"You're home early," I say, entering our kitchen to find my mother hovering over the stove. She turns to face me with bloodshot eyes, she looks frail and weak.
"You're home late." She states, letting out a weak sigh before turning back around so that she isn't facing me.
"Yeah, I was tutoring..." My voice trails off as I am unsure of what to say. If I bring up her appearance, she will probably be mad and shout at me. I wait for a few seconds to see if she will reply but she doesn't. Turning around to leave the room with the awkward atmosphere, I bump into my Joe. I step back in shock before grabbing his arm and pulling him into the sitting room, so that our mother couldn't hear us.
"What's wrong with her?" I ask Joe in a hushed tone, in case she heard me. Joe looks confused for a second before he clicks into realisation.
"She lost her job," He replies whilst running a hand through his messy blond hair, which is something that Ashton does quite regulary.
"What?!" I exclaim in shock. I thought that my mother was one of the best nurses at the hospital, what could have possibly happened to cause her to lose her job?
"Yeah," Joe lets out a heavy sigh. "I heard her on the phone to dad, he was yelling at her for what happened."
"Which is...?"
"I don't know, she probably won't tell us." He replies.
"It must have been something big," I say before crossing my arms over my chest, thinking about what could have happened but I honestly have no idea.
"Let's just leave it." Joe says casually, shrugging his shoulders as if he doesn't care.
"This is our mum, we can't just leave it." I reply, beginning to feel agitated with my brother. How could he not even care about this?
"She won't tell us so it doesn't matter," He takes his phone out of his back pocket before reading the time. "I'm going now,"
"What? No!" I exclaim, grabbing his arm for the second time. "You can't just leave me with her."
"I have football training." He states, pulling out of my grip and I glare at him.
"So, football is more important than family?" I call out as he opens the front door. He ignores me by slamming the door shut behind him.
A few moments later, somebody knocks on the door and I open it expecting to see Joe. I get a shock when I see Niall, wearing pretty much the exact same clothes as he did when he last visited on Saturday. A lit cigarette is hanging from his lips and I can smell it from here. I push his chest lightly so that I can stand outside with him. If my mother saw a boy with a cigarette, she would flip out. Niall awkwardly stands there before he pulls the horrible thing out of his mouth, as if knowing that I will tell him off.
"What's up?" I ask, wondering why he is paying me a visit. I cross my arms over my chest, trying to keep myself warm from the harsh winds.
"I need relationship advice," He tells me with a sigh and I burst out laughing. I couldn't help it. Niall raises one eyebrow as if to ask 'why are you laughing?'
"I'm sorry, sorry." I apologize, still laughing a little. "But why are you coming to me for advice?"
"My guy friends will take the piss out of me. You're a girl and you've probably had a lot of experience." At this, I start laughing again.
"I've never had a relationship, Niall." I say once the laughter has died down, a small smile on my lips and I watch as his eyes widen and his jaw drops open.
"You're joking, right?" Niall asks in shock, his voice sounding higher than usual. I start to feel embarrassed, as if he's judging me for never having a relationship.
