Drowning

Chapter 50:

It took me two more weeks of silence before I decided to unblock Ezra and reach out to him again. He sounded surprised when I called him. From the tone in his voice, it sounded like he thought I had written him off for good. I really thought I had too.

I woke up that morning and finally made a decision.  I was a mess with Ezra, but I was even worse without him.  Something inside me felt broken without him in my life.  He was not always kind or patient, but it was not like I was the best version of myself either. We were both sloppy and unhinged, but we had a fire within us that could not be put out.  No matter how hard I tried, I kept circling back to him.

"Riley?" Ezra's voice sounded surprised over the phone. I wasn't sure what I was expecting from this, but I was ready to make my move. I hoped it wasn't too late. 

"Can we talk?" I blurted out.

"Uh, yeah." He replied in a guarded tone.

"Do you want to meet up somewhere?"

"You can just come over.  Aiden's the only one here right now. He sounded too formal and awkward. "Unless you want to go somewhere else."

"No, the house is fine." I agreed nervously. 

"Ok, I'll see you soon."

Aiden answered the door when I knocked. He looked a little surprised to see me and gave me a huge hug.

"Where the hell have you been?" He asked as he squeezed the breath out of me.

I hadn't seen him since the night at Bannon's when Ezra and I fought. Aiden looked extremely happy. He and Brynn must be doing well.  I wouldn't know, though, since I hid out in my bedroom for the last month and a half. 

"I just had a lot going on."  I answered as I pulled myself away from him.

"Yeah, I just thought you would have at least called Brynn or even me about it.  You have friends. You shouldn't forget that we care about you."  He reminded me.

"I'm sor..." I began to say before he interrupted me.

"Stop.  You don't have to apologize. That's not what that was about.  I just want you to know you're not alone."  He smiled down at me and rubbed my shoulder.

"I know."  I meekly squeaked out.

"He's upstairs." Aiden motioned towards the staircase. "JD is at Anna's parent's cabin this weekend and Mark is at his new girlfriend's place. You guys will have the place to yourselves tonight if you want it. I can stay at Brynn's. If you need me, please call."

"What?" I asked nervously.

It was not like I wanted Aiden to stay with us, but I wasn't sure about being alone with Ezra again until we figured things out.

"Riley, you two obviously need to talk. I've known you for a long time. I see how you look at him when you think no one's watching." Aiden took my hand in his and squeezed it before continuing.

"You need to figure this thing out with Ezra and then talk to JD about it. You guys won't be able to keep this quiet much longer. JD is starting to suspect something. You both have been headcases for weeks now, he keeps asking questions and I have been trying to throw him off in different directions. He is like a bloodhound."

"Aiden, I..." He raised his hand to stop me.

"I will stay if you want me to." He offered.

"No, go see Brynn. Tell her I'll call her later." 

Aiden rubbed my arm again and gave me his classic toothy smile. He walked out the door without sayings by another word about Ezra and me.

Aiden was a really good person.