unbearable, trent alexander-arnold

²⁶awkward

january, first.

IF TRENT'S MOTHER wasn't so talkative and curious, the dinner would surely have passed off in silence and the sound of cutlery clattering against plates. the tension between trent and tosca was palpable — especially on the young woman's side — and michael was a more reserved person who observed before opening up to others. fortunately, dianna was there, well, fortunately, it all depended on the point of view.

"i knew you had a girl on your mind at christmas, you should have seen him, he was somewhere else," said trent's mother, addressing tosca, who forced herself to smile, "he was just saying no and lying to me, but mothers are always right."

"well, it looks like he really likes to lie ahah," said tosca with an innocent smile towards his mother but the crucifying look she gave trent made him understand that it was anything but a joke.

he swallowed hard before focusing his gaze on the tablecloth below his elbows. he barely dared to look up at tosca because she was able to intimidate him with her piercing eyes and her double-entendre words.

"and how long have you been together?" this time it was michael who had spoken, he who had not been able to get a word in edgewise since the beginning because his wife was so talkative.

the two young adults gave each other a concerned look. trent had really gotten them into a mess that was impossible to get out of, and tosca mentally cursed him before thinking of an answer that made sense. they had known each other for almost three years and had been in this particular relationship for two, but she couldn't say that. besides, her little trip to italy in the meantime had shaken things up in their history, but she couldn't talk about that either. resigned, she ended up choosing the most basic option by indicating the date before her departure to italy.

"uh, it's pretty recent, it's been two months, but we knew each other before."

trent smiled at her, thanking her for handling the situation, and she gave him a fake one back to make it clear that once this whole thing was over, he was a dead man.

"and how did it happen?" asked dianna with an innocent look on her face, although she knew very well what she was doing.

trent looked at her with big eyes, indicating that she was asking too many questions, especially since he didn't know how to answer them. he loved his mother, god, he loved her, but she tended to invade his son's personal life a little too often and he preferred to keep her private.

"okay, i get it, i'll shut up," said trent's mother, raising her hands in the air, which made tosca smile.

she had to admit that she liked the liveliness and warmth she showed, although it was true that these questions made them feel awkward. so, to annoy trent, she got into his game and in a playful tone, exclaimed, "no! honey we can tell her at last," her big green eyes flickered in his direction as a big goofy grin spread across her face. if it wasn't to annoy him, she would have already thrown up at her behavior.

the young man found himself confused and a small triumphant smile appeared on tosca's face as she had succeeded in her attempt. it took him several seconds to analyze her words before he finally decided to speak, he had no choice anyway.

"well, we were friends for two years and it just happened naturally... "

his mother waited for the next part, her fork hanging in the air, ready to record every piece of information, but the young man had finished and had nothing more to say. dianna then dropped her spoon, looking up at the sky before sighing heavily, looking in tosca's direction.

"men, when it comes to feelings, eh, it's hard work."

"i know right," tosca confirmed with a frown before turning a pouting face towards the footballer, "you got nothing else to say?"

"well, actually, well... i found tosca more and more interesting and so i asked her to have dinner with me one night and the rest is logical... you know," he shrugged nonchalantly.

trent had just made that up on the spot, he had never really had a date with tosca, but knowing each other almost by heart, the exercise was not so hard. it was almost too easy to lie for the two young adults.

"i said no by the way."

"no you said yes!" the young man echoed.

"i was just kidding i know," she looked at him mockingly, while michael, his father, chuckled at the situation his son was in.

"i don't know how you do, with a klutz like that it can't be easy every day."

trent's cheeks turned red as he grumbled something under his breath. despite herself, tosca looked at him and smiled widely, seeing him like that, like a little boy being scolded for doing something stupid, was quite amusing and almost made her feel better. but as soon as she remembered the situation she was in, she took the smile off her face and concentrated on her plate.

the meal ended as best it could and when trent closed the door on his parents, he breathed a sigh of relief before remembering what was waiting for him in the kitchen: a somewhat tense tosca, aggressively putting the dishes away in the dishwasher. without a sound, he leaned against the counter to her right and watched her, biting his cheeks, knowing full well that he had made a big mistake.

"let me help you," he tried to help her, but she only gave him a glare that chilled him to the spot.

"thanks, i don't need your help."

trent let his arms fall back by his side and let out a long sigh. in the room, only the echo of plates clattering against each other as she put them away could be heard and it was rather uncomfortable. the young man couldn't help but fidget with his fingers, or pull on his sweater, waiting for the moment when the young woman would look up at him to indicate that it was time to speak. which happened only a few seconds later, when the dishwasher door was closed.

her green eyes locked with his and he held her gaze, trying to gauge what she was thinking, and also her level of anger.

"it didn't go that bad? right?" he finally asked with a grimace and she looked at him, incredulous before simply rolling her eyes and leaving the room, not wanting to start an unnecessary argument. "tosca... " he huffed again but did nothing to catch her, he knew it would do no good. she wouldn't listen to him anyway.

the bathroom door closed as trent fell silent. then, listening to the water running, he sighed again. he really hoped she wasn't that angry, he didn't want to have another fight with her. the last one had caused too much damage.