My Record Store Romance

The Definition of Drew

Chapter 23; The Definition of Drew

The picture on the side is who I see as Drew, but still feel free to imagine anyone you want. Someone recently asked me who I thought would be a perfect cast for all the characters, so just incase for some reason no one is able to see the cast on the side, I'm going to put links to pictures on my message board.

This chapter is dedicated to sockmonkey1234, for being absolutely kind. 

This is exactly the 100th page of MRSR, which I can't believe. Thank you all for sticking with me this long. You guys are incredible.

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The pungent smell of dish soap filled the air as I scrubbed away at a plate in the sink, my hands turning red underneath the steaming water. I smiled triumphantly once it was clean and shining, and passed off the dripping dish to Drew's mother, who had a towel at the ready.

She took it from me quickly, rubbing circles around it with a striped towel and walking over to a cabinet once it was dry to place it inside. After we had stressed every topic, reminisced every possible story, finished gnawing on our food and told jokes to the point where our laughs were beginning to sound worn- there was a silent decision that it was probably about time for our dinner to end. It had been wonderful, no doubt about it, but all great things eventually have to come to an end anyway. And for some reason, I felt that there would most likely be a few more dinners in the future, which was a pretty nice feeling.

So the night was nearly coming to a close. But not before Ally could organize a miniature search party made up of Drew, her father, and a stuffed elephant from her bedroom, and whisk them outside to hunt down the peculiar bug she had spotted not too long earlier. And not before I could become a part of my own little group, the one which included her mother and collecting all the dishes from the table. Though as I waddled around the kitchen, my stomach too full to be anything but uncomfortable, I couldn't help but think about how perfect this night had really went.

And of how worried I had been earlier, of how absolutely ridiculous it seemed now. Especially as I stood side by side with his mom, listening to the sound of Ally's giggles outside and grabbing a pan to wipe down.

A few more minutes passed by in silence, a few more dishes were washed, when suddenly; there was the sound of Drew's mom clearing her throat. I didn't realize it was in an attempt to get my attention, which is why my cheeks were a slight red when I looked up at her. After she had done it for a second time.

But my unwavering smile weakened at the sight of her expression, her features so blank I could do nothing but be surprised. And when my eyes met hers, I could tell that just like Drew earlier, she had something to say.

My thoughts were confirmed as she leaned against the counter, crossing her arms gently and taking a deep breath. I turned off the running water, the room suddenly going quiet with only the echoes of voices outside.

"Hailey," She said, and I wiped my hands slowly on the towel next to the sink before I finally turned to face her. "I want to apologize for this morning. I overreacted, and I-"

"You don't need to apologize. If he was my son, I would've done the same thing." I told her, wishing she didn't feel bad for anything she had said earlier. I completely understood where she was coming from. Even now, we still hardly know each other.

"But I was wrong. I was wrong to jump to conclusions and say all the things I said." She shook her head, her eyes still looking hollow. "I just hate that we started off on the wrong foot."

I teetered back and forth on my heels, not really knowing what to say to her. I think that we definitely had an interesting morning, but it didn't really seem like it affected us all too much. Or that it was really something to feel horrible about later on.