The next day Ray woke up to his mother's quiet voice.

"Leslie, you're going to wake them up! Hey, give me that- Leslie!"

Ray opened his eyes and saw Leslie hiding his phone from Isabella who tried to take it, but to no avail. The boy looked around. Emma was still sleeping in the same position in which she fell asleep last night. Except now her face was too close to his neck and every time she released a breath, it sent shivers down his spine. He clicked his tongue and again turned his attention to his parents.

"What are you doing?" He asked quietly as to not wake up Emma.

Isabella and Leslie looked at him and smiled.

"Nothing." Responded Isabella.

"Good morning!" Greeted Leslie.

Ray rolled his eyes.

"Just get out of my room. Please."

Leslie sighed and Isabella poked him in the ribs.

"I told you!" She exclaimed as they made their way out.

The boy waited for them to walk out of his room, then looked back at Emma who moved slightly closer to him. The fact that it was morning didn't make things any better. In fact, it has made them harder and that was why Ray was so nervous.

He waited a little bit more, but Emma still didn't wake up. He tried calling her name, but it also didn't work. He finally gave up and moved her aside so he could stand up. As soon as he did that, the girl hugged his pillow and rolled to lay on her belly, kicking the blanket off her as she did so. In the meantime Ray strode over to the bathroom attached to his room and walked in as fast as possible to take a quick shower.

Half an hour later Ray was already dressed up and now sat at the edge of the bed with a towel on his head and his phone in hand. He has decided to write a message to Norman, explaining what has happened last night. He started to write, then deleted parts of the message. Then he wrote some more, but deleted that too. After a minute he put aside his phone, looking annoyed.

Actually, why was he even trying to explain those things to Norman? There was no point in that. After all, Norman didn't tell him how his short date with Emma went. To be exact, he didn't tell Ray anything about what was happening with him and Emma. He would often ramble about how beautiful and kind she is and how much he likes her, but nothing more than that.

Ray turned to look at the redhead who had just woken up and was now stretching her arms.

"Good morning, Emma." He greeted with a smile.

She returned the smile and sat up.

"Good morning." She replied after she yawned. Then she moved closer to Ray and reached out to put a hand on the back of his head.

"Emma, what are you-" He tried to question her and she responded with touching their foreheads.

'That again? Stop it already, Emma, I'm going to have a heart attack!'

The girl soon pulled back and nodded to herself, smiling proudly.

"I knew my methods would work!" She chirped. "But still, how are you feeling now?"

Ray raised his eyebrow. So she really did believe he was getting sick.

"I'm better now." He paused and then, in order to boost her ego a bit, added, "Thanks to you."

Emma was more than happy to hear that and jumped up.

"Okay!"

But after a moment she gasped and slapped her hand on her forehead.

"Oh no."

Ray looked at her quizzically.

"What is it? You forgot something?"

The girl nodded and sat back down next to him, grabbing his hand with her two hands. She looked so devastated that Ray started to think about all of the possible reasons why she was so sad.

"I'm sorry, Ray. I... Yesterday Norman and I ate all chocolates and I forgot to leave some for you."

Ray's expression was blank and now emshe/em started to panic that he was mad at her. He breathed in, then breathed out through his nose... And gave her one of those aggressive headpats of his.

"I thought it was something important!"

"Ow!" Emma exclaimed and puffed up her cheeks. "But it is important!"

"No, it isn't! We can still go to the store and buy another chocolate."

Emma stood up quickly and shook her head.

"No, I'll make it up to you! I promise!"

Ray sighed.

"Okay, if you really insist on doing that." He got up and proceeded to dry his hair with the towel. "Now let's go down for the breakfast."

Emma nodded with a smile and walked out of his room and towards the kitchen. Ray followed her and when they got there, he approached his mother and lowered his voice. Leslie was nowhere to be seen so he must have gone to work.

"What were you doing in my room earlier?"

"Leslie was trying to take pictures of you two so I went to stop him." Isabella explained, then smiled. "Though I don't really judge him. You were just too cute."

Ray's eyes widened in surprise. Then he shook his head.

"Next time Emma comes here, I'm going to lock the door." As he said that he sat down next to the redhead who was already eating the sandwiches that Isabella made earlier. Ray's face softened and he smiled slightly. "Don't eat so fast, you're going to choke on the food."

Emma looked at him with her mouth full, nodded and continued eating slower.

Ray took a sandwich and started eating while Isabella walked to stand behind him.

"And you are going to catch a cold if you walk around with wet hair." She said as she proceeded to rub his head with his towel.

"Mom, don't-" He tried to protest and it looked like he succeeded. Isabella froze on her spot with a surprised look on her face. Emma has also stopped eating and turned to look at Ray. It was just yesterday when he said that he's not on good terms with his mother and now he called her em'mom'/em. But that was a good thing after all, so Emma smiled and stood up.

Isabella and Ray, on the other hand, were too shocked to say anything.

"I think I have to go home now." The girl said and bent over to give a short hug to her friend. He nodded and got up slowly, then walked her to the front door. There, they exchanged another hug and when Emma went out, Ray walked back in the kitchen. His mother had a sad smile on her face. He hasn't seen her like that before. Most of the time she was either happy or serious. She has never looked sad about anything.

"Ray..." She finally said. She sounded like she would start crying. He didn't know what else to do, so he walked closer to her and embraced her. She returned the gesture and kissed his temple. Her next words came into a whisper. "I'm so glad you finally called me 'mom'."

As they stood like that, Ray stared at the wall in front of him. Maybe through the years he was being too harsh on her?

A part of him said, 'serves her right', but the other part was already thinking of ways to apologise for his cold demeanor towards her.

Maybe it was too much for her.

He finally turned his attention to Isabella and muttered guiltily, "I'm sorry about everything."

She looked at him and replied, "No, I should be the one to apologise. And I guess it's time to tell you why I left you 16 years ago."

Ray's eyes widened in surprise, but he quickly nodded and Isabella started talking.

"I gave birth to you when I was 19. But your father died a few days later and-"

Ray interrupted his mother.

"I remember that." He earned a shocked expression from Isabella after this statement. "I just want to know why you left me in the orphanage."

Isabella blinked away her tears as she cupped her son's cheeks in her palms.

"I'm terribly sorry about that, Ray. I used to think that I wouldn't be a good mother if I didn't have the resources to make your life normal. I didn't have parents or siblings whom I could turn to for help." That was the point when her voice broke. "Even Leslie was out of the country at that time and I couldn't reach him. I didn't know what else to do."

Ray stood silent for a while, trying to process what Isabella said. He couldn't understand how his mother, who was capable of doing housework and at the same time work part-time as a caretaker, couldn't take care of her child and work simultaneously.

He released a shaky sigh and finally replied, "Maybe I'm really still too young to understand you. But I'll try to understand. I promise."

Now it was his mother who poured out her feelings, occasionally repeating em'I'm sorry'/em, and Ray comforting her as he caressed her back.

At least he knew that he wasn't the only one who suffered through these years. And now that he finally learned the truth, he felt like a little part of his pain has disappeared.