One Wild Night

He tried not to pay attention to the curious stares they were receiving from the staff. Harry knew without a doubt that soon there would be gossips about him and Jade.

"So?" Jade asked once they got into the elevator, and Harry raised a brow.

"So what?"

"You said our conversation was not over," she reminded him.

"We can continue after the anniversary," Harry said, and Jade blinked at him in disbelief.

"You certainly can't be serious!"

"I am. Why?" He asked, and Jade shook her head.

"How am I supposed to wait for a week to get a simple response from you? How hard can it be to let me know where I stand with you?" She asked, and Harry arched a brow.

"Perhaps it will help you appreciate better how I've felt the whole time," Harry said, and Jade hissed.

"This is different! You didn't even tell me how you felt about me. You were not waiting for me."

"I waited for you to show me around your neighborhood," Harry said, making Jade scowl.

"I apologized for that already. Besides, you left without letting me know..."

"I would have let you know if you stayed in a space with me long enough for me to say Hi!" Harry countered and then took a deep breath.

"Calm down, esquire. I'm not saying I'm not interested in you. I'm just saying I would rather not rush into anything. I'm sure about my feelings, but I'm not sure about yours yet..."

"I'm in love with you. Isn't that obvious?" She asked as the elevator dinged and the door opened.

"When did you start feeling this way about me? What gives you the conviction that you love me enough to be in a relationship with me?" Harry asked, ignoring her question as they both walked out of the elevator.

Jade pursed her lips as she tried to remember when she started feeling differently toward Harry.

"You don't have to give me the answer right now. I think you should spend the next couple of days thinking about it carefully. I will ask you again after the anniversary dinner. By then you should have made up your mind whether or not you truly want to be with me," Harry said, hoping that would be enough time for him to clear up whatever misunderstanding Aurora was having about their friendship, clean up the mess Sara had created, and also join Tom in taking care of the Millers. There was a lot that needed to be done.

"What about you? Have you made up your mind if you want to be with me?" Jade asked and Harry smiled.

"I will do the same at that time. I also have to make up my mind whether or not I'm ready to do this with Tom," Harry said, and Jade looked at him in confusion.

"What does Tom have to do with this?"

"He is my best friend. He is your elder brother..."

"I don't have a problem with being with Tom's best friend, and Tom has no objections either," Jade said, and Harry sighed.

This was one of Hank's bad traits he had come to learn. They often had the idea that the world revolved around them, and they always wanted things to go their way.

"It's not about what Tom or you wants, sugar. This is about me. Tom is my best friend, and we are business partners. If anything goes wrong in my relationship with you, my relationship with Tom might be affected too..."

"What could possibly go wrong?"

"I hope nothing goes wrong. So let's take our time and make up our minds, okay?" Harry said, and although Jade wanted to argue some more, she sighed and let it go.

"Fine."

"Good girl," Harry said with an approving smile as they stopped some feet away from Aaron's room.

"I need to make a quick phone call. Do you mind going in to keep my dad company until I get there?" Harry asked, and Jade let go of his arm and planted a kiss on his lips before he could stop her.

"I will be inside," she said with a naughty smile plastered on her face and walked away before Harry could say anything.

Once she got to the door, she paused when she heard Aaron sobbing softly, and she took a deep breath as she knocked on the door, "Can I come in? It's Jade," she announced.

Aaron tried to compose himself quickly, "Sure. You can come in."

Jade walked in with a bright smile on her face, "Hey, old man!"

Aaron smiled when he saw her, "It's good to see you again, Jade," he said with a cheerful smile as she lowered herself onto the seat beside the bed.

"I would say the same, but I'm not sure I like seeing you on a hospital bed," Jade said, and he smiled at her.

"Thanks for helping us find her. And also for helping her," Aaron said, and Jade waved it off.

"I'm glad I could help," Jade said as she looked at his face. He sure looked like he had cried a lot.

"How do you feel?"

"Not bad. The doctor said I'll be ready to leave in a couple of days."

"Emotionally. How do you feel after meeting her? Candace, I mean," Jade asked, and Aaron sighed.

"I'm both happy and sad. Happy that she is alive and that she grew up into such a beautiful young woman. Sad that it took so long to meet her and that I missed out on her growing up. It hurts deeply. I don't want to imagine all she must have suffered," Aaron said, and Jade nodded.

"You have every reason to feel this way. But I think you should dwell more on the happy feelings since you have no control over the rest," Jade advised, and Aaron sighed.

"Yeah, I know. You are right. I'm sorry I lied to you about Harry's mom. I don't like talking about her," Aaron said, referring to their phone call.

"I understand," Jade said with an understanding smile. If he could lie to even Harry about it too, then she had no right to be upset that he had kept the truth from her.

"How is Harry?" Aaron asked curiously, and Jade shrugged.

"He is being a man and holding up," Jade said, and Aaron looked at Jade with interest.

"Can I count on you not to leave his side?"

"You couldn't even pull me away from him right now if you tried. I'm in love with your son, Aaron. I don't plan on going anywhere," Jade said with a grin, and Aaron smiled.

"You didn't seem so confident the last time we spoke. What changed?" Aaron asked, and Jade shrugged.

"My determination to get what I want, I suppose," Jade said, and Aaron nodded.

"He wants you too, even if he won't admit it easily. I caught him lying on the bed in the guest room. I can bet he went in there because of you. Let's keep this a secret," Aaron said, and Jade grinned.

"Oh, don't worry! He already admitted that he likes me. Did he tell you a lady is visiting him soon?" Jade asked, and Aaron nodded.

"He mentioned it. Why?" Aaron asked, and Jade sighed.

"I was foolish enough to hook him up with someone else before I realized my feelings for him. Now he is insisting on being the gentleman and taking her to the anniversary party as his date," Jade complained.

"If he already told you how he feels about you, then I don't think you should be worried about him taking someone else to the anniversary party," Aaron said reasonably.

"But that means I have to go alone while he's there with another woman," Jade pointed out.

"I don't think anyone is stopping you from going with someone else too. You are both not dating yet, are you?" Aaron asked, and Jade grinned.

"That's not a very future father-in-lawly advise to give me," Jade said, and Aaron chuckled.

"When you've both gone exclusive, I'll be more careful with the advice I give you," Aaron assured her just as the door opened and Harry walked in.

"Are you done being a crybaby?" Harry taunted.

"If you don't watch your tongue, I might tell Jade some of your childhood stories," Aaron threatened, and Harry scowled.

"You can't do that."

"Try me," Aaron said, and Harry grinned as he went to sit on the bed beside his father.

"I'm glad that you're alright. I would never have forgiven you had anything happened to you," Harry said, and Aaron sighed.

"I should leave you both to talk. I'll be on the rooftop," Jade said, knowing they both probably needed to settle some things privately.

They gave her a nod and watched as she left, and once she shut the door behind her, Harry looked at his father, "I hope you won't try to stop me from exposing and punishing Sara."

"You can do whatever you want. My business with her is over," Aaron said, and Harry nodded.

Now they needed to talk about Candace and Jamal and how to strengthen their new family.