Chapter 10: (Aubrey's POV)- Eighth Grade

After he gave me that answer, things got awkward, really awkward. So as expected, we disbanded the game. 

"Kids, I'm home!" Catherine's voice brought us out of our miserable silence. 

I looked up at Xavier in confusion only to see the same expression gracing his face. We got off the bed and went downstairs, him following me closely. "Mom, you're home early," Xavier stated in confusion. 

"My shift happened to end early today, Natalie's is delayed," she informed me. Natalie being my mother. So this meant I'd be home alone, again. 

"Oh," I spoke dumbfounded. 

"I told her I'd take care of you, hence, you'll be having dinner with us and if necessary, you can stay the night. My words, not hers. Do not attack your mother." She gave me a pointed look. 

I looked down, slightly embarrassed but not so much since every teenager does that. 

"Where were you two? You guys weren't down here when I came in," she glanced at Xavier before getting back and swiftly making dinner. 

"We were up in my room. We cleaned my desk," Xaver informed his mom. 

"Finally! I've been trying to get him to clean that for ages." She let out an exasperated sigh. 

I bit back a laugh and shifted my gaze to him while raising my eyebrows in amusement. He rolled his eyes at me, smiling right after. 

"So, what do we get for dinner?" he asked his mom as he sat down on the barstool, and patted the one beside his, gesturing for me to take a seat beside him. 

"Don't expect much kids, I'm not a chef. Good old spaghetti." She gave us a cheesy smile. "You two can go and watch something on TV if you'd like," she suggested. 

Before I knew what was happening, Xavier's hand grabbed mine, pulling me into the living room with him. 

"What are we watching?" I sighed while plopping down on the couch beside him. "Spongebob! Let's watch Spongebob! Please?" I pleaded at seeing it on TV. I heard Catherine laughing from the kitchen. "Are you judging me, Mrs. Parker?" I screamed out. 

She laughed before replying, "It's Catherine to you, young lady. And no, absolutely not." She laughed again. 

I turned to see Xavier looking utterly amused before shrugging and playing Spongebob anyway. I haven't seen SpongeBob in so long and watching it was truly making me feel like a kid again. 

Nostalgia. That's the only word to describe it. At least in my mental vocabulary. After a few episodes and some small talk between Xavier and me, his mom called us over for dinner. 

We were sitting and eating in a comfortable silence until Catherine broke it. "Aubrey," she began, catching my attention. "Thank you for doing this. I really cannot begin to tell you how glad I am that you took the job. You're a good influence on him. Teach him something. Something other than getting in trouble." she gave him a pointed look. 

I smiled at her before saying what I wanted to last night but couldn't. "Mrs. P- Catherine," I started, correcting myself. "I would like to do this job for free," I confessed. Hanging out with Xavier is fun, a lot more than I expected, I was dreading this but he's a nice guy and I want to be able to help Catherine without charging her money for it. 

"Oh dear, no! I should have seen this coming. I can't make you do that," she tried to explain to me. 

"But you're not. I'm doing this myself. Please? I want to help without making you pay me for this. It's not like I do anything here. We just hang out like friends." I shrugged, ignoring the way Xavier stiffened beside me. 

"Alright," she sighed in defeat. "But I expect you to let me know whenever you need anything. So I could return the favor." She gave me a stern look to which I agreed. 

We all ate, making small talk about school, my summer plans which were now booked with babysitting Xavier, Catherine's work, Xavier's friends and interests some more, and then soon enough, we were all finished with our dinner. 

"I'll head out now," I sighed while gathering my things and rubbing the palms of my hands against my thighs. 

"Wait!" Catherine called out, making me stop abruptly. "It's way too late! You can't leave now! Stay!" she suggested while looking at the clock. It was ten-thirty at night, we hadn't realized how quickly time had gone by and how slowly we were having our dinner. 

"Oh no, Catherine. I shouldn't," I tried explaining awkwardly. 

"Of course you should! Treat this as a second home. You'll be here often. Every day now anyway. Please, I insist." She is one persistent woman. I don't know if that's good or bad. 

"I don't think I should. There's no room for me to sleep in any way," I tried reasoning. 

"Xavier's room of course. He can crash on the couch for tonight." She waved her hand dismissively. 

"I'm right here you know! I can hear you!" Xavier spoke, acting offended. 

She clicked her tongue before speaking anyway. "Oh hush! The room's yours. I'll tell your mom." And before I could even protest and get time to run away, she was out of the room, into her own, dialing my mother's number. I bet she's gonna want to hear all about this tomorrow.

"Well, since it's my room now. Goodbye and goodnight." I began walking towards the stairs before realizing something, going right back, "Um- could I get an extra toothbrush please?" I smiled innocently, peeking my head out from the wall. 

He laughed before getting up from the couch and walking over to me. "Follow me." He grabbed my hand, having me follow him to and up the stairs. 

"Yes, of course, your majesty," I scoffed while being left with no choice but to follow him since his grip on my hand didn't falter. 

He led me to the bathroom in the hallway before taking out an extra toothbrush from the cupboard and handing it to me. "You're welcome." He winked before leaving me to brush my teeth and do whatever I needed to. 

I washed my face, brushed my teeth, and headed out to go to Xavier's room. I walked into his room which was pitch black due to the darkness. I turned to my left where the switches were and turned to look at his bed, to see him lying there, making me jump out of my skin and three feet into the air while shrieking. "God! You scared the hell out of me!" I stomped over to him, sitting at the foot of the bed before smacking his chest. 

He let out a chuckle before facing the ceiling while closing his eyes before letting out a sigh. 

"What are you doing here?" I questioned while turning around slightly so I could see him. 

"What do you mean what am I doing here? This is my room," he spoke tiredly. He was sleepy. 

"Mine for tonight. The couch is all yours." I nudged him a little but he was about to fall asleep any second. 

"I'm not leaving my bed." He crawled up and under the covers, mumbling into his pillow, emphasizing that it was his. 

"I'm not either," I argued, getting in bed beside him. Clearly, something was wrong with my thought process. I was tired and sleepy. Logical me would never get in the same bed as Xavier Parker. 

"Look what the cat dragged in." He snickered, his eyes drooping closed while mine did the same beside him. I scoffed before mumbling, 

"You. It dragged you in. It was already planned for me to be here," I mumbled. Just as I was about to fall into a deep slumber, his voice snapped me right back out of it. 

"Aubrey?" he whispered, not loud at all but loud to me since I was literally on the verge of passing out for the night. 

"What?" I groaned and slowly opened my eyes to see him looking at me with a goofy smile tugging at his lips. 

"I can't believe I'm in bed with Aubrey Carthy. The girl who's hated me since eighth grade for stealing her first kiss," he laughed as if he were drunk, an innocent, goofy, and playful laugh. 

"Go to sleep, Parker." I buried my face into my pillow for tonight.

"Aubrey?" he whispered. I hummed in response. "I meant what I said earlier, you're gorgeous."

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Your girl's about to catch feelings so hard... Pray for her