Today we were going home, I had spent last night mostly with Aiden and I had the best night. I assumed that we weren't telling people anything until we were official and although I had every intention to do that, Charlie and Dale just didn't count, neither did James considering he had been the one that pushed me to tell Aiden. I had already told Charlie in our tent when Aiden and I finally went back to sleep and I literally had to cover her mouth with my hand so she didn't scream and wake up everyone. She had promised to not make let him know she knew yet as well. I hadn't told Dale yet considering it was too late last night to call him and even though I was seeing him tonight, I couldn't wait.

The morning had been hectic, we were packing up our campsite and because of that, I didn't get a chance to talk to Aiden. Breakfast was also hectic with people saying their goodbyes to their groups and supervisors so again, I didn't talk to Aiden.

We were now on the ferry on the way to the bus and as promised James approaches me and we go for a walk so I can tell him what happens, then I had to call Dale.

"So are you pregnant yet?" James jokes.

"Ha. Ha." I laugh sarcastically.

"Hey you never know these days," he grins, I laugh with him.

"So what actually happened?" James asks as we sit outside and watch Green Island fade away.

"I asked why he beat them up and like you said, he was jealous. He wants to talk more about it with me when we get home," I smile dreamily and James laughs.

"Told you Em, I'm always right." James grins.

I laugh at him; "James, I really have to thank you," I say, the conversation quickly turning serious.

"Why?" He asks, genuinely confused.

"If it wasn't for you then I don't think I would have told him," I admit, smiling at my friend.

"I just pushed you to tell him sooner, you would have done it eventually," James smiles back.

"Well thank you anyway," I smile.

"You're welcome Em, I'm glad I could help." James grins.

We laugh, talking about the trip when Tiffany eventually approaches us. I look at her expectantly but her focus is on James.

"Last night was amazing, I say we take another....walk," Tiffany smiles seductively.

"Definitely," James replies grinning widely. Tiffany turns to glare at me quickly before she takes James's hand and drags him away. James winks at me from behind her back and I laugh at him, rolling my eyes jokingly. I can't believe I call that idiot one of my friends.

I smile to myself, this was a perfect opportunity to call Dale. I dial his number and he answers on the second ring.

"Fucking finally, I thought you died or something," Dale says into the phone.

I laugh at him, "I didn't speak to you for one day."

"One day is a lot baby, especially when we talk every day!!" Dale whines.

"Okay okay I'm sorry," I laugh.

"Good, I'm excited to see you tonight!!" Dale enthuses.

"Me too!! I'm calling because I have something to tell you," I grin excitedly.

"YOU AND AIDEN ARE FINALLY TOGETHER?!" Dale yells so loud that I'm pretty sure the couple on the other side of the deck hear him.

"We kissed," I admit, the blush once again forming on my face.

"FUCK YES EM!!! YOU GET SOME DICK GIRL!!" Dale continues cheering, I laugh at him.

"We're not together yet though," I say, the smile still on my face. Dale stops cheering instantly.

"Why?" He asks astounded.

"Aiden wants to talk about it properly at the cliffs because that's our spot," I smile. Dale awes from the other side of the line.

"Who knew the bad boy had a soft side," Dale says and I can hear the smile in his voice.

"Are you still getting me from school when we get back?" I smile.

"Sure am, I want details!! Is Luke still taking Charlie?" Dale questions.

"Yep," I grin.

"Sweets, you and I are matchmakers from heaven, you know that?" I hear Dale grin.

I laugh at him; "we sure are."

"Fuck, my teacher is looking for me, I have to go but we'll be talking later, I've already packed so all I gotta do is skip the last few periods, love you baby." Dale talks quickly and hangs up the phone.

I put my phone on my lap, I had tried to convince Dale not to skip school for me but he didn't give me the option saying something about seeing us before anyone else. Luke had free periods last so he wasn't skipping but had still offered to pick up Charlie. Obviously, we jumped at the chance.

Sooner than expected we're at the dock, packing our bags into the school bus. Once Dale and I had hung up I went back to the group but still hadn't spoken to Aiden directly. We kept getting eye contact with each other, Aiden would smile every time and my heartbeat would eradicate.

Now it was time to say goodbye to everyone from the other schools, which meant, saying goodbye to Justin, James and Amy and her boys. James was my first stop, as soon he sees me he walks over to me and holds his arms out. I hug him.

"Thank you for everything James, I'll see you soon. We only live just under an hour and a half away from each other so I better see you!!" I scold. James agrees, hugging me again. We exchange numbers and then I go to find Amy. Her group was standing with mine so I hug all the boy's goodbye before finally approaching Amy.

"I'm gonna miss you Ames," I grin.

"I'll miss you too hun, we will definitely stay in contact!! We live close enough to," Amy replies, pouting.

"Definitely," I agree, hugging her tightly again.

"You better call my fine ass up if anything happens between you and Aiden," Amy demands. I agree, feeling extremely guilty that I hadn't told her about the kiss. I would tell her as soon as we were official.

We talk a little more before I excuse myself to say goodbye to Justin and Mason, unlike the others, Justin lived 6 hours away so I wouldn't be able to see him as much as the others. Seeing him made me realize just how much I actually missed him and even though he was upset with me right now, I wanted more than anything for us to be okay again.

"Justin," I say quietly once I approach him and Justin, a few of the other students from my old school wave at me and I wave back. Justin looks at me and waits.

"I just wanted to say goodbye," I say.

"Bye," Justin replies coldly before turning back to an awkward-looking Mason.

I'm shocked, never in the years I have known Justin has he spoken to me so coldly. I think he sees the shock in my eyes because he sighs loudly and pulls me aside.

"Justin?" I question once he has successfully pulled me away from anyones earshot.

"Seriously Emily, you're making a mistake. Guys like Aiden don't change, he's only going to break your heart." Justin states, rolling his eyes.

He's wrong. Aiden was different around me, sweet. People change, don't they?

"Justin I-" I begin, but Justin cuts me off.

"I don't want to hear it, Emily. You can do better than him and that's a fact. When he breaks your heart I'll always be here." Justin states once again in a final tone before turning around and walking back to Mason, leaving me shocked and frozen.

Did Justin really think he would break my heart? Was Justin right? No, he couldn't be.

My thought are cut off by Charlie who approaches me.

"What's wrong?" She asks as soon as she notices the probably pale look on my face.

I don't answer, instead, I look towards Aiden who was already looking at me with a questioning expression on his face.

I pull my eyes away from Aiden's, I can feel his look still piercing through my body.

"Em?" Charlie questions again.

"Sorry, I'm okay." I assure.

"Miss Wilson is calling us, we have to get on the bus," Charlie says after a minute, she obviously knew there was something up but didn't want to push it. I nod at her, following limply as she drags me to the bus.

I look behind, trying to get one last glance at Justin but see him laughing with Mason about something instead. I look away. He was wrong about Aiden, he just had to be.

Charlie and I make our way onto the bus and go to join the boys. Aiden and Carter both had a spare seat beside them, obviously saving them for Charlie and I. Charlie grins at me and sits beside Carter leaving me with Aiden.

Usually, I would love her for this, but after what Justin said I was once again nervous. I know I shouldn't let him get to me, but for some reason, his words hit harder than I care to admit.

As soon as I sit, the bus starts to move. I get my phone out of my back pocket to busy myself and Aiden notices this.

"Collins, talk to me?" Aiden asks quietly so only I can hear him.

I ignore him, still battling with my emotions. I knew that Aiden had the power to break my heart, bad. The fact the Justin was so sure that was exactly what was going to happen made me terrified, he knew me better than most people.

My phone gets snatched out of my hand and I look up at Aiden who is staring at me expectantly.

"Seriously babe, what did Justin say?" Aiden asks again, holding my phone firmly in his hand.

I sigh and look Aiden straight in the eye; "are you serious about us Aiden? I mean really? I can't afford for you to break my heart."

Aiden stares at me, "look at me, baby, I've never been more serious about anything more in my life."

For a minute I forget to breathe. Is that normal when a greek god calls you baby?

Once I remember to breathe and my heart calms down a little, I smile at him.

"I believe you," I reply, meaning every word. Justin was just annoyed, that's all. Aiden grins at me in response but before he can say anything else, we're pulled into the conversation by Toby.

***

"Collins, wake up." I hear as I'm gently shaken. I ignore the intruder and snuggle back into the warmth.

"Awww, she's so cute," Toby says and I instantly jump awake. Toby? Where was I?

I look around and see the whole group grinning at me, including Aiden who looks smug about something. My face instantly burns when I realize what must have happened, I fell asleep on Aiden's shoulder. I look out the window and see we were already at school, people were starting to exit the bus already.

"You're so cute Collins," Aiden grins cheekily. I blush once again at the group's curious stare. Obviously, Aiden had not yet told Carter and Blake about last night. The way Toby was grinning at me, however, suggested he knew exactly what had happened last night. My face flames once again.

"Let's go," Toby grins, standing up. We all follow him as he exits the bus and we make our way to our bags. I grab my stuff and join the group who were standing in a circle, their bags in hand. We had gotten back to school a little earlier than suggested so not many parents were here yet.

"Is Dale here?" Charlie questions, scanning the few cars that had already arrived.

"Not yet," I reply grinning.

"Dale's picking you up?" Aiden questions, something about his tone almost seems vulnerable.

"Yeah..." I trail uncertainly, feeling guilty for some reason.

Aiden doesn't reply, instead, he begins to find the ground very interesting.

"Here he is," I grin, still feeling a little guilty but not being able to hide my excitement.

"I'll walk you," Aiden says the same time as Charlie says; "I'll come say hi."

Charlie backs away instantly; "actually, I'll see him really soon. I don't need to come."

I almost laugh at her obviousness. Dale gets out of his car and grins at Charlie while she blows him a kiss from across the courtyard.

I hug the boy's goodbye and nod at Aiden, telling him to come. We begin moving in Dale's direction.

"We'll leave at like 2:00 for the cliffs, then maybe we can go out for a late lunch or something?" Aiden suggests.

"Sounds good," I manage, somehow sounding calm even though my heart was going faster than Aiden's car at the tracks.

Was that when we made it official? I hoped so.

Aiden opens his arm and I instantly hug him, loving the way his body felt against mine. I wanted to kiss him more than anything but I knew he didn't want to until we spoke at the cliffs.

I walk away from Aiden and approach a smirking Dale. I wrap my arms around him tightly and feel him instantly react, lifting my body gently off the ground.

I giggle at him, jumping into the passenger seat.

"I missed you baby!!" Dale pouts as soon as we begin driving.

"I missed you more," I grin, leaning over to kiss him on the cheek.

Dale grins cheekily at me; "so, how was the trip?"

By the time I tell Dale everything that happened in detail, and Aidens plans for later today, we're at home and in my room while I pout on my bed and Dale goes through my wardrobe, choosing an outfit for me to wear.

I have an hour before I have to leave by the time Dale has chosen my outfit and painted my face. I had to admit, I looked pretty good in the light makeup and my light blue skinny jeans and black, mildly see-through shirt with roses printed over my breasts. Unfortunately, the weather looked like it could rain soon and I just hoped that we would be away from the cliff by then. I grab Aiden's leather jacket that I hadn't given him back yet and put it on to keep me warm.

50 minutes to go.

Dale and I decide to walk downstairs to grab something to eat before we head back to my room. I finish eating before deciding to grab my phone which was charging in my room. Maybe he had texted me?! Dale would just chill here with Eli when he got home until I got back. They would probably end up playing the X-Box together but I was just happy that my best friend and little brother loved each other

40 minutes to go.

I open the door to my room, Dale was still downstairs finishing his sandwich and I look towards my bed where my phone was but feel like throwing up the sandwich I had just finished.

🎵🎶🎵

I could see into Aiden's room through his window where he was making out with a stunning blonde.

I feel my heart break into a million tiny pieces, and tears gather in my eyes. Is this what it feels like to have your heart broken? They still hadn't seen me but I couldn't look away.

Just a few hours ago, Aiden had promised me that whatever we had was real. I believed him. How fucking stupid could I be?

Now here he was, making out with another girl who was so stunning, she should have been a model.

They stop making out, just enough time for Aiden to take off his shirt. Their lips once again connect until the girl takes off her shirt, displaying her smaller bra that I would have died for. I get a quick glimpse of the girl's face and somehow, my heart breaks even more, by now the tears were streaming uncontrollably down my face and the nauseous feeling had only multiplied.

The girl he was making out with was the girl in the pictures, his ex he was still in love with. The girl was Katherine.

I was so stunned that I didn't even hear Dale call out my name and then his heavy footsteps as he came up to see where I was. I barely register when he runs into my back because I was still standing limply in my doorway. Dale catches me before I tumble over, but again I don't register it.

Dale looks over my shoulder and I feel his form freeze behind mine, obviously watching the scene unfold as shocked as I was.

Dale regains himself quicker than I do and sprints to my window before closing the curtains, blocking my view from the guy I was in love with who I thought felt the same way, about to have sex with his stunning ex-girlfriend.

I don't move, still frozen to my spot as Dale runs back over to me and engulfs me in a hug. We sink the floor together, me crying in his arms as he hugs me, rocking us back and forth.

Justin was right.

I should have known that bad boy players never change and in the end, he just broke my heart. How could I have been so stupid and naive?