Still suspicious

Grace poked her head round the corner of the doorframe and Emma was hot on her heels, quickly walking into the room in case she had to quickly give an excuse for the two of you still in her bedroom.

Grace squinted her eyes at you when she saw that you were already waiting for her as if she expected to see something when she got in here, turning her attention to Sarah who was doing her best to act casual. She had her arm leaning against a bookshelf that barely supported her weight and her pose looked far from natural as she stared back at Grace.

Sarah quickly lowered her eyes as she couldn’t handle the scrutiny, letting you know to never trust Sarah with secrets if she was ever going to be put under pressure.

“Well it looks like you have all been busy” Grace announced, turning to look at each of you as if studying you.

“We wanted to get one last session in before we hit the road” you answered, your wording making Emma’s eyes widen which luckily was out of eyeline from Grace as she stared at you.

“Yeah I bet you did…Anyway, you two should probably be heading home while me and Emma finish up packing and have something to eat” Grace replied, not trying to hide her first statement and suggesting the two of you leave before anything else could happen under her roof.

“Sure thing” Sarah quickly responded, moving from where she stood to get out of the room as fast as possible, leaving you to grab her bag that she had left behind.

“Yeah I should probably get packing as well” you added, grabbing your things and heading for the door when Grace placed a hand on your shoulder.

“I know what you did to my pillow by the way” she whispered, her lips brushing against your ear before she pulled back.

A flash of embarrassment shot up your spine as the words left her mouth and as much as you selfishly considered blaming Emma to get yourself out of this situation, you knew that was only going to cause more problems than it solved. Instead, you let the instinct to run away die down and took a few deep breaths before replying.

“I’ll admit to that and apologise. I don’t think you want any excuses so I’ll leave it at that but I promise it won’t happen again. Not without your permission at least” you replied, Grace raising her eyebrow when you actually answered her.

Emma looked to be having a hushed conversation with Sarah who had stuck around but was out of sight in the hallway, not having completely abandoned you while Grace stared you down.

“I didn’t think you would actually say you had done it but I’ll let you off for now. You and Emma are gonna have to explain everything in the car anyway. Now, you better get home before your Mom gets worried” Grace said, turning to look at her daughter who had been looking your way after her name had been mentioned.

You double checked you had everything you and Sarah needed before you headed out of Emma’s bedroom, giving her a quick goodbye and not risking a kiss or anything more with Grace stood right next to her, letting you know you could let yourself out before you started walking.

You handed Sarah her bag and headed downstairs, doing as Grace had said and going out the front door before checking to make sure it was shut behind you, making it next door to the front of your house before you both let out a sigh, feeling like you were a safe distance away to talk to one another.

“Grace is scary when she acts like a parent” Sarah admitted, neither of you reaching for your keys as you took a moment to calm down.

Grace’s attitude felt like she had taken a complete turn when it came to looking after Emma’s best interests, going from an exhibitionist who would show off and tease you with her body to a mother who would happily give you a stern talking to if you had done something wrong.

You also suspected that she would stick up for you, Sarah, and Lucy if the situation ever came to it given that she and your two families had been close since forever but you hadn’t been in a position to ever test that theory.

“I don’t think she was angry but she knew what we had been doing even if we tried to hide it and she can’t exactly just let us carry on. I’m not in her good books at the moment either so that probably had a part to play in that” you admitted, knowing the time was quickly approaching when you would have to deal with that.

“Of course you are” Sarah replied, not suspecting for a second that it wasn’t your fault for being on Grace’s bad side.

There was a slight lul in the conversation and you considered unlocking the door but this would probably be the only time you got to speak with Sarah before your trip without the worry of being interrupted, putting the awkwardness that this conversation might cause aside.

“So do you still want to try being with me and Emma? You seemed pretty happy before we got thrown out but I still thought I should check in with you” you asked, hoping to get an answer out of her while it was just the two of you.

Like half of Sarah’s afternoon, her cheeks reddened but she didn’t look away from you this time, more confident in her answer even if the events from the past hour brought back memories she found blush-worthy.

“I do. And I know there will be times where you will want it to be just the two of you and a don’t expect you to want me there every time” Sarah replied, making sure she respected your and Emma’s boundaries.

“You’ll always be welcome but thanks for understanding. There's probably gonna be some times as well where it will be just the two of us and Emma won’t be getting involved. Emma seems to enjoy that and that’s only if that's something you want to do” you answered, starting to get embarrassed yourself when you asked so formally.

“Yeah I’d like that” Sarah answered with a smile.

You wanted to kiss her but given that you were still technically in public you didn’t want to risk getting spotted by one of the neighbours. Instead, you quickly go out your keys and unlocked the door, taking Sarah’s hand and spinning her around. You got a giggle out of her when you pulled her inside and as you pulled her towards you, her face right in front of yours, you gave her a kiss which she returned back.

You could feel the smile on her face as your lips touched but you still kept it short not wanting to risk getting caught by anyone in the house.

What you didn’t account on was someone already being there and deliberately letting a fake cough out to make their presence known.