With a force that can only be described as aggressive, I beat the eggs and resume my position in the kitchen to check on the bacon, not wanting the delicious streaks of meat to burn. By doing so, my nostrils are instantly greeted with the satisfying smells of my half cooked breakfast and as strong, muscular arms wrap firmly around my waist, I relax further into the safe embrace, milking it for all I have.

"Why are you not in bed, darling?" comes Aidan's equally husky, equally suggestive question; the tip of his nose grazing ever so softly against the skin just below my ear.

"I'm not too sure. I'm certainly regretting my decision to leave, now." I reply, smirking when he proceeds to nibble on my earlobe. "Then again, you seem awfully hungry, perhaps I needed to get up to feed my man." I add, giggling even more so as Aidan makes a point out of pretending to feast on my collarbone.

"I can think of something else I would like to eat." he teases, still attacking me in the most pleasurable of ways.

I'm suddenly spun around, all regard for my cooked breakfast long forgotten as his full lips meet mine with an urgency I've never before experienced. My initial reaction is to protest but I simply can't bring myself to do so as he moans his utmost approval into my mouth, rendering me a complete mess.

"Bed now, food later?" he suggests, the feather-like sensation of his breath whispering against my lips proving as much a distraction as ever.

Without waiting for an answer, he begins to unbutton my shirt, or rather his shirt, which I just so happened to have taken from my bedroom floor only moments ago, and proceeds to push the sleeves down my arms. Thankfully, the sizzling sounds of my crispy bacon cooking away reminds me of my hostly duties and with will power I never knew existed, I push Aidan away from me, his sulky expression as a result only spurring me on to laugh.

"Eat now, bed later. Much, much later." I warn, certainly not taking no for an answer. "I thought we could go out today. Maybe take a walk along the beach?" I suggest, pulling the shirt back on and pouring the egg mixture into the pan. "I'm back at work tomorrow so want to make the most of my last day off." I conclude, further scrambling the thick liquid.

Aidan repositions himself away from my body and leans against the kitchen table instead, his topless form doing unimaginable things to my mind.

"OK, beach day it is then." he confirms, offering up an award winning smile. "We could stop off at the shop and get a little picnic going?" he replies, searching through my cupboards before locating the plates and setting them on the table.

"Great and it's Tuesday, so that means games night at Jess and Drew's place tonight." I delight, secretly excited at the prospect of all six of us hanging out again.

Aidan, it would appear, has other thoughts on the matter.

"Is that such a good idea? Won't they get suspicious if we start hanging out together acting all loved up?" he questions, reaching into my fridge to pull out the ketchup bottle.

"Well, we'll just have to make sure we don't act all 'loved up'." I reply, turning the heat off on the bacon and transferring it onto both our plates. "They're your friends, Aidan. You need to spend time with them this month. And as much as I want to keep you all to myself, you need to make time for your Dad, Kyle and April too." I advise, pointing my wooden spatular, accusingly, towards his chest.

Aidan's expression mellows slightly as my words register and with a subtle nod that tells me he understands, he shoots me a boyish grin and hugs my waist.

"You're right. I'll give Jess a call later and I've already promised April a night at the cinema on Friday." he explains, landing a soft kiss on my cheek, lingering there ever so slightly afterwards. "Kyle and Hayley are pretty busy at the moment with house stuff and I'll make it my priority to hang out with Dad tomorrow while you're at work. Sound OK?" he asks, somewhat awaiting my approval.

"Sounds perfect, now eat up." I instruct, shoving a mountain of food his way before taking my own plate, which just so happens to be big enough to feed the entire Californian state.

Apparently my appetite is back. I wonder why?

~~~~

Our day at the beach together ends up being close to absolute heaven. We start the day off by walking hand in hand along the hot sand, catching up on various aspects of our life before Aidan all but forces me into the clear, blue water where we end up splashing each other like a couple of kids for what feels like hours. By the end of it, I feel exhausted and stopping off for frozen yogurt feels like the perfect pit stop.

"I've had the best time with you today." smiles Aidan, spooning his Nutella flavoured explosion and shoving a load into his mouth.

"Me too. Do you miss days like this? The sun and the beach I mean? I've heard England can be pretty miserable, weather wise." I reply, following suit and licking the strawberries off of my pile of yogurt.

"Hmm, we usually get a couple of really nice weeks in the summer but when it rains, man does it rain." he laughs, brushing his knee with mine underneath the table.

The action is accidental but increases my heart rate nevertheless and with the smirk on his face telling me he can read my every thought, I shuffle further away from his intoxicating touch, attempting to calm the effects he has on me.

"What about you? Do you miss New York weather?" he asks, thankfully dropping the subject of our brief, albeit slightly intense, encounter.

His question somewhat takes me by surprise and as I silently dwell over my answer, I notice him studying me, intently.

"I miss the snow." I tell him, smiling at the fond memories of myself, my Mom and Anna making snow angels in the months leading up to Christmas. "I haven't been there since I was seventeen, I'd love to go back. It would be nice to visit my Mom's grave." I sigh, figuring there's no way I can afford a trip out there within the next year or two.

I'm still paying off my college loans and the rent on my apartment is set on leaving me broke each and every month.

"You should go sometime. It would be good for you." he replies, pulling his ringing phone out from his jeans pocket. "It's Jess." he then informs, before swiping right and holding the devise up to his ear.

"Hey, did you get my text?" he answers, finishing off his desert and licking the remnants of it off of his lips.

I preoccupy my mind by looking out the window at the families all gathered on the beach and smile when I catch sight of two teenagers, seemingly smitten with one another. The young man has his arms wrapped protectively around his girlfriends waist and she looks content in his strong hold around her. Their body language is expressive and their love can clearly be seen by the way they gaze longingly into each other's eyes. It's beautiful.

"That won't be a problem," ensures Aidan, interrupting me from my people watching as his hand brushes along my bare leg, this time on purpose, "we've hung out a few times and settled some differences. She's the one who suggested I come tonight. It'll be nice for all six of us to hang out again." he continues, seemingly fighting his case to a rather reluctant Jess.

I wait for his response to whatever it is she replies back with and relax slightly when he offers me a subtle thumbs up, "Great, so should I come over for 6.30pm?" he asks, apparently receiving a 'yes' on the other side of the line as his confirmation nod comes into play. "Cool, see you then. Bye." he adds, ending the call on a smug grin.

"Ready to get your ass kicked at games night?" he then smirks, stealing a brownie piece from my tub.

The bastard.

"You're the one who'll get his ass kicked if you steal my food again." I warn, leaning over the table to capture his lips in mine.

"Hmm, if this is your reaction to such behaviour, maybe I should steal your food more often, darling." he suggests, kissing me back; twice as hard, twice as passionate, before adding in in a very satisfied, "I fucking love you." for good measure.

I smile against his full lips and pull away, figuring if I carry on kissing him for much longer, we may very well get thrown out for acts of public indecency.

"I love you too. Always."

~~~~

"Dude, in what world does that drawing resemble a dog?" moans Dylan, quite clearly fed up of losing pictonary for the third time in a row.

His face in an absolute picture, all screwed up and pouty like a small child and with Aidan not helping by continuously laughing at his expense, it's a wonder he doesn't throw a tantrum like one too.

"Babe, it's just a game. You need to calm down and admit that us girls are better than you." teases Chloe, standing up to run a caring hand over Dylan's shoulders, calming his sour expression.

"Whatever, I'm amazing! It's these two that suck. I can't believe that's a fucking dog."

Dylan continues with his whining long after we pack away the board games and even expresses his protests at joining forces with Aidan and Drew at next a week's games night; claiming the pair "utterly useless." Us girls all move into the living room, leaving the guys to take up residence in the kitchen, courtesy of tonight's football game and with the non-alcoholic cocktails flowing regularly, I'm well on my way to being content in my sugar high.

"So, Jen at work got married last month and has given me some great tips on keeping the price down." states Chloe, bringing up the subject of her wedding. "Obviously we're a bit off yet but would you two be my bridesmaids?" she suddenly blurts out, shocking us both with her casual tone.

"Absolutely, yes!" I cry, slightly overwhelmed by the prospect and all but throwing myself at her, once I've carefully placed down my drink.

"I'd love nothing more, honey!" gushes Jess, getting all teary eyed and joining us in our hug.

Even with Chloe's reference to the big day being a while off, we get a little ahead of ourselves and talk more weddings for a while; settling on a salmon pink scheme for the bridesmaids and a slim fit styled dress for Chloe herself. It's amazing seeing my two best friends plan their future together and I couldn't be happier for the pair. Their love, along with Jess and Drew's, has lasted all throughout high school and well into adulthood; their relationship seemingly stronger than ever for it. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't slightly envious of their unbroken bond, wishing I could say the same for myself and Aidan but I'm over the moon for them nevertheless and would never tarnish their moment by opening up about such a thing.

"I can't believe we're at the age of getting married." breathes Jess, sipping on her rather funky looking pink drink and shaking her head slightly. "It's total madness!" she then adds, staring off into the distance as if imagining it for herself.

"Well, while you two may be at that stage, I'm certainly not. I require a man before I can plan my big day." I joke, fidgeting with my straw whist trying to maintain a neutral face.

Truth be told, there's only one man I can picture myself marrying and he's currently engaged to another woman.

"Speaking of which, what's the deal with you and Aidan?" questions Jess, sharing a brief look with Chloe.

"What do you mean?" I reply, not liking where this conversation is going.

"Well, the last time I checked, you and Aidan had ended things on bad terms and couldn't stand to be around each other. Now, all of a sudden, I get a text telling me you guys have met up and ironed out your differences. So what's the deal?" she explains, making our reunion sound far more suspicious than I would have liked.

"Exactly what you said; we've hung out a few times and decided to put everything behind us." I reply, trying my best to sound as convincing as possible. "I guess we've both grown up a lot since then and can move on from the past." I add, noticing the slight hesitation play in both their eyes.

"So nothing else to report on? Drew said he caught you both getting pretty personal." accuses Jess, although does so with a lack of judgement to her tone.

Oh boy, here we go.

Her eyes soften with the dim lighting; her chocolate-like iris' almost blending into her pupils as her reassuring smile reaches out to me in a comforting nudge.

"It's just hard, you know? We both still care about each other and he was comforting me." I reply, careful as to what I say in my way of explaining things.

"OK, well just be careful. I know he's engaged to Sophie but I think his feelings for you run a little deeper than just caring. I know for a fact you were the first girl he fell in love with and you never forget your first, Amelia." Jess comments, reaching a hand out to stroke my arm in a soothing motion.

"Yeah, and while Aidan has never exactly lacked in the looks department, he's certainly looking hotter than he did four years ago." inputs Chloe, proceeding to grace me an eyebrow wiggle. "I bet your dying to have your way with him."

I immediately giggle at the hands of her words, almost chocking on my virgin mojito and nod my head with enthusiasm, certainly not disagreeing with her statement. Obviously I won't go into detail regarding the full extent of Aidan and I's relationship but I can't deny myself this little pleasure in opening up to Jess and Chloe slightly about what I'm feeling.

"Ew, that's my cousin you're talking about!" groans Jess, covering her ears with both pairs of hands. "Can we not discuss Amelia and her sexual urges towards him." she yells, a little too loudly for my liking.

"Shh, I do not have sexual urges for Aidan!" I protest, at the exact same time all three men decide to re enter the living room.

Marvellous.

Chloe and Jess instantly crack up at the expense of my rather traumatised expression and even Aidan offers my blushing cheeks a knowing smirk.

"Well, there's no guessing what you three are discussing." claims Dylan, striding across the floor toward Chloe with an amused smirk slapped across his face. "You ready baby? It's almost 10.00pm and I know you have a early start at work tomorrow."

Chloe responds by nodding her head and stands up just as my phone vibrates in my pocket, making its presence well known. I pull it out for its tight restraint, noticing straight away an unread text from Aidan.

Oh my. Aren't I a lucky girl.

"I'll head off too." I quickly state, sliding the phone back into my pocket, leaving Aidan's text message unanswered. "I have work tomorrow and can't stand my boss unless I've endured a full eight hours sleep and even then it's difficult." I sigh, feeling my mood drop instantly at the prospect of having to go into work tomorrow.

After we've all voiced out our goodbyes with the added promise to engage in the same activity next week, Chloe, Dylan, Aidan and I all head out towards our cars, mindlessly chatting about anything and everything.

"It's lovely to see you two talking again." states Chloe, offering us both a genuine smile before waltzing off towards her car with Dylan hot on her trail. "See you both soon!" she then hollers, climbing into the passenger side.

I shout my goodbyes after her and enter my own car, watching them pull away as Aidan seats himself into the drivers seat of his own vehicle. I quickly pull out my phone and call him, figuring it will be much easier than trying to text in the dark.

"Well hello there, miss me already?" the cocky so and so answers, sounding like much the player in his chosen tone.

"Maybe, and it's a yes to the sleepover, I'm sure I can muster up a few urges for you to satisfy." I reply, enjoying the deep rumbles of laughter that follows.

"I can't wait. I'll follow you back in my car. I love you, darling." he states, making sure to blow me a kiss through the front window of his car.

I laugh at his gesture, noticing the hitch of my breath as a result of his declaration, finding those three pivotal words a breath of fresh air to hear every single time, without fail.

"I love you too, dickface." I whisper, making a spectacle out of catching his kiss and placing it over my heart. "Always."

~~~~