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Would it be such a terrible thing if I jumped in my car and never came back—never faced Aiden's family again? I'd stayed away for seven years. I could do it again.
Except I didn't want that. Stepping inside the Dawsons’ living room had been like coming home.
The door opened behind me.
"Is everything okay?" Kate asked in a quiet voice as she stepped timidly onto the porch.
I cleared my throat and pulled a smile onto my face. "Yeah, sorry about that. I, uh…" I looked around, trying to come up with something that would explain my strange behavior. But nothing came to me. "I just needed some air."
She nodded. "Today's a weird day."
Drew sighed. "Yes. It is."
"I guess this is probably the first time you've been here in a long time."
"Almost seven years."
"A lot has changed in that time." She sat down on the top step and patted the spot next to her. "Have a seat."
I hesitated, part of me still wanting to run away. But when I met her gaze, she was looking up at me with such a soft and gentle expression that I didn't have the heart to leave.
So I stepped down and sat beside her.
"Do you miss it?" Kate asked.
"Miss what?" I asked, confused.
"The way things used to be." She lifted a hand and gestured at the basketball hoop on the side of the driveway. "The neighborhood basketball games. The bonfires at the beach. The simple things that just made life great."
Growing up with the Dawsons as a sort of second family had been wonderful. My mom had worked a lot of nights. My dad hadn't been in the picture for years. So I’d spent most of my evenings with Aiden and his family.
I tugged on my pant legs. "Growing up with you guys is where some of my fondest memories come from."
"Mine too." Our eyes met, and a warm feeling bloomed in my chest. But I forced it away. I wasn't supposed to feel warm when I looked at Kate. We were in the here-and-now, and things were different.
"Remember how you and Aiden used to always try to pull all-nighters and he was barely able to stay up past midnight?" Kate asked.
“Yeah.” I couldn’t help but smile at the memory. “It was like someone pressed a magic button and he would immediately turn into a zombie once the clock struck twelve.”
"EvenIcould stay up longer than him."
It was true. Kate would often force her company on us, begging to play against the winner of whatever video game we were playing. We only sometimes let her actually have a turn. Most of the time, she sat on the couch with us and ate all our candy.
I never really minded, though. At least I'd had someone to talk to when Aiden conked out on the floor. Kate had actually never made it through the night either. And once she'd fallen asleep around three in the morning, I’d just get bored and decide to go to bed as well, since staying up all night by yourself was boring.
"Did he ever tell you about ourWeekend of Shame?" I raised an eyebrow.
"’Weekend of Shame?’" Kate's jaw dropped, astonishment covering her features.
I laughed. "It's not as bad as it sounds."
"It’d better not be."
"Aiden just thought he was hilarious when he decided we should call it that."
"So what happened on this shameful weekend of yours?" Kate arched an eyebrow.
I shrugged. "One weekend our sophomore year, my mom went out of town, leaving me to fend for myself. So, Aiden and I came up with this great plan to ask if we could have a sleepover at my house. We were dying to get a moment of freedom. Your parents of course said yes, thinking my mom would be home."
