Straight 'A' Student

Chapter 38

Summer and Connor had been officially moved in for three weeks and had just finished putting the final touches on their home. They were having a housewarming dinner with Summer's friends and their partners before they left for their trip.

Back in Texas, Joshua still struggled with recovery and in turn, that strained their relationship. It didn't help that his mother had been implying that Eleanor was somehow responsible for this. That if he wasn't so worried about her stress levels, he wouldn't have kept it a secret that he was in pain. Eleanor spends most nights at group therapy sessions since Joshua normally takes his medications and knocks out.

"I love it" Summer smiled as they looked at her home office, the last room to finish in the house. Connor had done most of the work and heavy lifting, but they did the decorations together. She liked how close it made her feel to him.

"Are you sure?"

"I'm very sure".

"And you're okay with this one, honestly? Because I can switch, angel".

"Absolutely not, Connor. Besides you work from home a lot more than I do and you need the space for storage. I'm totally fine having the smaller office".

"Okay" he nodded and kissed her "tomorrow morning, I'll run to the store".

"Oh good, definitely forgot a few things for dinner".

"No problem. Hey, have you talked to Eleanor lately?" Connor asked as he followed her back to the kitchen.

"Here and there, why?"

"Um, Josh said she's not home much. She's avoiding him I guess because of his mother. He said she spends a lot of time at her sister's now".

"Oh, she has mentioned that it's caused a bit of a rift between them lately. But she's never made it seem like Joshua's fault. I think she's just uncomfortable and doesn't want it to affect his recovery".

"Well avoiding him is getting her the same result".

"Connor" Summer reprimanded his harsh tone "I'll have to be honest, if you got hurt and your mom was just as rude to me as Jackie's being to Eleanor, especially since she already gives me shit, I might shut down too".

"Being upset or annoyed is rational, I get that. But as much as she wants to say she's not blaming him or she's not mad at him, she certainly doesn't want to be around him. In case she hasn't noticed he's not really in shape to be home alone all day".

"You're not wrong. I'm just saying I can see where she's coming from. This isn't easy for her, babe" Summer defended her without giving too much away.

///

The next day, they spent the day inside other than when Connor went to the store. Summer cooked dinner with a little of Connor's help, but mostly his entertainment. When the doorbell sounded, he went downstairs to get the door.

"Oh my god, look at you! It's beautiful in here" Kamryn said excitedly as she moved around the island to hug Summer.

"Thank you and thank you guys for coming".

"Of course, what can I do to help?"

"Nothing, just relax".

"Put me to work, I'm early".

"Barely, here" Summer handed her an apron "if you want to cut up the salad quickly".

"Sure".

"We'll be in the living room, just shout if you need anything" Connor said as he grabbed a couple of glasses and a bottle of scotch then led Benjamin away.