Because of You

Chapter 22

It had been two weeks... we hadn't heard from Christopher. Mom's house seemed empty without all his stuff in it. I sighed and sat down on the couch, looking around. It seemed so lonely. I felt awful that my mom had to live here by herself... but at least she wasn't in a fake relationship anymore. I carved a pattern on the green, velvet couch. My mom was a sort of outdated designer.

I heard a creak and looked up to see my mom leaning in the doorway. She smiled softly at me. "I've told you Wendy. You don't need to worry about me. This is going to be better for the both of us."

We hadn't even been talking that long and already she was always reading my mind. "I'm not worrying," I lied.

"I never said thank you... for what you said."

"You don't need to thank me."

"But I want to. I'm so proud of you Wendy. Even if I've never said it I really am. You've grown so much."

I smiled at her and pulled myself up to give her a hug. We just stood there for awhile giving each other support. Then my mom pulled away, a mischievous look on her face. "Now onto another important matter. How's it going with Jayden??"

I laughed and opened my mouth to reply when my phone buzzed on the couch. I picked it up and checked the text.

Jay🙃:
Hey Wenny I have a surprise for you, but you don't seem to be home!

I went to reply excitedly. What did he have planned? I paused and looked up at my mom. "It's going really well... he actually just texted me," I said, trying to hint that I needed to go.

She laughed and nodded her head towards the door. "Go," she said.

I hugged her and ran out the door, texting him that I was heading home. When I got there Jay was waiting on my doorstep. I ran up to him. I could see him struggling to keep something hidden behind his back. "What's hiding back there?" I asked suspiciously.

"I was wondering — since your house has been seeming kind of lonely — if you'd welcome a new friend?"

I raised an eyebrow at him, curious but confused. Cautiously he slid his hand out from behind his back and cradled in his arms... a little kitten! He was grey and super fluffy. He squirmed around in Jayden's arms and let out a tiny mew. My heart melted and I reached for him gently. Jay handed him to me.

"J-Jayden he's adorable!"

Jayden smiled. "I thought you would like him. He needs a name though."

"Hmmm. How about... Toby."

Toby looked up and grabbed my face, nibbling me on the nose. I giggled poking his little tummy. He was definitely a frisky one. I opened my front door and we walked in. I let Toby jump to the floor to explore. "This is your new home Tobes!"

Jayden put his arm around me and squeezed my shoulder. I smiled up at him. He smiled back down at me. He was right; my house was awfully lonely. I used to be completely ok with that. But then Jayden came along. I sighed and he looked at me funny. "I'm fine. Just thinking about how lonely my house really is... and how lonely my moms house is now... and I lied I'm not fine," I said nearly breaking down at the end.

Jayden pulled me in closer, breathing into my hair. "I thought you liked being alone."

"This is your fault you doofus I did like being alone," I said punching him playfully on the stomach. He grinned at me and ruffled my hair.

"I gotta go, but I'll see you later k? Have fun with Toby!" He pecked me on the lips and walked out to his car. I watched him go and then sighed happily. Yeah Mom, Jayden and I were doing great. I shut the door softly and tiptoed over to Toby, scooping him up and laughing when he attacked my shoulder. Things were definitely looking up. Christopher might have caused a lot of problems, but my mom and I, we could fix them. And Jayden might not have known, but everything he was doing was helping a whole lot too.

When I thought of Jayden I realized he hadn't told me why he had to leave. Usually he would say "I've gotta go help Nina at the dance studio if I want a paycheck" or "I'm running low on groceries so I need to go shopping" or something, but this time he had just said he needed to go. I was most likely just overthinking everything, but I wondered if he had something planned...