Texas Girl (Pt 30)

Hi. This one's pretty event-less, but you know... x

Justin's POV
"So Mom, not to be rude or anything, but... Why are you here?". I was being rude. You could hear it in my tone, see it on my face and watch it simmer in my eyes. "We just thought we'd come out and see you two, didn't we Indie?" Pattie grinned at the four-year-old in Drew's lap.
We sat outside the blue living room at the little garden table, covered by a palm tree for a small piece of shade from the hot sun. "Yea! We came to see Drew and Biebah" she giggled, hopping down from Drew's lap and running in tiny circles. "Drew! Drew! I wanna go in ocean!" India yelled, looking out at the peaceful, sandy shore. "In a bit India" Drew replied, leaving the toddler to skip about the place, investigating suspicious rocks and dodgy looking insects.
"So how long are you staying?" I asked again, eyebrows raised. "Oh I don't know... A little bit" my Mother shrugged at me, nonchalantly sipping a cool can of diet coke. "Wait, India slow down babe" Drew blabbed, before jogging after the speeding little girl down to the corral, leaving me and my Mother in silence.
As soon as she was out of earshot, I turned abruptly to my Mother "Why are you here?" I whisper shouted, still cautious about the volume we were speaking at. "Look, Drew's grandparents called me, they said India wouldn't go to sleep or go to school because she couldn't stop crying. She kept asking why 'Her Mommy left her' and 'was there something wrong with her'. They begged me to bring her out here, just for a week or so, just so India could understand that Drew still loved her and hadn't left her" she explained, leaning across the table to me, eyes serious and solemn.
It sounded just like what Drew's mom did to her. Drove off into the distance. I'm sure India would have known about that, so it's understandable that she'd assume her Mom would do it to her.
That was just heartbreaking.
I looked over at the two. Drew was laughing as she held India up to smooth the young stallion as it arched it's neck over the fence. There was no way any decent person could deny those two of some time together.
I sighed "Fine, you can stay, but please, please, I am begging you please, do NOT, under any circumstances, show my baby pictures" I warned her. She smiled and laughed, before nodding in agreement.
Phew. Large sigh of relief. "Thank you". Moment of silence.
"So are you being safe?".
"MOM!!!!!!!".

It turns out my Mom's obsession with my baby pictures was the least of my problems. I had a new threat.
Drew was spending so much time with my Mom and India, I was pretty much invisible. She hadn't said one thing to me since this morning. I sort of just stood around and watched as they gossiped and laughed. I doubted they'd even notice if I left.
So I did. I walked out of the house, half-way down the path to the beach and turned right, down to the basketball court. I smiled as I remembered the times Usher and I had played out here. I kicked his butt, he kicked mine, we both denied it, normal guy stuff.
I picked up a basketball from the rack beside the court, and bounced it along the ground a couple of times, just thinking through things that were bothering me.
Drew ignoring me. That was an annoying one. That was the worst. As soon as they got here, bam, I was invisible. I threw the ball, aiming for the basket. It rolled around the rim, before tipping over the edge. Ah crud. I always suck at basketball when I'm angry. That pathetic shot told me I was angry.
"Hey superstar". I didn't have to turn around to know whose voice that was. Drew was behind me, her voice gentle and simple. I picked up the ball and bounced it harshly on the ground a few times, before going for the basket again. Miss. Ah screw it.
"How you doing?" she asked gently.
"So you are talking to me then".
"Huh?".
"You've been ignoring me" I stated, not bothering to turn around and face her. "I haven't" she denied it, stepping in front of me to capture my attention. I reluctantly met her gaze. "As soon as my Mom and India got here, it's as if I didn't exist anymore" I shrugged, dropping the ball to the floor. It bounced a few times, before rolling across the court and falling still. "You know that's not true Justin" she said lovingly, running her hand down my arm. I shrugged her off, making her blink back the emotion of hurt. "I just missed India, that's all. I'm here now" she tried again, stepping closer to me. "I get that you missed her, and I understand that she comes first-" she cut me off.
"What do you mean India comes first?" she seemed offended by my words.
"She's your daughter. You clearly find her more important than me".
"Ugh. That is just like you. If you don't have all the attention, nobody can" she scoffed, placing her hand on her hips.
"I'm not attention-seeking, and news flash babe, I'm not invisible either".
"I'm not saying you're invisible, I'm saying you're jealous!".
"Jealous? Of what? You spending time with India? I couldn't care less. Do what you want, leave me out of it I don't give a fuck" I spat back.
"You know you really can be a prick sometimes" she nodded, folding her arms over her chest.
"At least I'm not acting like a spoilt bitch".
She slapped me across the face. Smack. Immediately after, she gasped, covering her agape mouth with her hand. Her eyes filled with regret of her actions, tears spilling down her cheeks. "Justin I'm so sorry" she apologised, her voice shaky and nervous. "Uh, that's ok. I deserved that" I mumbled, opening and closing my mouth a few times to stretch the stinging skin of my cheek. I had called her a bitch. I did deserve to be smacked. "Justin... I'm so sorry" she said the exact same words again, dropping her hand to her side. "Drew, really, it's ok. I shouldn't have called you that" I muttered awkwardly.
She looked around the court a few times, and glanced back at my red cheek. She mumbled something like "I'm sorry... I just..." and then turned and ran off.

We sat around the dinner table in utter silence. India was in bed. My Mom had cooked.
Drew and I sat opposite each other at the wooden table, my Mom at the end. The only noise the clinking of our cutlery on the china plates.
"Justin, what happened to your cheek?" my Mom spoke up. Drew dropped her fork. I couldn't rat her out. Sure we weren't really friends right now, but I still couldn't embarrass her like that. "Uh, I walked into a door". Not the best excuse, but she'd at least understand the fact that I didn't want to talk about it. "Some door" she giggled gently, not believing a word. We all half-heartedly laughed, until it awkwardly died down into silence once again.
My mother cleared her throat, standing from the table "Well, I'd better start off on the dishes" she sighed. Drew immediately jumped at the chance to get away from me, you could still see she felt ashamed of herself. She stood abruptly from her seat, the wooden chair-legs scraping along the floor "Where I come from, the cook is never the one to wash up" she smiled feebly, taking Pattie's plate from her. Pattie grinned at the sixteen-year-old "Aww, well I'd like to go there sweetie" she smiled, placing her hand caringly on Drew's shoulder, before dropping it back to her side. I stood and tucked my chair in, going to leave for my bedroom when- "Justin, go help her please".
"But Mom-".
"Now".
Ugh. I picked up my plate and followed her into the kitchen. We silently agreed for her to wash, and me to dry. She scrubbed the first plate in silence as I dried the cutlery with the kitchen towel.
I heard a soft sniffling as Drew handed me the now-sparkling plate. "Drew... Are you crying?" I asked, trying to peer through the curtain of her hair to see her upset face. "No..." she mumbled, voice echoing with denial. "Babe, why are you crying?" I asked, dropping the towel to the counter and turning to face her. She didn't do the same, and stayed leaning against the sink. "Because you totally hate me now" she sniffed, wiping her cheek with the back of her hand.
What! Hate her? "Drew, I do not hate you. My cheek doesn't even sting any more. It was for like, two minutes" I tried to make her laugh with me, but the attempt failed miserably. She said nothing.
I sighed. I hated this. I hated us not being close. I hated us not talking. I hated not being able to randomly kiss her whenever I wanted.
Oh screw it.
I pulled her soapy hands into mine, making her drop the plate back into the washing up bowl, and tugged her into my warm body, hugging her tight around the waist. "I'm sorry I called you a bitch and got really jealous. I didn't mean it. You're not that. You're perfect" I mumbled into her neck, pecking my lips on her tender skin. "I'm sorry I hit you. I was just really mad. You're not a prick. You're amazing. You're perfect" she mocked me with a gentle smile on her pretty face. "So now we're both perfect, what are we gonna do with ourselves?" I chuckled, brushing my lips on her cheek. "We're going to...." she whispered, teasing me softly. "Babysit India while Pattie goes to meet her friends tonight" she blurted, smirking.
"Babysit?"
"Mhmm" she mumbled as she pecked her lips on mine.
"Not exactly what I had in mind, so you owe me baby" I laughed lightly, nodding. "Fine, I owe you" she giggled.
I went to kiss her, but she pulled teasingly back, before winking and walking off. She swung her hips from side to side, laughing quietly to herself as I drooled behind her.
She is such a tease ;).

I promise the next one will be better you guys :) there wasn't much to put in this one <3