Lia James
"Andrew? Is that you?" His mother approaches the living room from the foyer. She seemed a bit sleepy, considering she was wiping her eyes and stretching.
She seems calm. Too calm.
When I first saw Andrew after he came back I got so excited that I lunged for him, and went into his arms. I swear I almost burst into tears. So, why isn't this the same?
If anything there should be more of a reaction because this woman gave birth to him. I'm just the girl he kissed last night.
"I'm so sick and tired of seeing you over and over again!" She raises her voice. "Why can't you be real?"
Oh.
Now I get it.
Andrew's mother thinks she's dreaming about seeing Andrew.
I get this very sad and depressing feeling in the pit of my stomach just watching her react to Andrew, who she thinks is just a product of her dreams. She must be having these all the time, because it almost seems like she's worn out and tired from it.
I would be if something that I wanted to be real so bad was merely a thought in my head.
"Mom," Andrew frowns. "It's me. I'm real. I promise."
"That's what you said all the other times." It almost looked like she was about to cry.
"You've been dreaming about me?" He approached her with caution. "I'm so sorry that I put you through this. I'm never going to do it again."
"I don't want to see you anymore." She sighs, turning away from us. "If I can't be with you in reality, why make it a dream?"
"Mrs. Price. He's real. I can assure you that he's real." I come up to the side of Andrew, and place my palm on his arm, that was covered with his black leather jacket.
She becomes stunned when she sees me. It's like she's seen a ghost, someone from her past that has died. Her face is pale, her eyes are wide, and her jaw is unhinged.
She knows it's real. She knows.
She's on the verge of tears. "My baby, is it really you?"
"It's really me, Mom. I promise." He holds out his arms for his mother.
She runs over quickly to him, hugging him with everything she's got. I could hear her quiet sobs, and sniffles. They were muffled, because her head was against her son's chest.
I was content, and that's because all is well in the world.
"I can't believe you're really here." Her voice was soft, almost breaking as she formed sentences between sniffles.
Andrew cradled his mother softly in his arms, his chin resting against the top of his mother's head, and his arms wrapped around her back securely.
"I love you, Mom." He sighed. "I promise I'm not going anywhere again."
She pulls away abruptly, and smacks the side of his arm. "You know I love you, Andrew, but if you run away again I will put metal bars on your windows and even on your door. Don't make me pull a Harry Potter on you."
"It's not going to happen again. I've realized that going away does more harm than good, not just for me but for everyone, and I won't do it again. I promise."
"You better be." She pauses. "So, when did you come back? I know that today wasn't your first day back."
She is too darn perceptive.
"I came back yesterday." He puts his head down, knowing that he couldn't hide anything from his Mom. "I actually drove to Lia's house first. I'm sorry, Mom, I know I should've came here before."
"Oh! No, no, no!" She says giddily. "Don't be sorry, baby, I'm glad you stopped at Lia's first. So, what did you guys talk about? You know, if you even talked?"
"Mom!" Andrew speaks harshly. My face turns a bright red.
"What?" She said. "We all know you guys are meant to be more than friends. I'm just surprised it took you going away for you both to realize it."
"Mom, this is a bit personal." He scratches the back of his neck, sheepishly.
"Oh, come on! I gave birth to you, how personal do you think that is?" She puts her hands on her hips. "So, tell me. Did you guys kiss?"
"What? No!" Andrew replies defensively.
"Lia." She gives me the evil eye.
"I'm not saying a word." I went behind Andrew. That woman scares me when she's trying to figure something out.
"Andrew Nathaniel Price! Did you kiss Lia?" She says sternly, looking at him with eyes as daggers.
"Fine! Yes we did! Happy now?" He puts his hands up in relief.
"I am extremely happy. My wish is coming true!" She claps her hands together, smiling.
"Mom, I love you, but you're making our guest uncomfortable." Andrew gestured to me huddling behind him.
"Okay. But I have to admit, you haven't been the only thing I've been dreaming about." She winked at the both of us, before walking back upstairs to get the rest of the family.
"Gee thanks so much for all the support." He rolls his eyes, referring to his mother practically beating information out of us.
"Your mother is scary when she wants something. Remind me never to get on her bad side." I sigh, leaning into him, and he wraps his arms around me.
"She's so keen on me and you being together." He smiles. "It's kind of cute how she's actually getting what she wants."
I smile back at him, as he quickly pecks my lips. It was short, but sweet. We wanted to keep from PDA because Andrew's siblings and parents could be coming down the stairs at any minute and we didn't want things to be out of hand when they saw us.
Now, that would be awkward.
When Mrs. Price finally got the rest of her family, we heard multiple heavy footsteps banging against the hardwood floors upstairs. The sound of bare feet coming down the stairs, had us drop our hands and stand at a respectable distance away from each other.
Andrew's father was the first to enter the living room. And then Nick and Celina both followed along with his mother at the end. They all looked extremely surprised and relieved that he was finally here after more than two months of being gone.
"Son, you're here!" His father pulls him in for a hug. Andrew pats his father on the back, and his father nearly crushes him in an embrace.
"Okay, Dad, you're suffocating me."
"Sorry. I just missed you." He walked away so that the rest of his children could reunite with their sibling. He walks over to his wife, who had tears in her eyes. They both hug, and seem calmer now that their family is all together.
"What the hell, Andrew?" Celina smacks him on the arm. "Why did you leave?"
"I-uh needed to clear my head." He looks at her awkwardly.
"Well, the next time you need to clear your head, at least come home a night or two so we don't think you're dead." She pulls him in for a hug, and then walks away content.
"Nick." He nods at his younger brother.
"Did you at least get high?" He asked his brother, referring to when he was gone.
"Nicholas!" His mother scolded.
"You're a knucklehead aren't you?" He pulls his brother in for a hug, and they pat each other on the back.
"Okay, now that my family is all reunited, how about we have some lunch?" Mrs. Price suggests and we all agree.
***
We were all sitting down in the dining room. Everyone was silent, and the only sound that was heard was the clanking of forks against the glass plates. We bonded a little bit as food was being served by Mr. and Mrs. Price, but after we finished our conversations it became quiet.
Mrs. Price kept looking between Andrew and I, like she was dying to spill our darkest secrets to the rest of her family just for her amusement. I had to keep my head down so she wouldn't intimidate me.
"Mom, what are you doing?" Andrew noticed me uncomfortable and he addresses it to his mother.
"What am I doing?" She repeats his question.
She knows exactly what she's doing.
"Quit staring at me and Lia, okay? It's creepy."
"I'm just waiting for you to tell the family about the two of you. Or should I?"
I dropped my fork into my plate, not realizing how loud it would be. Everyone surrounding me jumped, even Mrs. Price.
I didn't have any words to say. I was quite embarrassed.
"Mom, can you please stop embarrassing me for once? I might just have to leave again." He said sarcastically, and his mother glared at him.
"You will do no such thing."
"Wait, what's your mother talking about?" Mr. Price seemed baffled, and definitely out of the loop.
"It's nothing, Dad."
"It's nothing?" She exclaimed. "It's everything that I dreamed of."
"Are you guys finally dating?" Celina asked excitedly.
"NO!" Andrew and I both said at the same time.
"No, they're not dating...yet." Mrs. Price said almost deviously.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Andrew slaked his palms on the table. He peered over to Nick, who was recording the whole conversation on his phone, snickering.
"Honey, just leave them alone." Mr. Price rubs his wife's back for comfort.
"I can't! It's killing me not to tell you!"
"What's up, Mom? What's going on?" Celina urged for her to tell.
"LIA AND I KISSED, OKAY? Happy now?" Andrew blurted out before his mother had the chance to spill the news.
"Well, actually it wasn't just a kiss, it was a full-blown make-out but...you didn't have to know that." He bit his lip, and I still couldn't manage to look anyone in the eyes.
"You guys kissed?" His father questioned. "Wow, I must be living under a rock."
"It's about damn time!" Celina lifted her glass up for cheers. "When should I plan the wedding?"
"Let's not go that far, dear." Mrs. Price cuts in. "But we will discuss that later."
"Dude, I feel like I'm in an episode of Keeping Up With The Kardashians." Nick laughed.
"Guys, if you keep pressuring us to date, we're
not going to want to. We will date on our terms not yours." Andrew finally concluded that very awkward conversation.
He grabbed my hand and lifted us both out of our chairs.
"Now, where are you going?" His mother looked suspicious.
"My room. Away from all of you." Andrew scoffed before taking me out of the living room and into the foyer where the stairs were.
"Gosh, I really hope they don't do it." I heard his mother whisper to his father.
"You and your mouth are getting out of hand, Natalia. Did you see how uncomfortable Lia was?"
When we finally got into Andrew's room, he pulled me in quickly before closing his door and locking it with a click. He turned back to me, and grabbed my neck, kissing me passionately.
We stood there for a solid minute, drowning ourselves in the other person. We were completely obsessed with this new feeling that comes with us being together. It was foreign, but it definitely felt right.
He started to shuffle his feet, our lips still connected, and I managed to hit my heels on the edge of his bed. He pushed me down softly on it, before climbing on top of me, and kissing me in any exposed part of skin.
I wanted to feel his lips on mine again, so I grabbed his head of curls, and pulled it back to my face so I could kiss him again. I kissed him with everything in me, and he kissed me right back.
We both sighed in content, and he pressed himself against me, not holding himself up anymore, and crushing me into the mattress.
I knew I had to stop it before things became any worse.
I know, I know. I'm a cock-blocker. But I want to do it when I'm completely ready, and I'm just not.
"Wait, wait." I said breathless. "I'm pretty sure this is exactly what your parents pictured us doing up here."
"What's the problem with that?" He smiled.
"I don't your parents to think I'm a hoe or something! That I sleep around all the time." I push him away from me, and he lays down beside me. We both turn our bodies so they face each other.
"They don't think of that about you. Maybe about me, but not about you."
"I just don't want our first time to be in your bedroom with your family probably listening on the other side of the door." He knows I have a point.
He nods. "I guess that's true."
"Of course it is."
"So, you've thought about our first time? Tell me." He wiggles his eyebrows in amusement.
"I have not thought about our first time, Andrew. But it's not going to be right now." I sighed, and he nods again.
"Look, I understand that you're...inexperienced. That's completely okay, I'm not bothered by that. I've accepted that fact. And I'm glad, actually. But I don't want you to rush into something that is so important to you, just because of my needs." He runs his hands along my arms.
"I can handle myself. Well, not around you, but you know what I mean. I just want you to be more than ready to be with me, even if that means waiting." He smiles.
Could I love this man anymore than I already do?
I press my lips against his happily, and then I pulled away.
"How am I so lucky to have you in my life?"
"I've been thinking the same thing." He says, before getting off his bed and putting on his black leather jacket.
"Where are you going?"
He puts on his aviators. "I think you should be asking, where are we going?"
I get up, confused.
"So, where are we going?"
"It's a surprise." He holds out his hand for me. "Do you trust me?"
~*~
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I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I thought it was funny in my opinion because of Andrew's parents, especially his mother. She's crazy!
Where do you think Andrew is taking Lia?
I don't think you will get it, but if you do...
You won't, trust me.
Stay tuned!
Much love.
XOXO