By the way, I've changed this story genre from romance/general to romance/angst. You'll have to bear with me, I'm afraid. I'm not totally sure how this will end up.

Chapter 6.

Such vivid dreams! I almost expected her to be there when I woke up. I was definitely disappointed that she wasn't. Even worse, I was awoken by Andrew and David Michael screaming from the kitchen for waffles at the top of their lungs. Okay, so usually I don't mind that. But this time it bothered me. Because I wanted to let my mind wander. I wanted to think of nothing but Abby. 'Well,' I thought, 'why shouldn't I? They can't sue me for sleeping in on a Sunday.'

Of course, I couldn't actually sleep. But that was okay. You really don't need to be asleep to dream. And yes, I did hear all the younger kids ask (loudly) where I was, and yes, I did hear Mum and Watson tell them I'd been out late and I must be tired so they should let me sleep. I also heard Charlie and Sam ask how late, where I was, who I was with and a whole lot of other questions that were none of their damn business, obviously trying to get some info on my new 'guy'. Mum told them I was out with Abby, and I could hear the dissatisfaction in Charlie's voice as he replied.

"Are you sure? They were barely even speaking in the car home yesterday."

"Well, they were out a long time, maybe they were trying to sort things out."

"I suppose."

Thankfully, he didn't really have time to question further. He had an early date.

I felt a tiny bit guilty about the little kids. I mean, I always play with them on a Sunday; it's practically the only day that I have that's almost always free. But I just didn't want to today. I wanted to be lost in my own world. So I decided not to worry about it.

At noon, Mum came up to see if I was okay. Sleeping all morning is not usually my thing, unless I'm ill, and she was worried about me. Hard to say if she was less worried when she found me sitting on my bed, hugging myself and grinning, very much up but still in my pyjamas. She sat down on my bed, like she does when she wants to talk. I braced myself. She went straight for the kill. It's a family trait.

"Charlie seems to think you and Abby were fighting yesterday."

"I know." I answered, wondering exactly how little information I could get away with not giving. She waited, and then rolled her eyes when it became obvious that I had stopped speaking.

"Well, were you?"

"No."

"Then why would he think you were?" She wasn't going to just let it go. I was going to have to offer up a little more than this.

"We had just got out of a long job for a large family, we were both tired, and Abby has a lot on her mind at the moment. Charlie misjudged. We did tell him we were both fine." Well, it wasn't a total lie. I mean, Abby did have a lot on her mind. I just failed to mention that I did, too. Mum looked at me closely for a moment and then seemed to make her decision. She nodded.

"Okay. Are you coming downstairs at some point?"

"Sure," I answered, desperate to just get out of this conversation. The thing about my mother is that when she implies that she believes you, she can still make you feel like you're under suspicion. I used to love watching her do it to my brothers. I don't like it quite so much now that she does it to me, too. But then, I know she wouldn't if I told her the absolute truth about everything, all the time.

She left the room giving me a long look before she shut the door, and I sighed. Realising that my day to myself was officially over, I took a shower, and then got dressed. I combed through my hair, leaving it wet, and went slowly downstairs.