Chapter Twenty-Five

Jayvee

Forest gave control back to be halfway up the stairs to our apartment. I smiled down at Aiden in my arms. His eyes were closed as he rested his head against my chest. He was more precious to me than anything in the world, I wanted to keep him safe from everything and anything that could hurt him. But the one thing that I couldn't possibly keep him safe from was his own mind. The situation we were in was so complicated, I knew that if Ace never went into that coma none of this would happen. But we can't change the past.

I sighed as I opened the door to the apartment. Aiden slowly opened his eyes and smiled. "Forest?" He asked.

"Nope, just me Sugar." I smiled as I sat us down on the couch. He stretched his legs out and cuddled his back into my chest.

"Do we really need to talk about this?" He whined, "Can't we just watch a movie and cuddle?" I knew he was tired from school but this wasn't something that we could put off.

I sighed and said, "You know that you'll regret it if we don't. We should get it done now and then cuddle." He let out a soft laugh and nodded.

"I know you don't know what to say, and that's not your fault! I'm just worried that I'm in the same place my Dad was, living his dream when his real family is sitting at his bedside begging that he doesn't die. What if I'm subconsciously keeping myself asleep to be with you longer? I love you, I have no doubt in my mind about you being my soulmate." He sat up to face me with his legs under him.

"I know that the fears you have are complicated. That doesn't make them any less valid. But think of it this way. If this is all a dream, if I'm just a figment of your imagination. Why not make this one hell of a dream? Let me make this the best dream you've ever had. And if we live our lives and it turns out that it wasn't a dream, then we would have no regrets. Aiden, I love you. I don't want you to live your life thinking that you need to be cautious of everything you do."

Tears came to his eyes as my words met his ears. "B-But what if-"

"Sugar! Enough with the 'what if's! Stop thinking about what could happen and focus on what is happening right here, right now." I took his hand and pressed it to my chest. "Do you feel that? I am warm, my heart is beating. Right now I am right here in front of you loving you. I can't tell you what will happen tomorrow or the day after that. But I can tell you that today, right now, I love you with everything I have. I will not stop, dream or not, ever. I promise that if all of this is a dream. I will give you the best damn story to tell when you wake up."

Tears were running down his face as I dragged him into my lap.

"You are my everything. Stop worrying about things that don't matter. Focus on getting that degree and taking over the bakery, focus on making new recipes with crazy ingredients, focus on us." I wrapped my arms around him and squeezed.

"I love you so much," He said and pulled me into a deep kiss.