Please read the author's note at the end, I have to modify my posting schedule a little bit but that's all. Enjoy the chapter!
________________________________________________________
It's been a few days since Jungkook moved in with me and it's been bittersweet.
The day after I said he could move in he went back to his apartment and got most of his stuff. His clothes, toiletries, and whatever else he needed.
It's weird having him live with me. My room is now full of clothes that are scattered everywhere and my bathroom is overcrowded with toiletries. I don't really mind, but I realized that I won't really have any alone time for a while. Who knows when Jungkook will find a job. But he has to. If he doesn't find a job or he does the same thing to me that he did to Jimin then I really will force him to live with his parents because that's not fair. He's not going to just live with people and mooch off of them.
I can't really say anything yet because he did start looking for jobs. He looked online and started filling out applications. I honestly think that's more than he's ever done. But he is serious. I'm hoping he can get something soon.
I told Dana the day after he moved in. She understood why I let him live with me, but she wasn't too thrilled. She did say that it'll be harder for us to hangout and have sleepovers if he's there. I can always go to her house, but she still lives with her parents. Not that I really care, but it was just easier to come over my place because I live alone. Well, I lived alone.
I completely agree with her. He can sleep in my guest bedroom when she comes over, but what am I gonna do, lock him in the room all night so we can spend time together? It wouldn't be fair to him. But it wouldn't be fair to her if she wants to hang out with me without the boys and Jungkook is there. I admit I didn't really think this through. It was an impulse decision. But he needs me right now and I told Dana I would do the same for her if she needed a place to live. He's still my friend and I'm going to help out my friend.
The person I didn't tell that I was dreading was my mom. She already isn't too happy with the relationship that me and Jungkook have so she definitely wouldn't be happy about him moving in with me.
I didn't want to tell her over the phone and freak out, so I planned to go out to lunch with her so the chance of her freaking out would be less because we would be in public. We've been good with going out to eat at least once a week or every other week if we're really busy, so this wasn't out of the ordinary.
I left Jungkook to continue to apply for jobs while I was gone. I was going to pick up my mom and take her to the place we decided on eating.
I had off today so we went for a late lunch.
We decided to go to Friday's.
I pull up to her house, my old house, and park in the driveway.
I walk right into the house as if I never left.
When I walk in I'm greeted by my very old golden retriever, Charlie who excitedly scurried to the front door to sniff me and give me kisses. I miss him a lot, but I was afraid of my mom being lonely when I moved out so I felt it was best that he stayed with her.
"Mom I'm here!" I yell.
I crouch down to pet Charlie and let him lick my face.
"Coming honey!" I hear her yell from down the hall.
I pet him until my mom comes into my view.
I stand up and immediately get nervous, momentarily forgetting that I had to tell her something.
"Ready?" I ask.
"Yup, let's go." She grabs her purse and I kiss Charlie on the top of his head.
The ride was quiet, not awkward quiet or like there was tension, we were just enjoying each other's company.
The restaurant is almost empty when we walked in so we got a table right away.
We slide into a both and the waiter takes our drink order and food order as we already knew what we wanted.
"So, honey, what's new?" She asks and smiles. The smile won't last for long when I'm about to tell her what's new.
"Well actually, a lot. And don't freak out when I tell you this because it's not that big of a deal." It's easier to just come out and say it rather than beat around the bush. Plus the longer I wait, the more nervous I'm gonna be.
She sits up and stiffens a little bit. She nods her head, signaling me to continue.
"Well, Jungkook's roommate kicked him out and I told him he can live with me for a little while until he finds a job." I play with my straw nervously after the waiter brings our drinks.
She sighs.
"Madeline." Oh man. "I know you're an adult and I'm trying to back off and let you live your life and make you own decisions, but do you really think that's a great idea?" She questions. I know she doesn't mean it in an offensive way, she's just genuinely concerned.
"I thought about it and we talked about it thoroughly." I mean, I thought about it for like a second and we briefly talked about it but she doesn't need to know that. "I said it was only temporary until he finds a job. And he's been looking so he's keeping his promise."
"When did he move in?" Shit.
"Just a few days ago. I didn't really want to tell you over the phone. But it hasn't been a problem. Nothing is that different. He slept over pretty often anyway." I instantly regretted that last statement.
She cleared her throat, clearly not amused by my comment.
"I understand. If that's what you decide then I'll let you make that decision. But I don't really think this is a good idea."
"I know, mom. I know you don't. But pretend this was Dana. If this happened to her I wouldn't even think twice about it. He's my friend just as much as she's my friend." I try to reason.
"I know he's your friend. But I also know he's not just your friend and you sure don't have that same kind of relationship with Dana." Burn.
I didn't even know how to respond. She was right, but still.
"Okay, well yeah. But above anything else he's still my friend and I'm not just going to abandon him."
We were interrupted by the waiter bringing our food. We thanked him and my mom waited until he left to continue speaking.
She looked down at her food and took a bite. I took the few seconds of silence as a cue to start eating as well.
"Maddy, I'm not trying to tell you how to live your life. I'm really trying. You know I worry about you. And you can understand that, right?" She chews and looks at me.
"Yeah of course, mom. I know you're just worried. And I appreciate you worrying. But it's fine. If I thought it would be a problem then I would have said no. But this is only for a little while." I assure her.
"Okay, honey." She wipes her mouth with a napkin and her facial expression turns into a concerned, almost pained one before she speaks again. "He's sleeping in the guest bedroom, right?"
"Mom..." I groan.
"Okay, you're right." She puts her hands up in surrenderance. "That's none of my business. You're an adult and sometimes I have to remind myself. But you're in such a good place right now. Going back to school." She smiles proudly. "I just don't want anything to get in the way. We already talked about this, but it's such an important time and you need to focus."
"You're right, I completely agree with you. But nothing will get in the way, I promise. I don't really plan on him staying that long anyway. My hope is that he'll find a job and either move back in with his roommate or get his own place before I start school."
"And if he doesn't?"
"He will. But if he doesn't then we'll make it work. He'll understand that he can't distract me. I have this under control. I know you're gonna worry about me anyway, but everything is going to be fine. We're both adults."
"Yes you are." She smiles again. "Just please please promise me you'll be careful." She closes her eyes to emphasize her point.
"I promise, mom. Trust me, this means too much to me. And like I said, if I thought he was gonna be a problem or if he would distract me then I would've said no. But I know everything's gonna be fine. I'm gonna be working most of the time anyway to save up for school."
"Which I'm very proud of you for doing." She sighs, but not in annoyance. "You know what? I trust you. I know you'll make the right decisions because that's how I raised you."
"Exactly. Doesn't that make you feel a little better?"
"Yeah, a little." She smiles.
Another awkward and uncomfortable conversation in the middle of a restaurant with my mom. Not my favorite past time, but she took the news better than I expected. Either way I had to tell her. I mean there's someone else living in my home. She deserves to know.
The rest of lunch went pretty smooth as we chit chatted about whatever came to our minds.
The ride home was silent for the most part, but not entirely awkward. Neither one of us really had anything to say.
We pulled up to the house and she unbuckled her seatbelt.
"I'll walk you to the door." I go to reach for my seatbelt but she stops me.
"It's okay honey, you go on and get home. You have a roommate waiting." She raises her eyebrows. I laugh in embarrassment.
"Okay mom. I love you." I pull her in for a hug. "I'll talk to you later okay?"
"Okay honey." She smiles and then gets out of the car and into the house.
She's right. I do have a roommate waiting for me. I roll my eyes at the thought of the lazy bum who's probably sprawled out on my couch.
When I see her close the front door behind her I drive away back to my apartment.
I pull up to the apartment complex and see Jungkook's car in my guest spot. I should get used to seeing that.
"Hey." I kick my shoes off and put my keys on the key tray near the door.
"Hey, how was lunch?" Jungkook asks, sitting at the table near the kitchen on his laptop to my surprise.
"It was fine. I told her that you moved in." I walk towards him and sit directly on his lap.
"Oh yeah? How did that go?" He asks, putting his arm around my waist to hold me in place. I sling my arm behind his neck and run my fingers through his hair.
"She wasn't thrilled. But she'll get over it. She doesn't want to believe I'm an adult and can make my own decisions." He leans his head on my shoulder with my fingers still in his hair.
"Yeah that sounds like her." He chuckles.
"Oh yeah. She also asked if you were sleeping in the guest bedroom." I laugh. He picks his head up to look at me.
"Did she really? What did you say?"
"I didn't answer. I didn't say you were, but I didn't say you weren't either."
"Little does she know." He raises his eyebrows. I roll my eyes.
"What are you up to?" I point my head towards his computer screen.
"I was going through my emails to see if I got any kind of response from the jobs I applied for. But nothing yet." He sighed. "So then I got distracted and somehow ended up on Youtube." I laugh.
"That's funny. But you're doing great and I'm proud of you. Don't get discouraged if it takes a little while. Sometimes it does." He hugs me tighter.
"Thank you. But now I'm even more distracted." He moves my shirt to the side and kisses my shoulder. My head falls to the opposite side and I close my eyes, letting out a tiny breath.
Before I know it, he scoops me up into his arms and stands up, carrying me bridal style. I yelp as he does it in a quick, swift motion.
I wrap my arms around his neck, completely disregarding everything me and my mom just talked about. I promised I wouldn't let him distract me. Oh well. School hasn't started yet, so who says I can't have a little fun now?
"Let's take this to our bedroom, princess."
Our bedroom.
It's like all my common sense just leaves my mind when he speaks to me like that.
I smile and he starts walking to our bedroom, where there will be nothing but distractions.
________________________________________________
Hope everyone enjoyed the chapter!
Also, I'm going on vacation this Sunday and won't be back until next Saturday so I'm on time time with this chapter, but the next chapter for this story will be late (I'll try to post it next Saturday, but if not then definitely Sunday). I'll also post the next Chapter for Reflection, for those who are reading/want to read the story tomorrow instead of Sunday because I won't be available Sunday, but the next chapter will be on time.
So sorry in advance for being late with updating.