Kate was barely looking at Drew as they ate lunch. Could that possibly have anything to do with what her cute nephew had said when they'd walked through the door?

Why would Tayden assume Drew was her new boyfriend? Why would he assume she'd have a new boyfriend at all? She had just married Nolan last summer. They were still married, right? Didn’t she say he was out of town? Plus, Drew specifically remembered seeing that huge rock on her finger multiple times. Felt it dig into his hand when he'd touched it just last week.

He glanced at her across the table, hoping to catch a glimpse of her left hand, but it was still hiding from his view. Was she doing that on purpose?

The lunch conversation drifted from the laid-back catching-up type of talk to memories of Aiden. Had it really been seven years since they'd hung out? Seven years since he'd stepped inside this house? It was crazy how long it had been—and yet, it still didn't feel real that he wouldn't see Aiden again in this life.

Drew still remembered the day it hit him. Because of the condition of Aiden’s body after the accident, there had been no viewing. No viewing meant no closure…not really. Was Aiden really, really dead? The truth wouldn’t cement itself in his mind. Because one day, they were hanging out—Aiden talking about how things were going with his new girlfriend, Drew complaining about his professor, and both of them going home for the weekend to hang out with family and friends in Burbank. And then the next day, his mom was telling him that Aiden had died. He'd been hit by a drunk driver.

And even though Drew had gone home after the funeral, to the apartment that he and Aiden had shared, he kept hoping and waiting for his friend to come through the door and tell him how he'd just been on the best date of his life. But it never happened. Months passed, and Drew moved out of that apartment and started working on his app. And finally, when he was driving his truck home from the store one summer evening, it hit him. It finally hit him. Aiden really was gone. He hadn't just moved away, like most of their other high school friends. He wouldn't be seeing Aiden at their five-year high school reunion. He wouldn't go to another Dawson family barbecue and have Aiden suddenly show up with his wife and kids. Aiden would never have those things. He never got the chance. Drew would get married, and not have Aiden there as his best man. He would tell his children stories from when he was in high school, and his kids would never actually get to meet the guy with whom he shared all of those memories. Aiden was really gone.

"I still remember the time he plotted to take over the world with all his little nine-year-old friends in the hut out back," Lana's voice cut into his thoughts. Apparently, sharing memories of Aiden was something his family did every year when they celebrated his birthday. Drew's turn was next, and he needed to think of something. But should he share a memory that was one of his favorites, or one that the family would cherish forever? In his mind, he went through dozens of experiences they'd had together. When you're best friends for a decade, you go through a lot of things together. He thought of the time they rigged the kitchen faucet to spray out instead of down on April Fool’s Day. The time they accidentally set the fire alarm off in Chemistry. And the time they dressed up like girls for Halloween, and people had no idea Aiden was really a guy because he hit his growth spurt late in high school. All the campouts. The late nights.

So many good memories, yet still not enough.

And his biggest regret was that their last interaction hadn't been a good one. Why did a stupid argument have to be the exclamation point at the end of their friendship? If Drew had just waited a little longer to kiss Kate, would his friend still be with them today?

"What about you, Drew? Do you have a memory you'd like to share? I'm sure you have all kinds of good ones we never heard of."

Like how I'm the reason he drove off so angrily that night?

He swallowed, his heart racing. He had thought that he could do this. He thought he would be able to come back to Aiden's home and have dinner with his family. But it wasn't right. He shouldn't be the guest of honor on Aiden's birthday.

Aiden should be sitting at his family's table.

Not him.

He cleared his throat and scooted away from the table, feeling a panic attack start to hit.

"If you'll excuse me…" He didn't finish his sentence. Instead, he stood and rushed out the front door.

The January air was crisp when he stepped outside. He gripped the porch railing and leaned over it, urging his pounding heart to return to its normal rate.

What was he doing here?

Would it be such a terrible thing if he jumped in his car and never came back—never faced Aiden's family again? He'd stayed away for seven years. He could do it again.

Except he didn't want that. Stepping inside the Dawson's living room had been like coming home.

The door opened behind him. He quickly stood straighter.

"Is everything okay?" Kate asked in a quiet voice as she stepped timidly onto the porch.

Drew cleared his throat and pulled a smile onto his face. "Yeah, sorry about that. I, uh…" He looked around, trying to come up with something that would explain his strange behavior. But nothing came to him. "I just needed some air."

She nodded. "Today's a weird day."

Drew sighed. "Yes. It is."

"I guess this is probably the first time you've been here in a long time."

"Almost seven years."

"A lot has changed in that time." She sat down on the top step and patted the spot next to her. "Have a seat."

He hesitated, part of him still wanting to run away. But when he met her gaze, she was looking up at him with such a soft and gentle expression that he didn't have the heart to leave. So he stepped down and sat beside her.

"Do you miss it?" Kate asked.

"Miss what?" Drew asked, confused.

"The way things used to be." She lifted a hand and gestured at the basketball hoop on the side of the driveway. "The neighborhood basketball games. The bonfires at the beach. The simple things that just made life great."

He thought about it. Growing up with the Dawsons as a sort of second family had been wonderful. His mom had worked a lot of nights. His dad hadn't been in the picture for years. So Drew had spent most of his evenings with Aiden and his family.

He tugged on his pant legs. "Growing up with you guys are where some of my fondest memories came from."

"Mine too." Their eyes met, and he felt a warm feeling building in his chest. But he forced it away. He wasn't supposed to feel warm when he looked at Kate. They were in the here-and-now, and things were different.

"Remember how you and Aiden used to always try to pull all-nighters and he was barely able to stay up past midnight?" Kate asked.

"Yeah, it was like someone pressed a magic button and he would immediately turn into a zombie once the clock struck twelve." Drew's lips stretched into a grin.

"Even I could stay up longer than him."

Drew smiled. It was true. Kate would often force her company on them, begging to play against the winner of whatever video game they were playing. They only sometimes let her actually have a turn. Most of the time, she sat on the couch with them and ate all their candy. Drew never really minded, though. At least he'd had someone to talk to when Aiden conked out on the floor. Kate had actually never made it through the night, either. And once she'd fallen asleep around three in the morning, Drew would just get bored and decide to go to bed as well, since staying up all night by yourself was boring.

"Did he ever tell you about our Weekend of Shame?" Drew asked.

Kate's jaw dropped, astonishment covering her features. "’Weekend of Shame?’"

Drew laughed. "It's not as bad as it sounds."

"It’d better not be."

"Aiden just thought he was hilarious when he decided we should call it that."

"So what happened on this shameful weekend of yours?" Kate arched an eyebrow.

Drew shrugged. "One weekend our sophomore year, my mom went out of town, leaving me to fend for myself. So, Aiden and I came up with this great plan to ask if we could have a sleepover at my house. We were dying to get a moment of freedom. Your parents of course said yes, thinking my mom would be home."

"You naughty boys," Kate said with a smile.

Drew chuckled. "So naughty. All we did was drive around town in my clunker car with the windows down, hoping we looked cool to any girls we might meet along the way."

"And did you?"

He snorted. "Sadly for us, no one seemed interested in a couple of gangly sixteen-year-olds." Yeah, they were about as far from high in demand as they could have been at that time. But they sure felt like studs back then. "Anyway, we totally lived things up that night. We went and toilet-papered Tansie Clemont's car since that's what you did back then when you liked a girl. Then we went back to my house to pull our first official all-nighter. Aiden promised he'd stay awake this time."

"Which we all know was a lie."

"He really tried this time, even going as far as to take a nap first. We had all our favorite caffeinated sodas ready and everything, in case a moment of weakness found us. We started out strong, but around two a.m. I noticed Aiden was getting drowsy. So I came up with this awesome idea to wake us right up."

Drew shook his head and laughed at the memory. "We had this big closet under the stairs that my mom kept all our extra pillows and blankets in. I thought it would be a great idea to go in there and jump around for a while, fall in them…that kind of stuff." He smiled. "It was surprisingly fun. But then, when we tried to get out of the closet, we couldn't get the door to open. It had somehow gotten jammed. That's when we started freaking out. My mom wasn't supposed to be home until Sunday night, so we had almost two whole days before anyone would even be in the house to hear us."

"I'm guessing since you're still alive, and since I've never heard this story before, you made it out okay."

"Great deduction, Sherlock." Drew smiled. "We did eventually kick the door open, but that surge of panic had really exhausted us. After that, we did a lap around the house and breathed in all the fresh air we could before going back to our video games."

"And let me guess, Aiden fell asleep fifteen minutes later?"

"I think he made it twenty." Drew winked. "But yes, eventually, neither of us could keep our eyes open. And we weren't about to try the awesome jumping closet again, so we turned off the TV, grabbed our pillows and sleeping bags, and zonked out. Our Weekend of Shame ended with no all-nighter once again."

And they never had a full, honest-to-goodness all-nighter before Aiden was gone. Not even in college.

"Did Aiden really never tell anyone about that?" Drew asked.

"Nope, he never said a word." Kate shook her head, and Drew noticed that her eyes were moist at the memory.

Of all his siblings, Aiden had always been closest to Kate. Yes, they fought all the time, and Kate sometimes drove her brother nuts, but they had loved each other so much. Drew felt the most sorry for her. That was why he knew he had to stay away after Aiden died. He didn't deserve to have her in his arms after everything that had happened.

But it did make him wonder. If Aiden had kept their Weekend of Shame a secret from his family, what other things had he kept just between them? Had Aiden ever told Kate about all the times he had to tell Drew to keep his eyes away from his younger sister?

"Thanks for sharing that with me." Kate wiped at her eye with her fingers. "It's been a long time since I've heard a new Aiden story."

It was then that Drew got a good look at her left hand. She seemed to notice his stare and immediately slid her hand between her knees.

But he'd already seen what he needed to see. Her ring finger was naked.

His heart stuttered to a stop before running off like a racehorse. He watched as she squeezed her eyes shut, like she'd just been caught doing something wrong.

Drew cleared his throat and sat up straighter. "Is there a reason why you’re not wearing your wedding ring today, Kate? Is everything okay with you and Nolan?"

She bit her lip, but still wasn't looking at him. "Nolan and I—"

The door behind them opened. "Kate! Kate! Gramma said we can't eat dirt and worms until you and your fwiend comes inside."

Kate darted her gaze between the boy and Drew, as if she couldn't decide who she was supposed to talk to at that moment.

"Kate?" Drew asked, urging her to answer his question."

"Please! I want dirt and worms!" Her little nephew jumped up and down, pouting his lip.

Kate looked back to Drew, but in the end, she stood up. She was taking her escape from the conversation. Drew wanted to snatch her hand back and force her to answer his question. But she was already inside before he could even move.