Hit the road

“Yeah sure. Let me just grab my bag I'll be right back down” you responded, getting up from your seat as you headed up to your room.

You squeezed Emma’s leg under the table as you got up, hidden from view by the other two but hoping to reassure her that you would try to be back as quick as possible. You aimed to be up and down as fast as you could so she wasn’t left on her own for any longer than was needed.

You didn’t want Mom asking her some unnecessary questions but as you made it to your room and gave your bag one final check, Mom had followed behind you and was now stood in the doorway. She seemed hesitant to say anything but you could tell she wanted to get something off of her chest before you left for the weekend.

“There’s gonna be some more serious conversations once you are back even with your exams coming up so just take this time to relax and spend some time with Emma” Mom suggested, going to place a hand on your shoulder before she reconsidered and instead welcomed you into a hug.

You kept your hands to just the small of her back even though you desperately wanted to go further and made sure the hug stayed above board. You expected her to pull back but Mom stayed where she was, clinging to you and letting you hold her tighter in your embrace.

She eventually seemed to snap out of it and pulled away, looking slightly embarrassed but still not looking away from you.

“I am going to worry about you so don’t do anything that will get you into trouble. Even if Grace is there, I want you on your best behaviour” she chastised, pulling at a loose thread on your tshirt and trying to make you look more presentable.

“Yes Mom. I don’t think Grace will take her eyes off of us anyway” you replied, mentally preparing yourself for the trip.

“Well good. She already told me when we were talking at the door that you gonna be on a tight leash” Mom added, thankfully not having the full story from what you could tell.

If Grace had told Mom everything then you suspected that you wouldn’t actually be going on this trip anymore but you knew Grace was just as curious about your father as you were. I he was really being unfaithful again, then she didn’t want Mom to go through exactly what she had done and help her through if she could.

Mom pulled herself away from you and left you to check your bag after a chaste kiss on your forehead, heading back downstairs and giving you only a little time before Emma would have to endure both Mom and Grace together.

You grabbed your bag and went to follow after her but you could see that the door to Sarah’s room was open with her light on, stopping in your tracks and turning back to her door.

You knocked and saw her sitting on her bed as you pushed the door open, already looking at her textbooks like Mom had wanted her to do.

“We’re about to set off in a minute if you want to say goodbye to Emma” you said, not wanting to leave without saying goodbye yourself.

“I wanna say goodbye to both of you” she replied, coming up and giving you a hug when you yourself couldn’t admit you wanted her to see you off.

You let the hug continue until you started to feel bad for Emma again and led Sarah out of the room, giving you a little extra time alone before you would have to join the others.

“Mom had a talk with me as well. I’m not gonna **** you to be honest with her if you think it’s embarrassing but I’ll just say that she didn’t react like she would have if I’d told her all this a couple of weeks ago. I think she’s changed just as much as we have so if you’re up for it, give her a chance to understand” You stated, seeing her grimace at the thought.

“I dunno…” she replied, looking at the floor while she considered your words.

“Like I said, you don’t need to do anything you don’t want to. Just a suggestion. If we do want to have to chance to change the house rules to our liking though… there's probably gonna be a few more awkward conversations before things get better, like the first one we had with Emma”. You explained.

You could see that she went to counter you but shut her mouth before blurting out a reply without thinking. You made it to the bottom of the stairs before she gave you a reply so you didn’t have the privacy you wanted anymore.

“Took you long enough” Lucy teased, hearing you and Sarah come down the stairs and appearing from the door to the living room.

Everyone else seemed to hear her and collected in the hallway, Emma being the first to join you and Sarah and looking happy that you were back.

“I’ve moved the car to the driveway so you can just throw your bag in there” Grace said, seeing everyone follow you as you moved to the front door.

You did as she asked and opened the trunk of the car to deposit your bag, Sarah still at the side of you alongside Emma. You saw that Grace and Emma had packed a lot more compared to you but it allowed you to actually fit your smaller bag in alongside theirs without having to struggle which was a bonus.

“I’ll think about it, what you said before” Sarah replied, out of earshot of the others but letting you know she would at least try to talk with Mom.

You couldn’t give her the goodbye like you wanted while the others could see you but you still ruffled her hair much to her annoyance. Emma shared a hug with her which the others didn’t find suspicious and only you could see Emma’s hand move further down from the small of her back, Emma having a smirk on her face and Sarah having a slight blush as the hug ended.

You closed the trunk and turned back to see Lucy, Grace and Mom stood in a line, Grace sharing a look with Lucy before she carried on speaking with Mom. Both of them knew the true purpose of the trip but now it seemed like there was some understanding between them that they didn’t share with Mom.

“3 days Max free” Lucy said as you got closer.

“I’ll miss you too” you replied, both of you sharing a grin as this was as sentimental as either of you could be with one another.

A round of hugs and goodbyes passed with Emma and Grace, the last for you being another hug from Mom before Grace corralled you and Emma into the car. You waved goodbye as Grace set off and with that you were finally on the road, settling into your seat and trying your hardest to ignore the pressure that was slowly dawning on you.