"You sure you don't want to come over?" Jackson pouts making me feel worse than I already do.

"I wish I could," I stick out my bottom lip, lying through my teeth. "But I need to get some homework done."

"You and I can work on it together," he smirks. "At my house. On my bed."

I roll my eyes, pecking his lips once. "We both know that won't happen."

He chuckles, pressing his lips to mine in a short, sweet kiss. I pull back, smiling at him.

"I'll call you later, okay?" He nods, looking disappointed when I get out of the car.

I take a deep breath of fresh air, knowing my mother is home today and that in under an hour I'll be meeting with the guy that makes appearances in my nightmares. Is this a good idea? Of course not. Do I need to do it? Hell yes.

I open the door to my house, smelling cinnamon from the wax burner that I usually turn on.

When my dad was here, my mother loved wax burners. She got tons and tons of them for holidays and she would burn them every day. When he left, so did the candles. I found them about a year ago and started using them knowing my mother wouldn't notice.

"Brittni?" I turn my head, eyeing my mothers standing figure. She's dressed in comfortable clothing, not a trace of make up on her face. She's always been so beautiful without it.

"Yeah?" I look at her in boredom.

"Can we talk?" She looks nervous, very. It's rare when I ever see her have another emotion besides anger and exhaustion.

"I don't think that's a good idea." If I decide to talk to her, it'll no doubt blow up into a huge fight. And right now, I have too much on my plate for a petty cat fight with the woman who gave birth to me.

She looks up at the ceiling for a second, her body language expressing sadness. Why would she be sad? It can't be because of the way she's treated me this past year. Or the neglecting.

"Please," she begs. "Please, Brittni. I just want to talk. One on one."

I let out a deep breath, looking towards the ceiling as if it will tell me what to do next. It doesn't, but I know that I need to talk to her. Even if I don't want to hear what she has to say, I'd feel bad if I just left.

"Okay," I mutter, setting my bag down before taking a seat on the couch. My mother is on the opposite love seat, her stance rigid. "Are you alright?"

"I - It's just," she stops to take a breath. "I don't like the way things were left with us."

I want to roll my eyes, but I nod making her continue.

"I know I haven't been the best mom this past-"

"You haven't been a mom," I correct her. I see her eyes widen in disbelief at my words. "I've been on my own for the last couple of years."

"I know," she sighs. "And I'm sorry about that. Since your dad left - it's been hard."

"You cheated on him," I state angrily. The tears that fill her eyes is something that I haven't seen in a while and I'm starting to wonder what's really going on.

"I know," she nods. "I know, Brittni, but I loved him. So much, and it scared me. I still doc but I felt trapped, and I did the one thing that I thought would make it better.
There's parts of the story you haven't heard and I want to clear them up."

Do I really want to hear? I mean, how do I know she's not lying? How do I know she's spitting out lies for her own sake?

"I want to know."

She nods, and my heart rate increases. I don't know what to think at this point, but I'm willing to hear her out.

"I had you when I was young, nineteen to be more exact. I loved your dad, but I wasn't capable of being a mom. My father, was a rich CEO, had my marriage all set up for when I turned twenty-one, but I didn't want that. I didn't want to end up like my mother who was miserable.

"My dad cheated. Every day. With his assistants, maids, front desk women, anyone. My mom knew, but she couldn't get out of the marriage. It's like she was sold to him."

I bite my lip, listening intently to the details. I didn't know my mothers parents, that had to do with the fact that she married my dad, but I can't imagine how they would be.

"I have a brother, Mark. He took over the CEO when my dad retired, but I haven't talked to him since I got kicked out." Kicked out? "The marriage was set, but like I said, I wanted better. I met your dad at a party. We immediately hit it off. I had kept him a secret from my parents for two months until one of my guards found out and spilled the beans.

"I was forbidden to see him," Mom wipes a tear, her eyes glazed like she's living the memory again. "I didn't listen of course. That night, I snuck out and walked all the way to his house which was on the complete opposite side of the city. A week later I found out I was pregnant with you."

Even I can't help the tears that blur my vision at my mothers story. Everyone has demons, everyone has things that make them who they are and I now realize why my mother is this way.

"When my dad found out -" she shakes her head. "-he blew up. Kicked me out even though my mother begged him not to. I went straight to your father. His parents were supportive of us, and helped. On some whim, your father and I thought it would be a good idea to get married."

I see my mother laugh bitterly, looking broken. And for the first time, I see why.

"Nineteen years old, pregnant, and getting married to a man who didn't even have a career, who was I kidding?" She sniffles. "Anyways, you were born and your father fell in love. I felt complete, as well. You provided me that sense of love that I missed. I promised I'd be the best mom I could be to you.

"Well, six months in, I could feel the change in my relationship with your father. It started to feel forced, suffocating. I tried to stick through it, for you, but I couldn't anymore. When you were eight, I needed to get out. I slept with my boss, something I regret doing and your dad left. And I'll never get him back, but that doesn't mean it hurts any less."

There's another pause, and I take this time to say the one thing that I heard.

"Dad said you met in high school," I tell her, swallowing the lump in my throat.

"No," she sighs. "I went to a private school and he went to public."

Why would he lie? Well, one answer; to protect her.

"I need to let this soak in," I mumble, my voice cracking. I see the disappointment in my moms eyes, but she nods anyway.

"Okay," she says. "That's okay."

I nod, getting off the couch and heading to my room. So many thoughts and emotions swirl around inside my head as I take in this new found information. My mother had never opened up to me like that before, ever. I can tell she loves my dad, and I know the feeling of just - having to get away. She was young, they both were, they were in a tied down relationship that was never stable. You can't force it, and that's what they did.

I can't think about this right now, I need to focus on my meet up with Nathan. I'll have to ask my mother about why she kept sleeping around even after he was gone, later.

Changing my top into a more conservative hoodie and my shoes being boots, I check the time, it's almost three-thirty so that probably means I should start going.

When I make it downstairs, my mother is no longer there and that makes me sigh. She's probably up in her room, because her car is still here. And I doubt she'd want to go out after her little tear fest.

I make it into my car, turning on the heat and heading down the road. Time to get this show started. I need to get answers from him, and even though they won't be big, they're useful.

My stomach swirls in disdain as I finally pull up to the frozen yogurt shop. I really am not a fan of frozen yogurt, but I couldn't think of anywhere else at the time.

Almost two minutes after I've pulled into the parking lot, I see Nathan's truck park next to me. I feel like my hearts in my throat.

Taking a huge breath, I step out of my own vehicle, plastering a smile on my face as I meet Nathan half way. He smirks at me, that smile I once knew never making an appearance anymore. But then again, he's not the guy I once knew, or thought I knew. I need to stick to the fact that this is Nathan, not the guy that I thought I could love.

"Hey," I grin at him, swallowing the bile in my throat. Looking at Nathan like I'm supposed to like him now is really vile. I don't like the feeling that comes with it.

"Hello, princess," he bites his lip, taking in my appearance. He obviously doesn't like what he sees as his mouth drops in disgust. Maybe the hoodie wasn't a good way to go. "What're you wearing?"

"It's cold," I shrug like its no a big deal. "Now can we go get something or what?"

He narrows his eyes at me, but follows me inside anyway. I make sure I don't hold the door for him on the way in, it makes me feel better. It's because it hits him in the face and I nearly burst out laughing if it weren't for the fact that I'm supposed to adore him.

After ordering our desserts despite my loath for anything to eat right now, we sit at a table on opposite sides. He doesn't even really eat his yogurt, just stares at me. I feel tense under his gaze.

"So," he begins making my stomach drop. This is where everything gets folded into one. This I when the plan gets put into action for real and that makes me more nervous than excited. I have a bad feeling. "Why the change of heart?"
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Heyy!! Three updates in one day :p I'm so proud! Hopefully I'll be able to finish three or four tomorrow! I do this every time I want a book done quickly so lol ;)

What do you think? How will Jackson find out about this? Do you feel for Brittni's mom? How will Brittni answer Nathan's question?

Don't be a silent reader!!

Enjoy. Love you all <3

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