Back in the car, the air felt a little suffocating. Arwen had just settled in beside Aiden, but she could already sense something was off. Her eyes darted to look at Aiden first, before moving to look at Emyr, who sat at the front, looking pitiful as if he had just taken a brief tour of hell.

"What''s wrong?" she asked, her eyes lingering on Emry a moment before her gaze shifted back to Aiden.

Emyr glanced back at his boss and didn''t know what should he say.

Arwen noted how tightly Aiden''s fingers were gripping his phone, she could clearly see his knuckles turning white. She feared that if he held his phone like that a moment longer, the poor device might shatter into pieces. Reaching out, she gently held his hand before meeting his gaze. She felt him ease up a little; like her touch had effortlessly helped him calm down.

"What''s wrong? What''s bothering you?" she asked softly.

Jason, completely oblivious to Aiden''s mood, simply turned and asked Arwen nonchalantly. "By the way, Arwen, I saw your ex-boyfriend coming out of the hospital at a distance. Was he bothering you?"

Arwen frowned, surprised. She hadn''t realized Ryan had followed her outside. Her eyes flicked back to Aiden as a small thought crept in — was he upset because of that? Could he be thinking that she came out to meet Ryan here?

She felt the hint of guilt. Every time the thoughts of Ryan stuck her, she felt the same pang. It felt almost like she was cheating by thinking of her ex, though she could never actually even think of doing so.

"It was a coincidence. I had no idea I would meet him here. We did share a few words, but I came out putting a complete full stop to it. I didn''t realize he had followed me out," she explained, almost desperately, trying to assure Aiden that she hadn''t planned deliberately planned this out.

How was he wrong to look after his friend?

Arwen might not have understood what was wrong, but she hadn''t missed how her simple touch earlier had softened Aiden''s mood earlier. Not wanting to see him grumpy for long, she turned to look at him and asked, "Are you tired?"

Emyr and Jason were taken off guard by that question. They looked behind through the rear mirror, trying to understand what Arwen was up to.

Aiden also turned his attention directly to her. Staring at her for a moment, he shook his head. "I am not."

"That good," Arwen said cheerily before scooting closer to add, "Because I got too tired today. To the point that I can''t sit on my own for even another minute. Now that you are not tired and I am, I can easily lean on you and take the needed comfort. I am sure you won''t reject." She then reached out to open one of his arms before slipping under it to wrap it around her. "Or will you refuse?"

She asked and blinked up at him as if to say that if Aiden rejected her, she would truly step away without bothering him. But her confident gaze told him that she knew that he would refuse her. Not at least when she was asking him like this.

Aiden nodded, and the moment he did, Arwen gave him the sweetest Duchenne smile, adjusting herself in his arms. Her head pressed on his chest, hearing the sound of his heart beating. Though it was a little loud and a little fast, she found it comforting, assuring her of the things that she couldn''t even put into words.

In the front, Jason and Emyr, who had watched each and every detail of the scene unfold behind, were completely floored. While Emyr has grown somewhat used to it, Jason was completely thrown, his mouth hanging open in awe.

This was his first taste of Aiden''s softer side. He still couldn''t believe he saw him pushing aside his anger just to comfort Arwen. "I think I just witnessed a miracle. What do you say?" he asked Emyr, whispering softly.

But Emyr only chuckled. "Then you can try sticking around to see more." There was a confidence in his tone that assured Jason that this was not the first, and definitely not the last.