"I'll give you a minute," my mother said after thanking everyone,leaving me with Aaron, Amanda and Joanna.

I nodded, my eyes already watering.

"Thank you so much for everything,Amanda," I hugged her.

She'd been nothing but nice to me beginning from the day she offered to let me move in to this day. We had become such good friends over this period of time.

"Oh come on,Ashley," she replied,hugging me back.

A minute or so later,we pulled away.

"I'm so glad you decided to live with us," she smiled.

I smiled back."Me too."

Joanna had tears in her eyes as she embraced me."Oh,honey. I'm going to miss you."

I hugged her tightly."I'm gonna miss you too Jo."

We pulled away.It was time for the hardest one. Aaron.

He had a pained look on his face. I drew in a deep breath.

He pulled me close and my arms went around him."I'll miss you so much."

"I'll miss you too," I whispered, burying my hear into his chest.

***

The entire ride back home I was thinking about Aaron. I missed him like hell.

My phone vibrated in my pocket. I took it out.I had five texts from Aaron.

I typed in a reply and hit send.

.

I sighed. It was so strange to think that I couldn't just turn over to my left to see him now. No,I had to wait an entire day now. Well,not really. It was some hours. But you get the point.

He replied almost immediately.

I almost aww-ed out loud. He was going to be the death of me.

With a sigh,I turned the display off.

God, this was going to be hard.

***

Sleep didn't come to me that night.I kept tossing and turning around every thirty seconds.

Why was this so hard?I hadn't realised my feelings for Aaron were this strong. Until now, that is.

I was in love with him. I really,really was.It wasn't about joking around or having fun.It was a lot more than that. It was so much more than that.

I was in love with Aaron Woods. And it thrilled and terrified me at the same time.

Should I tell him, should I not?

Should I be honest with him and tell him how I feel or hold it in and go crazy?

Yes,I think the second option is great.

With a sigh,I grabbed my phone from under my pillow.

I started going through my pictures. There were a shit ton of Aaron's selfies which he would always take when he thought I wasn't looking.

I let out a laugh,a tear rolling down my cheek.

I felt pathetic.It wasn't like this was going to be a long distance relationship or something.Why was I acting this way? Honestly,I was just seeing him in less than five freaking hours.What was wrong with me?

With a grunt,I pulled the covers over my head.

What seemed like hours later, I finally fell asleep.

***

I woke up reluctantly the next morning.I opened my eyes to the familiar purple wallpaper, instead of the green one I had become so used to.

I sighed,checking the time.

It was 6:08.

I'd had like three hours of sleep. Add that to my foul mood,it was safe to say I wasn't going to be very cheerful today.

Aaron. I'll see Aaron.

A smile lit my face up and just like that I went from wanting to kill someone to wanting to hug everyone I saw on the way to school.

Yeah...I was weird.

I took a quick shower before putting my outfit together. I picked a green top that Aaron always said I looked great in and paired it with skinny jeans. I pulled my jacket on over it before putting some makeup on.

I put in a little extra effort with everything.I wanted to look nice today. For Aaron.

When I thought Iwas good to go, I grabbed my things went downstairs.

My mother was having breakfast and working on her laptop.

"Good morning,mama," I kissed her on the cheek before grabbing a bowl of cereal for myself and sitting down.

"Morning honey," she looked up for a second before going back to work.

"Not going to work today?" I asked, looking at her clothes. She wasn't dressed in work clothes.

"No, I'm working from home today.I wanted a day to rest."

I bit back a smile. This was her idea of resting?

"That's great."

The sound of a car made me look out the window.

"Who is that?" I asked my mother.

She barely even looked up, engrossed in her work.

"Huh?"

Shaking my head,I got up to check who it was.

The familiar car outside made my heart jump. Aaron was here!

"Mom, it's Aaron," I said quickly, gave myself a quick look in the mirror before rushing out the front door.

"Aaron!" I exclaimed,throwing my arms around him."What are you doing here?" I asked,pulling back with a huge grin on my face.

"I missed my girlfriend," he replied,pulling me in for a deep kiss.

I breathed heavily as we pulled away and gave him a quick peck on the cheek.

"Have you eaten breakfast?" I asked.

"Nope."

"Come on in."

"Morning, Mrs.Forbes," Aaron greeted my mother as we stepped into the kitchen.

"Aaron,how lovely to meet you again," she smiled, getting up from her chair."How are you?"

"I'm great. How about you?"

"I'm fine too," she smiled."Please, sit down. I'll send Tessa in with the food."

Tessa was a girl, few years older than me who worked at our house.

Aaron looked around before sitting down. I realised that this was the first time he had come to my house.

I sat down next to him.He gave me a heartwarming smile and kissed my cheek,linking our fingers together.

"I missed you."

"I missed you more," I replied,holding his hand tighter.

"Food's here," Tessa said,setting two plates of eggs and bacon on the table with a huge grin.

She was a very friendly person in general. I loved her.

"Well,hi there," she smiled at Aaron,shooting me a not so subtle wink.

I shot her a playful glare.

"Hey," he replied with a smile,grabbing a fork and knife.

Tessa went back and my mother came in.

"Well, I've got some paperwork paperwork to do so I'll be in my room. Have fun at school she said,grabbing her mug and laptop and heading upstairs.

Aaron and I had breakfast and left for school as soon as we finished

"Hey,Simon," I said,getting into the car.

"Good morning,Ms.Forbes," he replied monotonously.

Aaron rolled his eyes but I knew he was kidding.

He held my hand,placing a kiss on the top of my forehead as we drove away.

"Does your mom know?"

"No,I didn't get a chance to tell her," I replied.

To be honest,I was just making excuses.I knew I had to tell her.I was just nervous about how she'd react when I told her that Aaron and I were going out.

He nodded.

"How's Amanda and Jo?"

"They're both fine. They were missing you a lot after you left."

"Aww. I'll come over this weekend."

We reached school.It was a typical day with way too many classes for me to be able to handle.By the time it was time for lunch,I was absolutely starving.

"So your mom is back,huh?" Elena asked me,neatly putting her stuff into her locker while I waited impatiently to go to the cafeteria.

"Yup. She came back last night,we had dinner at Aaron's and then we went home."

She slammed the locker shut and we started walking towards the cafeteria. Finally.

"You must miss living with Aaron," she shot me a sympathetic look.

I sighed."Yeah, I'll get used to it."

"Hey babe," Cole appeared,kissing Elena on the lips briefly before giving me a quick hug.

"Hey Cole," I said."How are ya?"

"Fine,fine. Just stressed out because of my grades and everything," he sighed.

My eyebrows shot up."What?"

Now,if there's one thing I knew about Cole,it was that he only gave a shit about a very few things. And his grades were definitely not one of them.

He threw his hands up in surrender."Fine,you got me,"he rolled his eyes.

"Gosh,how do you even stand this guy?" I said to Elena dramatically sighing.

She laughed."Well,it is hard," she joked."But I love him."

My eyes widened. What?They'd said the L word?

"Aww,I love you too,El," he kissed her cheek.

Yep. They had definitely said it.

When would it be me and Aaron?