Aiden sat, staring at the front of a dry cleaners, more reluctant to move than I had ever seen him. I couldn't decide if he was being dramatic. After all, the dry cleaner was quite vibrantly decorated.

The awning was bright pink. Adorable puppies sporting evening gowns and top hats were splattered across the top of the building. Everything about it was bright and cheery. Its 1940's style made me hungry for ice cream which was a strangely confusing reaction to a place that cleaned clothes. "Dalton Dry Cleaners" was printed in large white letters across the pink awning.

I pulled my eyes away from the cause of the contradiction between stomach and brain and glanced at Aiden. He looked like he was bracing himself.

"Um... are you okay?" I asked when he continued to stare at the door.

He blinked, as if startled out of his thoughts. "What? Yeah. Fine."

I snorted. "No offense, but you are a terrible liar. If you don't want to go in, I can go without—"

"It's fine." He opened his car door. "Let's go."

"Year 3000" by the Jonas Brothers started blaring in my pants pocket. Scrambling, I yanked out my phone, self concious of Aiden's eyes on me as my boy band crush was declared at an unhealthy volume for the entire street to hear.

Spotting Sanders's name, I turned my phone on silent and promised to call her back later.

"Didn't take you for a fan," Aiden said.

"Didn't know you'd recognize the Jonas Brothers from listening to a song for five seconds," I replied. "You must be a bigger fan than me."

At that, Aiden clamped his mouth shut and walked towards the dry cleaners, my laughter following behind him.

YES! Laliana ONE, Aiden, ZERO!

I followed Aiden with a cheeky grin, holding my muddy yellow dress.

We were greeted by a cheery door chime and a bright pair of eyes. "Hello!" Greeted an elderly woman. She had dark black hair pulled back into a wispy ponytail that was peppered with grey strands. She was several inches taller than me and wore a green blouse with jeans that hugged her natural curvy figure.

"Welcome to..." she stopped mid-sentence when she spotted Aiden. "Aiden! What are you doing here in the middle of a workday?"

She scurried around the counter and wrapped her small arms around him fiercely. "What a wonderful surprise!"

Aiden offered her an embarrassed smile and after she let him go, he pointed a thumb in my direction. "Escorting Ms. Summers here to the best dry cleaners in Los Angeles County."

The woman turned and looked me up and down with a warm gaze, then spotting the dress in my arms she let out a cry of dismay. "Goodness me! What happened to this poor thing?" I held it out so she could inspect it. She took it carefully like you would a child, staring down at the blotches of mud.

"I fell in an alley," I admitted. I looked away, feeling flustered by the deep passion she showed for a gown that I had put so little effort into trying to care for. If she had looked me in the eye and told me she wanted the dress I would have gladly given it to her in that moment. There are certain people whose callings are so clear that when you watch them interact in that world, some of that passion rubs off on you.

A teacher who loves poetry can suddenly inspire poems, a tour guide can make you fall in love with a city, and this woman made me suddenly want to treat every article of clothing I had ever known with more respect.

The woman looked up at Aiden and shook her head. "And you let her fall?" The tone was chastizing.

Aiden's face flushed, like a child being rebuked by a parent. "I have words for you, but this must be taken care of first." She narrowed her eyes at Aiden, making it clear that the conversation was far from over before shuffling behind the counter and disappearing into the back.

I turned to look at Aiden with a raised brow. "I take it you two are close?" I couldn't keep the grin off my face. "Come here all the time?"

He didn't look at me, his glued to the place where the woman had disappeared. "I don't. That's probably why she reacted so strongly." He sighed looking uneasy. "I should make an effort." He shoved his hands into his beautifully pressed dress pants pockets.

"Well, let me fall down in a few more alley's and I'm sure I'll be back very soon," I replied with an encouraging smile.

He gave me a side-eyed glance. "You and I both know that falling in an alley was the least of your problems that night."

I crossed my arms. "Woah, what happened to having a nice day? You've been crabby ever since I told you I needed to come—"

"That should be fixed in a few hours," the woman replied as she came back into view.

I sighed with relief. "Thank you so much!"

"Of course!" She walked around the counter and handed me a pickup ticket stub. Then she turned to Aiden. "Now about what happened—"

"She—" Aiden responded in an attempt to defend himself.

"Do not interrupt your mother," she responded with her hands on her hips.

MOTHER? Oh, this makes more sense.

She shook her head and clicked her tongue in disapproval. "Goodness me, if your father had just seen that, you would have been punished to no end."

Aiden snapped his mouth shut and lowered his head.

"It wasn't his fault," I replied.

She turned and leveled me with a mother's hard stare. The kind that silenced you and made you suddenly believe that every argument you've ever concocted was utterly useless. "Did this happen on his watch?"

Aiden offered me an apologetic look. One that made him look so utterly human and so relatably normal that I had to work to keep the smile off my face. I cleared my throat. "Yes."

"Then it was his fault," She responded with a gentle poke on his chest. "I love you dear, but if you can't keep this clever one from falling all over yourself you may need to think of a career change."

Aiden smiled and held up his arms in defense. "I yield!" He laughed, his face lighting up. "I will do better mom, I promise." He leaned down and whispered loudly in her ear. "She has proven to be a very tricky one to keep track of."

His mother glanced in my direction, suddenly curious. "Is that so? What do you do dear if you don't mind me asking."

I blushed, and looked down, overwhelmed by the warm care Aiden's mom seemed to have for complete strangers well being. "I'm a writer," I managed after a moment.

I heard her burst into laughter before she took my hands in hers. Her blue eyes twinkled with amusement. "Oh my dear, if my son can't keep track of a writer, then he is truly in the wrong line of work."

Aiden walked up to us, looking 'me level' flustered, and gently placed his hands on my shoulders. The sudden feeling of his hands on my shirt, sent chills down my spine. I could feel the warmth radiating off of his body behind me, the strong fingers only a thin cotton blend piece of material away from my skin. Oh my gosh, please don't let his mother see how this is affecting me.

"I will think about a career change," Aiden said, his deep voice a breath away from me. "In the meantime, Ms. Summers has an appointment at a bookstore."

I managed an awkward nod. "It was nice to meet you..."

"Katherine. Katherine Dalton."

She gave my hands a warm squeeze, sending a feeling of home. A feeling that was so rare that I was forcing tears away and tucking the feeling into my heart to enjoy for as long as I could remember what that tenderness felt like.

"I'm Laliana Summers."

Then I reluctantly let Aiden's mother's hands go and followed Aiden back to the car, feeling like I had gained and lost a mother in a matter of moments.

"Dalton," I said aloud as Aiden started the car. "So your family owns the dry cleaners."

"You didn't know that was my last name until about ten seconds ago, did you?" he replied.

I rolled my eyes, "I don't know why you are surprised Mr. Anti Twenty Questions."

I heard a small chuckle that he quickly suppressed as he pulled into traffic. "Fair." The sunshine settled into Los Angeles, setting the world outside ablaze with light. "Sorry about..."

"Your mom?"

He nodded, not saying another word. I smiled widely, leaning my head against the window. "I like her."

His brows nearly hit his hairline. "She didn't scare you?"

I started laughing. "What? No! She's awesome. I love how fiercely passionate she is. It's refreshing."

He sighed, relaxing slightly. "Others don't always see it that way."

"Well, they'd be wrong on a crazy person level," I replied turning to take Aiden in more. "I'm sorry people suck sometimes."

He shrugged. "The world isn't always kind is it?" His words were soft-spoken.

"No," I murmured, staring down at my shoes. "Which makes each moment of kindness even more beautiful. Because kindness is so much harder to give sometimes than cruelty."

Aiden let out a whistle. "You are a writer. That was beautiful."

I blushed wildly and caught Aiden looking suddenly amused. "You really are uncomfortable with compliments aren't you?"

"Depends," I countered tugging on a strand of my hair, needing to give my hands something to do. "If the compliments are a rarity for someone to give, then yes."

We reached a red light and Aiden turned to look at me, startling me with a sudden passionate blaze in his eyes that nearly set my own clothes on fire. Woah! I didn't know there was a higher setting to that gaze of his!

He seemed to be on the verge of saying something. He opened his mouth but a horn from the car behind him startled him and he suddenly changed his mind, the fire in his eyes dying, replaced by the beautiful blue twin glaciers I had come to know.

Turning back to look at the road, he remained silent until we pulled into the parking lot of the outdoor mall that held my favorite bookstore. Staring up at my sanctuary, I let out a happy sigh. Welcome home Laliana. I moved to get out of the car but stopped when Aiden's hand was suddenly on my wrist.

I froze, my skin on fire under his grip. "Wha?" was all I managed to get out. Always the smooth talker.

"Here." Aiden handed me a baseball cap and sunglasses. "You'll be recognized."

I snorted, making no move to take them. "It's just a bookstore. No one there is there to see me."

He leveled me with an annoyed stare. "Um... these are your people. They come to read books by you and other authors. This is the MOST LIKELY place you will be recognized."

I sighed. "How about a compromise? I will take the ball cap, but I will look like I am hiding something if I wear sunglasses inside. Besides, I am there to read, and sunglasses kinda ruins that."

Aiden handed me the ballcap and after tucking my long blond hair inside, we made our way to the entrance. We were ten feet inside the door when a sudden burst of screams filled my ears. "OH MY GOSH! IT'S LALIANA SUMMERS!"

I was suddenly shielded by Aiden as the screams continued. I spotted large signs filling the lobby of the bookstore.

I blinked, the air leaving my lungs. That's my book... A movie?

Scrambling for my phone, I spotted twelve missed messages and five voice mails from Sanders. "Oh my gosh." We were suddenly surrounded by people. Girls crowded around me, all shouting my name and asking me questions that I didn't have answers to. I felt thrown back to the premier from the night before and I was suddenly terrified.

These aren't reporters, these are my readers. Calm down. You are okay.

But the questions kept coming, and soon the excited faces were replaced by bodies pushing closer, shoving me back and forth like a ping pong ball. "IS IT TRUE?!" They shouted. "WHOSE PLAYING ARA?" "WHEN IS THE MOVIE COMING OUT!?!"

"I... I don't know," I replied with a nervous smile.

Aiden's hand suddenly found mine and I was pulled through the crowd and out the door. But people followed, inspired to chase. "Laliana! Run!" Aiden ordered yanking me forward. I sprinted after him, going from confused to terrified.

My fans had never chased after me before. They had never demanded answers instead of shyly asked me questions before. What's happening? Is there a movie coming?

A small crowd had gathered around Aiden's car. Turning left, Aiden led us back towards the mall. A car screeched to a stop in the middle of the road, blocking us off. "Get in!" Tate shouted.

I dove into the back seat, relieved when Aiden slammed the door shut, blocking out the excited people that had chased us to the car. The car roared out of the parking lot.

"Next time, keep your phone on!" Tate groaned rubbing his eyes as he swerved past a pedestrian who continued to chase after the car. "My sleep schedule is already funky. And getting twenty calls from the boss is not the way I wanted to start my 11 pm!"

"Um... It's 11 am." I answered.

"Not in Tate's weird schedule world. Don't shatter the illusion." He yawned, making his scold comical.

"And you," he said turning to look at Aiden. "You never have your phone off. What happened?"

"I didn't receive any calls."

Tate growled. "Well that explains a few things. Boss must have gotten our hours confused. Stupid same last name chart," he muttered.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"To the studio," Tate said. A sudden smile spreading across his face. "You have a movie contract to sign."

---

Have you ever met someone else's parent and immediately felt like they were a second parent or grandparent?