Being the Little Sister ♡ New Beginnings Spin-Off

26. Xoxo

*Gossip Girl Spoilers Ahead. Don't say I didn't warn you. Xoxo.*

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The doorbell won't stop ringing. I finally lift my head off my pillow and look at the clock on the nightstand. It's just past ten a.m. which means that I've been asleep for about...two hours. Ugh. I shouldn't have agreed to have a movie marathon with Caleb last night but when he told me that he'd never watched either of the To All the Boys movies and suggested that we watch them together, I couldn't say no. Even if it led to a disagreement over who's better with Lara Jean.

I climb out of bed and pad across my bedroom floor, pulling my bedroom door open at the same time that my brother's door opens. Jackson pokes his head out, his eyes seemingly struggling to adjust to the sun. "Do you hear that too?" He asks.

I nod, sighing as I retreat back into my room to change. I didn't want to get out of my pajamas but if we had company-. "Dude, it's probably just a girl scout or something" Jackson says dismissively to who I can only assume is Caleb.

"They don't go door to door anymore" he replies and then he's off down the hall.

I quickly change into a pair of leisure shorts and a camisole, following his path across the hall and down the stairs. He's pulling open the front door when I reach the third to last step revealing his mother. I stop in my tracks. "Good morning!" She's chipper and seemingly sober.

"Mom. It's ten a.m."

"And?" She brushes past my boyfriend and I finish my decent of the stairs and stop beside him as she makes her way across my living room.

"Did you know she would be here this early?" I ask, crossing my arms over my chest and looking over his shoulder to watch her. She was looking at things in my living room like they're museum exhibits. She picks up a small lion statute that Liam had gotten mom and dad for their anniversary a few years back and looks at it like it's the damn heart of the ocean.

"She doesn't realize how early it is" he mutters, eyeing me out of the corner of his eye while keeping most of his attention on his mother. "She hasn't gone to bed yet."

I furrow my eyebrows, continuing to observe his mother. I notice the slight sway to her walk and her rosy cheeks. My stomach churns. She was drunk. To the blind eye you wouldn't even tell but the signs were there and plain to see once they were pointed out. And she had driven here. I tear my gaze from her to Caleb and shake my head defiantly. "You're not leaving with her."

"What?" He finally meets my gaze. "Sky-."

"Do you love me?" I ask him, my gaze unwavering.

He doesn't miss a beat. "Of course I do."

"Then do not make me sit idly by while you get into a car with your drunk, alcoholic mother."

Suddenly laughter erupts from the back hall of the house, interrupting our tense conversation and grabbing the attention of Caleb's mother all at once. My parents stop, my dad's arms around her waist and her cheeks aflame. It was nauseating how in love they were. "Oh. We didn't think anyone would be awake."

"Or visiting" Dad adds, releasing his grip around mom's waist and moving himself to her side. He keeps a hand on her hip.

"I just came to pick up my boy" Heather says, a beaming, confident smile on her lips. "He's been in your hair long enough" she adds with a laugh.

I bite my tongue but there's others who don't pretend to be as polite. "Long enough, is that how you describe how long you were away on your booze cruise?" We all turn our heads to look at Jackson as he steps off the stairs and approaches us. He's dressed casually in a pair of gray sweats and an old ratty baseball sweatshirt. "So, no girl scout cookies?" He asks Caleb with a teasing smile.