distant you // Wilbur Soot

eighteen

It's stupid, but I'm insanely nervous to meet Wilbur's mom. He says she's the sweetest woman alive, but she could still hate me. But why do I care? I'm not actually his girlfriend. It doesn't matter at all. She lives at a nice little house in a small neighborhood, and she's waiting at the door when we say goodbye to our driver. I feel my heart race as we approach her, but she really does look like a super nice mom.

"My baby's home!" She exclaims, wrapping her arms around Wilbur. "Oh, I've missed you, love."

"Missed you too, mum." He smiles at her and pulls away from their hug. "This is Eve."

"You're even prettier in person!" She tells me as it's my turn for a hug.

I grin and tuck my hair behind my ears after pulling out of the hug. "Thank you! And thank you so much for having me, Ms. Gold. I hope I'm not taking up too much space."

"You're welcome anytime. And call me Sue. Come inside! I'm ready to sit back down."

We follow her in, the house warm and smelling like apple pie. We just keep our bags by the door and go to their living room, Wilbur and his mom sitting on the couch while I sit in the recliner.

"How was your flight?" She asks, and Wilbur and her keep up the small talk for a few minutes before she turns to me. "This boy talks about you non-stop."

"Mum," He mutters, blush covering his cheeks.

"I'm honored," I giggle, finding it fun to act like we're dating. We sure do act like we're dating when we kiss. "He's a sweetheart."

"Well, that's good to hear." She stands up. "I'm gonna get baby pictures!"

"Just don't get the pictures of me past age ten," Wilbur begs.

"Love, I'm sure your girlfriend wants to see your awkward phases."

"Yes I do!" I exclaim, clapping my hands excitedly as I move over to the couch. I sit between Wilbur and his mom, her laptop sitting on her knees as she pulls up an album titled 'William❤️'.

"This is my personal favorite." She clicks on the first photo and I immediately laugh, shocked at how different he looks.

"I'm so obsessed with that." I giggle, leaning against Wilbur.

"Such a stud," He mumbles.

"What happened?" I pout out my bottom lip, looking over at him. He just smiles down at me, his eyes half closed.

Sue clicking on a new picture grabs our attention. We look through many for about half an hour, myself laughing and adoring each one. His awkward phase was adorable, and his baby pictures are precious.

"Alright," Wilbur sighs, standing up. "I'm taking a shower. I'm tired of looking at this."

We laugh as he walks away and Sue shuts off her laptop. "Want a drink, dear?"

"Water would be great." I tell her, following her to the kitchen. I lean my back against the counter and watch as she fills a glass for me, smiling at her as she hands it to me. "Thank you."

"No issue at all." She opens a large cabinet and starts organizing it. "Has Will met your family yet?"

"Uh, not yet." I tell her. "My dad's not really in the picture and my mom is a nurse so she's always busy."

She frowns at me. "Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. Do you have any siblings?"

"I have my older brother, Ryan. He goes to school just an hour away, but he's in engineering, so he's also insanely busy. He promised he'd come up to the city soon, though, so I guess they'll meet then."

"Well, I'm glad you have some family close by." She closes the cabinet doors. "Alright, let me show you where you're sleeping."

I grab my bag and suitcase and follow her down a hallway with three doors. She points to each, "That's the bathroom, there's Will's room, and here's your room. I'll give you a second to settle in. Let me know if you need anything."

I thank her and waits until she walks off to open up my bag. Wilbur's still in the shower, so I just place my toiletry bag on a desk. I shut the door and change into a sweatshirt and a pair of leggings, then lie on top of the covers, trying to not fall asleep yet as I scroll through my phone. I hear the shower turn off and a few minutes later, there's a knock at the door.

"Come in," I call out, and watch as the door opens.

Wilbur stands there, wearing a blue shirt and grey sweatpants, his wet hair dripping onto his clothing. "Wanna see the room I grew up in?"

"Sure," I smile, jumping up from my bed and stepping across the hallway into his room. Empty guitar racks line the wall, the room mostly undecorated besides some posters and pictures of him and his mom and some other people I don't recognize.

"I wrote a lot of my album on this bed." He sighs, sitting down on its edge. "Wrote a lot of my songs in here."

"Well, this room is very inspirational."

Wilbur chuckles then looks over at me. "She definitely loves you."

"Really?" I grin, feeling relief. "I was worried she wouldn't."

"She's gonna be really sad when I tell her we had to 'break up' once this PR thing is over."

"Right," I say, looking straight ahead at his open door and down the hallway. Unless I decide that I can handle dating him, we are gonna break up sometime soon.

His mom appears in the hallway and walks down, popping into Wilbur's room. "I'm going to head to bed in just a minute. Is your room alright, Eve?"

"It's perfect, thank you."

"Good." She smiles at Wilbur. "No funny business, okay? I want Eve sleeping in her room and you sleeping in your room."

"Yes, mum," He chuckles. We all say goodnight to each other before she leaves again. Once we can't hear her foot steps anymore, Wilbur gets up and shuts the door, turning around to look at me. "Wanna makeout, fake girlfriend?"

I giggle and nod, leaning back on his bed. "Sounds good to me, fake boyfriend.