Ryan's POV

Chase and I sat in relative silence until Erin joined us. She explained that Mia, after a shower and change of clothes, was in her room sleeping. She gave Chase the evil eye the entire time she relayed this to us, so we explained to her what Chase's motives were for his outburst. Erin said she understood his tactics but while Chase was going to go the tough love route, she was sticking to her way. I think my sister just didn't have it in her to be mean. As for me, I was going to continue to be supportive.

Now we were back to somewhat awkward silence. All of us simply taking in the whole fucked up situation and none of us really knowing how to fill the void.

"Jimmie." Chase's voice cut through the quiet around us, and I didn't know what he was up to until he handed his phone to me, revealing a text message from Jimmie.

Jimmie Jam:
Chase. I've been trying to get in touch with Mia. Understandably, she's not answering her phone but I'm worried about her and need to know that she's okay. If you've heard from her, can you please call me.

"What should I do Ry?" Chase asked me.

I hated leaving Jimmie in the dark. This message told me everything I needed to know. It clearly showed how much he cared about her.

"I think I'm going to call him." I said. "Mia's probably going to be pissed but we can't just leave him hanging."

"I agree. At least let him know she's not alone." Chase said.

Before I could overthink it, I pulled up his contact and called him. The call went straight to voicemail. I shouldn't be surprised. He's probably being bombarded by the media too and has no idea why I'm calling. I'll just send him a text instead.

Jimmie, please give me a call when you can. It's about Mia.

Almost immediately my phone rang and Jimmie's name flashed across the screen.

"Ryan...what about Mia? Have you talked to her?" He asked impatiently.

"She's at my house. Chase is here. He just showed me your text." I replied.

I heard him sigh in relief. "Is she okay?"

How do I even respond? Mia's not okay. Not really.

"She's pretty shaken up. She's resting right now. My sister is also here. We're taking care of her." I replied.

"How did she end up at your house? Wait...are you two together?"

"Yeah. We are. No one but Chase and Erin knows. We've been keeping it on the down low." How crazy was it that I wasn't just talking to Jimmie, my friend, but to my girlfriend's father? That was a lot to wrap my head around.

"How are you doing Jimmie? I know this must have come as quite a shock." I asked, genuinely concerned about him as well as Mia.

"Definitely a shock." I could actually envision him running his hand through his hair. "It makes so much sense now though."

"What makes sense?" I asked confused.

"It's crazy Ryan. There was a time when I first learned that Erika was pregnant that Mia could possibly be mine, but there was a paternity test that said otherwise. I remember feeling relieved and disappointed at the same time. I knew I wasn't in a position to be a father, but I couldn't help but be let down. The crazy thing is I felt a bond with Mia when she was just a baby. A really strong pull to her that I couldn't even begin to understand. I just assumed it was due to my relationship with Erika..." his voice trailed off.

I was really curious as to exactly what was his relationship with Erika Hendrick, but I didn't dare ask. It was none of my business.

"How did Chandra and your daughters take the news?" I asked, to change the subject and out of pure curiosity.

He chuckled, and I honestly couldn't tell if it was in humor or sarcasm. "Chani is pissed...at Rick. I had to hold her back. She wanted to go straight to him and give him a piece of her mind. Who knows, I might have had to bail her out of jail for attempted murder. I'm kidding by the way...about the attempted murder anyway, but she is pissed. She loves Mia. And the girls...they are excited about having Mia as their big sister."

Relief flooded my entire body. Mia needed to hear this. She needed to talk to Jimmie. She needed to know that her fears of ruining Jimmie's life and that of his wife and kids were unfounded because it truly sounded as if they wanted a relationship with her. They wanted to bring her into their family.

"I can't tell you how relieved I am to hear that Jimmie. Mia is so scared that you are going to reject her or be upset that your life ended up being upended."

"Reject her? Never Ryan. I told you I felt that bond with her ever since she was born. I was robbed of the chance to be her father, so now I want to make that up to her. Would you please tell her that? Tell her I would like to talk to her?"

"Of course I will Jimmie. I can't promise that you will hear from her right away, she's still processing everything, but I will tell her what you said."

"You love her don't you?" Jimmie asked, and I swore I could hear the smile in his voice.

"Yes I do."

"Does she know that?" He asked me.

"She does. I don't want you to worry. She is going to be okay." I vowed.

"Thank you Ryan...for letting me know she is safe, but most of all, thank you for taking care of my daughter. For loving her. I always knew you were one of the good ones."

I hung up the phone with Jimmie feeling immensely lighter. Jimmie had said exactly what Mia needed to hear. He wasn't angry, he was not going to reject her...he just wanted his daughter to be in his life.

Anxious to tell her and not even caring that she might be mad at me for going behind her back and contacting Jimmie, I went to Erin's apartment where she was asleep on the couch, wearing a borrowed pink lounge set from Erin, her hair still wet from her shower. I could wait for her to wake up but I was too anxious. I wanted...no, needed to see some kind of light come back into her eyes.

"Mia...baby wake up." I shook her lightly, rousing her from her slumber.

Looking at me through sleepy whiskey colored eyes, I could not read her expression.

"Is Chase still being a dickhead?" She asked with a yawn.

I couldn't help but chuckle. Maybe his tough love had gotten through to her. We were about to find out for sure because I was about to drop the bomb that I called Jimmie. For some reason I felt the urge to protect my balls.

"I don't want you to be mad love, but I called Jimmie." I backed away slightly and my hand did protectively cover my groin.

"You what?" She demanded, fire blazing in her eyes. I swore I could see her claws come out. Oh she's so back.

"Just hear me out Sweetheart." I practically cooed the words all while trying to ignore her glare. "Jimmie contacted Chase first. He was worried about you." I began to explain.

I could see her expression soften. "He was?"

"Chase didn't say anything. I called him." I then relayed the entire conversation back to her. I could see the tear glistening in her eyes, but for once, these were not tears of hurt or anguish. These were happy tears.

"He called me his daughter?" She sniffled.

"He sure did." I reached out and swiped the tear from her cheek. Who cares if I'm babying her. Let Chase be bad cop and I'll continue being good cop.

"I...I don't even know what to say. What to even think." Her voice cracked as she spoke.

"He would like to talk to you whenever you are ready. No pressure. Take as much time as you need. He wanted you to know he will be there at any time." I assured her.

She nodded, then took a deep breath. "Okay. I'll think about it. Can we go back to your place now?"

"Whatever you want baby." I replied. Yes, I'm still babying her.

"Hey friend." Chase greeted her with a somewhat sheepish smile. 

"I hate you but I still love you, you dickhead." She said to him, her glare turning to a grin, and within seconds, she was wrapped in his bear hug.

She was going to be just fine.

We all sat around talking for a bit, the conversation was light thankfully because I was worn out from all of the heavy drama. That is until I saw Erin sitting next to Chase. She had her arm wrapped around his waist and her other hand on his thigh. His hand was covering hers.

I jumped up from my spot, startling everyone. "What the fuck is this dude? Are you moving in on my sister?"

Everyone, Mia included, had an oops busted look on their faces. "You knew about this?" I snarled, directing my glare at her.

"I actually forgot. Please carry on. For once I want the attention off of me." She giggled.

I turned to Chase and Erin. "How long has this been going on?" I demanded.

"Relax Ry...it's brand new. We were..."

"Relax? You want me to fucking relax? This is my baby sister Chase. She just had her heart broken and now I find out you two have been carrying on behind my back"

"Ryan, we were going to tell you but other things came up." He looked at Mia with a soft smile.

"Chase told me about it just before I found the journal. I told him to tell you and he promised he would immediately. It's my drama that got in the way of everything." Mia interjected.

"Ryan, we just decided last weekend to try this thing out." Erin put in her two cents.

Was it so bad? My best friend and my baby sister?

"I swear to God Chase, if you hurt her, I'll hurt you." I vowed through clenched teeth.

"Ryan, I would rather cut off my own arm and never be able to drive a race car again than to hurt her. This is new for her and me. I can't make any promises that everything will work because like I said, it's new and we are still testing the waters. Sometimes even with the best of intentions, relationships don't work and sometimes people do get hurt, but that's life. I will promise you though, that I will never do anything to deliberately hurt her." Chase said, looking me directly in the eye.

"Okay. That's fair." I admitted. Maybe Chase was exactly what Erin needed. I trusted him with my life. I could trust him with my sister's heart right?

No one spoke for several moments as the tension left the room. Finally there was an element of peace that had been missing for days.

"Ry, can I see your phone?" Mia asked me.

I was a little puzzled as to why she asked, but I handed her my phone anyway.

"I forgot I hurled my phone against the wall in my office earlier. I think I'm ready to talk to Jimmie."