The Way Back to You
Chapter 16
Drew walked into the house, tired after football practice. He dropped his stuff next to the door and moved toward the kitchen, when he noticed two figures asleep on the couch.
He crossed the room to see Adam and Fiona, both fast asleep in each other's arms. He wasn't sure what to think about Fiona being back in town. Adam hadn't told him all the details surrounding their break up, but he knew it wasn't pretty. He had to watch his brother walk around the house and school as a shell of himself for weeks.
He was finally starting to get better. Go figure she would choose now to return to his life.
"Adam," he said. He shook his little brother's arm when he didn't move. "Adam, wake up."
Fiona stirred first. Adam didn't open his eyes until she sat up. "Hey, Drew," she said.
"Hi," Drew responded curtly. He didn't look at her, instead keeping his eyes on Adam. "Can we talk?"
"Yeah." Adam turned to Fiona and kissed her softly. "I'll be right back," he whispered.
Drew rolled his eyes as they leaned in for another kiss. He grabbed his brother's arm and dragged him off of the couch and to the kitchen.
"Ow! What's your problem?" Adam demanded, pulling his arm free.
"My…" Drew began, shaking his head. "What's wrong with you? Why is she here?"
Adam shrugged. "She has a long weekend," he said as if that explained everything.
"And, what, the only place she had to sleep is on top of you?"
"We fell asleep," Adam said simply.
"She broke your heart, Adam," Drew said, trying to remain calm.
"She didn't… Drew, I broke up with her."
"It doesn't matter who broke up with who!" Drew was yelling now. "I saw you. I saw what it did to you."
"There was a misunderstanding…"
"There was another guy. There's no misunderstanding that."
"No, there wasn't."
"Adam, I saw the tweet. Everyone did."
Adam visibly flinched at the memory of how less than 140 characters changed everything. He shook his head and opened his mouth to speak when the front door slammed.
"It's too early for Mom to be home," Drew said, looking at his watch.
Adam took off for the living room. As he feared, Fiona was gone, along with her bag and coat. It was unseasonably cold for November, but he didn't bother to grab his jacket as he went after her. She was already half way down the block.
"Fiona!" he called, running down the street to catch up with her. She didn't slow down, so he sped up until he caught her arm to stop her. "Fi, what's wrong?"
She hesitated a moment before she turned to look at him. She was crying. "I'm sorry, Adam. I'm so sorry."
He shook his head, clearly confused. "What?"
"I hurt you. I hurt you so badly and I… I didn't even realize what I was doing."
He shook his head again, reaching out to put his arms around her. "Fi, it's ok."
"No." She stepped away from him. "I broke your heart."
"Fiona," he whispered, reaching for her hand. She tried to pull herself free again but he kept his hold on her. "It's ok," he told her again. "I'm ok."
"It's not ok," she said. "It's not gonna be ok. Your brother hates me."
"He doesn't hate you."
"I heard you guys yelling. About me."
"Who cares what Drew thinks? He'll forget all about this once he finds something shiny to focus on."
She laughed despite herself. "Drew's the easy one though. Your parents… I'm sure they hate me."
Adam shook his head once more as he took her in his arms. "I don't see how anyone could possibly hate you."
"There are a few people who would disagree with you."
"Does it really matter?"
"But your mom…"
"She'll get over it." He pulled her closer to him, holding onto her tightly.
"I doubt it'll be that easy."
He pulled back slightly to look at her. "I'm not giving her a choice. Unless she wants to lose me."
"Adam," Fiona said in a warning tone.
"I'm not losing you," he told her. "Not again."
0o-0o-0o-0o
Adam checked his watch as he sat on the couch with Fiona. His mother was due home any minute.
"Relax," Fiona told him, squeezing his hand softly.
He turned his head to look at her. "I'm fine."
"Liar," she whispered, leaning in to kiss him softly.
He jumped when the front door opened and quickly stood to face his mother. "There's some groceries in the car," Audra told him, not looking at him as she took off her coat. "Do you mind-" she cut herself short when she looked up and saw Fiona standing in middle of her living room.
"Hi, Mrs. Torres."
The two women looked at each other in silence. "Adam," Audra finally said, sounding as if she was choking on something. "Groceries. Please."
Adam opened his mouth to speak when Fiona's hand slipped out of his. She gave him a tiny nudge and tilted her head towards the door. "Go," she said softly.
He hesitated, not taking his eyes off his mother before he slowly walked out of the house.
With Adam gone, the room fell onto an uncomfortable silence.
"Drew," Audra called up the stairs after a moment.
"He's not here," Fiona said without thinking. She inhaled quickly when the other woman turned to look at her, her eyes shooting daggers. "He went to Bianca's."
"Of course. We'll be having dinner in about thirty minutes. You're welcome to stay," Audra offered, though the infliction in her voice told Fiona different.
"I would love to, Mrs. Torres," Fiona said politely. "Thank you."
Audra just nodded. "I'll go set a place at the table for you."
Fiona watched her boyfriend's mother leave the room. After a moment, Adam returned, both of his arms full of bags. She laughed and walked over to him, taking a couple bags. "Did you get it all?"
He nodded. "Yep."
She laughed again, shaking her head as they walked into the kitchen and Adam dropped the sacks of food he help onto the table while Fiona put the bags she held on the counter. She had been in his house enough to know where they kept the cereal, so she began putting the groceries away.
After a few minutes of unpacking the bags in silence, Adam laughed.
"What?" she asked.
Still smiling, he held up a bottle of whipped cream.
She raised her eyebrows suggestively, smiling as he walked over to her and kissed her. "Be good," she warned, pulling away from him. "We need to get through dinner before we can have dessert."
To be continued…