His Revenge, Her Freedom

Chapter 31- '...an ongoing episode of Jerry Springer'

"Regrets collect like old friends

Here to relive your darkest moments."

Liam POV

Is this my fault?

Completely.

Did I drag people into this when I should have left well enough alone?

Absolutely.

Do I know how to handle the situation that's right in front of me?

Not in the slightest.

The entire room was quiet save for the thunderstorm that had just begun outside and Reagan walking outside to bring the children in. All eyes were on the soap opera scene before us: Me standing in between my very pissed off girlfriends with both of them staring at the pissed off girl in front of them.

"Aspen, can I talk to you in the next room please?"

My words broke the silence, but Aspen's gaze didn't leave Ember. And no one's gaze left us.

The kids had been shooed upstairs, and the storm outside was picking up quickly.

"No," she said. "You can talk to me right now."

"It's private information, A," I desperately plead with her.

"I don't care. Everyone in this room is already more up to date on you screwing your student than I am so I don't really know what's classified as private anymore."

I hated to admit it, but she had a point. And I clearly wasn't going to convince her to leave this room at all.

"It's not what it looks like." That was the first thing that came to mind, and I knew it was weak.

"Really? It isn't? Then, pray tell, what is the truth? You're not having an affair with your student? You didn't bring her to game night with the rest of the dysfunctional couples?"

"I resent that!" Louis interjected.

"You didn't lie to me for the past few weeks urging me to stay away and get the rest 'I deserved'? Huh, baby? None of that happened?"

"It did." I stepped away from where I was standing directly in front of Ember and walked towards Aspen. This probably didn't look good from Em's point of view, but there was no way that I could please both of them right now. "And I'm sorry. I should've told you."

"Of course you should've told me, you insufferable dick! She's a child! You shouldn't have done it, or better yet her, in the first place. Do you not have morals?"

That one hit hard.

"It's not like he forced me to do anything," Ember finally got the courage to speak up. "I was a willing participant this entire time. If anything, I forced him."

"Pussy," Aspen responded. "He's a grown man, sweetheart. You didn't force him to do anything. He knew what he was doing the entire time, and he also knew how wrong it was. And, only speak when you're spoken to, little girl. This is between the grown ups right now."

"You bi-."

"Okay!" When Ember began to walk in Aspen's direction, I knew this wasn't going to end in a good way. Even though Zayn, Niall, and Louis all seemed to want to watch two girls fight, I wasn't prepared for how this was going to end. "There's no need to fight, okay? Just hear me out."