I wasn't sure where I should go, so I drove around for over an hour. I couldn't even bring myself to cry. I drove up the interstate and wound through some back roads until I got myself lost. It was almost five in the morning when I decided I would need to find somewhere to go. The only person who knew Ezra was back was Aiden and I couldn't run back to him to cry over Ezra. Aiden was out.

I thought about driving to JD and Anna's, but JD would find out and go after him. Ezra might have deserved it, but JD didn't need to be in the middle of this again.

I turned on the GPS on my phone and entered the address of the only place I had left to go. The prompt said I would arrive at my parent's house in forty-five minutes. Drive to my parent's house, tell my Mom what happened, and wait for the disapproving judgment lecture.  Solid plan.

The sun was out when I pulled into the driveway. It was just after 6 AM and my Dad would be long gone for work. My Mom didn't have to work today, but she always got up early anyway. There would be no way I could sneak in without her seeing me.

I stuck my key in the lock and opened the door. My Mom came from the kitchen, still dressed in her favorite blue nightgown. She had a cup of coffee in her hands and had a surprised look on her face when she saw me walking in the door.

"Peanut, what are you..." she began to say until she saw my face. She placed her cup down and ran over to me. "What happened? What's wrong?" She wrapped her arms tightly around me and I squeezed her, the dam holding my tears back ruptured.

"Ezra." I sobbed into her shoulder. I felt her tense when his name escaped my lips.

"Shhh... peanut. Tell me what's going on." She rubbed my back, trying to soothe me.

I shook my head, not wanting to say the words and she squeezed me tighter.

"Honey, you need to tell me." Mom said in the soft and safe, nurturing way that made me feel like a kid again.

"Ezra...Brynn...together." I sobbed.

"Oh, Riley." She pulled me closer. She knew where I was going without having to say another word. She knew the kind of person Brynn was. There was no question in her mind what happened between them.

We went to the living room and I laid on the living room couch with my Mom holding me and rubbing my hair. I cried and she soothed me. I began spilling out the story, starting when Ezra found me again. Once I turned on the faucet, I couldn't stop. She nodded and sighed as I went over every detail about Brynn, Aiden, and Ezra's addiction.

My Mom could be judgmental sometimes, so I was thankful when she just sat and listened without giving any opinions. She sensed I needed this.

I fell asleep when she started singing to me softly. My nightmares replayed in my head over and over again.  This time when I turned to look for the baby in the backseat, Brynn's twisted smile greeted me.  Ezra and Brynn began laughing at me as the metal dug into me further.  My lungs felt like they were going to collapse under the pressure of the crumpled car.

When I woke up, I was sweating and struggling to catch my breath.  I grabbed my phone to look at the time. It was noon.  I had slept much longer than I thought I could have.

My phone was buzzing and I picked it up to look at it.  My lock screen was covered in voicemails and texts from Ezra. I turned my phone off, having no desire to read or listen to any of them. I got up and stretched.  The house was silent. My Mom must have snuck out on me at some point after I fell asleep. She did put a pillow under my head and covered me with a blanket before she left.

My head was pounding and I felt weak. I went into the kitchen to get a glass of water and saw a note sitting on the kitchen island saying she was having lunch with JD and Anna.  It said she would be back soon. I silently prayed she would keep my secrets for me and not spill them to JD. I was not ready to explain everything to him yet.

I grabbed a glass from the cupboard and turned on the faucet. I sat down at the kitchen island and stared off into space.  I don't know how long I was really there when I heard the front door open and my Mom walked in from her lunch date with Anna and JD.  I was really happy to see she was alone and JD wasn't on her heels, ready to berate me for letting Ezra back in.

"Hey, peanut." Mom laid her keys on the counter.

"Where's JD and Anna?" I questioned, watching the stagnant water in my glass.

"Oh, I told them you had a fight with Brynn and were upset. I said I didn't think you wanted any company right now."  She ran her hand over my hair and hugged me.

"You didn't tell him about Ezra?"

"No, he doesn't need to know about that."  Mom smiled at me. "I am going to tell your Dad.  We do need a little muscle to help move you back home."

"Thanks, Mom. I'm really sorry about all this.  I thought things were going to be different with him this time."  I couldn't look at her.

"We all have done things in the name of love we regret. You just had to learn that not everything works out the hard way."

"It wasn't love, Mom."  I held my stomach fighting the churning inside me from spilling over.

"It was baby girl. It just wasn't the right kind."  She went to the cupboard, grabbed a package of store-bought cookies out of the pantry and threw them in front of me.

"What's that for?" 

"Your lunch."  She laughed. "My pantry is pretty bare since I have no one to feed anymore. I guess we can go to the store later and pick out some real food. First, we need to get in touch with that landlord of yours and see about breaking the lease or at least getting your name off of it."

Two hours later, my Mom had sorted everything out with my landlord. He was pretty cool about everything. Come to find out, Brynn had slept with him too and he was more than willing to help us out.  He asked for another month's rent and forfeiture of the deposit to take my name off the lease.  That seemed like a win even though I was losing out of money on the deal.

When my Dad got home, he had already called a moving company and rented a small truck so we could get my stuff.  I didn't have a lot, but it was enough that I would probably have to look into getting a storage unit or sell it.  Until then, my Dad said I could store my extra furniture in the garage.

The three of us drove over to the apartment, and I was thankful I wouldn't have to do this alone.  I was hoping we could get in and out of the apartment with my things without running into Brynn or even Ezra.  There was a chance he was still here shacking up with Brynn and doing who knows what.  My stomach fell at the thought of them being together still. 

I was relieved when we backed up to the door and Brynn's spot was empty.  Less than a week ago I was crying because she wouldn't come back, but now I hoped she stayed away so I never had to see her again. 

I unlocked the security door with my key and my Mom and Dad groaned, looking at the stairs.

"Who had the bright idea of getting a third-floor apartment again?" My Dad grumbled. 

"They were the only ones with vaulted ceilings." I defended my apartment location decision.

"What nineteen year old cares about vaulted ceilings?" Mom asked, looking directly at me.

"Your daughter."  Dad huffed as he started to climb up the stairs.

The sky was dark when we were getting ready to load our last boxes on the truck.   It was amazing how much stuff I had accumulated over six months of living on my own.  I wiped the sweat from my forehead and stepped up to roll down the truck door.

My Mom and Dad had walked over to the landlord's office to thank him for taking me off the lease and to give him the last check.  They had to help me out because I didn't have enough to cover what I owed.  I was going to pay them back for everything as soon as I could.

"Didn't think you would come back here so soon." I heard the screechy high pitched voice of the person who was supposed to be my friend.

"Had to get my things. I'm off the lease. The apartment is yours."  I said coldly as I climbed down to look at her. I wiped my hands on my jeans to get the dirt off.

"You still think you are so perfect, don't you?"  She hissed at me.

"I'm not perfect, Brynn, never have been. Never will be." I sighed.

"Yeah, right.  Everybody just loves and adores you. Riley's so beautiful, Riley's so sweet. Riley is so special. Riley, Riley, Riley.  You could take a shit on someone's face and they would thank you for it."

"I really don't know what world you are living in, but you know it's never been like that for me. I haven't always made good decisions and I pay for them every day." I didn't have the energy for her tonight.  I was too exhausted from hauling my things down the flights of stairs.

"You kissed my fucking boyfriend the night of the bonfire.  I saw you two in the house! I went up to check on you and he had his tongue down your throat. He talked about how much he loved you and wanted you to be with him.  You were pregnant with another guy's baby and he still wanted you more than he wanted me. That's the world I live in." She screamed.

"Brynn, I know this doesn't make any difference, but I do not remember any of that happening that night."  I said much more calmly than I ever thought I could.

"You want to know the real reason Ezra came up to the house that night?"  She grinned. "I told him I saw you and Aiden having sex."

"You what?"  I trembled. She had hit a nerve. She had my attention.

"Yep, Ezra was about to leave the party and I stopped him at his car. I told him Aiden had you bent over the edge of the couch and you were telling him how much you loved him and you knew he would be a better father for your baby than Ezra."

"Oh my god." I paused, unable to process through what I just heard.  I thought her in bed with Ezra was the worst betrayal I could possibly have even gone through.  This was so much worse. "You ruined my life."

"And you deserved it." She said, smiling.  I wanted to hit her. I was about ready to swing when out of the corner of my eye, I saw my parents walking quickly over to the truck. Brynn noticed them too and laughed.

"Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Davis. Came to bail your little girl out again, I see." She laughed as they walked up to us.  "Riley, see, I told you. So perfect, someone else is always willing to clean up your mess."

"Come on, Riley, you don't need to waste your energy on her."  My Mom said, wrapping her arm around me and turned me towards the passenger side of the truck. My body was vibrating with adrenaline, ready to pounce. 

"I'll make sure to tell Ezra you stopped by. He should be here any minute to fuck me again." She called, waving her hand. My Mom held on to me tighter, knowing I was ready to snap.

"The fact that you are so proud about that says a lot about your character Brynn." I turned around, surprised my Dad even opened his mouth. "You pretend like you are a strong independent woman when you are just dead inside.  No amount of men or scheming for love will ever lighten the blackness in your soul. You will go through life and never find your peace."

Dad turned away and walked over to climb in the driver's seat. I looked back at Brynn and tears were pouring down her cheeks.  For the first time in my life, I didn't feel sorry for her. 

I climbed into the truck and Mom followed behind me. I was sitting between my parents on the bench seat.  My Mom rested her hands in mine for support. 

I looked over at my Dad, who was smiling to himself.  He honked the horn and I saw him look back in the side mirror to Brynn to wave.  He stuck his middle finger in the air and pulled out of the parking lot as he whistled a jingle he must have had stuck in his head. 

I was ready to go home.