(RIVALS) The Upside of Falling ✔️

Chapter 17: Suspended

Lovely fan art above of Brett and Becca is by @arnielia on Instagram! She drew me this months ago and it has remained one of my all time favourites even after all this time. Thanks, love! x

Becca

After Brett and I said goodnight, our conversation from the rooftop settled into the back of my mind. I finally felt like things between us were in a good spot now that we didn't have to pretend anymore.

The smell of my mother's cooking greeted me as I walked back into my apartment. She was in the kitchen, her back towards me as she bustled around the stove, stirring the contents of several pots as steam rose up into the air.

She was still wearing her work clothes, a black pencil skirt reaching her knees and a fitted black peplum jacket that accentuated her thin waist. Her blond hair, the exact same shade as mine aside from a few grey strands, was hanging straight as a pin, stopping bluntly at the nape of her neck.

My mother had been working non-stop the past few weeks. With everything that had been going on, I didn't even realize how much I missed her.

As if sensing my presence, she turned around quickly, a smile lighting up her face as her eyes met mine.

"There you are, my love!" She exclaimed, rubbing her hands on her apron before walking towards me and pulling me into a big hug.

"Hi, Mom." I murmured into her hair, wrapping my arms tightly around her back.

She gave the best hugs, I always thought that as a child. Her floral perfume lingered on me after she pulled away. Her eyebrow pulled down in confusion, her lips pursed as she watched me intently.

"Why do you smell like cologne?" She asked.

Crap, I thought.

"And where have you been, Becca? It's almost eight thirty and you are just coming home." Her warm tone was gone, replaced by the motherly-worried one I know all too well. Her hands were placed in her hips as she waited for me to answer.

I smiled. Oddly enough, I loved it when my mother was upset because it showed me that she cared. After my father left, I always doubted my parents love for me, even my mother's. Whenever she was angry at me or concerned, it reminded me of how much she loved me, how she always stuck by my side no matter what. She was my rock.

"I was on the rooftop with a friend," I shrugged, brushing it off like no big deal. Her eyes widened as her mouth formed an O. I stood there and waited for her to yell, but she did the thing I least expected: she smiled.

Her hands crossed over her heart as she watched me with a dreamy expression on her face.

"You were with a boy." Not a question, but a statement. I guess the smell of Brett's cologne on me made it pretty hard to hide.

I felt my cheeks heat up as the memory of the kiss we shared broke free from the back of my mind and replayed itself over and over.

"You were!" My mom exclaimed, grabbing my hands in hers and leading me over to the kitchen table. She pulled out a chair and pushed me into it, taking the seat opposite me.

"What's his name, love? Tell me everything," she gushed, leaning eagerly towards me and waiting for me to fill her in on every single detail.

I know my mom had been deprived of this mother-daughter gossip for my entire life. I never had a boyfriend before, nor had anything remotely interesting happen to me. Because of that, I rarely had anything exciting to share with her. But now, I had too much to tell her and was afraid of how she would react if she knew all the details of Brett and I.