My heart was snapped in half and I couldn't breathe.

Would JD ever be able to forgive me for what I did?

Ezra crawled over to me and he pulled me onto his lap. His arms wrapped around me and he held me tightly against him. He tucked my head under his chin and pressed his lips against the top of my head. I released everything I had been holding in for the last few weeks into his chest.

Ezra continued to stay silent as he stroked my hair. The only noise in the small room was the sound of my muffled cries. It felt like I had been crying for hours into him. My tears clung to the fabric of his shirt. I have given Ezra every piece of me that I had to give. There was nothing left of me and I was even losing my family for him.

I looked up at him when I had no more tears left to cry. He was staring down into my swollen red eyes with a tender expression. He bent his head down to gently brush his lips against mine. He was hesitant and unsure, not quite sure how I was going to react. Ezra's body relaxed against mine when I kissed him back.

I could taste the copper of the blood from his split lip as he continued to press his lips against mine. My lips parted slightly, ready for his tongue. My prayers were answered when he brought his hand to the nape of my neck and bit my bottom lip. I could feel the pressure building deep within me. I wanted to feel him on top of me again, to have him run his fingers down my body and over all the places that drove me wild. I just wanted to be with him again, even though this was all wrong for me.

Why did I keep letting him back in?

Why couldn't I ever break myself away from him?

This was not healthy for me to want him this way. I had spent the last few weeks crying over him. He would sleep with me and then tear me down. I was going to let him do it to me again and again. Ezra would always win if I kept letting him do this to me. I had to end this before it ruined me. I had to break my own heart to save myself.

"Stop." I said in a voice much stronger than I knew I had inside. I pushed him away and stood up off his lap. He was still sitting on the floor and looked up at me, confused.

"What's wrong?"

"This can't happen again. It's not good for either one of us. We can't do this anymore."

"What's this about Ry? Is it because of JD? You know he will forgive you."

"No, it's because of this." I motioned between the two of us. "It's because you treat me like crap and then I forget it all when you come running back. I let you in every single time and in every way possible. I deserve better than this. I have to start thinking about my future and the needs of the baby."

I walked over to Aiden's sweatshirt on the floor and picked it up. I quickly pulled it over my head as Ezra sat there dumbfounded, trying to collect his thoughts through his drunken haze.

"We are not going to talk about the baby right now." He stood up and slowly made his way to me. He grabbed my wrist and tried to pull me into him. I pulled my arm away from him.

"This is what I mean, Ezra. You always do this to me. You shut me down."

"I'm not talking about any of this tonight. We can discuss it tomorrow. Come here and let me touch you." He made another move towards me again and I put my hands up to deflect him.

"Not this time." I turned around and walked out of the bathroom and through the dark hall. When I got to the kitchen, I could see Aiden and Brynn sitting down at the kitchen table. Aiden had his head down and Brynn looked furious. It looked like I just walked in on them fighting. When I approached, Aiden raised his head and looked up at me through his lashes. There was a deep sadness in his eyes.

"Aiden, do you know JD went? I need to talk to him." I asked.

"He left and took Anna with him. He was so pissed. He wouldn't even talk to me." Aiden looked deflated. JD had been his best friend since before I was even born. I had ruined their friendship because I was selfish and didn't think about how it would impact anyone else.

Sadness and fear flooded through me. I wanted to leave this place and get far away from Ezra. There was no way I could stay near him and keep up my resolve. He would pull me back in every time. I knew it was crazy to think I could avoid him with the situation we were in, but I tried to convince myself otherwise.

"JD was my ride. Do you think you and Brynn can drive me home?"

"Sure. Are you ready to go now?" Aiden said, running his hands over his face.

"Like hell you are." Ezra's voice cut through the quiet kitchen. My eyes shut as his voice ricocheted through every inch of my body. I didn't even hear him come back into the room.

"Dude, we're just going to take her home. You can talk to her tomorrow when you sober up a bit." Aiden stood up and puffed up, preparing for a fight with Ezra.

"The only person she will be leaving with is me." His tone was soft and dangerous. He took a step closer to Aiden. This was not going to end well. Ezra was going to fight anyone who came between us tonight. I had to protect my friend from his wrath.

"Enough. Ezra, just take me home." I didn't want to go with him, but I knew I would be saving Aiden by agreeing to go with Ezra. Ezra would murder him right now if he took me home, even if Brynn was in the car too.

"He's been drinking. Don't go with him, Ry." Aiden pleaded.

"You heard her. She wants me." Ezra sent a wicked smile in Aiden's direction, claiming me as his property. I didn't like the way it made me feel.

"Aiden, I promise I will be fine. I will text you when I get home." I tried to reassure him.

Aiden shook his head in disbelief. He was worried about me and I shuddered when his eyes met mine. I wanted to go with Aiden and Brynn, but Ezra would never let me. He was right in the bathroom when he said I was his. He had never given me any other choice.

Ezra wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me past where Aiden and Brynn were sitting. He dragged me out of the house before I could say another word. My side hurt from how tight he was holding on to me. His fingers dug into my skin as he rushed me towards his car.

Ezra took the arm that was around me and squeezed my arm, holding me in place while he bent down and yanked the car door open. My feet left the ground before I even had a chance to react. Ezra shoved me into the car. I was barely able to get my feet in the door before he slammed it. I watched in the mirror as he jogged to the driver's side. He revved the engine and peeled out of the driveway, almost hitting two cars at the end.

The winding road we were on was scary enough in the daytime, but the eerie silence in the car mixed with the sound of Ezra pounding the accelerator was terrifying. Ezra was driving so fast I couldn't see anything around us as we flew up and down the hills, rounding the blind bends. My hands were gripping the seat hard, causing my knuckles to go white as I held on to keep my body from being thrown around.

"Can you slow down a bit?" I asked, terrified as I watched the odometer continue to climb.

"I can drive my car the way I want." He snapped at me.

"You've been drinking and this road is pretty dark."

He snorted and continued to punch the accelerator defiantly. The speed climbed and we were doing 70 MPH in a zone that had to be around 25 MPH. I would have known for sure if I could read the road signs we were passing at a blinding speed.

The tires began to squeal as he rounded corner after corner. My stomach dropped and I felt like I was going to vomit all over the car. My hand went to hold onto the baby inside of me. I wanted to protect the little one from Ezra's wrath. This was not a good situation for any of us. I had to try to diffuse the angry boy. If I couldn't do it for myself, I had to do it for our little one's safety.

I put my other hand on his knee, hoping his body would relax as I touched him. He needed a distraction to pull himself out of his own head. I rubbed his leg with my hand and slowly slid it up towards him.

"Now you want to touch me." He looked over at me. He pushed my hand away and continued to press further into the accelerator.

"Take me back to your place or a hotel. I'll go anywhere you want to go. I need you." I was hoping this would start softening his hard edges enough to consider what he was doing.

He rounded another sharp corner.

How long was this road?

"You think you can fuck me for a few hours and I would forget about all of this? You have all the power, Riley. You always have." Ezra looked defeated. He moved his clouded eyes to mine and I could see the pain behind them. His face looked terrified and hurt at the same time. He was terrified of what having a baby would mean for him.

My eyes moved away from his and back to the road. I couldn't look at the pain on his face and keep myself together. He continued to look at my face searching for anything to hold onto. I saw another sharp turn ahead of us, but he was too busy looking at me to see it. We were hurtling straight for the guardrail. Ezra would never be able to turn the car fast enough.

"Ezra!" I screamed at him and pointed to the curve approaching too quickly.

His head snapped back towards the road.

"Shit." He yelled as he slammed on the brakes and began cutting the wheel, trying to stop. The tires lost traction and squealed over the pavement. We were sliding towards the guardrail—we had no chance. My hands flew to the door and I braced myself for impact.

I closed my eyes as the pain shot through my body. In between the sounds of twisted metal I could hear Ezra screaming out my name.

"Riley. Riley. Open your eyes. Please. I love you, please open your fucking eyes. I'm sorry, baby. I am so fucking sorry."