No More Wasting Time

Chapter 32

"Well, I don't know about you guys, but that dinner was amazing. We had a fun time, right?"

"We sure did, honey," Daniel said and then gave Caden and I a side glance.

My mom managed to rob half of our plates and she even finished her entire plate. She then proceeded to order desert and asked Daniel for half of his piece of pie. He gave her the entire thing except for the tiniest bite he managed to get. Caden and I figured the same would happen to us so we opted out on desert. We did have fun though, I even managed to distract Caden a bit so he wouldn't think too much about his mother. All was fine, until the ride home where he became silent. It was a different silence than the one from when we were barely going to the restaurant. This one was more tense and something told me that even Daniel realized it. He kept glancing back at us and for a second I think he thought something had happened between us.

"You boys should get some sleep. We gotta clean the house tomorrow before any of you try and leave. Max and Hector have been coming over more frequently and I'll be embarrassed if they see this messy house," my mother said and gave my cheek a quick kiss before waving and heading to her bedroom.

"I'll be right over, honey. Just give me a second."

Daniel waited a few more seconds until the bedroom door closing was heard before motioning us to follow him. We walked into the living room and sat down on opposite ends of the couch. He cleared his throat and looked out in the hallway to make sure my mother was indeed in the bedroom and not near us. When the coast was clear he turned to us and raised an eyebrow, making Caden shift in his seat and I looked around to avoid his eyes.

"What happened at dinner today, guys? You both were gone for a while and you were barely talking."

I felt like I couldn't speak. Really, it wasn't my place to tell him what was happening to Caden. It was between him and his parents, I only know because I was nosy. I still avoided eye contact and Caden became like how he used to be, with a dead expression on his face to hide anything and everything. Daniel noticed that neither of us were willing to talk and he sighed in slight frustration. I can understand being frustrated at your kids, he just wants to help but we are being stubborn and refusing to utter a single word. I was doing it out of respect for Caden and his privacy. I think the only time I'd speak up is if it start to physically harm him or mentally harm him to the point where he broke down and couldn't think clearly.

"Guys, I'm just trying to help you out. Now, it's either telling me now and have us deal with it, or, we can involve the pregnant lady upstairs and we all know that won't be pretty."

Caden still didn't budge while I was already on the verge of spilling. Forget everything I said, with my mother involved, screw it. She scared me when she was mad and it was rare that I'd get in trouble. There was a reason why I grew up as a good child. That woman scared me. Sure, she was sweet on the outside, but on the inside, she was scary. I couldn't imagine anything scarier.

"Okay, fine, we'll do this the hard way," he said and raised a challenging eyebrow. "No Max and Hector. You are to come home straight from school and-"

"Caden tell him."

"No."

"-No form of communication between you and them-"

"Tell him."

"No."

"-Plus you are to spend more time with us including family game night-"

"Caden!"

"Okay, okay! Alright, you win," he finally said with a sigh. "But it's between you and I. Diego doesn't really have anything to do with it."

Daniel looked between us in suspicion before he released a sigh and let me go. I was quite grateful and after giving Caden a supportive smile, I rushed out of there and up to my room. It was better this way anyways. It was about time those two had an actual conversation between just the two of them. It was exhausting hearing from my mom how Daniel whines about wanting a better relationship with Caden. Daniel whines to my mother, my mother whines to me, and I whine to Hector how tired of it I am.

"I'm too lazy to shower," I mumbled to myself and fell face first on my bed.

It was weird not being with Hector or talking to him. We grew closer than ever in these past few weeks and it was still hard to believe that we were dating. It sometimes felt like nothing had changed and we were still just great friends, but then he gives me a look that he gives only to me and it reminds me how crazy he makes me feel.

"I'm insane," I said and rolled over, taking my phone out of my pocket and going through my contacts. "Let's be insane together."

I waited semi-impatiently as the phone rang trying to reach the person on the other end. I always hated phone calls but Hector got me used to them. He said he needed to hear my voice when I wasn't near him. He was super cheesy but it still made me blush and I get butterflies when he tells me those stuff. No need to think it, I already know I'm going insane if I'm not already. A small frown appeared on my face when the noise of his voicemail going through was heard through my phone and I dropped my phone down beside me with a sigh. I was bored and while I knew it was late and I should probably get some sleep, I really was hoping to at least say goodnight to Hector. I placed my phone on my bedside table and got up to get ready for bed. If I had nothing to do then I might as well get some much needed sleep. I didn't know how long Caden's conversation was going to last so I couldn't even go bother him. Everything sucked right now. I was slow to get ready for bed and I had half a mind to just sleep in my boxers. I was that lazy.

"Diego?"

I released a small sigh and slipped on some sweats before going to answer the door. Caden stood on the other end and he walked in a second later, closing the bedroom door behind him. He sat down on the bed while I looked in my drawer for a t-shirt to sleep in. I was a little surprised that his conversation with his dad was already over but I hoped they both came out of it in a better place. I'm sure it felt a little awkward for both of them but I was also sure it felt good to have a conversation where they needed to hear and understand each other.

"My dad is gonna talk with my mom."

"That's great, Caden! You really shouldn't have to deal with all of this by yourself."

"He asked me if I wanted to go visit her."

I turned around to face him as soon as he spoke those words. It wasn't that I didn't want him to have a relationship with his mother nor did I want to stop him from seeing her. The problem was that she had a way of. . . manipulating him. She knew he had a weak spot for her and I was just worried what she could do or say to him. It wasn't my fault I cared about him. It was only a little anyways. 

"I don't think it's a good idea. She's already trying to get information out of me over the phone, can you imagine in person? I don't know what I'm going to do with her. I'm trying to be there for her but at the same time I feel like there isn't much more I can do for her."

"You are her child. She isn't yours. We do our best to keep them happy and proud, but at the end of the day, we are still just kids."

I sat next to him on my bed and gave him a small, encouraging smile. I wanted him to know that I was there to support him with whatever he chose, to visit his mom or not. He stood up and walked back over to the bedroom door and for a second i was nervous that I said the wrong thing. But then he mumbled a very quiet 'thank you' and I knew we were fine. It was crazy to think that some time ago, I hate his guts and he hated mine. We couldn't even stand in the same room without fighting. I guess that really is what it's like to have a sibling. We still argue and he still gets on my nerves, but now I know that he'll stand up for me just like how I would stand up for him.

The sound of my phone ringing alerted me that I was receiving a call and I quickly walked over and grabbed it, a grin immediately reaching my face. I answered the call quickly and his soft, calming voice reached my ears, melting my heart like chocolate on a hot day. Only, Hector was hotter.

"Hey handsome."

"Hey," I managed to breathe out, a blush rising to my cheeks at the sound of his chuckle. "I was just calling to say goodnight."

He stayed quiet for a second, and I almost thought I had lost connection. Hector made me feel a thousand emotions at once, but it was rare that he would make me feel nervous. So when he sighed and didn't respond, a bad feeling settled in the pit of my stomach. I wanted to ask what was wrong, but the words were stuck in my throat.

"I need to talk to you tomorrow, love."