Five Steps Away

Chapter 13

The sun streams in through the curtains, getting increasingly harder to ignore. I open my eyes slowly, only then realising that I fell asleep last night.

I look around, trying to remember my surroundings and find Elijah spooning me on the couch with his arm holding me tightly. I close my eyes again, falling back asleep.

It takes me a second to register the situation.

My eyes shoot open, and I try to get up, only for him to pull me back toward him. Even asleep he's still stronger. I breathe in, trying to will myself to get up. It takes everything in me to not find excuses to stay on the couch with him.

I slowly lift his arm up from my waist, drop it to his side, and quickly get up and off the couch.

I look outside the bay window. The sun is fully out and birds are already chirping. It's been a while since I've woken up this late.

I'm about to walk to the kitchen, but before I can look away from the window, I catch my mom's car parked innocently in our driveway.

My mom's home... which means she came in through the front door, which means that she walked through the living room where Elijah and I were sleeping.

I really didn't think this through last night, did I?

I rush upstairs to see that my mom's bedroom is slightly open. I peek in. She's on her bed, studying.

Of all days, today is the day she decides to study at home and not at the library.

What do I even say to her? Best case scenario she was so tired last night that she didn't even bother looking our way and just went straight to her room. But what if she didn't? What if she saw us? How do I even begin to explain all of this.

I breathe in, praying she didn't see anything.

I knock a bit at her door, before walking in. "Hey mom—"

"That couch is pretty big, huh?" She says, her eyes never leaving her textbooks. My mouth drops.

"It's not what you—"

"Calm down baby I trust you." I look at her in utter confusion. Whatever answer I was expecting, it wasn't that. I mean I knew she wouldn't have started screaming at me, but I didn't think she'd just... trust me. "Just a question. What happened to that other boy? The one with the stupid name." She finally looks up from her books, a sly smile slowly forming on her face.

I've literally never spoken to my mom about him, I didn't even know she knew I was dating someone. "I..."

"I notice a lot more things than you may think Alyanna." She looks back down at her books, her smile still on her face.

I don't answer, still in shock, yet content. That's the first long conversation I've had with my mom in a good couple of days. I want to keep talking to her, keep listening to whatever she has to say but considering the huge pile of books and papers she has surrounding her, she's probably too busy.

I walk out of her room, but before I close the door, I can't help but want to tell her one last thing. I don't tell her a lot about things that go on in my life, however the fact that she pays attention enough to notice them on her own makes me feel like she actually does care. I mean of course she cares—she's my mother, but seeing that she cares with my own eyes feels subliminally reassuring.

"It was Cire, by the way. And he was just as stupid as his name." As I close the door, I see a look on my mom's face that screams Yeah I noticed.

I walk back down to the living room with a stupid smile on my face.

When I get to the couch, I find it empty. My brows pull together as I look around.