A/N: Chapter 8! It's a short one, but it's here!

One thing I'm suddenly very happy about is that I planned every chapter of this story even before I started publishing chapters (although many of them have been revisited since coming back to this story after my hiatus)

. It makes it so much easier to continue writing and having motivation because you now what you're supposed to do, so to say. Anyway… Hope you'll like this.

TW: Drug abuse

Chapter 8

After eating the newly baked cookies, a few sandwiches, and drinking plenty of coffee, Padmé and Jobal walked back to their own home after a very nice time at the Skywalker house. And just like Anakin had predicted to Padmé a few hours earlier when they had driven down to Santa Monica, Jobal and Shmi had indeed bonded over their shared love of baking and home cooked meals, and they had instantly found a great companionship with each other.

While walking the few meters between the two houses, Padmé suddenly felt a nudge in her side. Turning towards the right where her mom walked beside her, she then realized that her mother had elbowed her. And on her elegant face she wore a grin wider than the Cheshire Cat's, and her eyes possibly gleamed with mischief. "What?" Padmé asked in a tone that came out slightly to offensive, making her instantly cringe internally. "So smooth Padmé," she thought to herself.

"Oh nothing!" Her mom replied, pausing to bit her lower lip, clearly a desperate attempt to not burst out laughing right there and then. "Just… So who's the boy Padmé?"

At her question Padmé immediately blushed, turning red as a lobster.

"Huu… wha.. You- You just talked to him yourself! What do you mean who's the boy?!"

And then Jobal had the audacity to burst out laughing (at least if you asked Padmé), and if possible, Padmé turned even redder. She could practically feel the heat emit from her body.

"Oh Padmé! Of course I know who he is! He's Shmi's son, and our new neighbor. It's just too much fun to tease and rile you up! Your dad and I seldomly have the chance to because you're always so put together Padmé! Please just let me have this moment!" She then started laughing more.

"Hmph," was the only answer Padmé gave her mom as she crossed her arms over her chest, looking anywhere but at her mom.

"But seriously," Her mom's voice cut in again. "You went out with him. At 9 AM on a Sunday. I have no idea where you two were, but when the two of you walked through that kitchen door, it looked like you had had a lot of fun. Tell me!"

They had had a lot of fun. Padmé couldn't disagree with that. But she was for sure not going to tell her mom that. There would be too many questions. Jobal Naberrie could for sure be pushy when she wanted to be.

And her sister wasn't any better. "Oh god! If she finds out, she's never going let me live it down," Padmé thought. At least her dad respected boundaries, unlike her mom and sister.

"There's not much to tell. We went down to Santa Monica. To the pier you know. We bought milkshakes and rode some carousels. That's it!"

"Not much to tell?! To me that's quite a lot to tell," Jobal exclaimed vocally.

Padmé just shrugged her shoulders, which only made her mom even more eager to continue her tirade. "Well did you at least enjoy your… date," Jobal asked, enjoying the moment a little too much as she put extra emphasis on the word 'date' after her extended pause (just for dramatics, of course).

"MOM!" Padmé shouted flabbergasted, before remembering to lower her voice as they weren't that far away from the other house (and the kitchen window that she was sure had been open during the whole time, and was still open). "It was not a date!" She bit back through gritted teeth.

"Well you two both looked very happy, and sorry sweetie, but… He was quite a handsome fella. Good catch Padmé."

"MOM!" was once again shouted from Padmé.

The rest of the walk was spent silence, except for Jobal's occasional snickers coming out through the wide grin that she was almost desperately trying to hide from her daughter. With minimal look however, is worth of note.

•••

"She was cute," Shmi said to Anakin, the two of them still sitting together at the kitchen table, although now in silence since their neighborly guests had left for their own abode.

"Hmm," Anakin uttered, snapped out of his thoughts at the sound of his his mother's voice. He had heard her, but not what she had said. Tense blue eyes met warm brown ones.

"I said, she was cute," Shmi uttered, and a small timid smile came across her face as she tilted her head to the side. Shmi knew this was caution territory to step into, but she desperately wanted to get closer to her boy. She missed how he had adoringly clung to her a small child. She missed it a lot.

"Umm… yeah… whatever," Anakin said, once again 'shutting down', and Shmi, knowing her son better than most others, duly noted this almost instant change. And as a mother, it made her ache inside. Her youngest son had had a couple of rough years, and knowing that your child was hurting was probably the one of worst feelings a parent could experience. You want to take away the pain and make everything better, but you have no idea how. And nowadays, when barely anyone in the family could get through Anakin's invisible sheilds, get through to the caring, gentle and energetic little boy he had used to be as a child, even having simple conversations with him nowadays was a tricky business in itself.

"I'm sorry. I don't want to-" But Shmi was interrupted before she could finish.

"NO!" Anakin interrupted. Anxiously he continued, " I just… I… Please… Stop apologizing… I can't…" Before he then jumped out of the chair and bolted upstairs, leaving Shmi alone and melancholic, mourning for the son she barely recognized.

"I don't want to distress you," Shmi quietly whispered to herself as she watched the lean back of her son disappear from her view, tears slowly filling her eyes, turning them glassier and glassier by the minute.

•••

Padmé was in her room, reading a book. Howls moving castle was really getting a good grip on her with it's dazzling and moving storyline, but today her attention was far away somewhere else. It didn't matter how hard she tried to read. Today she wouldn't be able to concentrate, for her mind constantly went back the events of the day, and foremost, the boy who lived next door. The boy whose company she had so enjoyed today.

She knew there was attraction there, at least on her side. Whenever she looked into those piercing blue eyes of his, or watched him run his hand through his dark locks, she did feel a slight quiver in her knees. This was how it was for her, but she couldn't speak for Anakin. What she did decide however, was to not make any rash decisions and not to take things for granted before any of it had happened or played out. Padmé was a rational and realistic person after all. And this was a thing she very much prided herself in. Whatever happened happens. If it was fate, then it was fate. If it wasn't… We'll then.

Watching Anakin in company of others had been very interesting. She had always been a people watcher, and studying other people in terms of psychology or body language was a thing that interested her greatly. Padmé had (almost meticulously) studied him from the moment they had stepped into the kitchen, till the very moment she and her mom had left for their own house.

During most of the day when they had been down at Santa Monica, Anakin had had a relative ease in his step. While at time perhaps a little nervous, his body had still been fairly relaxed. But then as soon as they had walked through the kitchen door, his shoulders had almost immediately (instinctively?) gone up, and grown tense. She had stood slightly behind him, so she had had a good view to study him from, and she definitely seen it.

It had been quite fascinating to see how the muscles of his back had so quickly shifted from comfort to a uneasy suspicion. His immediate reaction has gradually lessened during the time that the two families had sat down together for a snack of newly made goods While it did lessen, it didn't disappear entirely.

He had participated in the ongoing conversation mostly just when asked, but he had still been participating more then she thought he would, based on the prior body language. Then there was the face he had given her as she and her mother stood up to leave. "Was it… longing? Wistfulness? Had that meant he hadn't wanted her to go?"

Padmé really wasn't sure, but it had almost seemed like it. But she had just imagined it she thought. A simple trick of light, or something.

Realizing that she wouldn't be able read any more today, she put the book down on the nightstand. She then picked up her cellphone and preceded to roll over on the bed onto her side. She and Anakin had exchanged numbers earlier that day , so a few minutes later she started typing an sms to her new neighbor.

•••

Anakin was so high on Euphoria that he was almost clueless to the rest of the world.

As he lied on his bed, he numbly tried to take in his surroundings, but his eyes were so blurry. He could see faint outlines of different furniture in his bedroom, but he could not clearly make out what was what. Everything was to foggy for his drugged mind, and his nostrils were runny and burned horribly, but that's what you get when you crush Xanax pills and snort them.

Eventually he got knocked out really good, and it wasn't until many hours later (not that he was aware of it) that a pling from his cellphone woke him up out of his drug induced slumber.

Groggily he opened the flip phone, squinting as the phone screen light met his heavy eyes in the darkness of the bedroom. Quickly his eyes then widened. He had gotten a text; from Padmé.

PADMÉ: I really enjoyed it today. Thank you for taking me. :)

He started smiling, and shortly he was fervently typing back a reply.

ANAKIN: No worry. I enjoy it to.

Quickly, a new reply came from Padmé.

PADMÉ: Go to the window.

Frowning a little in curious surprise, he slowly pulled himself up, sitting on the edge of the bed, stretching his sleep-stiff body; arms, back and shoulders. He lit the lamp on the bedside table, before standing up, and then he walked to the window, cellphone in hand. Anakin pulled up the blinds, and looking across to the other house, his eyes almost immediately landed on Padmé who was sitting on the seat in front of her window. She gave him a small wave before looking down and pointing at her phone before looking up and pointing at him. Getting her point, he sat down at the seat before his own window and started typing.

ANAKIN: Hi there.

PADMÉ: Hi.

After a few moments of contemplative silence, Anakin got an idea.

ANAKIN: How do you normally get to school?

PADMÉ: One of my parents normally drives me. Doesn't really trust the busses here yet, lol. Why do you ask?

ANAKIN: I was just thinking. Since we are neighbors, I could drive you. If want to of course! You don't have to if you don't want to! No pressure.

As he sent the text he started sweating a bit. "Shit. Maybe this was a bad idea. She gonna think I'm a creep!"

But a reassuring message quickly came from Padmé, easing his momentary unease.

PADMÉ: Actually, I would love that. You're so sweet. And it save my parents gas money too, LMAO.

At this Anakin grinned.

ANAKIN: Great! See u tomorrow then.

PADMÉ: Yeah. Good night!

ANAKIN: Good night.

A/N: Comment people! COMMENT! ;)