Being the Little Sister ♡ New Beginnings Spin-Off

9. A Perfect Mess

After we leave the lodge we head home and luckily for us my brother was still out with his snow bunnies so we don't have to face a bazillion questions from him about why we were out together all day. 

We ignore each other the rest of the night only talking over dinner with my parents that's interrupted by my brother's return. Afterwards, I lock myself in my room and fall asleep doing homework that I had procrastinated doing because I had put all my faith in having a snow day. 

I wake up the next morning with an unattractive spiral pressed into my face from my notebook and drool on the pages of my Spanish book. "Lovely" I groan, sitting up and rubbing the kinks out of my neck. I glance at the clock and notice that I've woken up earlier than usual, leaving me time to take a quick shower before breakfast. 

I shower and change into a pair of jeans and a light pink v-neck sweater, pairing the look with a pair of gray booties and applying the lightest coat of make-up before finally heading downstairs to find Caleb sitting at the table eating a bowl of Lucky Charms in his pajama pants. "What? I get dressed for once in my life and you finally decide pajamas are allowed at breakfast?" I tease, swiping the box of cereal off the counter and grabbing a bowl down from the cabinet. 

Caleb laughs. "I was starving so I thought I'd break my own rule for once" he explains as I take a seat across from him and pour my cereal into the bowl. "What about you? I was getting used to the comfy look."

"I uh fell asleep while doing my homework and needed to fix myself before I was seen by anyone" I explain, reaching for the milk in the center of the table. 

"Well, you look really nice Sky."

I can't help the blush that rises on my cheeks. "Thanks Caleb." Silence hangs around us after that until finally the sounds of my parent's voices flow down the steps following them until they reach the kitchen and stop dead in their tracks, staring at the two of us eating breakfast together. 

"Oh. Good morning kids" my mom smiles while my dad stands beside her with a smirk on his lips. Sometimes I wished I could have normal parents who didn't want their daughter to date.  

"Morning Mr & Mrs. Matthews" Caleb greets them. "Hope we aren't crashing any romantic breakfast plans" he jokes. My mom laughs, waving him off. 

"We said goodbye to romantic meals when we had kids" she insists, taking a seat beside me while my dad sits beside Caleb. "How are the two of you this morning?"

"Fine" I shrug while Caleb nods across from me. 

"Hm" my dad hums. "How was sledding?"

"Fine" Caleb replies while a blush rises on my cheeks. Sledding was more than fine. Yesterday would probably go down in history as one of the best days of my life. 

"Okay" my mom concedes. "Well, what's new then? Anything?" she asks, folding her hands in front of her. I know she's trying to get us to admit that something happened between us yesterday but there was something else much more pressing that needed to be dealt with. 

"Caleb's parents aren't coming back anytime soon" I blurt out. Caleb's eyes widen as he begins to stare daggers at me in anger. I knew he didn't want me to ask my parents to extend their hospitality but I wasn't going to let him couch surf until his mom decided to stop drinking. 

"What?" my dad asks in shock. Clearly no one was expecting me to say anything this serious. "Is that true?" he asks Caleb. Caleb finally looks away from me and nods, turning to look at my dad. 

"Yea, it's true. My dad is sort of out of the picture right now and my mom" he pauses. I reach under the table and place my hand on his thigh and his face softens as he glances over at me. He reaches his hand under the table and takes mine in his before he continues. "My mom is sort of battling a drinking problem."