Since the morning fight with my mother, I hadn't seen them step another foot around here. Milo confirmed they caught their flight so I wouldn't have to worry about running into them anytime soon. I hardly left the bed in two days since seeing them again.

Guilt gnawed at me.

I couldn't help but let it consume me.

What if they were doing better? What if my dream of having a family could finally come true? Was it possible for people to change after so much time? Being around them made me feel like some type of alien. They spent all this time together while I ran away; we were basically strangers at this point.

Could we even repair the relationship we had?

I pushed aside my thoughts when there was knocking on the door. Since the big fight with Wesley, he always stayed locked in his room with his video games. He waited until I went to my room to come out for food or the toilet. The only occasions we would be in the same room were during filming or being picked up.

Groaning, I got up from the comfy position on the couch and walked over to the door. My eyebrows frowned as I saw Milo standing outside with his little clipboard. Davina and I didn't have a schedule today, so why was he doing here? He only checked in whenever we had a plan set in motion.

"I don't remember us scheduling anything today?"

Milo rubbed his chin. "Don't worry, I just came over to visit today. Is broccoli head here?"

"I haven't heard him leave, so I guess so." I shrugged.

His lips tipped to the side. "Do you have any plans for tomorrow?"

There it was. He must've planned something to publicize our relationship. I wouldn't really mind spending a day with Davina. Anything beat moping around in my guilty thoughts, however, my friends were flying in tonight. After I told Lana everything about the morning I ran into them, she offered to come out.

Not only Lana, but the whole gang was coming out to cheer me up. I appreciated them dropping their lives in New York to make sure I was doing alright. It was days like this when you realized who your true friends are.

"My friends from New York are coming out. We're probably going to sightsee all day tomorrow... Why?" I asked, opening the refrigerator. "Would you like anything to drink?"

He shrugged. "Unless it's cranberry juice, then no thank you."

I laughed. "Don't only eighty-year-olds drink that?"

Milo half smirked. "It has health benefits. I'm watching my weight these days." he waved his hand. "That's beside the point. I'm not supposed to tell you this. Davina likes to keep certain things private."

A smile spread across my face. "It's really hard to do that with the media all in her face."

He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Extremely. But tomorrow is Davina's birthday. She lied to the public about her birthday, so the date that pops up online is fake. Davina isn't the type to have big birthdays, at least not after Colton."

My eyebrows bunched together. "You were her manager when she was with Colton?"

Milo scoffed. "I've been with Davina since she won the kid's baking championship." He walked a step closer and sat down on the island. "She's like my second daughter. She certainly knows how to turn my hair gray. All these wrinkles are because of her."

An interesting idea popped into my head. Information was everything. Information gave us the key knowledge to understand things or people in ways we wouldn't from surface value. Milo must've seen everything that happened between them. Shame lingered in the back of my head from breaking Davina's trust and our bond.

But I wanted to know more, and I knew she wouldn't be able to say anything more than she already had.

"How different was she when she dated Colton compared to now?" I asked, nearly missing pouring the orange juice into my glass.

Milo tapped his fingers against the island in a rhythmic manner. "When she first came into the limelight, Davina was extremely shy. Everyone wondered how she even won the show from how jittery she was in her videotapes. Colton brought out a new side of her. She wasn't afraid to speak in front of people anymore. Finally, gathered a sense of self-worth which I knew she still struggled with. I liked him at first but when she showed up one day hyperventilating, afraid he was going to follow her to my office."

His eyes glossed over as he stared at his knuckles. "Their relationship wasn't good, but she loved him... She really did. It's obvious when you saw them together, but in my eyes, he didn't seem as in love with her as she was. When they broke up, Davina shut down, mentally and physically. She had family problems around the time as well. It wasn't easy for her. That's why I let her get away with so much. If any of my other clients did half the shit she did, they would be cut."

"Do you know what went down? I tried asking, but she avoided the question," I said, the hatred for this guy growing stronger and stronger.

He chuckled lightly. "If she doesn't want to tell you, then that's my cue to keep silent. But I don't really know much. She doesn't open up about things like that. Though she would torture me with her horror stories of one-night hook-ups."

My mouth twisted in distaste. "That would be annoying, especially if you view her as a daughter."

Milo nodded, laughing hard his frown lines were showing. "It was. I still love her with my entire heart. It's nice to see her being happy again, I think choosing you as her boyfriend." His fingers made air quotes. "Work out in our favor."

Now it was my turn to laugh. "Am I actually good for her? She still hates my guts."

"After Colton, she searched for ways to make herself happy again. Her brief flings made her happy for a short time, but she never found something permanent. Davina found it when she least expected in you. Her smiles nowadays seem genuine, and whether she would admit it or not, she likes spending time with you," Milo explained.

A part of me wanted to be alone in a room with Colton so I could beat the shit out of him. But the other part wanted to keep him as far away from Davina. Clearly, their relationship had to have some kind of manipulation. After all the progress Davina made in working on herself, I hoped to the Universe he wouldn't come here and ruin it.

"What does he do now?" I asked.

Milo pursed his lips. "He's been in loads of blockbuster movies. I'm sure you have probably seen one. Hearts in the Meadow recently won him an Oscar, so even if he's a shitty bastard, he made a name for himself."

My nose wrinkled in disgust. "Lana forced me to watch that horrible movie and, for once, I wished she had taken Declan instead of me. Couldn't last ten minutes awake."

He shrugged. "Davina liked it. Maybe it's a girl thing?"

My eyebrows raised as I comprehended his sentence. "She watches his films?"

Milo snapped his fingers. "Every single one. I think it's a reminder for her about the things that happened between them. Sadly, I think she still cares for him."

"How can she care about that shitty bastard?" I spat.

"Why do you still care about Lana?" he pointed his finger in my direction. "She chose another guy over you, didn't she?"

I sighed. "It isn't the same. Lana didn't have cruel attention behind it, she was just listening to her feelings."

Milo exhaled, wiping excess off his glasses without taking them off. "I don't think she's in love with him anymore. But after spending so many years with someone, it's hard to just fully let them go. He held onto a piece of her that's slowly coming back."

Everything Milo said made sense logically. Love has a tricky way of latching onto you; doesn't have to be romantic love any kind worked this way. With my family, for example, I loathed them for hurting me all these years, yet I didn't have the strength to completely let them go. Even though they brought so much pain into your life, it's impossible to walk away without any hard feelings.

Milo threw a purple-colored wrapping box from his pocket onto the table. "Anyhow, I was just letting you know in case you wanted to plan something for her, but with your friends coming out, I'm sure you other things planned. At least buy her a gift doesn't have to be anything too big or flashy."

Planning a birthday party would be a useful way to take my mind off of things about my family. Davina deserved to have an amazing night with her favorite snacks, treats, and activities. Thousands of ideas on how to make her smile zoomed through my mind like a race track.

"Don't be silly. I'll be happy to whip something up for her. She really supported me when my parents were here. It's the least I can do," I responded.

Milo smirked. "Perfect. Text Hailey the details so we can pop in for a quick surprise visit."

I sent thumps up as he lifted from the barstool. "No problem! Now, I have a busy night ahead, so goodbye!"

He laughed. "What a friendly way to kick out guests."

I bowed. "I learned from the best."

The airport was a cocoon of steel, the walls so elegantly curved and wrapped around to create this inner space. The beams supported so many windows, let in gallons of light, that in the daytime it was as bright as any summer day. People moved with ease, quiet rivers of humanity freshly roused from their slumber.

I glanced in all directions, searching for my flocks of friends. My stomach somersaulted when I thought Lana was coming until I realized it was a stranger. Nothing could make my life brighter than spending time with the future love of my life. Now, I had a perfect idea to get us away from everyone and to spend quality time alone together.

Shopping for the party with Lana didn't seem like a task, more like the frosting spread over pound cakes. Nice and sweet. Also, the longer away from Declan, the longer my sanity stayed strong.

Her hair was as waves of pure earth, softly reflecting the light of the sun; each strand moving freely in the breeze, a compliment to her stillness. With golden specks in her hazel eyes, she darted around the room with her pink suitcase following behind. Catalina, Meadow, and Declan were right behind.

Lana's lips tipped upward when our eyes locked. "Ambrose!" she ran forward as if her sight was one-note and almost tripped several times. "I never realized how much I missed you until you left New York."

I wrapped my arms around her small frame, squeezing all my love into her. "What about your wedding day? I specifically remembered you on the verge of tears when I showed up."

She forced out a breath. "Little Lana can't breathe." I regretfully let her go. "Also, that was so different! At least now we can chat over facetime, but you kept ignoring all my attempts."

My lips formed a line. "Can you blame me? I lost the love of my life."

Pink blossom washed over Lana's face. "Don't say things like that... Just imagine how Davina would feel if she heard that."

Declan draped his arm over the love of my life. "Yeah, I don't really like you saying that either. I didn't want to be an asshole before, but since you finally got yourself a girlfriend, refrain from saying those things about my wife. It makes me extremely uncomfortable."

Meadow gasped. "I didn't realize Declan was the territorial type."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "You never forget to brighten my day, Declan. But I don't mean to do it, I just say the first thing that comes to my head."

Declan deadpanned. "Yeah, clearly."

Lana awkwardly laughed as she placed a hand on his chest, glancing up at him. "Declan, don't take things Ambrose says seriously. He's fully devoted to Davina so you." she booped his nose. "Have nothing to worry about."

Knots developed in my stomach; my plan wasn't working the way I wanted it to be. Lana hadn't shown an ounce of jealousy. She always spammed our photos with hearts and adorably sweet saying that only hopeless romantics would quote. Yet, here I was minutes away from exploding because his hand was placed on her lower back.

Catalina looked past me. "Speaking about your little girlfriend... where is she?"

My blood ran cold.

I honestly had no idea what she was doing today... After the encounter, I neglected answering anyone on my phone as opposed to Lana, obviously. She texted twice on Wednesday, one on Thursday, and gave up today.

"She had a long shoot today, so she wanted a head-start to bed. I'm sorry she couldn't come here to welcome you guys," I lied convincingly, feeling the sweat dripping down the back of my neck.

Catalina smiled and playfully slapped my back. "Don't be silly! A supermodel like her needs her beauty sleep. I do have a list of questions to ask about her smokey eye look though."

I smiled as I snapped my fingers. "Well, you can ask her tomorrow because we have a special job to do."

"Which is?" Meadow asked, her mouth stuffed with Cheetos.

"It's her birthday tomorrow. I know we were supposed to go around the city tomorrow, but I can't leave her alone on her special day," I said with a hopeful grin.

"Are you kidding?! A party sounds like a ball of fun!" Lana cheered.

"It's kind of a surprise, so please don't say anything to her. Also, don't say happy birthday until the party. I'm thinking of a glow stick theme by the beach," I said, scrolling through my phone for the photos I saved to use as inspiration.

"As long as there's alcohol, I'm sold!" Catalina winked.

"Since it's an uneven number of us, I was thinking we can separate into groups and Declan goes on his own for the day. I'm sure you're able to handle yourself right, Declan?" my voice was laced with cockiness.

He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, whatever."

Lana touched my hand, causing little birds to swarm in my gut. "I have a better idea! Why don't I keep Davina busy all day so she doesn't get wind about the party? Then my two favorite boys can spend a whole day together!"

"Sounds like a match made in hell." Meadow scoffed under her breath.

Lana frowned, her puppy dog eyes going on full effect and making my heart pounce like crazy. "Can you do that for me?"

Her husband craved in seconds. "I hate it when you use your puppy dog eyes on me, but fine. I'll suffer a day with this idiot."

My chest was seconds from bursting when she added an extra perk; a quivering lip. "You're so spoiled! No one can say no to you."

A smile curled up on her lips. "I'm a genius! I've been wanting to get to know Davina better, anyway. So what's on the checklist?"

I smugly grinned. "Something we all would love... a bouncy house."

By the cheers of everyone (except Declan) I knew this would be hit at our mini party.

The upcoming chapters are going to be insane guys!! Any guesses on what could happen ;)?

Who's ready to celebrate Davina's birthday?