𝐏𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐧' 𝐆𝐮𝐲 ➺ 𝐵𝓇𝒾𝒶𝓃 𝑀𝒶𝓎 & 𝒬𝓊𝑒𝑒𝓃

(26) 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯

I think my parents came home during the night. I didn't remember hearing them when they arrived, but they were there and up by seven in the morning making breakfast.

"There she is!" My mum squealed at me as I dragged myself through into the kitchen, wearing nothing but Brian's button-up and some pyjama shorts. My eyes were still heavy and, if given the chance, I could have drifted off back to sleep against the doorframe. But I had no chance to, as my mum's perky voice hit me like a bucket of ice water.

"Here I am," I groaned, lowering myself onto a chair in the kitchen, letting my head fall into my palms. I didn't mean for my response to sound so drained and off-putting, but seriously. Could you blame me?

"Being down South has really made you miserable, Maria, liven up a bit!" She beamed as she slid my breakfast onto the plate in front of me. I grimaced as I looked upon it. "Don't give me that look, Maria Brennan, you used to love this when you were younger." She shook her head and returned to the counter. My eyes fixated on the avocado slop that was spread over some granary bread.

No, I used to give it to the dog when you weren't looking.

"Oh, yes. How silly." I put on some faux happiness as I lifted the mushy mess to my lips, taking a bite out of it. It didn't take long for me to adjust to the food, as I spent years as a teenager training my mouth not to spit it back out. I looked ahead of me as my mum sat down at the opposite side of the table with a cup of tea in her hand.

"So, you managed to get some money for the train then?"

I raised my eyebrows, picking at the bread. "Kinda." I noticed the stern look on my mum's face and retraced. "Kind of. I borrowed some money off B- I borrowed money off somebody."

She seemed to have missed my stutter, much to my relief, as she sipped on the tea. "Oh? That's nice. Was it Emma?"

"No." I shook my head, nibbling on a bit of bread. "It was someone else. A friend." I looked down at my plate. Lord, just take me now.

"It wasn't this boy you had mentioned a while back, is it? Because you know what boys want at the end of the day, and I'm not going to sit here and watch my little girl get messed around with by a Londoner-."

"He's not from London." I said with a sigh. "And he just gave me money because he knew I was struggling. Because somebody didn't help me out in the first place like I thought they would." I jabbed, looking back up. My mum's eyes were wide, as if she was actually shocked that I spoke to her like that, despite the tame choice of words.

"You are twenty-two years old. You aren't a child anymore."

"Exactly. So why aren't I allowed to have a boyfriend because my mum said so?" It had been 10 minutes and we were already arguing. A new record, if I do say so myself.

"So he is your boyfriend, then?" She nodded slowly, attempting to regain her posture.

"Pretty much." I nodded. "Where's dad? I want to talk to him." I stood up from my seat.

"Sit down, he's not even here. He's working."

I clenched my jaw and sat back down, crossing my arms like an angry teen. "I honestly don't see what the point of me coming back up here was when all you're going to do is pick my life apart – a life I have managed to make since leaving here."

"Oh yes, Maria, a life that consists of living in a disgusting university flat, and running around with a boy who will not help you in any way, shape or form."

"You don't know anything about him, mum!" I shouted, shocking her immensely. "You don't know what he's done for me! I've made new friends that I will keep forever and Brian is not going to mess me around. Brian is not just some boy in London. If you met him, you'd love him. I love him. And you're just going to have to deal with that."