STORM

-twelve-

*Cameron will be introduced properly in this chapter, they were a character from 'wretched roses' but for new readers who haven't met her, she goes by all pronouns. You might see me switch them up occasionally, so that's why. Use whatever pronouns you want for him in the comment section*

Over two weeks had passed since Gabriella had last spoken to Storm. Joey and she hung out much more at Storm's apartment recently so she didn't see her around as often. Unlike weeks prior, Gabriella was glad the day they were moving in together was nearing.

Currently, though, Gabriella was shopping with her ma. She'd insisted they needed some mother-daughter time and Gabriella didn't protest. It had been a while since it was just the two of them.

Leona displayed a cute blue summer dress for Gabriella. "Wouldn't this look great on you?"

"For someone so old you do have some taste," Gabriella said, grabbing the dress.

"Call me old again and I'll shove you back into your mom."

"I doubt she'd appreciate that."

"Then I guess you better not call me old again."

She promised not to and under her breath murmured, "old." Thankfully, her ma didn't hear it and continued looking at clothes. After gathering a couple of clothing items, she went into the changing room to try them out.

First, she tried the blue dress on, which fit her perfectly. She gave it to her ma, telling her she wanted to buy it then changed into a cute top. It did not look cute on her, so she took it off and left it in a 'not buying' pile: When she'd tried on all the clothes, she was left with five she wanted and three she didn't. Like the kind mom she was, her ma paid for them.

They went out for lunch at one of Gabriella's favorite restaurants after they were done shopping.

"How are you doing, kid? You've been looking a bit down recently. Everything alright?"

She hadn't realized anybody had noticed. Although she was close with her moms, she had never told them about her crush on Storm. Which resulted in Ziv being the only one knowing the reason for her low mood.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"You sure? You know you can talk to me."

"I know, ma. I'd rather just not talk about it. Especially not in public."

"Okay, I understand. I'll drop the subject if that's what you want. But I love you and I'm always here for you if you do ever want to talk about anything."

"I know," she repeated. "Love you too, Ma."

"Enough of that, then. Tell me about your week."

So Gabriella did. It hadn't been particularly exciting, but she told her everything anyway. Only leave out the details of her moping and self-pitying.

"And how are you feeling about Joey moving out?"

"I've been waiting for him to move out since the moment he turned eighteen, so I'm feeling rather good about it."

"Really? You're telling me you won't miss him?"

"He's moving like twenty minutes away. There's not much to miss."

"Yes, but it's not the same as living with someone."

She shrugged and redirected the question. "And how are you feeling about it?"

"My son is growing up and moving out, of course, I'm sad. I'll miss him, even if he lives close by."

"Fine, I'll miss him a little bit. Regardless of how annoying he is."