"You got with Gene?"

Alex's words sound to be more questionable than enthusiastic. She stares skeptically at me, her eyebrows furrowed with her gaze.

I look back at her, confused. I thought we were all happy for me for actually moving on from people. Laurance is iffy on Gene, but Vylad doesn't seem to mind him.

"Yeah?" I say, though it sounds more like a question rather than a statement.

"Oh." That's all she says. That's the only response I get for a few moments. Until she speaks again, there's silence. I would thought for how close we are that she would be happier for me. "Something doesn't seem right about that guy. He gives me a weird feeling."

I shake my head, instantly going to his defense. Sure, Gene may give off a weird vibe from time to time, but he's honestly the sweetest thing in the entire world. "He's a good person, I promise."

"Isaac gave me a weird feeling too."

My heart drops. This relationship can't end up like that one. It isn't. I won't let it. Isaac gave me some trust issues when it came to that, and I don't need Gene adding onto that.

The conversation drops completely between us. The air is different until Vylad happily strolls in, playfully drumming the top of my head with his drumsticks. He notices the change in air and frowns, his arms dropping to his side.

"Did I miss something?"

I shake my head, kissing the top of his before looking around for my guitar. He eyes me for a moment before slowly nodding his head, deciding not to question anything about it.

He turns to Alex, starting up a conversation. At least now our conversation is completely dropped. But I know for a fact that she's just going to tell him our conversation.

Laurance bumps into me. He looks at me for a moment and quietly apologizes. We lock eyes for a few moments before he breaks it and goes to pick up his dropped pic.

Laurance was a subject of our conversation before. Alex told me she's noticed a change in his demeanor. He's still with Aphmau, to our surprise. I thought he would've called it quits. We've noticed something was off earlier when Laurance was acting different, but it's apparently extremely noticeable when he's at home. There's no one he really has to put up a cover for.

"Laur, are you okay?"

He looks down at his feet, nodding his head. "Is it true?" My eyebrows furrow together in pure confusion. I don't have the slightest idea as of what he could be talking about. "Are you with Gene?"

It dawns on me. He must've heard, but he shouldn't care. He has his own relationship and I have mine. Everything is alright.

"Yeah," I say. "Yeah, I am."

°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

"Y/N, sweetie, what is this?"

I look over to mom, my eyes widening at the stack of cash in her hand. I forgot to put it away when I was counting it last.

I let out a shaky sigh. "That's, um, Vylad's birthday gift money from the three of us. I've been in charge of keeping track of it."

She slowly sits on my bed, placing it down down beside us both with a soft smile. She kisses my forehead, a soft rosy blush on her cheeks. It's from happiness.

"Your father and I are more than capable of buying Vylad a present."

I shake my head, beginning to explain the situation. How he like photography and has been looking at cameras. Vylad found a camera he liked but didn't have the money for it, so he pushed it aside. I got a picture of it and now the three of us have been getting money together.

I pull out all of the information. The picture of it with the price written at the top. There's a small notebook page behind the picture that comes out too, stating who put what money in and when. We've been persistent when it comes to this because we believe Vylad deserves it.

She reaches for the information and looks through it all with a wide smile. "I want to help and give you the leftover money that you need. Don't argue, alright? It's what a momma does for her children."

I close my mouth that had opened to protest. But after learning it was of no use, it shuts. Instead, I give her a hug and close my eyes. Our little bit of money trouble is taken care of, and I can quickly order the camera with little worries in the world. Things are finally looking up for me, and I couldn't be happier from it. Maybe this upcoming year will be full of fulfilled promises.