𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐀𝐕𝐈𝐎𝐑 |

chapter two

Vera

For the past fifteen minutes, I've been laying here and scrolling through my phone. Aiden has his head resting along my side with his arms around my torso—to the best of his ability at least.

I continued to comfortingly rub his back, humming quietly and glancing at him every time his body shifted at the slightest, worried I'd wake him up. He was more of a deep sleeper than I thought.

This was a daily occurrence when we both had off days. His school gave them a day off, due to parent teacher conferences, but obviously I wasn't going and neither was Katherine. His teacher tells me enough about him everyday, so I have no reason to believe he's misbehaving or not doing what he's supposed to. Aiden's a good kid—a great kid even and I have no doubt when it comes to him.

He groaned and I quickly looked down at him when he turned away, curling up on his side and wrapping himself within the blanket. I kissed the side of his head, smiling then slowly slipped out of bed to go to the bathroom. With a tired sigh, I rubbed my eyes then emptied out my bladder while I let my eyes rest for a few seconds.

For the most part, it was pretty quiet which was no surprise. I was always the first to wake up before anyone else and Aiden followed soon after. But from the looks of it, he hasn't been getting much sleep. It wasn't like him to sleep in, but I didn't want to worry too much.

I lathered my hand in soap then dunked my hands under the faucet, washing them clean and looking over my face. The tiredness was definitely evident, but nothing that an iced coffee couldn't fix.

As I dried my hands, my phone began to vibrate on the counter beside me, Jesse's name popping up on the screen. I quickly answered then set it up, being met with his tired eyes and his dark red blanket that covered the rest of his face.

"I see you're just waking up," I yawned, pulling my hair back then lathering my face with cleanser.

"And clearly, so are you," he mumbled, clearing his throat and placing his phone across from him. "Why are you up so early?"

"I'm always up this early. I should be asking you that question."

"I set an alarm for work, forgetting that someone was covering my shift already."

"Idiot," I snorted, rinsing my face off.

Jesse grumbled under his breath then adjusted his blanket with a yawn before bringing his attention back to the phone. That's when his bickering and whining began.

This was a morning ritual for us. We wake up, he facetimes me and he finds something to complain about while I occupy myself with hygiene filled activities.

And this is all happening while he's still in bed.

"So, how's it going with lover boy?" He teases, grinning at me.

"Oh, you mean the one ignoring my texts and not answering my calls? Couldn't be better," I muttered, bringing my toothbrush to my mouth. "Just another dickhead to add to the list in the world."

"Come on," He groaned. "Did he at least give an explanation?"

"It's been two weeks, Jesse." I spat into the sink and rinsed my mouth off, coughing a bit. "I've gotten my explanation when he decided to do what any normal guy does."

Jesse sat up in his bed, ruffling his hair a bit then looking at the phone with a sigh. "Sorry, Vee."

I shrugged. "It's what happens when you expect too much."

"That just means you go back to your initial thought: Men are assholes. Excluding me, of course."

Am I surprised? Of course not, because he's a guy.