Aiden and I haven’t glanced away from each other, our eyes saying everything we wish we could. Annalisa clears her throat. “I’ll give you guys some time. I’ll be back later, Amelia—er—Thea.”

Then she’s gone, leaving me alone with Aiden. He sits in the chair beside my bed, not once breaking his gaze from me. “While I’m mad at you for what you did, and wish with every fiber in my being that I was there with you, I can’t say I’m all that surprised.”

The memories of taking his phone and locking him and the boys in my room make my cheeks heat. I should apologize, but I’m not sorry. I’d do it again. I’d do anything to keep my friends safe, to prevent them from being in harm’s way because of me. So no, I don’t feel that bad for keeping him out of the fight with Tony, but I do feel bad I had to lie to him to do so.

Aiden leans closer to me. “I cannot believe you Ethan Moored me, though! Really, Thea?” A smile tugs at his lips, and I let one pull on mine as well. It feels like that was forever ago.

“I locked him in the closet to take his phone, though. You were in a bedroom. Totally different.”

A chuckle escapes him as he shakes his head, but then his expression grows deadly serious. “When I found the two of you, lying there unmoving, it nearly killed me. I thought I was too late.”

Aiden really was there. It wasn’t an imaginary Aiden my mind had conjured up to comfort me. “How were you there? How did you get out of my room? How did you find me?”

He grabs my hand, holding it in his. His hand is warm and strong and my hand feels right at home.

He lifts a shoulder in a shrug. “I broke your door down as soon as you left the driveway,” he says calmly, like it’s no big deal. That was a sturdy wood door. It shouldn’t have been so easy to break.

“And how did you know where I was?” He was there. He came for me.

His hold on my hand tightens. “At Mason’s, when you were arguing with Mason and Noah about the picture he took of you, you left your phone on the table. You were so dead set on not getting anyone involved, and I don’t know, I just couldn’t let anything happen to you. I turned the Track My Friends on your phone on so that I would know where you were if anything happened. I also copied down Agent Dylan’s number.”

I’m speechless. I can’t even be mad that he tracked my phone because he saved me from bleeding out by finding me in time. “Did you know I wouldn’t stick to the plan?”

He shakes his head. “I wasn’t going to stick to the plan. I was going to drive you to the police station and call Agent Dylan anyway. Noah and Mason were acting like vigilantes, trying to rush into something without a solid plan, acting like they were invincible. You just strayed from the plan before I had a chance to. I really should’ve seen it coming; you never listen to me, and you gave in to Mason and Noah way too quickly.” He smiles at that last part, not mad about it like he probably should be. “I called Agent Dylan as soon as we got out of your bedroom, and then hopped in my car to track you. Agent Dylan also has your phone tracked, by the way. I only got there a few moments before he and the others did.”