Just as I Begin to Fade

Twenty Three. I'm Sorry

Later that evening, Gwen would come back home and Lindsey would still be with her mom.

She arched a brow as she entered the house and she noticed the two of them at the table, drinking wine and just chatting with smiles tugging at the corners of their mouths.

"Gwen, you're home," Stevie greeted her happily, more alert even. "There's some dinner... I had to make something for myself."

She sort of nodded.

"How did your night go?" she then wondered.

"Rent's paid..." she paused and then shrugged. "Guess that's all that matters, so good. So, you got her out of bed..." she looked over at her teacher.

He kind of nodded, looking at her with guilt only because he knew something very delicate; her father was dead and she didn't even know it.

He had also already promised Stevie that he would keep Gwen in the dark, even if he didn't want to he knew he had to.

"Great," she gave a thumbs up. "Guess we're feeling better?" she pulled her jacket off and set it on the back of the chair.

"Never better..." she shrugged with a small grin and she looked back over at Lindsey.

Gwen took a seat and she squinted her eyes into a slight narrow, kind of getting the idea that they did more than just talk---she just wasn't sure and she was having a hard time reading Lindsey simply because he was so closed off. She had never seen a more closed off man before, maybe that was what drew him to her in the beginning.

Noticing the teen's hard stare, noticing that she was trying to figure something out, he kind of nodded to himself and he picked up his glass to take a sip of water.

"So, Gwenie... I was thinking, you and me should do something Saturday night, what do you think about that?" the blonde rested her chin in her hand, looking across the table at her child.

"I'm not working," she shrugged. "What do you have in mind?"

"Well, I don't know. We can decide later on... But I just thought you and I should get out and hang out together."

"Sounds nice," Lindsey inserted his thoughts aloud only because he wanted the teen to conform for her mother's recovery's sake.

"Happy to oblige," she nodded in agreement.

"Will I see you tomorrow at school?" Lindsey asked of her.

"If you're okay with that, mom?" she looked over.

"Why are you asking me?" the blonde asked.

"What do you mean?" Gwen wondered. "You've kept me home this whole last week. You told me not to go to school which is why I was working from home. You needed me here, you said."

Stevie shook her head ever so slightly as she reached for her glass of whiskey, making eye contact with Lindsey.

"Gwen, I already told you... You don't have to lie to me. If you're not gonna show up, then don't. But tell me why you've been gone?"

"What did you tell him, mom? Because, I just told him the truth. You asked me to stay home this whole week and you told me to delete the messages from the school. In fact, you told me not to answer the phone," the girl pointed out.

The blonde stayed quiet and she arched her brow slightly, crossing her arms on the table.

The teen scoffed. "Unbelievable!" she stood and snatched her jacket before running to her room.

"Wait, Gwen, we can talk this out!" Lindsey assured, chasing after her and knocking on her door. "Gwen?"

She opened the door a crack. "Look, it doesn't matter if we can talk this out. She always has something negative to say about me... I may say negative things, but at least they're true. She lies about things and that was one of them. It's late and I don't want to talk. Depending on her mood; we'll see about school tomorrow."