"Mom, I'm home!" Edison called out as they walked through the front door.

He dropped his backpack by the door and kicked off his flip-flops. The scent of butter and garlic drew them towards the kitchen.

"Did I mention my mom's garlic bread?" he asked over his shoulder.

"You didn't but it smells amazing!"

"It's the best thing you'll ever taste."

"Hey honey. How was your day?" Edison's mom asked as he entered the kitchen. She was washing dishes in the sink. She stopped when she saw Kit. "Kit, it's good to see you again." She had the same smile as Edison.

"You too," Kit smiled back. "The garlic bread smells amazing!"

"Thanks. There is still some left. I put it in the oven to keep it warm," she said.

"Did you guys eat?" Edison asked, as he opened the oven.

He pulled out half a loaf of bread wrapped in tinfoil and a china dish filled with spaghetti.

"Yeah. Annie and Rachel were eager to start their girls night."

"Rachel's here?" Edison asked.

Kit peeked over his shoulder at the food. He took a bite from a piece of garlic bread before offering it to her. He moved to the cabinets and started to pull out dishes and utensils. She sat at one of the barstools, happy to finish the piece of garlic bread and listen to Edison and his mom talk.

"Yeah, she is sleeping over. Kit, would you like some parmesan cheese?" his mom asked. She was already at the fridge before Kit could say yes. She slid it across the counter. "How was work?"

Kit ate most of her spaghetti and a few more pieces of garlic bread as Edison told his mom about his day, leaving out his many admirers.

"They seem to really like him at the resort," his mom told Kit. Kit just nodded and smiled, knowing his mom meant his employers and not the female guests. "I don't know why," she jokingly added. "I can't get him to put away his laundry or take out the trash."

"I always take out the trash," Edison argued. "And I don't see the point of putting my laundry away if I'm just going to wear it again."

"But you leave it out for weeks."

"I know, but you fold it so nice and neatly, it doesn't look bad on my desk."

"The desk I bought for you to study at."

Edison's mom rolled her eyes in exasperation but there was no real annoyance in her tone. It seemed like an argument they had been having since Edison was old enough to put his own laundry away, and one they would be having until he moved out.

"What are you two kids doing for the rest of the night?" his mom asked. She had finished the dishes and was leaning against the counter. Her tone was relaxed and not prying.

Edison and Kit looked at each other questioningly. Their plan hadn't extended further then spaghetti.

"I don't know," Edison shrugged. "Maybe watch a movie?"

"You could always join Annie and Rachel," his mom offered. "They're watching your favorite, A Walk to Remember." Her eyes sparkled with humor at her own joke.

"I would rather pour bleach in my eyes," he said flatly while Kit chuckled softly.

"Alright. Then you can watch something in the family room. I'll read in the study," she said.

She gave Edison a knowing parental look without feeling overbearing and kissed his head as she left the kitchen. He wiped the kiss away immediately but there was no annoyance on his part.

"You want to stay for a movie?" he asked as he began to clear their dishes. Kit helped load them into the dishwasher.

"Sure, but only if we watch A Walk to Remember with your sister," she said.

"Ha, ha," he laughed dryly.

"I can also paint your nails. Do you think your sister would let me use her nail polish?"

Without a word, Edison turned and walked out of the kitchen. She laughed as she followed him. He led the way past the front door and his mother reading in the study and into the family room. The whole house had a warm and homey feel to it and more so in the family room. It was neat but well lived in with a comfy looking couch, family pictures throughout and a few dolls left on the coffee table. Edison plopped down on one side of the couch and reached for the remote.

"Was that a no on A Walk to Remember and painting our nails?" Kit asked as she sat on the opposite side of the couch.

He ignored her as he turned on the television across from them. She smiled at his determined silence. She picked up the frame on the end table next to her and studied the picture as he flipped through movie options. In the picture Edison was wearing his football uniform and he looked sweaty, like it was the end of a game. He had his sister on his shoulders and there was a huge crowd around them celebrating.

"How about a comedy?" he asked.

"When was this?" She held up the picture.

He looked over for a moment before turning back to the television.

"Last year," he said.

"After a game?"

"Yeah. We won homecoming," he said, flatly.

"That must have been exciting." Kit tried to dig for more information. "Winning homecoming is a big deal."

She studied him as he kept his eyes on the screen. He simply nodded and kept flipping through the movies. She dropped the topic for the time being.

They watched the beginning in silence until Kit found her eyes growing heavy and forced herself to sit up.

"Are you comfortable?" Edison asked, looking over at her.

She nodded. "Too comfortable," she joked. "I'm about to fall asleep."

He smiled. "I've done that plenty of times." He paused, hesitant for a moment then continued. "I actually spent three months on this couch last fall."

"Doesn't sound too bad. It's a very comfortable couch."

He gave a small smile but it didn't reach his eyes. He shrugged. "Try sitting in the same room for three months, unable to move. No matter how comfortable this couch is, it started to feel like a prison cell."

Kit turned to face him and pulled her legs beneath. The movie was no competition for talking about Edison's past.

"Was this when you tore your ACL?"

The movie sound was still up but she spoke quietly, as if any loud noise might scare him and keep him from telling her more.

He nodded slowly and lowered the volume of the movie. "I spent the first two weeks after my surgery in my room but then my mom started to worry that I was getting depressed. She didn't want me spending too much time alone. I guess she read somewhere that being around people and open spaces helps combat depression." His tone was mocking. "But it's not like she had anything to worry about. The whole team was here every day for the first three weeks."

Kit looked around the room and tried to imagine the football team crammed into every inch of it.

"It must have been crowded."

The house was a nice size but it didn't seem big enough to comfortably hold the entire football team.

Edison nodded. "It was a mad house. When they stopped coming over, the house felt like a ghost town."

Kit chuckled. "Did your mom kick them out? Was she tired of them tracking dirt in and eating all her food?"

He gave a tight smiled. "Nah. She loved it. She had some crazy thought it would help me get better faster." He pursed his lips as his gaze jumping around the room, like he was fighting back a thought. He looked down at his hands and then up at Kit, studying her with dark eyes. "But they didn't help anything," he finally said. "They were all convinced I was going to pull off a miraculous recovery and be back playing in a few weeks but it was just stupid. And annoying. After a few weeks of them trying to convince me everything was going to be ok, that everything could be the same, I kicked them out."

He dropped his gaze and began to twist his hands together. Kit remained quiet. She could hear Edison's younger sister and her friend upstairs laughing and the movie still played in the background but she kept her focus on him.

He finally looked up, a sardonic smile on his face. "I know they think they were trying to help but I'm nothing special. It took six months to recover from my torn ACL, just like the doctors predicted. And by that time the season was already over and the team had moved on and made it to the regional championship." He tried to keep his voice even but there was a bitter undertone. "When I got back to school I thought it was time for me to move on as well."

"The doctors said you couldn't play anymore?"

He shook his head and shrugged. "No, but it didn't seem important anymore. It's just a bunch of guys throwing a ball around. It just seemed pointless."

He spoke nonchalantly, making it easy to believe he meant what he said but Kit wondered if that was because he had been telling everyone the same lie for so long. His words didn't seem to ring true to her.

From the little amount of time she had gotten to know him, she found him strongminded and driven. It seemed unlikely he wouldn't have been successful at a comeback if he had set his mind to it. She was curious why he decided playing football again wasn't worth the effort and fight. She studied him until he looked over.

"I don't even know what's going on in the movie," he said. He smiled. "Do you?"

She smiled back and shook her head. "I haven't got a clue."

"Wanna start it over?"

"Sure," she said.

She returned her attention back to the screen and settled into her spot.

"Don't fall asleep on me St James," he warned as the movie credits began to roll again.

He reached out and tickled her leg. She let out a surprised laugh, pulled her legs beneath her and threw a pillow his way.

"Hey!" he cried out.

"Shhhh," she hissed. "I'm trying to watch a movie."

**********************************************************************

My pretty peach cobbler!

Okay! Who secretly hopes they will meet in the middle and end up cuddling during the night?

🙋‍♀️ I do!

Alighty my peoples Cliche1221 asked me this: if you could spend a day with me or Grant Gustin, who would you choose?

*Sighs* I have to be honest with you, you know me, you already know how this ends. You know where my love lives. You know my heart. You know my answer before I even say it. So without further ado, here is my answer.

You of course! As in you my readers!

For real it would be a dream come true to meet all of you and just hang out. I feel like we would have the most wild and wonderful conversations ever! And ice cream! SO MUCH ICE CREAM!

Random question: what do you read Wattpad on? Computer? Tablet? Kindle? Phone?

Favorite movie?

For me it's a tie between: Speedracer, A Walk to Remember, Clue and Edge of Tomorrow.

kapayapaan, pagmamahal, sorbetes (Filipino 🇵🇭😄)

Yup! That is the cutest thing ever!

This could be my pet, it's eating ice cream!