I'm a mess. Cora sits at my small table. "Well I called earlier to check on you since I hadn't heard from you." "Yeah, it was a little bit of a late night," I say as my eyes flicker to Dylan who smirks. "You're not hungover?" "Oh, I am. Medicine and a shower do the trick though," he explains as he leans against my counter. His eyes don't leave mine and I start to feel insecure. For all I know he could be judging the bags under my eyes or my ugly pajamas. Cora stands up and I tear my eyes away from Dylan to look at her. "Well, I'll be going now," she says. "I just wanted to check in on you." She hugs me before holding her hand out to Dylan. "It was a pleasure, Dylan." He shakes her hand and laughs a little. "Call me later, Lacey," she waves before she leaves. I know she's only leaving so Dylan and I are alone. She'll definitely want to know what happens. I hear the front door shut and I let out a long sigh. It's like my worlds are mixing now. Casey has met Ben and now Dylan has met Cora. Dylan scratches the back of his neck, but doesn't say anything. "Thanks again for the medicine," I tell him. "That was nice of you." "I just found what I could in your bathroom," he waves it off. Panic rises in me. If he found my painkillers, there's a chance he saw the antidepressants from Dr. Harrison. "Um, it's fine," I look at my feet before meeting his eyes again. I really hope he didn't see the pills. I need to change the subject. "How was the couch?" "Oh I slept like a baby," he grins. "But we missed the sunrise." I let a smile creep onto my face. "Maybe next time." His smile falters a bit and it scares me. This time I can read his expression and he seems upset. "I want to talk about last night." My brain is filing through last nights events. Did I say something wrong? Did something else happen and I don't remember it? "Okay," I say as a nervous pit settles in my stomach. He crosses his arms and his brows come together. "I just want to clear something up. I'll always care for you because you were really one of my best friends in high school. Even if we hadn't dated, I would've appreciated your friendship." I'm not sure where this is going, but I nod along. "I don't want to confuse you. Last night was really fun, but I don't want you to think I'm only here to win you back into a relationship," he explains. "I'm tired of being the asshole who comes into your life, makes a mess of everything, then leaves without another word. I don't want to be that guy anymore." Before we broke up I thought was a little bit of an asshole for leaving me, but I always thought about how traveling made him feel. I could never stay mad at him. "You're not-" He stops me. "I am. And I'm sorry if I made you think something would happen between us again." That kind of ticks me off. "Dylan, we agreed to be friends when you got here and I've kept my word on that. Nothing happened last night. We hung out and that's it." "You blew off that guy for me." "Yeah, because I haven't heard from him in a week and I wasn't going to ditch you. I'm not going to ditch my friend," I say, not really believing this conversation is happening. He looks confused. "I just don't want you to get false hope." I don't know what his angle is here, but it's making me angry. He's acting like I've been hung up on him since we broke up. "I don't know where this arrogant attitude is coming from, but I'm way past false hope. I don't want to argue about whether you think I'm still in love with you because I'm not. And you're still being the asshole for making it weird now." Something clicks. He does this when he's deflecting something. Turning the argument around so I purposely get mad at him so he can stay away. It's something he did in high school too. I feel my eyes narrowing at him. "What are you doing, Dylan?" He shoves his hands in his pockets. "I'm not doing anything. I'm just making sure you won't get hurt while I'm here." Whatever he's planned, it's working. "I think you should go now," I cross my arms. I'm done with this conversation and I don't want things to get worse. We still have to be in the wedding together. Four more weeks of this. Dylan nods and walks out of the kitchen without another word. I hear the front door open and close and I let out a long sigh I feel like I've been holding for four years. My phone is blowing up with messages and I glance over them. They're all from Casey. I should probably call her before she gets really upset. I need someone to talk to anyway. I put the phone on speaker as I sit at my small table. I rub my temples and I hear the call connect. "Lacey, you have a lot of explaining to do," Casey says. "Why didn't you tell me you and Dylan went out last night?" "I didn't want you to make a big deal out of it," I tell her honestly. "Nothing happened." "Then why do you sound sad?" Do I? I'm upset that Dylan wanted to start an argument about us. He's not telling me something and I want to know what it is. I tell Casey about last night, explaining how we got drunk, slept in the park, then crashed at my place with him on the couch. "He came back this morning and we argued," I say. "Argued? About what?" "He thinks I'm still hung up on him. He said he doesn't want me to get hurt while he's here," I shake my head. She's quiet for a second. "Well, you're not, right?" The tone in her voice is off. "I'm not in love with him. That ended four years ago and that's that." I can't believe I still have to say it. "Maybe it was all meant to end in high school." "Maybe," she says. "We had agreed to not make it weird and he did anyway," I rant. "I feel like he's not telling me something. Like he's hiding something." "Well, whatever it is maybe it's best to stay out of it. Not to be a bridezilla or anything, but I really don't want you guys to be arguing during the wedding. I need everything to go smoothly." She's right. It wouldn't be right to ruin everything for her. "Sorry, Case. I promise I'll be on my best behavior." "Good. Everyone in the wedding party will be at the shower. It'll be at my grandparents house at one in the afternoon," she says. "Are you staying with me when you come back?" "Yeah, if that's okay still." "Yes, please. I love Levi, but I need someone else around to help me not lose my cool." I let out a laugh. I knew this would be stressful, but it's proving to be even more so than I thought. It'll all pay off in the end. We hang up after discussing when I'll get into town next week for the shower. I'm not excited to see Dylan again, but maybe he'll be out of his weird mood by then. I really, really don't want to be bitter with him. That's the last thing I need.