We all finally sat down to eat and my parents couldn't stop grinning . Even Delilah seemed ecstatic by the revelations of our statuses. The only people not impressed was a brooding Dylan and angry Brittany . We ignored those two the rest of the brunch.

Once everything was cleaned up we all sat around in the patio having some mimosas . "Christian," my father starts.

Before he can say anything else Alex interjects, "please sir, call me Alex. That's the name I've been going by for years now."

My father nods and continues , "Alex, how have you been? How are your brothers and sisters?"

"I've been great, I came back from an overseas trip a couple months back . And before you ask, I'm not going anywhere for a long while . My siblings are great, I'm actually going to be working with Warren at the company."

"Oh wow, are you ready for corporate life?" He asks.

"I did go to Dartmouth , I would say that I'm as ready as I can be."

"Warren knows his stuff . Will it be weird for you?" My father continues his questioning.

"He's strict and no nonsense . He's a workaholic too . I think that's why my father wanted the two of us working together . I'm suppose to help him ease up . We're worried that he's going to work himself into the grave," Alex expresses concern .

"I agree , he needs to relax a little bit . Is he still with that woman?"

"Penelope?" Alex shakes his head, "we all were hoping he'd at least marry her but they were together for nearly a decade and he had zero intentions of making her his wife . Poor girl left the country brokenhearted."

I usually would make an empathetic comment but I refrained . Mostly because I didn't want them to think I didn't know the current events in his life . Thankfully my mother decided to change the direction of the conversation .

She walks out with a few photographs in her hands , "look what I found!" She says with glee.

My mother hands them to me and Alex to look at, "Mom, what are these?"

"Those my dears are old photos of you with the Wells kids," she says triumphantly.

Not one to sit around and be ignored , Dylan made some kind of excuse to leave . Good, get out of our house , you and your filth aren't welcomed. I didn't even look his direction as they said their goodbyes . But Delilah did and the smirk on her face spoke volumes .

As soon as they left , "Thank God!" She exclaims while William gave her a look . "What? I know he's your brother but seriously? Did he HAVE to being Brittany? None of us like her, including you."

He sighs and then looks at me , "Aria, I apologize for the lack of brain cells in my brother's head . We made it clear that if he brought her that he would keep her in line."

"I'm fine," I say as convincingly as possible. The reality is, I really hated the fact that she was here . Am I still in love with Dylan? No, but I miss what used to be . Even before we got together, we were good friends . I thought I knew him but time has a way of showing that we really didn't know people after all .

Alex leans into me , "You sure you're okay? Want my drink?" He asks with a wink .

"I'm fine, really," I assure him as I turn my attention back at the photographs my mom procured from somewhere.

"I don't know if you remember this but Aria , you used to be really attached to the Wells kids, especially Warren," that surprised me .

"How come I don't remember any of this?" I ask in confusion.

That's when Delilah gasped, "Mother! Was this that summer?"

She nodded. And then Delilah said , "I know exactly why you don't remember. And if I ever see that oldest brother of yours , what's his name , not Warren but that other one," she tries to recall.

"Trip?" Alex answers.

"TRIP! That's it. I'll wring his neck!" She threatens.

"DELILAH!" My mother scolds.

"He put Aria in the hospital!" She screams.

I shake my head trying to remember it. But I suppose I was very young. I couldn't have been more than 5 years old in this photo. I look closer and see all of us standing there with smiles . I recognized Alex immediately as he was proudly off to the end holding some kind of pet. And I'm in the middle staring at his brother, I'm going to guess is Warren.

"Wait," Alex starts to piece it all together . "You were the kids we used to hang out with during the summer, I always wondered what happened to you."

That's when Delilah filled in the rest of the missing pieces , "Your oldest brother Trip , thought it would be a brilliant idea to 'teach' Aria how to swim by throwing her in the lake!"

Now I know where my fear of large bodies of water came from . Alex wore a horrified expression on his face , "What? That must've been why my father shipped him off to boarding school. It was just him. He was always the black sheep in the group."

He looked over at me and I stopped him before he can even say anything , "We were children . Don't even think about apologizing for him . I'm sure he learned his lesson."

Alex gave me a sad look, "I wish I could say he did but he acted out even more once he got into high school and worse in college."

And that's when it hit me , I remember my work was taking on a very risky client . And I put everything together. He's the unsolvable case that's been sent up to the top dogs in our company . His reputation as the ultimate bad boy proceeds him and I have a sneaking suspicion that he's going to put a wrench in our plans if I cross paths with him. I heard rumors around the building that we couldn't turn this client down because of his father . Damnit.

I bring my attention back to the conversation ahead of me , "Let's not drudge up the bad memories . I wish I could remember the good times."

"That's what the pictures are for! Here, I'll explain each one," my mother smiles at me.

By the end of our picture tour down memory lane my father chimes in , "I always thought one of my girls would end up with a Wells boy. Specifically Aria and Warren but this makes more sense."

"Warren?" Both Alex and I say at the same time .

"It was just a silly little thought . Aria , you followed that boy around like you would follow him to the end of the earth," I shifted in my seat uncomfortably, trying to look at Alex out of my periphery.

I start laughing it off , "We were kids back then , dad."

Delilah spoke up, "Oh Aria, you were the center of attention without trying . The fact is , that little boy caught your eye and he was fond of you too. I totally remember this," she stopped and then looked at Alex, "sorry."

He had an amused look on his face, "Well thank goodness we all grew up and Aria decided to give me a chance."

We finished brunch at 3 , we stayed there longer than anticipated but I think my family bought the whole thing . When we got in his car I had to say something .

"Alex? Was that okay?"

"Of course. Why wouldn't it be?" He says.

"It's crazy that we actually used to hang out together," I begin.

"I know. And now that my memory is coming back , I really did have fun with you guys," he says contemplatively.

"So , I have to mention something and I didn't think that this could possibly bite my in the bum," I look at him.

"Go on"

"Trip is our newest client at work, there's a possibility I might run into him," I spit it out.

He gives me a concerned look, "Well damn. Looks like we'll need to play fake couple to everyone," he says but not sounding upset at all.