"I'll see you tomorrow," I tell him. Dylan takes long strides to his motorcycle and he hands me a helmet. "Gotta make sure you don't get a head injury before your important conversation with him tomorrow." He's acting petty, but I put the helmet on anyway. "Not funny." "I thought you said he was your ex?" he asks as he sits down. "He is." He's about to start the motorcycle when he looks back at me. "Address?" The engine roars after I give it to him and we're off to the apartment. I immediately think about whether or not he'll want to go inside and how clean the place is at the moment. He only has to ask where to turn once before we arrive onto the complex. I direct him to our building. Dylan parks next to my car, I stare at the flat tire as I take the helmet off. We walk up to my car and I sigh. "This is it." "Can you pop your trunk open?" I reach for my keys in my bag and unlock the car, then press the button to open the trunk for him. He takes a look inside and taps his chin. "Okay, I should've known you wouldn't have anything to change it. I'm going to call Anthony." "I'm going to take my stuff inside. Do you want to wait for him inside?" It feels weird asking him to go into the apartment with me. "Uh, if you're sure it's okay." "Yeah, it's fine." I can't tell if he's frustrated or if he feels just as awkward as I do as we climb the stairs and walk inside. I set my things down on the small dining table as Dylan shuts the door behind him. I quickly glance over everything to see if we have any laundry laying out or if anything was obviously cluttered. "I'm gonna call Anthony to see where he's at," he says, pulling out his phone. I nod and watch him go out the door. I then turn to the kitchen to see what snacks we have. What does Dylan like? Is he a cookie or cracker kind of person? Does he snack on fruits or vegetables? I'm going through the pantry when he walks back in. "Anthony isn't too far from us, so he'll be here in a minute." His eyes scan over the numerous snacks I have sitting on the counter. "What are you doing?" "I don't know what you like, so I brought out some options." I scratch the back of my neck nervously. "Sorry, we don't usually have people over." As I say that, I immediately think about when my aunt is going to be home. The clock on the stove reads four-fifteen, meaning she'll be home very soon. "Are these all of your snacks? Or do you happen to share with your parents?" he asks, sounding amused. "I snack a lot," I shrug, ignoring the part about my parents. To my horror, the front door opens and in walks my aunt. She's wearing a black blazer with a white button down underneath, jeans, and her favorite pair of leopard print heels. "Lacey, I was just looking at your car and you have a flat tire!" She walks into the kitchen and stops when she see Dylan. Her eyes flash between us and they finally settle on Dylan. "Oh, hi there." "Aunt Jade, this is my friend Dylan," I say quickly. "Dylan, this is my aunt Jade." Dylan holds out his hand and smiles at her. "It's nice to meet you." She takes his hand hesitantly. "Likewise. I didn't know we were having company." She looks at me for answers. "Dylan is actually going to change my tire," I explain. "Then we're going to hang out after." Her eyes brighten slightly. "Oh, that's sweet of you. Where are you two going?" I look at Dylan. Time to give up where we're going. "Uh, it's a place called Raven's downtown. There's a band I wanted Lacey to see." Raven's? I've seen the building before, but I've never given it much thought. It doesn't look like much from the outside. I just thought it was an old building. "Sounds fun," she smiles at me. Dylan tosses his phone between each hand. "My cousin just got here to help me change that tire. We'll be downstairs." He excuses himself and walks out. I let out a breath I had been holding and my aunt gives me a look. "He seems nice," she says. She grabs a bag of Goldfish and starts eating from it. "Cute too." "We're just friends." "Nothing wrong with having cute friends. Your dad started off as friends with your mom." "It's not like that. I swear we're only friends," I assure her. "I don't know a lot of guys who would go out of their way to change my tire." She seems like she's in a deep thought for a second. "I'm trying to think of how your parents would've handled this." I sigh. "Mom probably would've been on her millionth question towards him while dad would've sat there and watched him." She laughs. "Were they that way with Jacob?" "Yeah, but he handled it like a champ," I say. "If dad were around to hear what he did to me..." She shakes her head. "I think Jacob would have been more afraid of your mom." "True." My mom would have hunted him down. "Listen," she says as she leans against the counter. "I'm not like your mom. I know that. I was only supposed to be the cool aunt who slipped you a drink of my wine at family gatherings. I love being your guardian, I really do, and I'm still trying to figure all of this out. I guess your mom handled the hard part with the first boyfriend. I know you're smart. I guess—I mean, what I'm trying to say is—" "I understand," I say. "I should've told you he was here. I'm sorry. But, trust me, I'm not ready to jump into something after what happened with Jacob..." She takes my hand. "Okay, I'm just going for the cool aunt part here. Guys suck and you don't need one to feel complete in your life. You're young, you're allowed to have fun, and if some silly high school boy tries to ruin that, then he's not for you." She squeezes my hand. "Just as long as you're careful and you make smart choices." I can't help but wrap my arms around her for a tight hug while my eyes start to water. "I think mom would've says the same thing." She pulls away and put her hands on my shoulders. "You look more and more like her every day." "Maybe we should have heart to hearts like this every month. I feel a lot better," I admit. We'd talked about my parents before, but it feels different this time. "Deal. And babe, if you ever feel like crying, let me cry with you. It sucks crying alone."