Alone Together

04

Rowan Warner

I made it through the rest of the week living at Adam's house with minimal contact with him. Graham spoke to me more than he did, but even that was very little.

On Saturday, I sat in my room and pulled out a few more of my candles and sat in bed with my laptop, looking for nearby apartments I could get by myself. Everything in the area was either too pricey or too run down. I wanted to live in a place that I actually liked, not some place with stains all over the walls and an outdated interior.

After a while of searching, there was a knock on my door. A moment later, Mom walked into the room with a wide grin.

"Hi, baby," she said, coming over to sit on the bed. "I just wanted to stop by and see how it was going here."

"Everything's fine, Mom," I assured her.

"I just wanted to see how you were adjusting."

"I'm already adjusted," I said, and it wasn't a lie. This living situation was already better than my old one, despite not getting along with Adam.

"Did you think about calling the police about Brendan?" she asked.

I sighed and shut my laptop, glancing over at her. The police had gotten involved with Brendan and I once and nothing came of it. They just saw it as us getting into a fight and nothing more. There were no arrests or questioning or anything. It was just dropped.

"I've talked to the police before. They didn't do anything."

Mom let out a deep breath and ran her hand over my comforter.

"He hasn't tried to see you has he?"

I shook my head. "He doesn't even know where I am."

I didn't dare tell her that I wanted to go back to the apartment and get my kitchen items. The more I thought about it, the more I realized I wasn't willing to part with those things and I needed to go get them. I hadn't decided yet how I would do it, if I would call Brendan and tell him I was coming, or if I would try to go when he wasn't around. I didn't know what would be worse.

"I also wanted to tell you we're having a birthday party for Evie next weekend," she said, referencing one of my nieces. "You'll come right?"

"Yeah, I'll be there." Now that I was away from Brendan, there was no need for me to avoid seeing my family.

"I'm really happy you're living here," Mom said with a fond smile. "I think it's about time you and Adam had some bonding experience."

I couldn't break it to her that me living here seemed to make our relationship even more strained than it already was, especially not if she was imagining the two of us somehow becoming closer from living together even though we lived together our whole lives.

"Anyway," she started, standing up from the bed. "I have to get going. I was just stopping by to see you. Please call me more and come over whenever you want."

I stood up from the bed and walked over to the other side to give her a hug.

"Okay, Mom," I said with a chuckle.

"Tell Adam and Graham to come over too."

"I will."

I walked Mom downstairs and saw Graham sitting in front of the TV, his feet resting up on the coffee table.

"There's my other baby," Mom said walking over to Graham and placing a kiss on the top of his head.

"Hi, Gem," he said, grinning up at her.