Coffee Stains (Discovery of Love)

Chapter Fourteen- Irish Coffee

~I'm so sorry for not updating for a long time. I have exams coming up and it has been quite a hassle. After exams, I will be updating more regularly so please bare with me for a few weeks (about 2). I apologize once again and thank you for understanding~

{Chapter Fourteen}

I clear my throat and take my hand down. Max finishes taking off the whip cream and scratches the back of his neck, a light blush coating his cheeks.

I feel my lips twitch at the unusual shade of red," Is the Great Knight blushing?"

"Blushing? No, it's just hot in here," he says, not looking me in the eyes.

"Sure it is," I reach out to pinch his cheeks but stop mid-way when I realize what I'm doing. I instantly pull away my hand before Max can notice.

I clear my throat, now feeling my cheeks warm up in embarrassment as I choke out," I should probably go home now."

"Y-yeah, me too." Max stands up and brushes off an invisible piece of lint from his clothes. "Would you like a ride? It's not safe for girls to walk at this time of night."

"Sure, if you don't mind," I give him a grateful smile.

We head out the coffee shop after I close up and make sure all the doors are locked. To my surprise, Max opens the passenger's door for me. I feel something inside of me flutter as I give him a quiet 'thank you ' before getting in the vehicle. He walks around the hood of the car and hops in.

The ride to my house is silent and instead of letting him stop at the gap, I allow him to drive right in front of my house.

"Thanks for the ride," I say before starting to get out the car.

However, I stop when Max's hand grabs my wrist. I turn my head to look at him to see sincerity shining in his eyes. For a second, Max reminds silent and as I am about to break the silence, he speaks.

"You know, you can tell me anything, right?" he asks, still holding my wrist. I just nod knowing he was referring to my crying session.

"I'll keep that in mind," I say, even though I know that I will probably never tell him about my family.

With that I gently pull my wrist from his grasp and walk into my house, not looking back. I close the front door and lean against it for a few seconds, feeling confused. What was that flip in me stomach, the flutter of my heart and the blushing? Knowing what I need at this moment, I enter the living room,knowing my mother would be in there waiting for me. As I enter the living room, the sight of my mother lounging on the couch welcomes me and I feel my tears flowing all over again. I walk up to her and her head turns to see me approaching. She sits up, alarmed when she sees the tears running down my cheeks and I sit beside her before wrapping my arms around her torso, breathing in her vanilla scent. Her arms immediately wrap around me, her hand rubbing soothing circles on my back as I sob on her shoulder.

"What's wrong, pumpkin?" my mother asks, pulling me slightly away from her embrace so she can see my face.

"He..." I choke out as I remember his stony face.

"Did someone touch you or hurt you?" alarm is evident on my mother's face as her eyes search my face.

"I saw him..." I sob as I look my mother in her eyes. As much as I hate to tell my mother what happened because she might feel hurt, I can't keep it on my chest anymore. It is ripping at my heart.

"Saw who?"

"Dad." 

That one, single word causes many expressions to play on my mother's face but the one more prominent is hurt. I feel guilt settle in my stomach as my mother's face tightens with pain.