"Look how big those balloons are."

I pointed at the window of the little party shop in town before turning to walk again. The window was filled with colorful balloons and even had large ones shaped like cartoon characters. The little kid in me wanted to go in and buy one.

The sun was shining on the warm fall day and the street smelled like warm apple cider. I raised my face to take in the wonderful feeling of the harvest sunshine.

Ohio was beautiful in the fall.

The leaves turned various shades of orange, yellow, and red, making everything look like it was brushed with fire. It was my favorite season when we got it anyway. Most years were summer and winter blended together without the transition. That was what made today so beautiful. It wasn't like every other one.

The streets were crowded for a Sunday. This was one of the first days in a long time the sun had been out. My phone vibrated in my pocket and I stop walking to answer it.

"Hold on one second." I said, pausing long enough to pull out my phone from my pocket.

I saw Aiden's name flash across my screen and I smiled before answering. I rolled my eyes and shook my head. He was always so impatient.

"We're on our way." I answered the phone without even saying hello.

"You guys are always late. We're going to miss the previews. You know that's my favorite part." I laughed at his whiney tone. Visions of him standing there pouting circled my head.

"If you keep calling and I keep stopping, we'll be even later." I poked at him.

"Get here. I swear we will go in without you. I can't keep stalling." He sighed.

"Tell Delilah or whatever her name is to keep her pants on. We will be there any second."

Aiden had brought his newest fling with him. Mr. Banker went through the ladies now. It was hard to keep up with his love life when there was a new girl with him every time we hung out.

"Her name is Darla and I want her to take her pants off. That is exactly why you need to hurry." He complained.

"Darla, like from The Little Rascals? Does that make you Alfalfa or Spankey?" I laughed.

"Just shut up and get here. I can't keep stalling much longer." He said, hanging up on me.

Darla. Got it. I would only make a few more jokes about it, I promised myself. Well, only a few more today, then a couple more tomorrow...

"Come on. Aiden said we're going to be late." I slid my phone back in my pocket and looked down at my hand with a huge smile as I felt the familiar pressure. I was greeted with a perfectly white toothy smile right back. I was head over heels in love; there was no one else in the world I would rather be with today.

We walked around the corner and started heading towards the theatre. I could see it off in the distance. It towered over every other building on this block. We looked both ways before crossing the street. My grip tightened when a car came too close to the sidewalk. No one wanted to get on my bad side today and I put my hand in the air to flip the jerk off while cursing. Laughter erupted next to me and I looked over. I couldn't help but smile and apologize. My cheeks were flushed with embarrassment. One day I will learn to control my temper, but today was not the day.

As we passed a deli, my head turned to look inside. My stomach was grumbling and I was starving. I hoped Aiden's plans today included a ton of popcorn and snacks from the movie theater concession stand. The sandwich on the sign was calling my name, but we definitely didn't have time to stop.

I continued to stare at the sandwiches on the signs when we rounded the corner of the building. One of them was new and my taste buds were salivating over the picture with the toppings perfectly placed over the too orange cheese slice. Then the picture of the milkshake came into focus. Chocolate and peanut butter pieces. Pure heaven.

I hit a solid warm wall and got stopped in my tracks. I fell backwards from the impact and almost pulled us both over. A large hand moved to my arm, grabbing it quickly, trying to hold me up. I stood there, staring at the black shirt in front of me. The wall I ran into was clearly a very tall male. My cheeks were red from embarrassment, I had always been so clumsy and I definitely wasn't paying any attention to where I was going.

The hand holding me in place lingered for a few seconds and then quickly moved away from me.

"I'm so sorry. I wasn't watching where I was walking." I apologized as I snuck a peek at the face of the person I ran into.

Staring back at me was a dark-haired man with the same blue eyes I thought about every day for the last three years. I studied the familiar face, blinking rapidly to make sure I wasn't just imagining it. It was him, minus all the piercings. The scars were still there above his eyebrow where the two rings used to be so perfectly placed.

He was looking down at me in surprise. His face mirrored the look of shock that was all over mine. There was a noise next to him that sounded like a woman clearing her throat. When I looked over, I could see his hand was firmly attached to a gorgeous thin woman with long dark blonde hair and dark eyes.

I looked down at my own hand and panicked. It was empty. My lungs started to burn and I was struggling to catch my breath. Relief flooded through my body when I felt a hand on my back and the pressure against my side. The warm hand grabbed for me again. I looked down at my hand and his eyes followed mine. His stance went rigid as he watched me hold on like my life depended on it.

His eyes looked back up to mine quickly in surprise. His eyes were wide as he looked at my face and back over to where my hand was. This was not happening.

"Come on," I screeched, pulling hard as I rushed past him and the blond he was holding hands with.

Ezra stood there, not moving as I ran past him as fast as I could.

"Momma, who's that?" The sweetest little singsong voice asked me curiously as we ran towards the theatre.

"No one Jessa." I answered, looking back down at her. "Let's go. Aiden is waiting for us."

I used my free hand to swipe her dark curly hair off her forehead. I hated it when it fell in her face. I should have put a barrette in it to keep it out of her eyes. She looked back up and smiled at me. Her icy blue eyes twinkled with excitement.