Chapter 14.

Distracted, that's me. 

I've been like this for most of the time mom has been here, telling me all about her Mr Perfect. 

Okay, I love my mom but gosh, the way she has been carrying on about this person makes the idea of meeting him one thing to dread doing. I feel like she's trying way too hard for me to be impressed, which is not the case at the moment. 

I mean I'm not very fond of the way their relationship seems to moving , its pace proves quite fast and I don't want my mom to get burnt and crash like her past relationships, where I was one left to help her get back onto her feet. In those times I've found myself neither having a choice but to be dragged into watching soppy romantic movies, eat alot of junk food and listen to heartbreaking songs.

No, not this time. I can't go through all that again.

Placing all concerns aside and actually taking a good look at my mom now, I notice something I haven't seen before, it's different, making her look different. 

There's a spark in her eyes when she talks about this guy and the teen girl giddiness that bubbles out of her, is quite refreshing to see, especially how content she looks, even though she seemed so tired and worn out when that roof incident happened.

" What?" She asks, finally taking notice of my staring for too long. 

" Nothing, so uh, when can I see this Keith?" Right after I say this, she perks up with eyes having widened in surprise.

" You want to meet him?" She looks so taken aback right now that if I wasn't nervous and serious at the same time, I'd find her expression quite amusing.

" I'd rather get it over and done with and finally put this to rest, don't you think?" I quirk my brow.

" Bea, you don't have to meet him so soon if you aren't comfortable yet." She covers my hand.

" Mom, let's face it, you want us to meet already. Its pretty much eating at you that we haven't met." I state.

" Okay yes." She lets out in exasperation as if the mere thought of keeping it in is exhausting.

" Aha." I smirk at her.

We remain in silence for a while with us just staring at each other until she's the first one to break the contact.

"Luke came to see me the other day." Her head snaps into my direction and if I had not been paying close attention to her, I would have missed the slight frown she just displayed before she covered it up with a small smile.

" What does he want?" I frown slightly when I hear a small bite out of the question.

"He apologized." I say slowly, trying to make sense of her attitude right now.

" Hmm." 

"Mom you don't have to pretend that you are thrilled about this, I know that you have mixed feelings about him at the moment, just like me."

" I know honey, it's just that talking about him and him visiting after such a long time, brings back so many memories especially - " 

" That night." We say in unison.

I watch her try to hold back tears and I cover her hand with mine and give it a small squeeze, earning me a nice smile from her .

My mom checks her watch and sighs, before she looks back at me again.

" I know, you have to go." I say, watching her rise to her feet.

" Oh honey, I miss you so much." She says, pulling me in for a hug.

" I miss you too." I tell her.

"Then come back home." She pleads.

My breath hitches with words getting stuck in my throat. Still, I have no answer.

********

There is light atmosphere with mac and cheese for me and Connor, who has just learnt that I got our dinner already.

He frowns slightly, not really knowing what to say and deciding to just join me." Bon appeti." I say before digging in.

I can feel his eyes on me, pulling me out of my mac and cheese moment.

" What?" I finally ask.

He shakes his head slightly before digging in. I notice a small smirk play at his lips and I can't help grinning too.

With that we both eat in silence, passing occasional glances to each other.

" Friends?" He says, pointing to his plate.

"Friends." I state with a grin on my face.