"When I'm closing my eyes and dreaming of what we had,

Chapter Theme Song: 'Forget to Remember' by Nikki Flores.

🎮🏈🎸**💿

Nathan

I entered my house and closed the door behind me.

"Goodnight, sweetie."

I jolted at the sound of my mother's voice before whirling around to see her sitting on the couch, a bright smile on her face.

"Mom, you scared the crap out of me," I said, holding my chest.

She chuckled. "Why? Are you expecting loan sharks and drug dealers? Are you a criminal?"

I smiled slightly as I walked over to her and crashed on the couch. "Were you honestly laywaiting me? That's stalker-ish"

She laughed, putting a book she was reading aside. "How was your party?"

I shrugged. "It was..."

My mind recalled how I had to punch Greg in the face and I decided to leave that issue out of it. "It was okay, I guess."

She nodded. "Okay, great. Now are we ready to talk?"

I sighed and leaned back against the couch. "Can I not be ready?"

She smiled. "Nope, it's not a choice."

"Yeah, I figured."

"What happened with Chelsy?" She asked. "What does fooling around mean?"

Honestly, my mom and I were cool but you have no idea how awkward this conversation was for me right now. A lot awkward like when my Dad tried to talk to me about sex and condoms when I was fifteen.

I shrugged, shifting awkwardly in my spot. "Well...Chelsy and I love each other, Mom, and I know you may not approve-"

"Wait, approve? Honey, Chelsy is a good girl, I have known her since she was a toddler, why would I not agree?"

"Uh, cause you're a parent? Parents normally disagree, cause that's like a thing you guys do."

My mom laughed. "Listen Nathan, no one can control who they love, I just hope you aren't playing with her, baby."

"No, Mom, I genuinely love her, a lot," I said quickly. "She's the first girl I have felt this way for. She's amazing Mom, she's perfect and I am scared to lose her."

She smiled. "Then what is keeping you two away? Is it Max?"

I nodded. "Yeah I sort of ruined my friendship by dating her behind his back. I don't know what to say to him, I feel guilty and messed up. He won't allow us to date unless I prove to him that I am worthy."

"So you need to do just that. Show Max that you genuinely love Chelsy, I know Max, eventually he will approve. A brother is naturally overprotective of his little sister. Don't give up on her sweetie, or you may regret it in thirty years. So many people miss out on a good thing because they were scared when they were young, then they end up wishing they could relive and make the right choice. Don't let that happen to you. Take risks, take chances, Nate. It's all about life. Love isn't easy and if you love someone, don't give up on them."

I smiled at my mom's advice. "Thank you, Mom, I appreciate those words."

Talking to my mom was like having a cool drink of water. It was refreshing and relaxing and suddenly I didn't feel awkward at all. Maybe if she was the one who gave me 'the talk' when I was fifteen I wouldn't have felt cringy.

No offense to my Dad, his analogy with using a cucumber to illustrate putting on a condom was actually helpful.

Awkward but helpful.

She clapped her hands together. "Great so that's that, you guys will be okay. And please no sex for now because you guys-"

I scratched my head a bit, a cheeky and guilty expression surfacing my face and my mom saw it, cutting her speech short. "Wait. Did you really have sex with her Nathan?"

I hopped up off the couch quickly, glancing at my watch. "Wow look, it's my bed time Mom, can we pick this up tomorrow?"

She held her forehead, knowing that obviously I was avoiding her question. "Nathan you are something else, okay fine, Goodnight."

I smiled and popped a kiss on her cheek. "Goodnight, love you."

"Love you too."

I jogged up the steps to my room leaving my mom shaking her head with a smile.

❤********❤

I got changed after practice and made my way over to Max when he was leaving the changing room.

"Hey can we talk?"

He turned to look at me then offered a nod. "Yeah, sure."

❤********❤

We went to our normal hang-out spot, a small hilltop that had a bench that you can look out on and watch the view, some distances away from our hometown.

We sat staring out into the distance, each with a bottle of liquor in our hands.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" Max asked, keeping his gaze ahead.

I sighed. "I am sorry, Max. I betrayed you by dating Chesly behind your back."

He took a sip of his beer and drew a long breath before responding. "Yeah, that's messed up man, I couldn't believe you would do that to me"

I looked down in guilt.

I knew I was wrong to deceive Max so there was no way I could ask him not to be offended.

I would be too.

"But," he continued to speak and I brought my gaze to him. "It makes me realize that you must really love my sister if you can lie to me like that. You would have never risked our friendship if you didn't."

I nodded. "I honestly have genuine feelings for her, Max. I genuinely love her, a lot. I would never hurt her, ever, I knew Chelsy all my life so a life without her in it wouldn't be possible. I am sorry for deceiving you but I love her, I tried to stay away but I just couldn't and I feel like shit about that but I honestly can't say I regret being with her. She's amazing, she's perfect and I don't want to lose her."

Max listened to my words, staring out into the distance as if he was deep in thought so I took the opportunity to speak again. "In due time you will see just how much she means to me. I just hope you can give us a chance."

He finally looked at me. "Chelsy is growing up and I guess I can't tell her what to do anymore. It's not that I don't think you are good enough for my sister, I was just scared, we have sex with girls and don't call them back the next day, that's kind of a thing we do. We aren't committed to one girl so I was just scared that would happen to Chelsy, not that you would intentionally hurt her but it's fucked up that sometimes we can't control how we are wired, no matter how much we try to."

He then shifted on the bench so he was facing me. "I respect you, Nathan, and to be honest, out of all my friends dating her, I will always prefer you."

I looked at him, a half smile on my lips.

"Because you're my bestfriend, still is. And I must admit you have fucking good taste, my sister is a goddess."

I laughed and he offered a small titter. There was a short silence before he looked at me. "Do you really love her, Nate?"

I nodded, without hesitation. "More than you'll ever know."