Gathering her courage, Keeley carefully descended the stairs to where Aaron sat on the couch, petting Dinah. He glanced up, his expression blank.

"Was that the bath bomb you mentioned?" he asked.

"No," she mumbled, embarrassed. "Just regular bubble bath. I accidentally added too much. What are you doing here?"

"It's my house," he pointed out. "My meetings ended early, so I came home. I texted you."

Her phone lay on the kitchen table, where she'd left it before storming upstairs. Sure enough, a text from hours earlier awaited her. She must have received it when she met Ryan, but hadn't felt her phone buzz.

"I was out; I didn't see it."

A soft smile touched his lips. "You certainly seemed to be having fun."

She buried her face in her hands. "Murder me, Harry," she moaned.

"Who's Harry?" he asked stiffly.

Keeley peeked through her fingers. Of course he didn't recognize the quote. It was a miracle he'd recognized her Star Wars quote.

"It's from the fourth Harry Potter movie. Someone says it when they're super embarrassed, so Lydia and I started using it after seeing the movie in our junior year of high school."

He relaxed immediately. "Oh. I haven't seen any of those."

"The books are better, but the movies are pretty good. You'll probably never read the series, so I'd recommend watching them instead."

"Watching takes less time than readingand I have heard of them. They're children's books, aren't they?"

"Kind of. They were, but they got pretty dark, so I think the target audience aged with the main characters," she explained.

"Ah. I take it you like them?"

"Yeah, Kaleb and I started reading them together in 1999. He didn't get to read the fifth one onward. I had to finish for both of us."

Aaron's expression turned worried. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring up something painful."

She shook her head. Talking about her lost family members was therapeutic. It kept their memories alive. She'd been thinking about them a lot lately, as the anniversary of their deaths approached.

"Don't worry. I loved my brother; not talking about him dishonors his memory."

"You were close," he stated.

"Very. He was my best friend, even though he sometimes annoyed me so much I wanted to pull my hair out. But that's siblings," Keeley said with a fond smile. She'd done the same to him.

Aaron stroked the cat, looking pensive. "I wouldn't know. It must be nice having a sibling. In my family, it would have been a competition for the inheritance; we probably would have hated each other."

Keeley stared, shocked. It was one of the most personal things he'd ever said about his childhood. It made a sad sort of sense, given what little she knew.

All things considered, he could have been far worse. She didn't excuse his actions, but she understood them, to a point. That reminded her of her question.

"Were you lonely growing up?"

She sat beside him on the couch; it felt awkward being the only one standing. She listened eagerly. A mystery might be solved.

He looked down. "Yes, but I didn't realize it then. ActuallyI didn't realize what I was missing until I met you."

"Me?" Keeley asked, surprised.

"I'd never felt like that before. I was confused at first, but it hit me that the positive emotions I felt around you were different from the negative ones I felt around everyone else. You were the only one I didn't feel lonely around."

Wow. That was a lot to process. She'd been right; he was lonely and awkward, not cold and unfeeling.

But that didn't mean he was in love with her. She wasn't about to ask that. It didn't matter; she was over him, right?

Aaron spoke before she could, looking at her earnestly. "I should have told you this a long time ago, but you've always been the best part of my life. You were the first and only person who liked me for who I was, not who they thought I should be. I never forgot that."

Keeley stared. This was the most sentimental thing she'd ever heard him say. "Always been the best part of his life?" That was a bold claim.

"I know you're planning on leaving in six months to pursue your dreamI want you to be able to do everything you've ever wanted. But in the meantime, could you stay here with me?

It would be easier to commute to school. You wouldn't be apart from Molly. You can use my DVR, eat my snacks, and take as many bubble baths as you want. It's a big place; you'd hardly see me if you didn't want to. Just stay."

She didn't know what to say. Living there would be more convenient than Brooklyn. But could she morally stay with someone she was trying to leave?

"I don't know, Aaron," she said, biting her lip. "It's a lot to think about. Can I get back to you tomorrow? I'm going to stay with my dad tonight."

"Take as much time as you need."

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