Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
Tonight, we are taking a break from the overwhelming sadness at Hannah’s house.
My mom offered to stay with Grace for the night, and I gratefully accepted for both of us.
Hannah was reluctant to leave her mom, but I insisted.
I have been following her lead on most things, but she desperately needs some downtime.
We have retreated to the yellow house where I grew up.
I confirmed with my dad that Jackson is with him for the night.
After I told my parents he had been drinking they grounded him for the foreseeable future, and he’s pissed off at me for telling.
I’ll deal with him later; he’s not my priority right now.
Hannah and I need this time alone, we are both peopled out. Though I am very grateful for all the support and the community food train, I am desperate for something other than a casserole, soup, and questionable meatloaf. I’m sure Hannah is too.
Before coming here, I picked up our favourite, stone-fired pizza from a small, family-owned restaurant in the village. The smell of pepperoni and melted cheese is mouth-watering.
We are currently camped out on a bunch of blankets and pillows, having a picnic on the living room floor. There is a small buffet of hot pizza and cold soda, and it feels like this is the first time I have been able to take a full breath since before we arrived home.
Hannah has been so brave and capable of dealing with the house, her dad’s business, and making sure her mom gets the care she needs.
It’s only at night, when she’s curled up in my arms, that she allows her mask to slip.
I’m worried about her. I can see the exhaustion in her eyes and hear the weariness in her voice.
Her fair skin is paler, making her freckles more prominent, and it looks like she has lost weight.
“Do you think she knew?” Hannah asks out of the blue, pushing her hair from her face. “About Dad’s affair?” she clarifies. “She’s barely talking at all, but she has never said anything about the other woman.”
“I have no idea. I was going to ask my mom if she knows anything, but she has enough on her plate.”
My mom started working for Mr. Knight around the time her and my dad split up. She had limited work experience, because she stayed home to raise my brother and I, but he was willing to give her a chance. It was a good fit for them both.
“I hope she knows how much I appreciate her taking the lead with his office. It must be hard for her. Now that she has redistributed all his listings, I can think about selling the business. Hopefully, someone internally will be interested. I don’t want to sell, but I can’t manage keeping both it and the gallery and I won’t sell my mom’s gallery. ”
She pauses her thoughts long enough to take another big bite of pizza. I’m glad she has an appetite tonight.
“She knows, Hannah. She loved working for your dad, and she wants to help you and Grace.”
Thankfully, my mom knows the inner workings of his business. Hannah should have never been put in the position of taking care of his estate in the first place.
I feel guilty for the next thing I’m going to pile on her.
“I really hate to do this, but we need to talk about school. Do you think you will be able to leave your mom and go back next week?”
This is a discussion I have been putting off since the funeral. She needs time, but we must make some big decisions soon. School has been accommodating, but that won’t last forever.
“I can’t go back. I want to but I can’t.
Without Dad here to look after her, I would just worry all the time.
Even if I hired someone to care for her full time, I can’t be that far away.
” She wipes her mouth with a paper napkin, tosses it on her empty plate, and leans back against the couch, closing her eyes.
“What do you want to do?”
Hannah and I were both excited to attend university away from home.
We applied to multiple schools in the province with the agreement that we would choose one together.
Hannah was accepted into her first-choice psychology program.
There were over 250 applicants, and she was one of the twenty-five they accepted.
I followed her there. I didn’t care where I went, I just knew I wanted to be with her.
Hannah and I left Emerley as best friends, and our relationship evolved into more. I think it was inevitable that we would end up together. Our relationship changed as we got older; I’m just surprised it took us as long as it did to figure it out.
Leaving Emerley was the change we both needed. Hannah needed the chance to live like a normal teenager without the responsibility of being a caregiver. I just wanted to be anywhere else.
My parents had recently separated, and even after years of tension, it was tough on our family to adjust to a new type of normal.
Jackson didn’t cope well with the change. He was never a fabulous student, but his grades got worse, and he started getting into more trouble. He constantly had angry outbursts and was generally miserable to be around.
As a result, I feel like my dad places a lot of pressure on me. I’m expected to do better and be better at everything. He pushed me towards getting a degree in economics. I’m not sure if he has ever asked me what I want to do.
“Maybe I can switch to online classes for the rest of the semester. Or maybe I’ll just defer my course load to September.
Hopefully by then things will settle down.
Maybe Francis will be able to help us more than she already does or maybe even move in – I don’t know.
But I will still have to come home more often.
” She takes a giant breath and puffs out her cheeks before releasing the air with a huff.
We currently only come home for weekend visits every couple of months to see friends and family, so that makes sense that we will need to start coming back more often.
“I can stay and help,” I suggest, shrugging. It’s a reasonable offer. I would do anything to help her.
“No, you need to go and finish out the semester. Your internship starts this fall, and I don’t want you to fall behind.” She shakes her head adamantly.
“It’s only for a couple months and you can just stay at my apartment; there is no reason to return to the dorm. Then you will be home for the summer.”
“You’re going to need more of your things.” We’ve been cycling through the few belongings we brought with us, borrowing from friends, and making do with what we left behind when we moved.
“Can you pack up some clothes and bring them to me when you visit?”
“That’s no problem. Just give me a list with what you need.”
Pushing our forgotten picnic aside, I lay down, pulling Hannah down with me.
“I can’t imagine returning to school without you.”
“I’ll miss you,” she says as she rests her head on my chest.
“I’ll miss you too. You better not watch Criminal Minds without me,” I say, playfully tickling her side.
She smiles into my shirt and shakes her head. “I wouldn’t dream of it.”
“We will talk every single day,” I promise as I run my fingers through her hair.
“We can text and Snapchat. We can’t lose our streak.” She sits up and gasps dramatically.
“Oh no, not the streak. Never that!”
Hannah starts to giggle as she slowly moves her hand under my white T-shirt. Her soft fingers gliding up and down my abs. It’s nice to see her smile and hear her laugh again.
“I know another way we can communicate.” Her hand continues to explore up my chest then back down low on my stomach.
“Oh yeah?” My interest is peaked as I sit up beside her. “What are you thinking?”
I bring my hand to the back of her head, tilting it so I can peer into her mischievous green eyes.
“Well, we could exchange pictures,” she boldly suggests, biting her bottom lip.
Oh, I like this game.
“What kind of pictures?” I ask. “I guess you could send me pictures of my mom’s gnome collection. Or how about Mrs. Wilson’s cat?” I tease.
“Maybe,” she says, tapping her finger on her chin. “No, I was thinking something a little more personal.”
“More personal? Tell me more.” She has my full attention.
“I was thinking you could send me some pictures of this,” she touches the side of my face.
“And this,” she says, placing her hand on my corded forearm and running down to the tips of my fingers.
“And this.” She slides her hand to the waistband of my sweats, looking back up and meeting my eyes.
I nod for her to keep going. I’m so hard you can see my dick print through my pants. She slides her hand over and holds it. I place my hand over hers and squeeze tighter.
“You want me to send you pictures of my cock baby?” I ask, adjusting my hips and pulling my pants down under my ass.
My heavy shaft springs free, landing on my stomach. I hum as her soft hand circles around me at the base and she slowly glides it up with just the right amount of pressure. Her bright eyes are full of lust and need.
“Yeah, I would really like that. Should I send you pictures back?” she asks seductively as her soft hand twists on the down stroke.
I suppress a groan and begin to remove her long sleeve shirt.
She lets go of me only long enough for me to pull it and her black lacy bra free.
My hand drifts from her waist to the side of her breast. Continuing upwards, I cup the back of her neck and brush my thumb gently across her lips, then her jaw.
She leans her head towards my hand and on the third pass she sticks out the tip of her tongue and smiles up at me.
All the while she continues to stroke me, root to tip.
Catching precum with her thumb, she swirls it around the head. Fuck me, that feels amazing.
“I want all the pictures, baby. Of this beautiful face.” I slide my hand down caress her full breast and tight rosy nipple.
“Of your perfect tits.” My hand travels lower and into the front of her pants cupping her.