Aiden walked around the room, picking up as many clothes as he could, and stuffed them into his duffel bag. His heart beat fast, and he could feel his hands slightly sweating. When he was about to exit the bathroom after grabbing his toothbrush, Jessica caught his arm and pulled him away from his bag. She sighed and cleared , flipping strands of her hair out of her face.

                “What are you doing?”

                Aiden looked elsewhere and eventually closed his eyes. He did not know what to say, how to say it to her. Past images ran through his head, and he quickly opened his eyes, still looking elsewhere. Jessica frowned at his actions and said nothing. She had seen Aiden acting like this before, and the reason was very nasty. She was not certain what happened, but she knew it would not be good news in any way. She reached her arms around his body and pulled him down towards her embrace.

                “Aiden, what’s wrong?” Jessica asked as she caressed his back gently.

                She broke the embrace and tried to find his eyes. Aiden only balled up his fist and hit his knuckles on his forehead in frustration. The only way he saw this thing was to lie to his wife, but he was sure that was the wrong decision to make. He was not certain what to do. Hell, he knew what he wanted to do, but he was not sure whether it was the right thing to do.

                “Spencer,” He mumbled.

                Jessica released her arms from his body and retreated a step.

                “Don’t,” Jessica muttered, face tight.

                “He needs help.”

                “Don’t you dare.”

                “Jessie.”

                Jessica walked to the bed and grabbed the stuffed duffel bag. She ped it and spilled out its content – crumpled clothing, passport and a pile of bills. Her heart almost dropped in disappointment when her eyes caught the thick wad of cash tied with a rubber band. She took it in her hand and looked over at Aiden.

                “This is not what I’m thinking about, is it?”

                Aiden wiped his sweaty hands on his pants and rushed to the other side of the bed. His hands were trembling as he gathered his clothes into a pile. Jessica lowered down and reached for his hands. She held them in hers and tugged at him to make him look into her eyes. Aiden frowned in confusion and breathed unsteadily.

                “You’re tired. Get some rest, yeah?” Jessica whispered.

                Jessica did not know what to do, but she knew he was not in his right mind right now. She held his hands tight for a moment before releasing them slowly. He began to breathe properly and exhaled slowly as he sat down on the bed. She took piece by piece of the clothing and smoothed out the crumpled fabrics. Then, she folded them and put them aside. Occasionally, she sneaked glances at him to make sure he was not freaking out.

                Aiden stared still into space with a small frown, his fingers playing with each other on his chest. He looked as if he was very deep in his thought. Then, he looked sideway at Jessica and rose up from the bed. A little chuckle came out from him before an embarrassed smile formed on his face. He hid his face in his hands and laughed again, stupidly. Jessica bit her lip, very confused on how to respond to such reaction. She simply laughed along nervously.

                “I don’t know what I was thinking. Thanks for saving s from happening,” Aiden said.

                He reached for his wife, tucked his finger under her chin, and closed the space between them. He kissed her lips gently, her hair with his other hand. Jessica did not wait long and kissed him back. If they were just friends, they would have merely laughed off about Aiden’s mini freak-out and grabbed some waffles later. But kissing, putting their lips in such satisfying motion, they had never thought it would happen. Jessica broke the kiss and pulled away when the idea of Aiden kissing her barely felt weird to her anymore.

                “I might not be a good wife, Aiden. But I want to be a good friend to you.”

                That night, after a light dinner, Jessica and Aiden decided to watch Glee on Netflix with bowls of nuts trail mix in their hands. She rested her head against his shoulder and sang along to Rumor Has It playing on the show. It did not take long before Aiden joined her singing out loud and acting as the backing vocalist. As the songs slowly mixed with Someone Like You, he took the lead and sang the lyrics with eyes closed.

                “Wow! Shut up!” Krystal yelled out of nowhere.

                Jessica burst out laughing as she looked at the smug look on Aiden’s face. She grabbed some nuts and dried berries in her hands and threw it straight at her sister standing at the foot of the sofa. Krystal actually took a walnut stuck in her hair and ate it with a frown.

                “We’re awesome, and that’s disgusting,” Jessica said with a smile.

                “Whatever. Still, shut up, I’m trying to do my homework,” Krystal replied and began to walk away from the couple.

                “Yeah, and since when does your homework is making out with Alex?”

                By the time she yelled, Krystal was already out of the picture, but she was very certain that the girl heard her question. She knew Alexander had been in Krystal’s room since this evening and heck, and she learned it the hard way. The laughs and moans coming out from Krystal’s room had never sounded more sinful.

                “Do you still wanna finish up the episode? I’m going to bed.” Aiden said with a yawn.

                Jessica shook her head and grabbed the remote control. She turned off the TV and put the bowls on the glass table. Aiden yawned again and smiled as he looked at the way Jessica stretched her slim body after cuddling for hours on the couch. He would not exactly call it cuddling. It was more like leaning against each other for friendly comfort. She stretched again and groaned as her body muscles lost their tenseness. Aiden could not help but to laugh at her silliness.

                She smiled and gestured to him that she was going to the kitchen for a while. He assumed that she was going to drink some plain water before bed. That had always been her nighttime routine as he knew it. He climbed the stair, eyes a little droopy and mouth kept yawning for more air. Upon reaching their bed, he got under the duvet and grabbed the head pillow. Laying down his head, he realized how exhausting today had been to him. He was about to actually sleep when he heard the bedroom door clicked and later, familiar skin brushed against the fabric of the duvet.

                “You’re asleep?” Jessica whispered.

                Aiden wanted to reply, but his eyes felt too heavy, and his mouth was oddly dry. Jessica scooted closer towards him, planted a soft kiss on his temple and moved to the other side of the bed. Then, everything went silent.

                The sleep was good. It was deep, and Jessica even dreamed about joining an exclusive ladies club, but she could not recall much of the details. Also, the bed was good too. It was warm and comfy all night long. Maybe her dad forgot to lower down the thermostat last night because when she reached her hand to the other side, it was oddly cold.

                She immediately rose up from her sleep and looked at the other side. The man was really not there. She began to panic when she noticed that the duffel bag was gone. A folded card rested on the nightstand with her name ‘Jessie’ written on it. This was never good news. A card with name in the morning was never good news to her. She seized it and frantically flipped it open.

‘I'm sorry. Please understand me. I don't want to abandon him again. -Aiden-'

                Jessica slapped the card on the table. your good friend, she thought. She began to feel anger rising in her as she breathed hard. She could not believe after all these years, that guy had the guts to return and beg with his needle for help. And after everything that happened, Aiden never learn when it came to that scumbag.

                “Spencer, you ing piece of !” Jessica shouted, fist crumpling the bedsheet.

Hi. First thing first, I'm sorry for not sticking to my schedule. Second, I'm not sure whether the pace of this story is too quick or too slow. Honestly speaking, I lost motivation when I began to write this chapter. I'm glad ideas came up a lot after that and I've got a pretty solid plotline for this story. Tell me what you think about this chapter. Feedback will certainly motivate me to write more, teehee! :D See you in the next chapter!

P.S: In case you're interested, here's the Rumor Has It / Someone Like You performance by Glee (the one Jessica and Aiden were watching on Netflix). Credit goes to the video's owner.