With a bottle of wine balancing in one hand and a bowl of salad pressed firmly in the other, I manoeuvre myself up the driveway towards the heavenly smells of food cooking nicely on the barbecue and announce my arrival with a quick "hello." By the looks of it, everyone is already here, enjoying a sociable Friday night drink, and I can only curse Mr Knox under my breath numerous times for making me late for Kyle and Hayley's leaving party.

"Amelia, sweetheart, over here." yells Hannah, already well on her way to being merry on rosé wine.

"Hey, enjoying the wine there, Hannah?" I ask and do so mockingly.

She replies with a vigorous head nod and as I smile back in response, I notice Aidan at the far end of the garden talking on the phone with an almighty scowl written across his face. He's pacing back and forth and repeatedly runs his left hand through his silk-like hair, the action causing it to stick up in all directions.

Not wanting to interfere, I decide to leave him for a while, unsure I even want to know what has him so riled up in the first place. I then excuse myself from Hannah and leave her chatting with a friend in the attempts to find Kyle and Hayley; the hosts of this evenings fine dining. It's quite sad to think the pair will no longer live here but with their new home only situated a five minute drive away, I'm rest assured I'll still see them a lot.

"Hey, you're here! Did you get off work late?" asks Jess, handing me wine glass filled with some sort of bubbly substance. "Your dress is nice, by the way." she then adds, pointing at the blue number with lace decorating the edge.

"Yeah, work ran over a little." I reply, gratefully accepting the drink. "Thanks, I like yours too. Do you know where Kyle and Hayley are?" I ask, wriggling my salad bowl in front of her, wanting to get rid of the annoyance.

"Kitchen I think, honey." states Jess, offering me a warm smile. "Come find me after, I need to tell you something."

I nod my head before turning on my heel and enter through the back door of the house, making my way through to the kitchen, stopping short when I hear two recognisable voices lowly chatting.

"I don't exactly know what's going on, he won't tell me but they're definitely arguing." whispers Kyle to a seemingly interested Hayley.

The both of them are huddled over the kitchen island and are oblivious to my presence.

"And it's no coincidence that all this started happening as soon as Amelia came back into his life." replies Hayley, confirming my earlier thoughts that they are indeed, talking about Aidan.

"No, I don't think so and if he thinks I'm oblivious to him sleeping out every night, he can think again. I know he's with her, I told Amelia to fix it but what I didn't mean was for the pair to embark on a secret relationship. I'm worried for them." expresses Kyle, running a nervous hand through his hair, much like Aidan does when he's anxious. "I don't think either are prepared for the heartache that is sure to come when Aidan goes back to England in three weeks."

Upon hearing this, I make myself known to both, not wanting to hear the words 'Aidan' and 'leaving' in the same sentence ever again if I can help it. I'm not delusional, I know he has every intention of going back eventually but that certainly doesn't mean I want to think about it. I believe the correct terminology is denial. I'm in denial.

"Hey you two, happy moving out party." I delight, moving in and placing the bowl down on the kitchen counter.

I try my best to sound indifferent and not be effected by their earlier words, the pair of them not making it easy by offering me scrutinising glares. Thankfully, neither one decides to question me on their previous choice in topic and instead Kyle wraps one arm around my shoulder, holding me much like an older brother would his sister.

"And now that you're here, the real partying can start." he laughs, throwing his head back in deep laughter, showing off some rather questionable marks on his neck.

"Jesus Hayley! What are you doing to this poor man, eating him?" I point, unsure whether to cower away in disgust or be incredibly proud.

She offers me a coy smile and simply shrugs off the question with a silent, "yes", to which Kyle chuckles even more so at. I match his grin and punch his arms in a silent, 'you lucky son of a bitch' gesture, happy that the pair appear to still be firmly in their honeymoon period.

"Wine?" I offer, thrusting my bottle of white into the open space between us.

"None for me, I'm pacing myself." replies Hayley, removing herself from her place on the kitchen counter and gripping my wine bottle to place in the refrigerator. "I see someone already handed you the procceso." she comments, gesturing towards my wine glass with a knowing smirk gracing her lips.

"Jess." I instantly reply, mentally toasting to her as I take a cautious sip.

Today has been another day, whereby food was very few and far between and with Sally strangely avoiding my desk all afternoon, the God send was unable to provide me with her usual stock of ham sandwiches. Therefore, it's probably best I pace myself too.

"I have some catching up to do." I comment, whilst simultaneously taking another, larger, swig of the delicious drink and moaning out my approval, seemingly loosing all regard for 'pacing myself'.

Hayley laughs at my over the top reaction and proceeds to drink from her can of coke, the look of approval certainly not going unnoticed.

"You seem different, babe. You look really happy."

She slyly attempts to share a look with Kyle and I immediately understand their silent conversation to be a very blunt 'I wonder if Aidan has anything to do with that', to which I decide not to insult them by denying any knowledge of. I already know they both suspect something is going on between Aidan and I and I'm not about to defend my actions against something that is quite possibly the greatest thing to ever happen to me. I loved Aidan with all my heart back when I was seventeen but this time around, everything just feels that little bit more intense, and I love it.

"I am." I respond, offering the pair a wide smile. "It's been a long time since I was this happy." I admit, just as Aidan pokes his head around the kitchen door, gracing us with his signature smile.

"Hey you, I didn't see you come in." he states, unaffected by Kyle and Hayley's suspicious stare. "You been here long?" he adds, closing in on me and offering my hip and subtle squeeze.

Not subtle enough, apparently.

I match his smile and dangle my wine glass in front of his eyes, playfully responding to him.

"Long enough to have finished this." I laugh, having drained the remainder of my glass moments before his arrival.

"Let's get you a top up then. Hayley, wine?" he asks, taking my glass and positioning it next to a half empty bottle of red.

He proceeds to pour the rich looking liquid in my glass and narrows his eyes towards Hayley, awaiting her reply.

"No honey, I'm not drinking tonight." she responds, sharing yet another look with Kyle, seemingly asking for some sort of permission.

"Why? You feeling okay?" enquires Aidan, sounding worried for his sister in law.

"Fine thanks, in fact I couldn't be better." she sings, just as Kyle joins her in her stance.

"Hayley is pregnant." he shares, stunning both Aidan and I into silence.

"What!" I yell, jumping for joy at the prospect of Kyle and Hayley becoming parents. "That's amazing you two. Congratulations!" I continue, wrapping the pair up in my arms and giving them no option but to join me in my hug.

They both oblige with no objections and I even make a grab for Aidan, determined for him to be involved in this uplifting moment. Kyle, not sure how to respond, shoots him an apologetic look and my heart stops at the thought of him withholding important information in order to spare us. I can't speak for Aidan but I'll admit whenever someone mentions pregnancy I instantly get this gut wrenching feeling but that doesn't make me any less happy for them.

I grab Aidan's hand and offer him a tight squeeze, his silent one back conveying his deepest thoughts. He then fires us all a smile that unmistakably screams joy and presses his body into mine, joining our group interaction.

"That's brilliant news. I couldn't be happier for you both." he delights, meaning every word behind his statement.

The four of us marvel in our shared embrace and momentarily block out the rest of the world, oddly enough feeling like nothing short of a close nit family together. Kyle and Hayley have been there for me more than I could have ever anticipated and Aidan, while he may not be mine, will always be the love of my life and considered my family. It's almost as if he's a part of me now and while that once claimed to ruin me, I'm slowly learning to embrace it and better yet, live with it.

"We aren't telling anyone yet. Dad knows, as do Hayley's parents but that's it for now. We want to hold off until our eight week scan." explains Kyle, taking Hayley by the waist and landing a gentle kiss to her temple. "I guess it just felt right to tell you both sooner than everyone else." he adds, looking between us both with great caution.

"I'm pleased you did. I'm so excited!"

I whisper-yell, desperately trying to contain my joy.

Aidan laughs at my reaction and drapes an arm around my shoulder, the gesture certainly not going unnoticed by Kyle and Hayley, who no longer hold back on voicing their concerns.

"What's going on here?" questions Kyle, pointing a finger between us but more specifically at our close encounter.

Aidan subtly shakes his head, dismissing Kyle and his queries, offering him a 'I'll explain later' look, to which I'm grateful for.

I don't think I could explain our situation even if I wanted to. To say it's complicated is an understatement, not to mention morally wrong but I can't, for the life of me, bring myself to put an end to it.

I simply don't want to.

Thankfully, a voice summons for Kyle and Hayley to return to the garden, essentially offering Aidan and I a chance to be alone and once gone, he wastes no time in latching his lips to mine, even having the nerve to feel for my ass over my dress.

"I missed you. You have no idea how much I want to take you upstairs right now." he breathes, sucking on the delicate skin of my neck before sinking his teeth in and enforcing just the right amount of pain to pleasure ratio.

"I'd like that too but we need to be careful. Kyle and Hayley are on to us. I heard them talking about it when I came in." I inform, just about managing to suppress my moans as he does nothing to stop his delicious attack on my body.

"Hmm, thirty minutes, that's all I need." he suggests, suddenly ripping away from me as an uncomfortable cough interrupts our widely inappropriate moment.

I look behind my shoulder with great hesitation and almost cower in shame as I come face to face with my Dad, looking neither here nor there regarding his new found discovery.

Oh, shit.

"Don't mind me, I'm just grabbing some drinks." he states, before manoeuvring himself towards the minibar, in search of some alcohol. "Anna's looking for you, Kid. Mentioned something about dragging you out there unless you decide to show your face in the next two seconds." he adds, offering a tight smile, in no way impressed with my previous actions.

I know I'm blushing from head to toe and hate how incredibly awkward I feel by being outed by my Dad but I can't help the sheer amount of mortification as it spreads to every single part of my body.

"Ok, I'll go see her now." I reply, desperate to get away from him and this uncomfortable situation.

"Great, Aidan do you mind hanging back and helping me with some drinks?" he casually asks, causing my head to spin in all directions.

Oh no, this can't be good.

I shoot Aidan a pleading glare and pray he somehow rejects my Dad in his request, which he apparently ignores as he offers him a wide smile instead and gestures for me to leave them to it.

I do as I'm told, nervously leaving the pair behind and re enter the garden to find Jess waiting for me by the food table, her mention of wanting to tell me something coming back to mind as she eyes me cautiously.

"Hey, what's up?" I ask, reaching her in no time, certainly not missing her nervous glare.

"Amelia, don't freak out but you're never going to guess who's here!" she exclaims, worrying me slightly.

I rack my brains for any potential visitor that would have Jess reacting in such a way and come to an immediate halt when a familiar voice stops me in my tracks.

"Amelia," it speaks, cutting through my body like shards of glass, "it's nice to see you again."

~~~~