Interdependent (Book 2 in EBTWOG series)

Chapter 15

I left well and truly before Ryder and Trystan's parents could return. I'm thankful because even though Ryder had said I shouldn't pay attention to what his mom said, I still didn't want to encounter her again.

Just for the sake of ease, I return to Ashton's. I had hoped to return home to get some clothes for Sophie and me, but the thought of Tanner squatting in the apartment, waiting for me to return, and the panic that it started to cause has that idea going out of the window. Ashton offered to go instead, so I find myself walking through the door by myself.

Ashton had said that his parents wouldn't mind having me again, but it's still awkward to walk through the door with Sophie, without any warning from Ashton.

I stand in the hallway for a moment, listening to the house, wondering what to do. I can't just walk in without explaining.

The door closing behind me obviously alerted the house to my entrance, because as I'm about to lead Sophie into the living room, the door to the kitchen opens to show Ashton's mom. She looks a bit taken aback at seeing me, but she doesn't let it affect her demeanour towards me. If anything her smile widens at seeing.

"Bambi," she greets, a wide smile on her face, and the warmth makes me smile just as much.

"Ashton's getting some clothes for me," I tell her, and once I do I realise that I haven't told her that he said I could stay another night, and I also have to supply an explanation as to why I didn't go myself. Will she think I'm lazy?

"That's nice of him," she says, no hint of any annoyance or disapproval at me. Instead, she sounds proud of Ashton.

"Come in, darling," she says, pushing the door to the kitchen open for me. I nudge Sophie slightly and follow after her.

"Have a good day?" she asks, busying herself with making a pot of tea.

"Yeah," Sophie exclaims.

"Good!" Ashton's mom replies enthusiastically. "Bambi?"

"Hm?" I ask, wondering if she's asking me if I want a cuppa.

"Good day?" she asks, flicking the lever on the kettle.

"Oh... uh..." The last time my mum asked me about my day was when I had just gotten home from the first day of school here, asking after hot guys. "Yeah," I answer with a lie, my tone coming out unsure.

She regards me for a moment in thought, before blinking and turning back to the counter. She changes the subject to Sophie, and I'm thankful for it.

"What'd you do today, Sophie?"

Sophie goes into a detailed explanation of the things she did with Milly today, and how she saved Milly from a dragon. Listening to her, it makes me happy to know she's got a friend in Milly. I want her to have everything I didn't, and that includes a good friend.

Ashton arrives halfway through Sophie's explanation, a bag in his hands which looks to be full of clothes. He stands in the doorway, listening, and waiting for a good time to interject. Sophie finishes her story, and Ashton's mom starts to ask her questions, allowing me a moment to talk to Ashton.

I slip out, Sophie looking perfectly content in talking about being a princess to Ashton's mom, and vice versa.

He places the bag by the stairs, guiding me into the living room to allow us some privacy. I can faintly hear Ashton's mom asking Sophie another question, followed by a giggle from Sophie.

"I took as much as I could, and did a quick scout of the place to check for Tanner and where he could have entered through, but didn't find anything. It wasn't to say he was there Bambi, but he's not there anymore, and I made sure to lock up after. He won't be back, but even so, you can stay here as long as you need. Tanner will not get to you here, I promise."

"Thank you," I tell him, meaning every bit of it. His reassuring words do little to assuage the deep-set fear of him being there, or anywhere I am for that matter, but what it does do is let me know that I'm not alone. Ashton has my back, and I just have to believe him when he says he won't be back, because dwelling on it will only make the fear worse. Maybe if I believe Ashton enough, I'll believe it myself. 

Hi guys! I hope you liked it. I kind of found writing this part a bit hard, I was meant to finish it yesterday and have it up then and got distracted by something else which I had to do (so I apologise for the delay), but when I came back to it today, I didn't like the end I had, so I changed it, and found it a bit tough with what I wanted to happen. It's just this part, I was struggling with what to do with - I have an abundance of ideas, it's just finding the right place to put them and connecting the dots between them - I think I have an idea for what I want the next part to be, so it'll be a bit easier for me.

Anyway, the next part will be up in just over a week's time on the 16th of December (I have some parts I'm writing for another book which is taking up some of my time).

What did you think?

What do you think will/want to happen next?

Thanks for reading, voting, commenting, sharing, and following!

CC ;)