AN: OK. Sorry this is super short and boring, but alas it's just another filler. Swear the next one will be better! Thanks for reading :-)
11.
Connor's POV.
After Imogen opened up to me last night, we walked to the beach and watched the stars as they flickered into view, expertly brightening up the deep blue sky. We both agreed that we never wanted this moment to end, and happy in each other's company, we didn't realise the night drawing on. It was silent, and it was lovely, until the unexpected sound of Imogen's message alert made us both jump.
"Connor, its midnight!" Imogen jumped up.
"What? Don't be daft! We've not even been here long." I was confused but way too relaxed to rush around like that.
"We must have fallen asleep, come on, we'll have to get going. My mum is going to kill me." The young girl rambled.
"Imogen, breathe. Just sleep at mine and then in the morning just tell her you fell asleep and forgot to ring her. Sorted!" I was stood up now, and noticing Imogen shivering slightly from the now bitterly cold night air, whipped off my jacket and draped it gently around her shoulders.
"What about your mum?"
I hadn't thought of her. My mum and Imogen had never seen eye to eye, I wasn't sure why, but it was more than likely my mums fear of me getting close to someone and shattering her image into a million pieces. It didn't matter now, though, she was sober, and I was confident that she was going to stick to it this time. "She has no say in the matter, really. She'll probably be in bed and I'll just deal with her questions in the morning. Anyway," We started walking back to my house, hand in hand. "I'll just say you kidnapped me and kept me against my will." Smiling cheekily, I stole a quick kiss on the side of her cheek. When we finally got back to my house, our luck was in. Mum was in bed, and we managed to get in without making any noise. I showed Imogen to my room, and passed her an oversized t-shirt of mine to sleep in.
"It's going to be awkward in the morning." she told me. I reassured her that it would be alright, but deep down I was absolutely dreading it.
X
A light breeze danced into my room through the slightly open window. Under the duvet, Imogen and I slept peacefully, a pile of entangled limbs. I was just waking up as I heard a bang on my door.
"Time to get up, son. If you bothered to come home last night…" Mum shouted, clearly annoyed at me. Shit, I thought, its times like these when I preferred her as a drunk, she didn't care. I shook the stupid idea out of my head. It's my worst nightmare for her to start drinking again; I don't think I could deal with that, not at all.
"Morning." Imogen was awake now.
"I'm so tired." She yawned, shifting to see in my mirror. She groaned. "Look at the state of me."
To be honest, I thought she looked as perfect as ever. "You look gorgeous, what are you on about? Oh, and, erm, I haven't told my mum that you're here yet."
"What do you think she'll say?"
I mulled it over in my head. "I don't know… I'm 17, she can hardly say anything, and anyway, it's not like we did anything wrong is it?"
"Yeah, but you didn't ask her, it's her house isn't it, and I bet she's not too happy about you not coming home last night."
I let out a groan of frustration and threw myself back onto my bed. "Do I have to?"
"What am I going to do, sneak out of your window?"
"It's an idea." I said, giving her my most charming smile.
"Go!" she laughed. She looked indescribably perfect when she laughed. "I have to go home as soon as possible so I can get my uniform!" I scowled, grabbing the first t-shirt from my cluttered floor and made my way downstairs, leaving the loveliest girl in the world alone in my bed.
X
The faintest smell of burnt toast hit my nostrils as I got to the kitchen. Mum was sat at the table reading the newspaper, humming along casually to the radio in the background. Bracing myself, I entered, grabbing a glass of water.
"Oh… so the wanderer returns." I rolled my eyes, careful not to let her see, as I wanted to be on her good side for when I told her my girlfriend was upstairs. "I was starting to forget you existed."
Sitting down on the opposite side, I groaned. "Don't exaggerate. I just lost track of time, that's all."
"You're still grounded." She got up and threw the viciously burnt toast into the bin. I was dying to say something back, but remembering Imogen upstairs, I bit my tongue.
Casually, I said "Alright." and drank the rest of the stale tasting water. She eyed me, suspiciously.
"What? No sarcastic comment, no argument?"
I just shook my head.
"What are you after?"
"Nothing… it's just that… well…" I stuttered. It shouldn't be this hard to tell her! I don't even think she'll be that bothered about it.
Narrowing her eyebrows and giving me that steely glare that she had perfected over the years, she wouldn't let it go. "Spit it out, then."
I sighed. "Okay, but don't kick off, right? I would have asked you last night but you were in bed-"
Cutting me off, mum smiled. "Do you think I'm daft?"
"What?"
"I know Imogen's here, you idiot."
Acknowledging the sheer amount of confusion that must have been etched all over my face, she explained.
"I don't own a pair of Doc Martens and I'm pretty sure you don't." she chuckled, gesturing towards the bottom of the stairs, where I'd completely forgotten about Imogen's shoes. "Don't worry about it. Just ask me next time, yeah?" She pulled out two mugs from the cupboard and dropped a tea bag into each, before kissing me on the head and adding "Make her a cuppa, then! And hurry up and get ready for school, you've both got an English test today." She left, leaving me wondering who she was and what she'd done with my mum!
