Oxytocin

Saturday

Lea's POV:

When I woke up, Andrew was no longer lying down beside me. I lifted myself up to look for him and found him sitting on the edge of the bed, hunched over with his head in his hands. 

"Babe," I said and wrapped my arms around him, resting my head on his back. "What's wrong?"

He silently picked up his phone and showed me the notification screen:

'16 missed calls: Sasha'

'10 missed calls: Mom'

'1 missed call: Dad'

'16 voice mails: Sasha'

'21 unread messages: Sasha' 

"Fuck," he sighed, running his fingers through his hair. 

I leaned forward and kissed his neck, right under his cheekbone. He smiled slightly and turned around to face me. 

"I have to go back," he said and leaned into me, touching my forehead to his. 

I thought about the notifications, and how long he'd been out. I mean it was 11 AM. There's no way he could explain that without exposing our relationship. I couldn't let him go alone.

"I'm coming with you," I said and he pulled his forehead away.

"Baby," he said looking at me with pity in his eyes. "You can't. She'll know."

"Exactly," I said and braced myself to defend my stupid suggestion.

"Are you saying-" he paused, clearly unable to finish the sentence. 

"Think about it," I said and placed my hands on top of his. He turned his hands over to squeeze mine. "You go home, Sasha asks you where you've been, what other excuse do you have?"

"It makes sense," he said and rubbed my hands with his thumbs. "But... she'll know... about us... are you okay with that?"

"It's about us Andrew," I said caressing his cheek. "And as long as I get to be with you, I'm okay?"

"Are you sure?" he asked, still looking pitiful. "You know what this means, right?"

I cupped my hand on his face ad kissed him, savoring his fresh lavender scent. 

"I know," I said, my hand still on his face. "But you matter to me more."

He smiled and rested his head on my chest. I rubbed his back, reassuring him. After a few minutes, the door opened and my mom walked in. 

"Ah, you're finally awake," she said and sat on my desk chair, facing us. "I have questions."

"Hey mom," I said scrambling away from Andrew, who was blushing dark red. 

"Hi," she said and turned to Andrew. "Good morning."

"Morning," he mumbled back and got up off the bed. 

"Now," she said leaning back in the chair like a villain in a Disney movie. She turned to me. "Explain: How you snuck out, how he got here, and how that damn cat is in the living room scratching up my good couch."

I explained everything while trying to get Andrew to sit back down on the bed. Once I was done, she stood up to leave. 

"Okay," she said and patted Andrew's shoulder. "You're a good kid. Now go home." 

She left the room and we got dressed. Andrew, because I didn't have any clothes to give him, wore the same pajamas from the night before. I got dressed and we left, but not before saying goodbye to Rosie, who made a point to get her fur all over Andrew.