Trying to split my time between Lacey and Aiden and ensuring their paths never crossed, for fear it would trigger Lacey, was not easy. But the stolen moments we shared, got me through the times I wasn’t able to see him.

Sometimes when noticed his car in my driveway my heart would race and the sight of him made my heart gallop in my chest. But no matter how much time we managed to find to be together it wasn’t nearly enough.

Lacey, came first and everything else fell away. What she needed superseded whatever else anyone or I needed. Aiden understood, even though at times he felt frustrated. We finally didn’t have to sneak around because I was no longer hiding it from Max but we still had to hide it from Lacey. I wasn’t confident that finding out about him would make things better for her.

There was definitely something going on with her and I had no idea how to fix it or pull her out of it. All I could do was stand by the sidelines and make sure she didn’t make a mistake she would regret. She seemed to be drowning herself in alcohol to deal and no matter how many times I tried to broach the subject she wouldn’t open up, brushing it off as a need to let loose.

Even I didn’t believe that, not for a second.

I was hesitant to mention it Alex or Lacey’s parents, I didn’t want to blow it out of proportion. Besides she was my friend and I wanted her to able to trust me, if I told on her than she would never trust me again.

I felt like I was walking a tight roping, about to lose my balance at any moment. The stress was taking its toll on me. My grades were slipping and my mother was already trying to figure out what was going on.

“It’s just tough,” I breathed, not intending on telling anyone the truth.

I hadn’t even told Aiden. Every time he asked how she was doing I would shrug and tell him she was coping even when she clearly wasn’t.

I was torn between being a good friend and being concerned about her health. But I wasn’t prepared to risk losing her friendship if I told anyone. I was the only person who knew what was going on, if it got out she would know I had betrayed her.

It wasn’t like she got drunk every time we went out, but it was happening more and more often. There was no disputing it was getting worse.

“The workload is a lot to deal with,” I breathed to my mom who nodded like she understood.

“If there is anything I can do to help you have to let me know.” She reached out and gave my hand a squeeze.

I nodded. “I love you mom.”

She rose and kissed my forehead. “I love you too.”

I sighed as got back to my homework.

Lacey had already called an hour ago to make plans to go out that evening. I was putting off calling Aiden to cancel the plans we had made that night to go out. I didn’t think I could deal with the disappointment in his voice. It felt like that no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t keep everyone in my life happy.

While Aiden understood the situation with Lacey, he wanted to spend time with me. I got that, I wanted to spend time with him but I couldn’t take the chance Lacey going out and doing something stupid because I wasn’t there to protect her.

I sighed, closing my books. I would have to delay doing my homework until tomorrow.

My phone sat on the table beside me and I stared at it trying to figure out what to say to let Aiden know I was canceling on our plans to go out that night. It wasn’t like we were actually going out. I was just going around to his place to watch some movies together. I couldn’t take the chance of Lacey showing up unannounced if he came over to my place.

To ensure their paths never crossed I always had to plan everything, down to the last minute. It was tiring and sometimes I wished Lacey would remember everything she had forgotten. I also hoped that remembering would stop her downward spiral.

It was a difficult situation and I wasn’t sure if she continued to go down the path she was that I would be able keep it quiet. I wrestled with it almost daily, trying to figure out if what I was doing was right. But there was no right or wrong, just what I thought was the right thing to do as her friend.

I dragged myself up to my room with my books and phone to get ready, hoping to gather the courage to call Aiden and have a difficult conversation. I was being pulled in different directions and I didn’t know how much more I could take.

While I showered I thought about the conversation with Aiden and decided it was probably best to get it over and done with before I allowed it to stress me out more.

I stood in my room with my bathroom towel still wrapped around me as I call Aiden and took a deep breath before exhaling as it began to ring.

“Hey,” he answered. He sounded happy to hear from me and I closed my eyes because I knew what I was going to tell him was going to change that.

“Hi,” I replied, trying to figure out a way to soften the blow.

There was silence. Had my tone tipped him off to what I was about to tell him?

“You’re going to cancel.” He sighed and I gripped the phone tighter like I was subconsciously holding onto him so he wouldn’t leave me.

“I’m sorry,” I hurried to say. “Lacey wants to go out. She called a little earlier.”

There was more silence. It wasn’t a good sign and my heart tightened as I began to pace.

“I want to say it’s fine,” he breathed and I could hear the visible disappointment in his voice. “But this is so frustrating.”

“I get it, I do.” I tried to appease him but I wasn’t sure anything I was saying was actually helping.

“We don’t get to spend much time together Reece,” he pressed and I knew it was going to lead to an argument which wasn’t going to change anything but make me feel worse than I already did.

“She is my top priority Aiden. You know that. What am I supposed to do, just brush her off after everything she has been through.” I wanted to tell him about her drinking but I didn’t want to break her trust in me, I felt like I was betraying her if I said something.

“No, I don’t expect that. It’s just that now we’re together I see less of you than I did before. That’s not how things are supposed to be.”

“I know. I’m trying my best.” I couldn’t do more than I was doing. It just wasn’t possible.

“You’re my girlfriend and I never see you. If we don’t figure out a way to spend time together this won’t last.”

The threat hung in the air, taking my breath away and I felt awful. After everything we had been through and overcome, I didn’t want it to end because of this.

“Don’t make threats Aiden. I have enough going on and you’re just making things worse.” I rubbed my forehead. “I’m doing the best I can under the circumstances. I don’t need someone putting more pressure on me, I need someone who gets it.”

There I had said it, before I’d had a chance to really think about what I was saying. Everything was getting to me and I felt like I was drowning. I didn’t need him to figuratively press his foot down on me pushing me under the water. I needed him to reach out and take my hand to list me out of the water.

If we couldn’t get through something like this, we wouldn’t last. Life was filled with trying situations. In those times, sexual attraction meant nothing, it was how the situations were handled that indicated success or not.

“I don’t know what to say Reece. Maybe we should put things on hold until Lacey’s situation improves.”

Put things on hold? He pulled the carpet right from under me and I was speechless. I hung up the phone, unable to take anymore.

Aiden tried to call me back but I couldn’t bring myself to answer his call. I was hurt and I didn’t want to speak to him. Maybe I needed time to calm down before I spoke to him again. Or worse there was no way to come back from that conversation, and that meant we were over before we even really had a chance.

I smiled, making sure I hid my inner turmoil to Lacey. She was dealing with enough, I wasn’t going to load my problems off on her. Besides I didn’t want her to know that her well being was the reason for my latest argument with Aiden. He was her friend and out of everyone I would have thought he would have understood, where others couldn’t. But right now he didn’t and it was upsetting me.

I sipped my drink watching Lacey closely as she took a shot with a couple of guys. She was really hitting the bottle hard tonight and I felt a little out of my depth. I had already tried to get her to slow down but my words had fallen on deaf ears. She was set on a destructive path and there was little I could do sway her.

I bit my lip and wondered if it was time to tell someone what was going on with Lacey. If she passed out I wouldn’t be able to get her home on my own, I didn’t know anyone at the party to ask for help and I didn’t feel safe asking a stranger to help.

She was already unsteady on her feet so I approached her with a smile.

“You have to have one of these,” she shoved a shot into my hand. “These are awesome.”

I shook my head. “I can’t, I’m driving us home.” I had already hit my limit. I put the drink down on the table.

“She is such a party pooper,” she moaned to one of the guys standing beside her. He put an arm around her shoulders and I didn’t like it one bit. It was time to get her out of here, or I would have to call someone to help me. It was my last resort.

“We need to go,” I told her, looking down at my watch. It was after eleven already and I just wanted to get her home safely, without incident and that wouldn’t be possible if she continued to drink alcohol like cool drink.

“I don’t want to go,” she whined. “I’m having fun.”

“Don’t be a party pooper,” the other guy said.

I was in hell, there was nothing fun about any of this. My nerves were shot and I had hit my limit.

“I’ll be back in a moment,” I said to Lacey and went to a corner where the music wasn’t too loud so I could make a call and still keep an eye on Lacey.

There was no way I was leaving her alone with those guys, even for the few minutes it would take to call someone to help me.

I called Aiden, checking my watch again. He would still be up, but I wasn’t sure if he was still talking to me after I had refused to pick up his calls.

It rang and rang. I bit my lip as I watched Lacey become more unsteady. Where was he? And why wasn’t he answering?

When it finally went to voicemail I called again but he didn’t answer. This wasn’t working out the way I had hoped or anticipated. What was I going to do?

There was only one other person I could call. I called Max. He answered.

“Hey Reece,” he said.

I was relieved to hear the quiet background, if he was at a party he probably wouldn’t be sober enough to help me.

“I need your help,” I said, cutting right through any pleasantries. I didn’t have time.

“What do you need?” he asked.

“Lacey and I are at a party and I need help getting Lacey home.” I wasn’t even sure he would help. He was my last resort before I would be forced to call Alex.

“Sure. Where are you?” There was no hesitation and I sighed with relief.

I gave him the address.

“I’ll be there in fifteen minutes,” he said, before he ended the call.

I slumped against the wall. I was so grateful that despite how I had treated him he was doing me the biggest favor by coming through to a party in the middle of the night to help me with my drunk friend.

I stayed close to Lacey, while I watched the front door for Max.

The sight of him, brought me a physical relief. I waved at him over the crowd and he pushed his way through the revelers to me.

“Where is she?” he asked. I nodded my head in the direction of where she was still standing with the two guys.

He handed me his keys. “I’ll get her.”

I held his keys tightly in my hand as I watched him walk over to Lacey. The two guys seemed to back away when Max put his arm around Lacey’s shoulders. She smiled up to him and gave him a hug. He said something to her and she nodded.

He steered her to me. “It’s time to get her home.”

He took control, and for the first time the full responsibility of Lacey didn’t lie squarely on my shoulders. When she couldn’t quite make the stairs when we got out of the house he lifted her up and carried her to the car while I hurried behind them.

I opened the passenger side when we got to his car and put Lacey in, fastening the seatbelt before closing the door as she moved to lay her hair against the backrest and closed her eyes.

“Thanks,” I mumbled.

“How long has this been going on for Reece?” he asked softly, turning to face me.

“Too long,” I breathed.

He studied me. “Let’s get her home.”

I handed him his car keys and I got in the backseat as he got into the car and started it up.

There was silence as he drove us to Lacey’s house.

“I’ll get the door, if you could carry her up to her room as quietly as possible, that would be great,” I instructed, not even sure we would be able to pull this off without someone seeing us but I had to at least try.

I went ahead and opened the front door as Max lifted a sleeping Lacey from the car. She was fast asleep as he climbed the stairs and I led him to her bedroom after switching on her bedroom light. I pulled back her comforter just as Max lay her gently in her bed. He stood back as I removed her shoes and covered her up.

I checked to make sure her breathing was sound before I switched her bedroom light before closing her bedroom door behind us. Max got to the landing when Alex came out of his bedroom and we halted.

“Everything okay?” Alex frowned as his eyes moved from me to Max.

I nodded. “She was tired. She fell asleep on the car ride home.”

He studied me. Max was silent beside me.

“Okay,” Alex nodded. “Thanks for getting her home safe.”

I nodded nervously, not quite believing I had lied so effortlessly.

We left.

It was only when we got back to Max’s car did he turn to face me without starting his car.

“What’s going on Reece?” he asked.

I fidgeted before shrugging. “She’s been going through a tough time and she has been drinking a bit more than she usually does.”

“Why didn’t you tell Alex the truth?” he asked.

I frowned. It was difficult to put my reasoning into words. “I feel like if I tell someone I’m breaking her trust. How well do you think it would go down if her brother hears how much she is partying?”

I took a shaky breath and he reached over to cover my hand with his. He squeezed my hand and my gaze went to where our hands were joined.

“But if it is this bad, maybe she needs more help than you can give her.” His words were soft spoken but the truth was hard to swallow.

“I’m trying my best, I promised her that if she made it through I would do whatever I could to help her through this. I don’t intend to break it.”

“Okay.” He removed his hand from mine and started up the car. “You promise to call me if you need any help again.”

“Thank you,” I murmured, feeling my heart swell. This is what I needed more than anything. Someone I could count on.