It's About Time

I'm Not Going Anywhere

        Natalie rolled over, back aching, feeling a something jabbing her in the side.  Before she had a chance to investigate, the object vibrated quickly and she realized that it was her phone.  Sighing, she reached her hand between her stomach and the mattress, feeling around for it.  Suddenly she realized that the hard surface she was sleeping on was not her bed and she quickly shot up, sending another ache through her body. She groaned as she took her in her surrounding and realized that she had been curled up on her floor.  

Looking at her bed, she saw the outline of a long, muscular body and the memories of the night before came flooding back to her. Grayson at her door, his drunk rambling, his confession about his family… the kiss.

Natalie blushed as she thought about the kiss and quickly grabbed her phone to check the message.  Her stomach dropped as she saw the contact.  ‘Mom’ appeared on the screen next to the little green text bubble and Natalie’s heart began to beat double time as she opened the message.

        Mom:  Because you had separate sleeping arrangements you are not grounded.  But you have some serious explaining to do

        Natalie gulped but couldn’t hide the fact that she was relieved.  At least her mom had decided not to ground her.  

        Sighing, Natalie stood up and stretched her sore muscles quietly, trying to let Grayson sleep off as much of his hangover as possible.  Knowing it would be pretty killer, she quickly went stepped into her bathroom and grabbed a couple pain meds from the cabinet and filled a glass with water before quickly taking them back out to her and setting them on the bedside table.   She heaved a sigh of relief when she saw that the garbage can she had set out for him was still empty.  She left it next to him just in case and then slipped quietly out of the room and down the stairs, heading to the kitchen.

        When she entered, she saw her mother sitting crosslegged on a barstool at the island, drinking a steaming cup of coffee and staring towards the door, waiting for Natalie to enter.  As she did, her mother set down her cup of coffee and clasped her hands, resting them in her lap in a way that said ‘I mean business’.

“You have two seconds to explain or I’ll ground you so long your grandkids will be going out before you are.”  Natalie sighed at her mother’s dramatics but knew that she wasn’t necessarily kidding.  She quickly grabbed her own mug and poured a cup of coffee, filling it with sugar and coffee creamer until it was more sweetener than coffee and then pulled a  barstool up to the other side of the island so that she sat facing her mother over the table.  

“Don’t make me say it again.  Why was there a drunk boy in your bed last night?”  Her mother’s face held no trace of amusement as she stared Natalie down.

“He- Wait, how do you know he was drunk?”  Natalie asked, perplexed.  

“I saw the garbage can and kind of figured” he mother said bitterly.  “Who.  Is.  He.  And.  Why.  Was.  He.  In.  Your.  Bed?”

“Okay, okay!  It wasn’t anything like what you’re probably imagining.  It’s Grayson.  He showed up on the porch last night and when I answered the door, I could tell he was drunk.  I didn’t want to leave him drunk, alone on the porch so I invited him in.  We just talked for a while and then I dragged him up to bed.  He slept in my bed and I slept on the floor, as you saw” Natalie explained, sparing her the details of Grayson’s family life.