Chasing the Sun [Jaythan/Vampire] AU

Chapter Sixteen

Jay’s POV

Maybe it was because I haven’t seen her in almost a month. This has been the longest I haven’t seen my mother and it made me feel guilty that I didn’t invite her over sooner. “What do you think of the place?” I ask as I watch her make breakfast. She’s making my favorite and I felt bad that I wouldn’t be able to eat it. Maybe I could try and I would excuse myself to the washroom and hope she wouldn’t hear me spewing in the toilet.

“It’s what I expect from a twenty year old.” She says. “The walls are empty, there’s no food in the fridge or cabinets. The only furniture you have is a TV, a couch, a bed and one dresser. I was expecting it to be a mess but I’m guessing you cleaned up before I got here.”

“It’s always clean.” I say. It was, honestly. “I’m never around; I’m busy at my new job.”

“Where do you work?” She asks as she flips the eggs.

“Just down the street.”

“As what?” She says. “You never told me what your job was. You were too busy packing to mention it.”

I sit on the counter and she pesters me to get off but I don’t budge. “I’m a bartender.”

“A bartender, are you serious?” She asks with a raised brow. “And you manage to pay a home bill with a bartender’s salary?”

“The pay is good, mum.” I explain. “I have only been paid once but I can stock up my fridge.”

“That’s funny because I don’t see anything in the fridge.”

“I eat at work.” I say. “I work nights and I sleep day.”

“No wonder, you’re pale as a sheet.” She touches my cheek. “You’re skinny too.”

“I haven’t been feeling well the past few weeks. I think it’s the apartment, no one’s been living here for a couple months before me.” The first part was true, I haven’t been feeling well. The second part, I’m not sure about. But mum has no interests in people she doesn’t know so she’ll leave the subject alone. “I’m fine now.”

“What is that?” She points to my neck where the bite marks were. Over the past couple weeks they healed and now they looked like two birth marks. “Is that a hickey?”

She gets hickey instead of a brown mark on my skin. It was a little red but it didn’t look like a love mark. “No, mum.” I say, reacting instinctively and covering the spot.

“Are you seeing somebody?” She asks with a smile.

That got to me, I smiled. “No.”

“You liar, how dare you lie to your mother.” She says poking me with a fork. “Is he cute?”

I must’ve not mentioned it before but mum is the only person who knows I’m gay in the family. Dad would’ve gone crazy by now and my siblings would not live it down. It’s not that they are against it; they just have this tendency to make fun of things that I do. When I was in the school play and I got the singing part, they would burst out singing at any given time and it annoyed the hell out of me. I’m not always the target, they are times when I’m playing along but when I am I’m not a good sport about it.

“Mum, please.” I cover my face with my hands and I could feel my face is turning red.

“Answer your mum.” She says patting my cheek.

“He is.” I say with a sigh. She smiles brightly and completely forgets about the eggs that started to have a brown shade to them. “You’re burning my food.”

“How old is he?” I’m not sure exactly, a couple centuries I let you know when I ask him.

“Nineteen, I think.” I say. Maybe I should ask Nathan how old he is or at least how old he says he is.

“You think?” She says with a hand on her waist.

“I’ve only just met him mum.” And I’ve completely fallen in love with him.

“It’s good to know how old he is on the first date.”

“We’ve haven’t gone on a date yet.”

“How did you meet him?”

“At work,” I admit while looking at the floor.

“Let me guess, he had you with ‘a beer, please’.” She says with a fake dreamy tone. I poke her side and she slaps my hand away. “What is he, the boy or the girl in what you call a relationship?”

“Mum, please stop it!” I jump off the counter. She turns off the stove and pours the egg on the plate and goes ahead with another batch. “I’m only curious.”

“I don’t know. Okay?”

“Okay.” She sighs loudly and flips the egg. We watch the egg sizzle until she flips it again. “Are you safe at least?”

“I can’t be around you!” I say loudly and storm out of the room.

“I’d like to meet him!” She replies back. “I’ll be the judge if he’s a keeper or not.”

“I asked him to come tonight. He works early and goes to school in the afternoon. He’s an office worker at some place and he has good grades.” I came up with that while I was taking a shower this morning. Great, huh?

“An office worker at nineteen?” She says. “You would think somebody his age would work in a store or in a bar.” She says, poking my stomach.

“Yeah, maybe.”

“How are his parents?” Shit, I didn’t come up with that one.

“I don’t know.” I say quickly. “He hasn’t mentioned them.”

“Have you mentioned me?” She says sucking in her teeth.

“Of course I have, mum.”

“Well if he hasn’t mentioned his parents, he probably has family issues.”

“Now how would you know that?” I walk back into the kitchen. I lean against the wall and cross my arms across my chest. “You haven’t even met him yet.”

“You mentioned me and I raised you right.” I laugh and shake my head. She smiles and winks back at me. She finishes up. She takes our plates and hands mine to me. “You need a table.” She says as we sit in front of the TV and watch her favorite channel. Mum gets bored with the news easily and I’m glad that she hasn’t heard about the attacks or she would be asking me to move back in with her and dad.

We’re quiet while she is eating. She looks at me and then down at my plate. “Is it not the way you like it, dear?”

“It’s perfect mum.” I say and kiss her cheek. I look down at my food and take a bite of bacon. My stomach churns but it doesn’t hurt. I take another bite and wait for it to come out. It doesn’t. My stomach is holding. We continue watching her show when I look at her and she looks at me.

“What?”

“I love you mum.” I say just above a whisper.

“Don’t tell me you have cancer.” She says, putting down her plate.

“I don’t have cancer.” I say. She lets out a sigh of relief.

“Then what is it?” I shake my head and kiss her cheek again.

“I just want to tell you that I appreciate and I’m thankful to call you my mum.” She smiles and touches her chest with her hand. She leans in closer and puts a hand on my shoulder.

“Be thankful of your dad’s sperm.”

“Mum!”