chapter 33

As we entered my house I could smell pancakes clearly mum wasn't at work today. I walked to the kitchen leading Abbey beside me. I saw my mum didn't look too impressed but her expression immediately changed when she saw Abbey and the clear marks left by the tears she had been crying. My mum looked at her with a soft expression and asked

“ Are you ok? Would you like a cuppa? “

Abbey just nodded not saying anything as i said

“ mum this is abbey my girlfriend she has had some bad news and wants to take her mind off it” as i finished my words i felt a sting in my chest i couldn't believe what i had done and how easily i was willing to hide this fact previously i never would have even dreamed of deceiving someone let alone someone i had feeling for. Maybe I had changed more than I was willing to admit and definitely not for the better. My mum handed abbey a cup of tea as she said

“ it's lovely to meet you and if you ever need a chat just i am always happy to listen”

I waited as abbey slowly took a sip of tea and then explained

“ I thought we could spend the day watching films in the sitting room if that's ok ? try and take abbeys mind of what is going on”

My mum nodded

“ that's fine i have work in a couple of hours as they moved my shift today your welcome to stay as long as you wish abbey”

I gestured to the sitting room

“ i'm gonna go shower and change quickly then we can watch whatever film you want”

I left her in the front room as I made my way upstairs to get changed and shower. Once i had finished i made my way downstairs to find abbey sat chatting with my mum about the news she had received and my mum was gently holding and her hand

“ it's hard to lose someone but things will eventually get easier our door is always open especially for chris's girlfriend”

I sat down next to Abbey on the sofa as I picked up the tv remotes and loaded up netflix. I looked over at Abbey who had now moved closer to me and my mum got up to leave.

“ enjoy your movie date”

She smiled softly as she exited the sitting room

“ your sister is staying at a friends tonight”

She looked at abbey and said

“You're welcome to stay as long as you want just let me know if your spending the night so i can set up the sitting room for you to sleep”

Abbey thanked my mum as she made herself comfy on the sofa

“ so what sort of film do you want to watch”

I asked as i scrolled through the different genres that were available

“ something funny and light hearted”

Abbey replied quicker than I was expecting. I scrolled to the comedy section as we looked at the films we had to choose from. We decided to watch cloudy with a chance of meatballs as we both knew it was funny and silly and would definitely distract us from the events that had preceded. As we sat and watched I couldn't help but feel the pang of guilt and deception as I sat cuddling and watching films. The day passed quickly as we continued to watch and before I knew it my mum had returned and had started cooking tea. As she cooked she shouted through to us

“ Abbey, are you staying for tea or do you need to get home? “

She smiled at the invite and replied to me

“Would that be ok”

I nodded and shouted back

“Yeah that would be good”

After a few minutes my mum called through again

“Food is on the table when your ready”

We paused the film and made our way to the kitchen where my mum was sitting at the table. A chicken pie with mash and veg was waiting for us. My place was set next to my mum and Abby's place was set where my sister would normally sit. We sat and ate, making small talk over the meal. It was just general chit chat and nothing of importance. As we finished the meal mum collected the plates and let us return to the sitting room to finish our film. As the film finished Abbey said she was going to head back to her home to be with her dad. I walked her home seeing where she lived for the first time. It was a block of flats that appeared to be council owned.