Emily POV:

Today was Sunday and Dale had just dropped me back home, after he heard about what happened with Aiden and I, Miles and him didn't leave my side for the rest of the night and honestly, I was okay with pretending I didn't know about Miles and Dale when others were around, if that's what they wanted then that's okay.

Dale had asked me if I wanted him to stay with me tonight but I had declined, I wasn't sure if it was my emotions running high or the fact that Miles was finally moving on but for some reason, I wanted to talk to my mother about Maddi, I wanted to tell her that Maddi knew about my father's affair and hated him for it. I wanted to be completely transparent with my mother because she had always been transparent with me, I owed her that at least.

I sigh to myself, falling on my bed beside Nala once Dale leaves after helping me bring everything in. I wanted to tell her, she deserved to know. I think that maybe a part of me wanted to tell her about Dale and Miles but I knew I couldn't do that yet so maybe I was using this to replace what I really wanted to tell her.

I lie on my bed for a few hours and then suddenly the sun begins to sink.

"Hey sweetie, I didn't hear you come in but did you have a good time last night?" My mom smiles. I smile back at her, "I did, thank you for helping Charlie plan it all."

My mom smiles at me; "is there anything in particular, that you want for dinner tonight?"

I shake my head, I didn't really feel like eating at all because I knew how this conversation would end.

"Are you okay sweetie?" My mother questions, sitting on the bottom of the bed and giving me a worried look.

I guess this was my cue.

I sit up, Nala lifts her head but goes back to sleeping quickly.

"Hey mom, there's something that I've wanted to tell you for ages but Maddi never let me," I whisper.

My mother's head shoots to mine at the mention of her daughter and she stares at me silently.

"I know that Maddi knew about dad's affairs before she was diagnosed and I know you told her not to tell Lij and me or treat him any different," I admit quietly.

My mother sighs, her eyes welling with tears as she faces me; "I did, I was just trying to protect my family, I thought you and Eli were too young to understand and I didn't want to put any more stress on any of my kids."

"I know, thank you for being such a strong mom and amazing role model," I smile.

My mother smiles back but it doesn't reach her eyes; "that isn't what you wanted to tell me though."

I nod at her, admitting that her statement was correct; "did you know that she knew about Candice and that dad wanted to leave us?"

My mother stares at me, shock in her eyes, she's silent for a few seconds before she comes back to reality; "no I didn't know that. How do you know?"

Tears begin falling down my eyes as soon as I begin thinking about the memory. "The night before Maddi died she told me that she had heard an argument between you and dad, she said that dad wanted to leave us for Candice but you begged him to stay. She actually cried to me that night, not for her but for you, mom, because she believed you deserved so much better and wanted nothing less for you than to find someone worthy of you. She hated our father with every part of her being but she never showed her hate to him because she didn't think that anyone deserved to die knowing that their child hated them. She thought it was better if he thought she loved him still than knowing how she truly felt about him."

I look at my mother through my tears only to see that tears fell freely down her face as well, she smiled sadly at me as she wiped her eyes and petted Nala who had risen when she felt something was wrong and had put her head in my mother's lap.

"I'm so sorry baby that you had to know that and I'm so sorry that I didn't, I wish you didn't have to hold on to something like that for so long alone but I understand why you did it, Maddi was the sweetest girl and I'm not surprised that she allowed your father to think everything was alright before she died. She really was an amazing young lady and it's not fair that she was taken from us so soon," my mother begins, by now she was sobbing; "I remember that conversation with your father, I remember it like it was yesterday and I hate how Maddi heard it and that I didn't know she did, she deserved better than that."

I wrap my arms around my crying mother, my emotions matching hers as we held each other like our lives depended on it. My mother was the best thing to happen to this world and she was everything to me, she didn't deserve to lose a child and I hated seeing her sob like this, she didn't deserve any of it.

I don't know how long we hold each other for but the sky had turned dark. My mother pulls away and smiles at me sadly; "I'm so sorry baby that you have to see me like that."

I instantly feel guilty; "I'm sorry that it was me who made you like that."

My mother smiles at me and kisses my forehead; "you know Emmy, you are so much like her, not only appearance-wise but personality-wise as well, you both have that knowledge and kindness that is so rare today. I'm so proud of you my baby, everything you are, and everything you do. I never want to see you change, you are so, undeniably perfect the way you are, and anyone who doesn't see that is delusional. You're amazing Emmy."

My mother kisses my forehead one last time before she walks out of my room. I stare at the door that she closed on her way out. Did she really think I was as amazing as Maddi? Did she really think I even compared to Maddi? Tears fall from my eyes again but I wipe them away. I needed to think, about everything, about Maddi, about Aiden, even about Miles and Dale. Sighing to myself, I open my blinds only to see Aiden's room empty, I ignore the slight relief and begin climbing up the tree to sit on the rooftop the way I hadn't done in ages.

Climbing the trees almost feels like second nature to me which is surprising considering I hadn't done it in so long, but I quickly make it to the roof.

I sigh in relief as the tears return whilst I think about everything I had to. What would Maddi say if she knew Miles was with another man? I knew that she would support it. What would Maddi tell me to do about this whole Aiden situation?! It's almost like I wanted to be with him but I also wanted to get over him but right now, neither of those things were happening.

What would I do about my father? He had texted me again and I had no idea what to do. Should I just ignore it again? What about Justin? I had actually slept with him again which was dumb considering he still had feelings for me.

I wanted to scream at the stars, my life was all sorts of complicated right now!!! The tears continue to fall and I don't know how long I'm up there before a sound distracts me. My head automatically shoots the intruder and I feel like crying even more when I see Aiden. He obviously sees me at the same time as I see him because he stares at me, an unreadable expression on his face.

He hesitates, obviously not knowing whether or not he should climb up with me after our blow-up at my party but I can recognize the second he sees my tears because all hesitation drains from his face and he's climbing back up to sit beside me.

I don't say anything as he sits, what was there to say? I want to tell him to leave me alone and that I couldn't deal with him right now but no words leave my throat. I was too weak to deal with confrontation right now.

"Em?" Aiden whispers gently.

I look at him, not even bothering to wipe my tears or hide them, it was no use anyway, he had seen that I was crying.

His eyes search mine desperately, trying to figure out why I was upset but he finds nothing.

His beautiful brown eyes, the ones I had fallen in love with stare at me, begging me to tell him why I was crying. Maybe he wanted to make it better, or maybe I was dreaming. I was just easy after all.

"Em, please tell me what happened," Aiden begs.

I look at him and I don't know what it is, maybe it's his desperation or maybe it's me, but I want to tell him. I want to tell him everything.

"I just told my mother the full story about Maddi and my father," I whisper, looking straight ahead while I felt Aiden's stare on my cheek.

"What's the full story?" Aiden questions gently after a minute of hesitation.

"That she knew my father was cheating on my mother and that he planned to leave us for Candice. She hated him but she never let him know because she didn't want to die with my father knowing how much she hated him." I whisper back, still staring out at the horizon.

Aiden stays silent for a minute before he looks back at me, I turn my head to face his, the tears not making a move to stop anytime soon; "let's go to the cliffs."

I stare at him, it was like 7:00 at night, I would be having dinner soon.

"It's too late," I reply, in my surprise the tears momentarily stop.

"Tell your mother that you're going out for dinner, I'll meet you out the front in 15." Aiden replies shrugging, before he even gives me the chance to reply he's already climbing down the tree and out of sight. I stare at what I could see from his window in surprise.

After a couple more minutes, I decide to actually go with him, I don't know why I did after last night but for some reason, I still wanted to spend time with him.

I grab my jumper and superstars, deciding my sweatpants would be fine, and put my phone in my pocket. I walk downstairs to see my mother talking to Robert, she still looked miserable and I hated knowing that I was the reason for that.

"Mom, I'm going out for dinner, I'll text you," I say gently, carefully interrupting their conversation.

"With Aiden?" My mother questions, even in her misery, a small smile can be seen on her face.

"Yeah? How did you know?" I question.

"Well he is waiting out the front for you," my mom laughs.

I smile at her.

"Do I need to get out the badge?" Robert questions in complete seriousness.

"No," I smile.

"Well as long as he knows I own a gun AND a license," Robert replies shrugging.

I laugh at him a little.

"Have fun baby, text me if you'll be home late," she smiles.

I nod, kissing her and Robert on the cheek before walking outside.

Aiden leaned against the railing and pushed himself off it as soon as he saw me. I follow him silently and I must admit, I'm a little surprised when he gets in his car and not on his motorbike.

I slide in the passenger seat; "the car?" I question.

"I ordered pizza to pick up on the way, there is nowhere to put it on the bike." Aiden replies.

I nod in understanding, so the bad boy was smart. I had to admit, knowing he ordered dinner for us to take made my heart beat just a little faster, I hated when he did things like this because it made me fall even further in love with him and harder to get over him.

I stay silent in the car, leaning against the window as we drive. I hated feeling the way I did, weak. Not just about me and Aiden, but about everything, Maddi, Dale and Miles, Justin, Katherine, just everything.

We pull up to the pizza shop and I go to get out but Aiden locks the door; "stay here, relax, I'll be back in a second."

I nod at him, thankful that no one else would see me like this. I would just have to pay him back later.

A couple of minutes later, Aiden returns with a single box. He passes it to me and I can already smell the pepperoni. It had been so long since I had pizza and now I definitely craved it.

Aiden continues to drive, the silence is actually comforting and not awkward as I lean my head against the window and watch the trees go by.

It must have been a while, but it only feels like seconds before Aiden pulls over and climbs out of his car. I follow instinctively and watch in shock, admiration and confusion as he grabs a backpack from the back seat.

"What's that?" I question quietly as he begins walking in the direction I knew the cliffs were in.

I watch as Aiden blushes lightly, he turns around discreetly, obviously so I wouldn't see what I already had but he replies anyways; "just a picnic blanket and an actual blanket for if you get cold.

I don't reply, still in shock but I can't deny the small smile that finds its way to my face and stays there for the whole walk. It only grows when we get to the cliffs and Aiden spreads out the picnic blanket.

I stare out at the ocean and city, it was dark now so the city lights shined and almost looked like the sky above us, I could briefly see the ocean as well but it was dark and foggy.

My mind is temporarily occupied by the thoughts I first had when I was introduced to this stunning place, I compared the cliff to Aiden and how right I was. I also said that you could be so entranced by the view that you would fall off the cliff unknowingly but yet willingly. I was so scared about falling off the cliff but I knew now that it was way too late. Not only had I fallen, but I had jumped and hit the ground, I thought I could fly but it was so obvious now that I couldn't, I had fallen into the ocean and drowned. Aiden hadn't caught me but I was too stupid to back away when I had the chance, now all that surrounded me was the cold ocean reminding me of what I would never have, but it was too late because now it was impossible to climb back up and to be where I started.

"Em?" Aiden interrupts my thoughts, I shake my head free and sit down beside him.

"How are you feeling?" Aiden questions as he opens the pizza box and hands it to me, I take a slice hesitantly. I had to admit that after telling Aiden about Maddi made me feel just that little bit freer but I still felt caged knowing that Miles and Dale were a thing and I couldn't tell anyone.

"Better, thank you for bringing me here and thinking to bring a picnic blanket and one to keep us warm," I reply.

I hear Aiden mumble something to himself but when I ask him what he says, he doesn't tell me.