❛ AFTERGLOW ❜ - 𝖼𝗆𝖻 ✓

013; a hot mess

third person.

"i met my mom last week."

for the first few seconds, mollie had received no reply from the boy sat beside her, and she didn't dare look his way in fear of noticing the confusion and panic, or the hesitation and things he was unsure to say in case it hurt the girl's feelings.

but eventually, she did look up at him. and as she expected, corbyn had his mouth dropped open while he stared at her, almost frozen in his seat.

and while she waited for a response from him, she tried her back to keep the tears that were filling up her eyes from falling down onto her face, as corbyn eventually lifted his hands to wipe away the few that did.

"say something," she said, glancing to the side for a split second before looking back at him, "why aren't you saying anything?"

"i don't know what to say." he replied.

"you're confused." mollie mentioned, "i can see it on your face."

"why did she.. how'd you meet her..?"

"max took me instead of running those errands, it was a set up." she explained, watching the boy slowly nod before scratching the back of his head, "i'm sorry i should've told you when it happened but you were in such a good mood and i-"

"hey," corbyn interrupted her, wrapping his arms around the girl and guiding her head to his chest, "it's okay, i'm just glad you told me."

"are you on good terms with her?" the boy asked, placing a kiss on her head as mollie shrugged, "you don't know?"

"she just thinks she knows everything about me," she mumbled, "i can't tell if we're on good terms or not, every step we take forward she pushes us two steps back and then we're yelling at each other for gods knows what reason."

"do you want to be on good terms with her?"

"yeah," mollie nodded, sitting back up properly and wiping her eyes before she sighed, "but it's just hard to because of what she did."

"do you want me to give advice or do you just want me to listen?" corbyn asked, tilting his head as mollie looked at him.

"advice."

"okay," he slowly nodded, "i think... i don't want to act like i know everything about how you feel towards her because i don't, but i think you should talk to her and open up to her, just a little so she can get to know you and you can see if it's worth building a bond."

"no she doesn't understand anything i speak about," mollie shook her head, "i accidentally told her about two of my illnesses and now she thinks i'm a terrible person."

"oh."

"i just want a mom," she shrugged, tilting her head down at the floor while corbyn frowned.

"give her a chance," corbyn suggested, "if she came back then i think she did it for a reason, i think you should try build a bond."

"i don't know," mollie sighed.

"what are you afraid of?"

the girl paused and went silent, tucking her hair behind her ear before she folded her arms again, still avoiding looking at her boyfriend, "her."

corbyn nodded, biting the inside of his cheek as he watched her steady her breathing, knowing that the whole conversation seemed to be making her feel anxious and that she was trying to find a way to change the subject.

"i'm going to la for a few days.." he told her, "i leave tomorrow morning."

"huh?" mollie looked up at him, "and you're telling me now?"