Fifty Shades of Shoey

Chapter 7

"Oh my god, Shane. Where the fuck have you been? I've been calling you and texting you nonstop! It's like 4 in the morning!" Lisa yells. I'm so not in the mood for this.
"I was out," I say, allowing my anger to show.
"Am I not allowed to go out? Sorry, mom," I say sarcastically. I shouldn't be mad at her, she didn't do anything. "What happened to your face? Who did that?" she asks, completely ignoring my immature response. Her concerned tone lessens my anxiety. At least someone cares. She reaches up and touches the bruises on my face. I groan at the pain and soreness.
"Shane, what happened?" she asks again. I sigh, not wanting to explain. "Are you drunk?" she asks in confusion. "What, you're the only one that can have a glass of wine or two?" I sass. "Shane, what's wrong?" she asks in a softer tone, while caressing my face. "Nothing," I say sternly. I feel guilty for lying to her but she wouldn't understand. She studies my face and touches a hickey on my neck. Shit, shit, shit. I feel my hands trembling and just hope Lisa doesn't notice. Her brows slightly furrow.
"Shane. Please, tell me that's a bruise," she chokes.
"Obviously," I lie yet again. I gesture to my face, making my lie more believable.
"Shane. Tell me what the fuck is going on, right now. Where the hell were you and why is your face bruised? Why didn't you text back or answer your damn phone?!" Lisa scolds.
"I don't want to talk about it! God, Lisa! I thought you fucking trusted me. You don't have to monitor over me every fucking minute of the day," I raise my voice. She looks at me with hurt puppy dog eyes, forcing guilt upon me.
"I was really worried," she admits, "You can't just leave with no explanation, no text, no call and stumble in, bruised and drunk, way past midnight. It's not fair to me and it's not helping us." Her hand gestures between us. She dabs the corners of her eyes with the tips of her fingers. Guilt washes over me, although I don't feel quite as guilty for lying to Lisa as I do for hurting Joey. I sigh. "I'm sorry," I surrender, "but can we just talk about this later? I'm really tired."
She wraps her thin arms tightly around me and I try to do the same. She pulls away slightly and softly presses her lips against mine. I wait for the fireworks to appear but they never do. Why don't I feel the same anymore? I think about the way Joey's lips brought so many sparks and fireworks when they touched mine. The dullness in our kiss is obvious and I pull away quickly before she tries to advance. I would feel more guilty if we did anything after I just gave Joey a blowjob. And I'm simply not ready.
"Let's go to bed." I suggest.
"Don't think I'm not interrogating you in the morning. Hangover or not, you better tell me what the fuck is going on. I'm not gonna put up with this bullshit, Shane," she warns, her temper returning, as we walk to the bedroom. I don't want to be that drunkard yelling at his wife, even though Lisa's not my wife, and scaring his child, even though Corny's not a human. I find Corny hiding under a chair and pick her up on our way to the bedroom, mumbling an apology.

Joey's POV:

As soon as Shane leaves my car, I start driving and head back home. It's not like there's anywhere else to be at this time of day. One of my hands lets go of the steering wheel and wanders towards my face. I stroke the exact spot where Shane left me a kiss. He tried to kiss me. He was drunk, my subconscious reminds me. I still can't believe he would go out to a bar and drink as much as I assume he did, based on his previous actions and behavior, but it's not my problem. Lisa can deal with the consequences. I try to clear my mind and not think of anything on the drive home.

When I get into the apartment, the living room light is still on. I find Sawyer asleep on the couch.
"Sawyer," I shake his shoulder.
"Huh, what?" he wakes up, confused and shakes the sleep from his face. He sits up and I sit down next to him.
"I found him," I tell him, staring at the floor. I feel so broken, I can't take this crap.

"Come on Mom, it's time to go home" I said.
"No," she said, shaking herself free, tears still streaming down her face.
I sat down beside her and started to plead. "Mom, please. Someone is going to see you, and they might call the cops. Just come back inside with me."
"No, you're ungrateful," she said with a sniffle.
"I'm just worried," I said.
"I'm going to die," my mother told me.
"Don't say that. You're not going to die," I argued.
"I am. And I'm going to come back as a little blue jay," she said calmly.
"Mom . . ."
"No, listen. This is important. Once I die, whenever you see a blue jay, you're going to know that it is me looking after you." She waved a stick in the air. "Just like that one."
I looked but I didn't see any birds anywhere. Not a single blue jay was there, and my mother wasn't either. This woman was not the lovely woman from my earlier childhood. This woman was not the one who was always ready to hug me if I skinned my knee, who brought me soup in bed when I was sick, who always tucked me in at night. That loving woman, my mother, was gone. She was replaced by this stranger who had my mother's face, but nothing else.

I snap out of my trance when I feel a pair of arms around me. I didn't realize I was crying. More like sobbing. "Shhh.." Sawyer soothes me. I lean closer to him, and let the tears go. "I knew he would hurt you," Sawyer mumbles. I act as if I didn't hear him because I know he's right but I'm not ready to admit it to him or myself. I cry into his shoulder and he rubs my back. "It's gonna be okay, Joey," he tells me, stroking my hair. I mentally thank him for not pushing me to tell him what happened, as I eventually fall asleep on him.

Question of the day: Do you guys like the cover? [Feel free to send me any edits to post here, like I did in the previous chapters. Also, do you guys have any questions for me?]

Sorry for the wait, darlings. I've been really busy! I'll post a double update to make up for it. :) Please share! PS: I typed these up pretty fast so forgive me for the spelling/grammar errors, I'll fix them later. Thanks and good day, darlings! :)