❝Goddammit! I hate you! I hate you and your dumb voice! and your stupid muscles and your awfully attractive face!❞
❝You think I'm attractive?❞
❝Fuck no!❞
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Dangerous, wild and rebellious.
Calm, cool and collected.
Darya just wan...
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My soft pats down the hallway into the kitchen echoes through the silent house until I yank open the refrigerator, reaching for a bottle of water.
A voice cut through the stillness, making me jolt mid yawn. "I don't think I'm ready to be a grandmother."
I let out a shriek, loud enough to wake the dead, spinning around to face my mother, who sat calmly on a stool by the counter.
"Wh—what?" I stutter, clearing my throat as I unscrew the water bottle and took long swigs. The cool liquid soothed my parched throat, still dry from the night before.
Ethan dropped a glass of water before he left but I drank it early, and I was too lazy to go pick up another.
"I heard you last night. You guys weren't as subtle as you thought you were. I couldn't sleep because of how you were beg—"
Water bursts from my lips, splattering her arm, as I'm left choking and spluttering, surprise and embarrassment churning through my body. My mother's eyebrow arches, a small smile playing on her lips, and she calmly wipes away the droplets.
"Mom!" I exclaim, picking up a napkin from the pile to wipe my mouth. "God, I'm so embarrassed."
She bursts out into a laugh. Her laughter crinkles the corners of her eyes, transforming her face into a radiant smile. The contrast between her current joy and last night's tears is striking, yet the faint dark circles and puffiness beneath her eyes hints at the emotions she's still processing. Despite the remnants of exhaustion, the sparkle in her eyes seems genuine.
"It's okay, we've all been there," she states, a wide smile on her face as she wraps her hands around the mug of coffee. "Your dad and I—"
Like as if a bucket of ice cold water was poured all over her, her smile freezes, then collapses, before she shakes her head and forces a new smile onto her face, the corners trembling slightly as she says, "That's going to take some getting used to."
I sink into the chair across from her, a slow exhale escaping my lips as I say, "That's okay. We'll get used to it eventually," my voice soft and reassuring.
We stare at each other for a few seconds before bursting out laughing again, her previous statement hanging in the air.
"I know Ethan would never do anything like that," she looks over my face, sobering up. "So how did that happen?"
I subconsciously reach for my face, touching the wounds Joel inflicted on me.
"I fell after our date last night. Nothing serious."
I don't know if it was the shake in my voice that made her search my eyes for a minute too long but she just presses her lips together, nodding like she wants to ask more but understands that I didn't want to talk much.
"Good morning." Denis small voice pierce through the air, making us snap our heads up to the entrance of the kitchen.
"Hey baby," My mom's face lights up, and she opens her arms wide. "Did you sleep good?"
