Page 16 of Falling With You

“I know you won’t. But I need to go.”

“Sienna.”

“I need to go,” I repeated. I practically ran towards the table and picked up my purse. The others looked at me, worry clear in their gazes.

“I need to go, I’m not feeling well.”

“I’ll go with you,” Violet said. “You shouldn’t go out alone.”

“I need to.”

“I’m walking that way anyway,” Meadow said softly. “My car’s parked right next to yours. We’ll just go. We don’t even have to talk. But don’t walk alone tonight, at least for everyone else’s peace of mind.”

I looked at my friends and nodded.

“Fine.”

I said my goodbyes and tried to act like everything was casual. But it wasn’t.

Nothing was casual about this.

I had parked closer to the bar tonight, and for that I was grateful. Everything was lit up, everything was safe, and I was very much aware that Aiden and Cameron were outside, watching us walk to our cars.

I was never alone these days, and I didn’t think I was going to be truly alone like I had been that night again.

My friends wouldn’t let me.

I said goodbye to Meadow, waved at the guys near the bar, and got into my car, driving home even as I shook.

I didn’t know what was wrong with me.

Yeah, I was trying to deal with the attack, but it was more that every time I saw Aiden, everything just came back to the surface, and I didn’t know how to deal with it.

I was just exhausted and full. And I really needed to pee.

This was my life now, one never-ending weirdness after another.

I pulled into my driveway, got out, and checked my mail. There was no one around. It was a relatively quiet street, and I was grateful.

I pulled out my bills and whatever junk mail they had given me, and then pulled out a single red rose.

I froze, wondering why that would be in my mailbox. Maybe it had been one of my neighbors. The couple next door, Jeff and Dave, were wonderful and had been so supportive after the attack. They, along with my sister, had baked and cooked for me so I wouldn’t even have to make dinner. It had probably been them, wanting to make sure that I was taken care of and knew I was loved.

But I still looked at the rose, wondering how and why it could be there.

For an instant, I thought maybe it could be from Aiden, but that would never be.

He wasn’t the roses type.

And, anyway, it didn’t matter. Because he wasn’t mine.

Nothing was mine.

Never again.

Chapter Four

Aiden