex with her because I was always going to want more,” Jason explained.

        “You know, when she dropped Amanda off, she said the exact same thing,” I replied.

        “I love her Clo. Like, when I look at you and Matthew, that’s what I want with Erin. I want what you two have,” Jason smiled and, even during all the time he was with Charlotte, I never saw him like this.

        Sure, he was happy and he told her that he loved her, but I never heard him admit he was in love with her. I think he loved the idea of her and he got caught up in the moment, that he was finally able to have something normal and good in his life.

        Erin was different though and I could see that. It was the looks they gave each other from the corner of their eyes, to the way they brushed against each other when they walked in the door, to the way he was talking about her right now.

        “Have you told her that?” Matthew asked.

        “Well, I’ve told her that I love her, but I’ve not told her anything else besides that,” Jason shrugged.

        “Then do it. A girl loves to hear how a guy is really feeling about them. They love to know that there is that one person who is constantly thinking about them, that one person who is never going to leave them, that one person who loves them and everything about them. It’s what keeps a girl going sometimes,” I said, wrapping my arm around Matthew as I led him towards the dining room, hoping that Jason would follow on behind us.

        “Does Matthew do that? I mean, tell you all those things?”

        “All the time,” I smiled and then walked into the room, taking a seat beside Charlotte while Matthew sat opposite me with a massive grin on his face, taking the empty seat beside Marcus.

        Jason walked in seconds later, taking the seat at the top of the table with Erin and Braydon on either side of him. I smiled at him before helping myself to the food which covered the table.

        Sure, life was never going to be perfect, there was always going to be ups and downs. But this, this moment right now, this was perfect.

                                                               THE END