Law and Order- complete

XXII

"How was the dinner?" Miranda asks me as I open the front door. I glance behind me to see Ryders Hyundai pulling back down the driveway and into the Charlotte night.

"It was okay," I say truthfully. The dinner itself was delicious, and I'm sure they believed Ryder and I's act. But I'd be lying if I said I wasn't distracted. As much as I tried to convince myself it was nothing, I kept thinking about Styles with my phone. Why was he back in the study to begin with? What was he looking at?  To be fair, I was offered an explanation, as he'd sent me a simple four letter text just moments after I'd left the study.

Styles: We need to talk.

I decided to ignore it for the time being to allow myself to be focused on Ryder's family.

"What'd they make? You smell like sweet potatoes." Ellen sniffs my shoulder as she walks passed me with a mug in her hand. Her dirty blonde hair was thrown up into a bun and she wore a pair of dark red silk pajamas. "You going to bed?" I ask when I notice her making her way up the stairs.

"Yup, night."

"Good night." I watch her make her way up the stairs.

I turn back to Miranda, who rolls her eyes. She stood in front of the sink in the kitchen, washing out a cup from their dinner. It was apparent that they hadn't made up.

"You do know we have a dishwasher, right?" I chuckle, making my way to the dimly lit kitchen. Her lips curve up into a grin and she shakes her head, "I prefer the old fashioned way,"

"You prefer, unnecessary work." I correct and toss my arms over her shoulders. I stand behind her and rest my cheek on the back of her shoulders, allowing my eyes to close shut while I inhaled the coconut scent from her shampoo. Being in this position made me realize how exhausted I was. Her hand comes up to rest over my clasped ones and she releases a sigh.

"I love you, mama."

"I love you too, mija. Get to bed, I know you're tired."

"I am." I huff and remove myself from against her after pressing a soft kiss to her cheek. "Are we doing anything tomorrow?" 

"Oh, I don't know. Its my only day off this week, I was thinking of going to the farmers market to get some stuff, you're free to join."

"We'll see," As much as I enjoyed the market, I hated to crisp and cold air, "Good night, mama."

----

"Yeah, of course. I'm just glad she's doing okay."

 I could feel the warm sun on my face from the large window behind my bed. I pull my legs back under the duvet, melting into the warmth of the mattress. I was almost falling back asleep when I hear Miranda's laugh from downstairs. Surely her and Ellen didn't make up that quickly. My brows furrow and I let out a grunt as I  straighten out my legs, clenching my body in a stretch before releasing a large sigh. I sit up in the bed and peer my eyes open so that I was looking at my room door which was cracked open.

When another laugh is heard, I toss my legs over the bed and stand to my feet, giving myself one last stretch before glancing at myself in the mirror on my left. My hair was pulled back into two low buns at the bottom of my head and I wore a sports bra with a pair of gray joggers. I make my way to the restroom, doing my business and brushing my teeth. Once I'm done, I decide I throw a baggy white cropped shirt and flannel over. If we were still going to the market, it would be cool.

"Mama," I clear my throat as my hand slides down the hand rail. I could smell bacon, and every drape in the house seemed to be open as I had to damn near squint to walk down the stairs. "Mom," I call again. I drop my hand from the bottom of the rail and turn the corner into the kitchen, my eyes widening at the guest that sat at our table.

"Styles?"

His back was turned to me, but upon hearing his name, he twisted around in his chair, giving me a raise of his eyebrows and a curt nod, "Logan." His eyes scan from my feet and back up to my eyes.

My still wide eyes dart to Miranda, who stood over a pan on the stove as she cooked a couple strips of bacon. Ellen however, was nowhere to be found.

"Good morning, mija, I thought you'd never wake up." She says, turning around after placing the bacon on glass plate over a couple of napkins. She sets it on the table in front of Harry, and I notice a plate of eggs to his left. Was she feeding him?

"What are you doing here?" I approach the plate that Miranda had sat down and grab a strip of back, popping it into my mouth as I pull the away from the table to sit in it.

"I was telling your mother about our plans today."

"Our plans..?"

"Yes, to go over the book." His dark eyes bore into mine, his jaw clenching in the slightest. We both knew we didn't have any plans today.

"Oh okay, yeah, sorry mama. I can't go to the market."

"Well duh, that's a given." She jokingly scoffs, tosses her curly hair over her shoulders as she turns the eye on the stove off. I can hear her behind me, fumbling with the dishes that she so stubbornly washed as the hummed to herself. I watched dig his fork into his eggs, maintaining eye contact with me and mouthing, 

"We need to talk"