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Hello all,

I'm here to present you, after a long and agonizing wait, the last chapter to this book!

I am sooooo fucking sorry for how long it took me to write this chapter. I'm actually really ashamed of myself for making you all wait so long, as I know you all have been dying for it. I can't make any future promises at this point that I'll be any better about updates, but I still hope that I can improve my update speed in the future.

Please make sure to read the announcement I have also posted after this chapter! Its very important.

Other than that, please proceed with reading the chapter.

Enjoy ~~~

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Nathan's P.O.V.

As the movie came to a close, and the credits rolled up the blackened T.V. screen, the sound of light breathing drifted up to me. The warmth and weight that could be felt from my lap, left me with an almost indescribable feeling. It felt somewhere between relief and ecstasy, and yet, at the same time, so much more. My chest tightened from the heaviness in which these feelings weighed me down, and a deep sense of guilt stabbed dully at me, like a prick of a thorn from the stem of a rose.

Furrowing my brows, I glanced down at Aiden, who slept quietly, his head resting on my lap. He looked at peace, his features softened by the small smile which was spread along his lips. His body fully relaxed as he remained free of worry and stress, seeming at one with the environment and no longer burdened by worldly problems.

A shadow passed along my face as I began to question why he was so at ease nowadays, and my frown deepened as I began to contemplate.

After all that happened to him, how can he still smile like this? I pondered, tracing the outline of his lips lightly, a small sigh escaping me as I did so. They felt somewhat chapped but wet beneath my finger, and the cool breathe that blew out from his slightly parted mouth warmed the surface of my skin.

If I had been in his position, then surly I would not be feeling so tranquil...

Its times like these, as I gazed down at Aiden with eyes filled with tenderness and uneasiness, that I can't help but remember that day, the reason for his change in behavior and mood.

Those events that transpired that day. Even though a week had gone by already, it felt like it only happened yesterday, the memory still crystal clear within my mind. Every detail. Words that were said, looks that were exchanged, emotions that were displayed. All of it were imprinted into my brain.

I lightly stroked Aiden's head, letting my fingers run gently through his hair, as I thought back on these memories solemnly. My expression grew gloomy as complex emotions plagued me. Feelings of slight sadness, as well as regret, assaulted me as I was transported back to that day, the day when Taren White, Aiden's father, nearly murdered his own son.

After the police had arrived, and Taren had been taken into custody, surprisingly not resisting the arrest; perhaps because he knew it would all be for naught, we were escorted out the house. Multiple police cars and an ambulance greeted us once we stepped outside. They were parked all along the street, their flashing lights almost blinding in contrast to the darkness the night brought about. I squinted my eyes against the glare as we made our way over to the ambulance, where they treated Aiden's injuries.

As this happened, the police began to question us. The standard, "What happened? Who was all involved?" among other inquiries bombarded Caitlyn and Aiden, who had been directly involved from the beginning. As I waited for my turn to be questioned, I directed my attention elsewhere and watched as Taren was loaded into the back of a police cruiser.

Hesitating only for a short moment, I soon found myself striding over to where Taren was being kept, hurrying over as I knew that it wouldn't be long from now before they left, taking Taren with them. I could hear Aiden's weak protest from behind as he detected my movement, but I ignored them and continued on.

There was something I wanted to confirm, and I had no intention of letting this man leave without satisfying my curiosity.

I hastened over to the police cruiser's driver side door and quietly asked the officer in the front seat if he could give me a few minutes to talk to Taren, that I won't be long and that I don't plan on causing trouble.

The officer seemed reluctant at first, but under my persistence, he grudgingly agreed to allow me five minutes, and no more.

With a sigh of relief I then came to a standstill beside the backseat door where Taren sat beyond. I glanced over to the police officer, who pursed his lips slightly, before he lowered the window.

As the window slid down, it revealed a slightly dazed man. His face was pale and his appearance itself seemed haggard, aged in a way as if the previously transpired events had taken a great toll on both this man's mind and body.

Taking a deep breath, I steeled myself for this confrontation before coughing loud enough, so that my voice projected above all the other background noise, to announce my presence.

Taren seemed to shudder slightly, as if I had awoken him from his trance like state. His eyes focused, no longer containing the prior dullness within them as he shifted his gaze my way. Feeling pressured under the scrutiny of his sharpened gaze, a chill worked it's way down my spine, causing me to clench my hands into tightly balled fists.

"What do you want?" Taren asked, his tone void of emotion as he narrowed his eyes at me.

His eyes observed me with vigilance, his expression resembling one of caution as he awaited what I was going to do. To him, my sudden presence during this crucial juncture in time hardly indicates that I have any good intentions. No doubt he expects me to seek some sort of vengeance against him now that he is of no threat.

However, this was not the case this time around.

"You never answered me," I said slowly, staring firmly down at him.

"What?" Clearly he was startled by this. Frowning, he pursed his lips as some hesitation and confusion flickered through his eyes. It was apparent that he was thinking back upon our past interactions for any indication of what I may be referring to when I said this.

Noticing his struggle I opted to give him a reminder, hoping to fuel his remembrance of that confrontation. "What is so different from you and me? You never answered this. So I'm here to demand that you tell me the answer to this question."

A hollowed laugh escaped him as he shook his head tiredly. "You're too naïve, you wouldn't understand even if I told you."

"Bullshit! I'm tired of adults making these excuses all the damn time. Who are you to decide whether or not I would understand? You all never even try to explain, just always assuming that we'd be too stupid to get it. Well, why don't you try me!" I snarled, determination causing my glare to be fierce.

Taren blinked his eyes slowly, not having expected such a reaction out of me, before his mouth twisted into a grimace.

"Fine, since you insist. I thought I was saving him," Taren murmured bitterly.

"Saving him...?" I questioned, furrowing my brows in contemplation as I disbelievingly gaped at him, finding this answer of his unanticipated and absurd.

"Yes, saving him," he confirmed, a long sigh escaping him. "You think its so easy living the path he chose. He'll have to go trough constant humiliation, being treated as an outcast by whomever and whoever gets to know his secret. In his workplace, the discrimination he'll face, the setbacks and limited opportunities. The constant hiding who he is from those around him is not an enjoyable feeling. Always having to fear each day and wondering if that day will be the end or the next day. If he had chosen to be normal, to be with a woman, then he wouldn't have to experience any of that. I was trying to save him from all that pain and suffering."

"Bye killing him?! That was your idea of saving him?" I sneered, my anger bubbling up within me, threatening to boil over and overtake my sense of rational.

How desperately did I wish to make this man disappear off the face of this Earth for what he did to Aidan. But I knew this was not a possibility; however, it was still difficult to control my rage. It did not help that he seemed so nonchalant about the whole thing.

"I'd like to partly blame the alcohol for clouding my judgment and further fueling the anger within me, but then that would just be excuses on my part no doubt," Taren chuckled darkly before shutting his eyes as he breathed out in resignation. "Indeed my original intentions were pure, but over time, I probably lost my way. At first, although I know I wasn't exactly reasonable with my distaste for his life choice, but by no means did I want to harm him. However, at some point, and I don't know exactly when it started, but this mindset of mine changed. Perhaps over time I became corrupted due to society and my desire to maintain good appearance. Who knows, maybe there is more to it all," Taren said as he smiled bitterly to himself.

"However, it was not a lie when I said that I was trying to save him. Just that... my idea of saving him, over the years, no longer meant just changing who he was as a person. I became unsatisfied, I guess, with this, and so I began to think that the only way left to save him at this point was to kill him. As far as all the other bad things I did, I can only chalk it up to being my way of relieving stress."

Although I hated to admit it, I could understand his reasoning, if only a little bit. I could see that he really was not lying, that he really had been trying to help Aiden. Unfortunatly, the way he went about it was entirely wrong. And for that, I could not exactly forgive him. Although my resentment towards him dimmed slightly, it by no means faded completely.

"So beating your wife, drowning yourself in alcohol, and isolating your own son was all because you wanted to relieve your stress?! Ha, how righteous of you," I spat out venomously.

Throughout my dealings with Aiden, most of what I said came from either my speculations turning out to be true, and from my constant observations of my surroundings and everything related to Aiden. The numerous hints that were displayed to me, be it directly or indirectly, made it painfully obvious to me just exactly how much Aiden had suffered.

All the bruises, although minimal on both Caitlyn and Aiden, and the isolation of Aiden from any recourses that could better his situation, had been the hardest for me to detect. It had taken all this time for me to discover these hints. If only I had discovered them sooner, then maybe I would have acted faster, had I known their situation had gotten this far.

I secretly hated myself for being so powerless.

"I know," Taren hissed as he clenched his hands into tightly balled fists. "I already know how much I've fucked up. How much consequences my actions caused. I don't need you to remind me of how badly I've fucked up, I've already realized all this now." Taren said as he hung his head down low regretfully. A gloom seemed to fall over him as slight depression began to set in.

Something in me finally snapped, and it seemed as if all my rationality dried up and disappeared, replaced only by fury. "Isn't it a little too late to realize all this now? That now, all of a sudden, you've finally opened your damn eyes to all shit you did. What great timing you have!" I snarled, my gaze vicious.

Throwing my arm out with enough force to cause my muscles to tremble and dully ached in response, I pointed over to where Caitlyn and Aiden were. The two of them were staring worriedly over our way. Aiden's eyes held a confliction within them as he debated whether or not he should join me. However, the fear he felt for his father rooted him to his spot by the ambulance.

Seeing this only further ignited the buring flames that fanned my rage, making it exceedingly harder to suppress my desire to beat the living shit out of Taren.

"Look at them!" I shouted, my voice filled with raw emotion, and thrust my finger out once more to point in their direction as my eyes glistened with unshed tears. "I said look at them!"

Taren clenched his jaw before reluctantly shifting his gaze over to Caitlyn and Aiden. The muscles in his face stiffened and then contracted under the tightening of his jaw. Creaking sounds could be heard from him as his teeth ground against each other. His eyes strained continuously as they struggled to remain focused on them. I could only assume that the guilt that wracked through him causing him to feel pain whenever he started at them.

Good, you deserve it, I thought harshly, seeming slightly satisfied that this man at least would suffer from his own guilt from now on.

"You did this to them," I continued. "All the damage you caused to them. You did it. No one but you, and its going to take them a long time to recover from this." My voice cracked from the intense emotions I displayed. "So take a good look at them, and then you can take your bullshit and shove it right up your ass!"

I was breathing hard by the time I finished, my chest heaving up and down. Similarly, the commotion I just caused left me the center of attention to those nearby. Although those farther away could not hear what I had said clearly, my wild actions had still gained their notice. After everyone confirmed that I was not about to take things a step further after this verbal outbreak, the police men and women returned to their duties. The only persons who remained focused on Taren and I were Catlin, Aiden, and the driver.

After a few seconds of grave silence, my raging emotions gradually calmed down, as did my breathing. Soon after that I recovered my rationality and began to feel embarrassed and slightly regretful by what I had done. Even I knew this was unusual of me to react so strongly as I was normally more level headed. Though, as I thought it through, I guess the circumstances would generally call upon such behavior from most individuals if they were stuck in the same position as me.

Still, there was still a limit to how much I should blame Taren for what he did. Although I loathed his action, I knew that he was not entirely at fault. The influence from those around Taren, as well as his own weak mindedness in the face of it all, had played a major part in his fall into insanity. He was a victim in his own way.

So it was not up to me to judge him even if I did hate him for what he did.

Still, I would not take back the words I said, as I knew he needed to know that what he did had repercussions, and he needed to see this.

I believed that maybe if he realized these consequences, then perhaps he can come to change.

But this was a farfetched hope of mine no doubt.

"Sir, your time's up, " the driver said, interrupting my thoughts. Though the man said that, I'm sure I had long surpassed the time limit he had set. "Its best if you step away from the vehicle and head back now to your friend."

As I glanced over to the policeman, my gaze fixed onto his firm gaze. It seems like he was concerned that I may go back on what I said and actually start trouble. If I became physical with Taren, then he would surly have to step in to take care of me, and then one more person would be headed to the police station tonight.

Knitting my brows together, I let out a shuddering breath as I nodded my head. "I'm sorry for what just happened. Thank you for allowing me to speak to him."

After saying this I turned around, not bothering to take one last look at Taren, before beginning to walk away and towards Caitlyn and Aiden.

"Nathan,' Taren unexpectedly called out, halting me where I stood.

Stunned, I slowly turned to face Taren. Confusion swirling within my eyes as I wondered why Taren would try to initiate a conversation after what I did. Even more surprising the fact that I couldn't detect any hint of anger within his voice.

"Tell Aiden, that... I'm sorry... for everything,"

Although his face remained expressionless as he stared straight at me, eyes unwavering, the words he said, and the look in his eyes was anything but calm. The look of utter pain and self-loathing within the depth of his eyes bore into me at the moment, leaving a deep impression in me. It told me all about the suffering and regret that this man was feeling for the actions he took.

I couldn't help but suck in a sharp breath, speechless by these unforeseen words of his. Never in a million years had I expected him to say such a thing, and yet, he had.

All of a sudden, I felt extremly tired, as if I had just aged by several years. Seemingly all my energy left my body, causing me to feel weak and exhausted in the face of this man's firmness.

I gazed deeply at him for a short moment, before gradually nodding my head. "I'll tell him."

Taren smiled gratefully my way, eyes full of relief, as if a heavy burden had lifted off his shoulders. He then turned his head away as the window was rolled up. I then watched, in silence, as the police cruiser drove off and took him away.

"You're thinking about it again," a voice interrupted my flashback, startling me badly, and I was immediately transported back to the present with a jerk.

The hand that had been continuously gently stroking Aiden's head stilled. Looking down, I noticed that Aiden's eyes were now open. Although his gaze was not focused on me, he had still keenly detected my state of mind.

How perceptive, I thought, but then soon after realized that during these past few weeks, it was not uncommon for me to reflect back upon that day. So it actually should come as no surprise that Aiden had been able to accurately guess what I was thinking about.

"I woke you up... sorry," I said softly.

"It's fine, no need to apologize," Aiden said, chuckling slightly. Aiden lifted himself off of me, then straightened to a sitting position, before turning my way. He wore a small smile on his face, and his eyes, which radiated tranquility and slight sleepiness, stared lovingly at me.

My heart clenched tightly within my chest while I was being stared at by him like this, and strangely enough, I felt that perhaps I was undeserving of such affection from him.

If not for me, than surely Aiden would have avoided all this chaos, all this pain. My presence had disrupted his relatively calm life, even though I do know that it still wasn't exactly a peaceful life before I came. But even still, he was now suffering the backlash because of me.

I should never have returned here, I thought to myself as I began to scum to my depression. I knew it was a bad idea from the start, and yet I still came.

Feeling saddened by such thoughts, I found that I couldn't scarcely make eye contact with Aiden. I could only stare down at the floor as the air turned gloomy around me, exposing my current chaotic state of mind.

"Enough! Stop blaming yourself already," Aiden commanded with a disgruntled frown as he noticed my sudden change in mood. He then grasped one of my hands with his, laced them together, and squeezed tenderly. "We both know that there was nothing any of us could do to prevent all that. And even if it hadn't of happened then, than no doubt it would still have happened later, with or without your appearance getting mixed into the picture. Eventually he was going to cause trouble to us, all you did was speed up the process of when it would happen."

I remained unconvinced and stayed silent under the weight of my guilt.

Aiden's frown deepened, before he let out a soft sigh. "Fine then, just think of it like this. Because all of it happened sooner rather than later, you just saved both my mom and I years of potential suffering," Aiden reassured. "And in all honesty, if you hadn't of been here to stop him, how much do you think things would have gone. Even if you had never appeared back into my life, and years down the road he did blow up like he had did back then, then things could have been so much worse. Because no one would have been there to stop him then either, and I could be dead. You saved my life."

When he said this, I grew more light-hearted as I began to feel a little bit better about myself, because everything that he had said was right.

It all could have gone worse had I not been there.

And maybe, he really would have died, and then I really would want to die myself for not being able to stop it from happening.

I briefly closed my eyes and rid myself of all my negative emotions and thoughts.

"Alright, you've won me over, I'll stop beating myself up about it," I admitted as I opened my eyes and looked at Aiden, who smiled triumphally when I said this. I laughed and ruffled Aiden's head, who quickly protested and swatted my hand away, seemingly pouting with displeasure my way.

I chuckled a bit in response to him. I then adjusted myself more comfortable on the couch, letting my body fully relax back into the couch. Leaning my head back, I gazed up at the ceiling with half closed eyes. Slight movement soon came from Aiden as his body leaned against mine. He then rested his head onto my shoulder and stared off into the distance. His eyes were glazed, as if he wasn't focusing on what was in front of him, and instead was lost in thought. Our hands remained intertwined, laying between us.

Neither of us spoke, just indulged in this pleasant silence. It was a nice feeling, this brief calmness that surrounded us.

I thought back to Taren's last words to me. Although I had kept my promise and had informed Aiden of what he had said, Aiden had refused to comment upon it at the time.

I still wondered to this day whether or not Aiden had ever forgiven his father for all that he had done or if he still resented him.

"Do you hate him, your father?" I quietly asked after a few more minutes of silence had passed, my curiosity getting the better of me. My eyes turned to peer over at Aiden again to study his response.

"Hate?" Aiden repeated the word slowly, as if tasting it to measure its significance, and continued to stare thoughtfully across the room. His brows furrowed as he contemplated his answer, before slowly shaking his head. "No. I feared my father, but I never truly hated him."

"Why?" I questioned as I allowed my fingers to run gently across his knuckles affectionately.

"Even I don't really know the answer to that," Aiden said as he grimaced bitterly. "I just know that what I feel for my father is not hate. Even after all he's done. Its even possible I still love him as my father. I really wonder why I feel this way?" Aiden wondered as he trailed off into silence, looking to be deep in thought.

I smiled slightly as I studied Aiden. Then, with a nod of my head, I came to a decision.

"Well, you'll have the rest of your life to come up with an answer," I commented unhurriedly, "and, I'll always be there to help you for as long as I am needed."

My last words flowed smoothly from my mouth, such so, that it had actually taken Aiden a full minute before what I said registered within his brain. When it did he practically snapped to attention and jerked his head to face me, his eyes wide and full of mixed emotions, happiness soon being the predominate one.

"I'd like that," Aiden replied, smiling sweetly my way.

I guffawed, then remarked, "I would hope so," boastfully back his way, causing Aiden to roll his eyes heavenward with exasperation.

"No shame," Aiden giggled with a shake of his head. "Also... there's no way I would ever get tired of you, just so you know. So, I hope you're prepared to spend the rest of your life with me, because I don't plan on ever letting you go," Aiden teased slyly, a wide, mischievous grin spreading along his face as his eyes twinkled brightly at me.

"I look forward to it," I whispered smilingly as I leaned down to capture his lips onto mine in a loving kiss, sealing our fate under this promise of a lifetime together.  

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