“She ‘ fell down the stairs’?” I repeated sarcastically.

“That’s what I was thinking. Anyway, I know you don’t see her but I just thought you should know,” Ray said, sounding almost apologetic.

I closed my eyes and nodded, “Thanks, Ray.” I disconnected the call and pressed the phone against my forehead. If she was getting battered again, did that mean that she was back to her usual habits?

I sacrificed so much to get her out of it and she was back in trouble again? It almost made me wonder why I even bothered in the first place. But I knew why I bothered, she was my mother, she was a sorry excuse for one definitely, but the woman gave birth to me, I owed her.

I sighed and put the phone on the side, looking down at Ellie’s flawless face, trying not to get myself so worked up that I would end up smashing the place up. I brushed the hair off of her face, just letting my feelings for her wash over me. I was so in love with her now that it was almost embarrassing, I was like one of those whipped guys that put her before everything else, all I wanted to do was make her happy. I think I was doing it too, she was definitely happy with me.

Her dad seemed to like me too, I had been round her house for dinner at least once a week for the last month, watching football on the TV her dad, laughing and joking around with him. Her mom on the other hand, she despised me. She didn’t say it, she didn’t need to, the look on her face told me that she thought I wasn’t good enough for her daughter. The subtle way she would drop Mark freaking Barrington into the conversation whenever she could, proved that point. I think her and Ellie were clashing a lot over me, which is why she liked to stay at my place a lot. I definitely wasn’t complaining about that, but I just wish that my presence in her life didn’t make things hard for her.

We were spending the day together today, hanging out and chilling then going to watch a movie with Stacey and Paul later. We’d seen them yesterday too. The girls had gone shopping for dresses for the school dance that I’d somehow agreed to go to, and Paul and I had to go rent a suit each. The dance was next Friday and I wasn’t looking forward to it at all, for one thing, I didn’t really dance. I mean, I could do the subtle ‘guy dance’ that consisted of foot shuffling, and I could grind back up against her while she shook her ass. But I couldn’t do the ‘proper dancing’ that would be expected of me. Did they do all that waltzy crap at a school dance? I was going to make myself look like a complete dick, but I guess I didn’t really care as long as she enjoyed herself.

Her breath was blowing across my stomach as she slept, making the hair on the back of my neck stand up with excitement. I traced my finger along the line of her nose, just smiling to myself that this girl was mine. I still couldn’t believe it, even after a month. I wanted desperately to tell her I loved her, but I wasn’t quite sure she felt the same, and I didn’t want to scare her away from me by being too forward, so I kept it to myself for the time being.

She moved slightly, snuggling against me, pressing her face into my stomach more, so I froze, hoping she’d sleep a little while longer just so I could just watch her like a pervert stalker. She sighed in her sleep, “Jamie, will you buy me some ice-cream? Not the mint one though….. I don’t want to have to clear up the chocolate chips,” she muttered, frowning.

I grinned and tried not to laugh. “Sure, Ellie. What flavour shall I get?” I asked, playing along with her in her sleep in a bid to keep her talking.

She sighed again, “Whatever you want, I only want to throw it at the cats anyway.”

I burst out laughing at her randomness and she jerked up, looking around shocked, with wide eyes.

“What?” she gasped, her voice husky and thick with sleep as she put her hand over her heart, a little scared look on her face. That made me laugh harder so she looked down at me like I was crazy.

“What’s funny? That scared the shit out of me!” she whined, flopping down at my side, pouting at me.

I smiled and rolled to my side, pulling her close to me again. “You’re so cute sometimes, Ellison.”

She raised one eyebrow, and I bit back another laugh. She really did hate her full name, maybe it was the fact that her mom insisted on calling her it all the time. “Sorry. I meant, Ellie,” I corrected, winking at her.

She rolled her eyes and scooted closer to me, “What’s with the scary wakeup call? That freaked me out, you big meanie!” she scolded, slapping my chest lightly before stroking the exact same spot.

I shrugged, “Sorry. Hey, you know before we go to the movie later, you think maybe we could stop and get some ice-cream? There’s some cats down the road that piss me off to high heaven,” I joked, laughing again as she looked at me like I was crazy.

“Ice-cream and cats, how are they related? Are you on something that I don’t know about?” she asked, her nose scrunching up in confusion.

I smirked at her and rolled on top of her, pinning her down to the bed. “Yeah, I’m on you.”

She immediately blushed as usual, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. “Well, while you’re there……” she trailed off suggestively and I felt my whole body rejoicing as I crashed my lips to hers. God damn, I loved my girlfriend!

Three hours later and I couldn’t stop thinking about my mom. I could tell Ellie was getting worried, and probably slightly annoyed with me, because she kept having to repeat herself when I wasn’t really listening to her. My mind just kept wandering off, wondering if she was in trouble again, what sort of thing she’d got herself into this time. I tried my best not to care, but I couldn’t help it.