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Sassy only walked halfway to the park. The rest of the way I held her in my arms. She is one spoiled dog. I must really love this dog if I'm willing to hold her like this.

The park came into view and I sighed. I wonder what Aiden wants.

We got to the grass and I put Sassy back down on the ground. But once her paws hit the grass, she laid down on her stomach. I tugged on her leash. "C'mon Sassy."

Did she budge? Not even a centimeter.

"Sassy, you lazy dog, I'm not going to hold you the whole time." I scolded her. "We need to start walking."

She looked up at me and tilted her head to the side. Sometimes I wish I could know what she thinks of me. She probably thinks of me as her maid or something. I tugged on her leash again. She looked like she was going to stand up but ended up lying back down.

"Sassy, I will leave you here." I told her. "I mean it."

"Are you really threatening a dog?"

I whirled around and found Aiden standing behind me. "I'm not threatening her. I'm scolding her."

Aiden rolled his eyes and bent down. Once Sassy saw him, she got up and went straight into his arms.

"It seems like she likes you." I said to him.

He chuckled. "Don't be jealous because she likes me better than you."

"I am not jealous." I argued. "Why did you want me to come here in the first place?" I demanded from him.

He stood up with Sassy in his arms. "I wanted to talk to you."

"About?" I crossed my arms.

"The wedding." He said, turning serious. "Let's go sit on that bench." He said as he started to walk away. I followed him silently.

We reached the bench and set Sassy down on the ground. He sat down on the bench and patted the spot next to him. "Sit down. I won't bite." He winked.

I sat down next to him and sighed. "So, why do you want to talk about the wedding?"

"Why do you ask so many questions?" He raised his eyebrow. I stared at him until he spoke again. "Just kidding. Jeez. But anyways, you seem like the only person who understands where I'm coming from right now. I thought I had Kelly on my side, but she thinks she's the shit now because she got wasted at that party."

Is that why she hasn't talked to me?

He took a deep breath and looked at the ground below him. "My mom died when I was seven." I realized then that he was opening up to me. He was going to tell me his life story. "I remember her perfectly. She always curled her hair then would put it up in a ponytail. She always told my dad how lucky she was to find a guy like him. And she made a killer cheesecake." He smiled slightly.

"Then she got sick." His smile faltered. "I didn't understand it then, but she had gotten cancer. I always wondered why she would tell me she's going to the doctor. I asked her what was wrong, but she told me she must have gotten a stomach bug or some shit like that."

"She knew you wouldn't understand." I commented.

He nodded. "She made it seem like nothing was wrong. But I started to really wonder when she ended up in the hospital. I caught my dad crying every now and then and it scared me. I remember the last conversation I had with my mom. We were visiting her in the hospital and I was sitting next to her bed. She held my hand and told me to always be a strong boy. No matter what." He pursed his lips. I almost thought he was going to cry, but when he looked up his face held no emotion. "Things were harder after she died. Dad was working two jobs so I hardly saw him. My dad and I had a pretty good relationship while mom was still alive. But that changed."

He looked at Sassy in front of him and started petting her. "I was in the seventh grade when he met Anna." He said, his voice sounding a bit bitter. "Each time she was around, he always said she was just a friend. She was constantly around and kept trying to be my friend. He eventually told me that they were dating. Seeing him with her when she was first around didn't settle with me. She was not my mom and she would never be my mom. I told my dad that when he told me they were dating. In a way, I hated my dad for doing that to my mom. How could he ever love another woman, you know?"

I nodded. I could relate to Aiden in a way. I know my mom would start dating eventually. But none of those guys would be my dad.

"Our relationship has never been the same. I found out a year after they started dating that she had three kids of her own. Turns out she had divorced her husband because he cheated on her. My dad started to hang out with her kids more and more while I just sat back and watched him. He helped Ryan get into football. Did you know that? And me? I just got the talk on how I should have been in football or soccer or something. Ryan was the son he always wanted." Aiden ranted. "I've never liked Ryan. I don't know if I ever will."

"Are you mad that Ryan's the best man now?" I asked him cautiously.

He shook his head. "Fuck no. I don't even want to be in this stupid wedding. I told my dad straight up that I wasn't going to go. I think that was the day I left you and Kelly at the park."

I remember that day. I had heard Aiden yelling profanities at his dad while walking back home. I remember telling myself it wasn't my business.

"Do you hate Anna?" I wondered curiously.

He hesitated for a moment. "I don't hate her. But I don't particularly like her." He made a face. "She just always tried to be my friend and wanted to know everything about me. When I was in the eighth grade, I told her to fuck off because she wasn't my mom and I would never like her."

"You told her that?" I gasped.

He smiled slightly. "Well, not exactly like that, but it was something along those lines."

"Do you miss your mom?" I asked him quietly.

He nodded slowly. "More now than usual. I see Ryan, Kelly, and Jenna with Anna and it makes me think of what my mom would have been like if she were still alive. Would she go to all my football games if dad had helped me get on the team? Would she put up with the shit I pull every day?"

"I wonder things like that sometimes." I said out loud. "Would I have been different if my dad decided to stick with us? Would I be a normal teenage girl? Would he be impressed with my 4.0 GPA?"

"Has your mom seen other people?" He asked me.

I shook my head. "I know she wants to. I think she's worried about how I'd react."

"How would you react?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. It depends on how the guy treated my mom. If he treated her well, then I would probably like him for making my mom happy. If he treated her like crap, then I'd probably give him hell."

Aiden chuckled lightly. "Yeah, I'd like to see you on a rampage."

"Watch it. You never know when I could snap." I told him.

He stayed quiet for a minute before speaking up again. "Do you think I'm taking this too far?"

"Taking what too far, exactly?"

"Acting out and being the bad guy of the whole situation?" He asked me.

I slowly shook my head. "I think you have every right to be upset. You miss your mom and you don't want Anna to replace her, that's all there is to it." I told him. "But, you're kind of hurting your dad with all of this. Even though it may not seem like it, he might really want your approval about this whole thing. And saying that you're not going to the wedding basically said you didn't approve of any of this."

He shook his head and looked at me. "Way to make me feel guilty."

I put my hands up in defense. "Sorry. It might not be what you wanted to hear, but it is the truth. I'm not saying you should ask to be in the wedding again. But you should be there to support him. I bet it would mean a lot."

He narrowed his eyes at me and smirked. "Maybe you should become a psychologist or something."

"I'll think about it." I offered him a smile.

"Well, that's my sob story." Aiden said, leaning back against the bench. "You're the first person I've told about how I'm feeling right now."

"I feel honored." I said smiling. "But let me ask you this Aiden. Do you think your mom would be happy with your attitude right now?"

He frowned. "I ask myself that a lot. And the answer is no. I don't think she would be happy with it right now. It's just hard going from seeing him and my mom acting like the perfect couple to seeing him like that with Anna. Then not feeling wanted is only adding on to it."

I nodded. "Then it's decided. You're going to the wedding in support of your dad."

He inhaled. "Fine. If any shit goes down before then, I'm not going."

"Just try to work things out with him. And try to make an effort with Anna." I told him.

"I'll try." He rolled his eyes. "What about you? Do you have a sob story?"

I thought about it. "Not really. My dad left us when I was three, so I don't really remember him. And sure, I'm not the perfect daughter my mom wanted but that doesn't bother me too much."

"So everything in your life is perfect?" He questioned.

I shrugged. "It's not perfect, but it's not like I'm unhappy with my life."

He chuckled and shook his head. "You are so boring, you know that?"

"I don't think I'm boring." I told him, frowning. "I can be fun."

"Oh really?" He asked, sounding amused. "What's your idea of fun? Staying home and watching Star Wars?"

That sounded like an insult. And he just had to throw in Star Wars. "Listen buddy, so what if my idea of fun is different from yours? We're all different."

"Yeah, but you haven't actually lived." He told me. "Don't tell me that party was the first one you've been to." When I didn't say anything, he grinned. "It was, wasn't it?"

"So what?"

He stood up and looked down at me. "Get up."

I stood up also and looked at him skeptically. "What are we doing?"

"Since you helped me with this whole situation, I'm going to help you now. And we're going to have fun." He beamed.

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