Attached cover made by Shall_Know_Pain love your pfp!

Silently Falling: Chapter Seventeen

West opens the door from his room and heads out into the hallway. His song is still resonating through my ears, and his words afterwards are too. I finally find my feet and stand up, following him out of his room when it syncs in that I'm about to meet his mom.

I'm meeting West Love's mom.

I didn't imagine my junior year going quite this way.

I sheepishly peek around the door and see West embracing his mom, his large build completely engulfing her so that I can't see her. They pull apart and I finally get a look at Ms. Love, and I'm completely taken aback.

She's beautiful.

Her long blonde hair falls around her shoulders in a slight frizz, accentuating how shockingly blue her eyes are. They're nearly the complete opposite of West's dark brown eyes, but beautiful all the same. I also note a small, discolored scar on her left cheek, right by her ear. It's no bigger than maybe a half an inch, but the scar tissue is obvious on her tanned skin. She's clearly in shape; she has the body of a teenager. Honestly, she could pass for a college student because I would have guessed her to be West's older sister if I didn't know any better.

"She's...a girl." Are the first words from her mouth.

I'm so glad you noticed.

West stares at her weirdly.

"Yeah..."

That's when she gets excited.

"Oh my gosh! My little boy brought a girl home! And she's so beautiful! This must be the girl that's got you in such a good mood!" She squeals before running the short distance towards me.

I let out a small grunt of surprise as she pulls me in for a hug, and thankfully she matches my height so I'm not awkwardly offered a face full of boobs. I awkwardly hug her back as she squeezes me half to death. When she pulls away, she keeps her dainty hands on my arms and her head snaps towards West who is amusedly watching from the sidelines.

"Why wouldn't you tell me you have a girlfriend?" She pouts.

Uh.

"How long have you two been dating? Why did you keep denying you had a girlfriend when I asked? How did you two meet?" She continues to ask him, leaving no room for him to answer as she continues to shoot off question after question.

I wait for West to cut her off and correct her, but he never does. Instead, a smirk slides across his lips as he looks at me, a lightbulb appearing above his head.

Shit.

"I wanted to wait for the right moment." He drawls and I narrow my eyes at him.

He wouldn't.

He walks towards me and throws an arm around my shoulders, making his mom's hands fall from my arms and cover her lips to hide a squeal. "I thought the appropriate time would be when we both finally admitted our undying love for one another."

I'm going to kill him.

I shove West off of me with a deep scowl. "Tell her we aren't dating!"

He pouts, "Babe, don't be like that." He whines, trying to pull me in for a hug.

I put my arms out in front of me to keep him away. I'm sure we look like fools to his no doubt confused mother. I send him a hard glare to get my message across, since I can't really talk while holding him back. The glare works and he chuckles, stepping back while putting his hands up in surrender.

"Damn Sunshine, if looks could kill I would be six feet under," he turns to his mom, "we aren't dating, mom. We're just friends. This is Raine, the one I told you about?"

She watches us with a small smirk, "Uh huh... Well, I'm Libba. West's mother."

I smile and stick out my hand, but she just pulls me back in for another hug. My eyes widen as I get pulled against her chest and I awkwardly hug her again. I smile at her as she pulls away, and I see the slight confusion in her eyes as I don't say anything.

I glance at West who seems to just now be realizing the dilemma here and he steps up.

"Raine is mute," he explains. "She uses sign language to talk." He says, smiling down at me.

His mom's eyes widen and she looks at her son. "How did she hear you when you were talking then?" She asks in amazement.

I bite my lip to hide my smile, trying my hardest not to laugh.

West nearly face palms, shaking his head in embarrassment. "Mom...I said mute, not deaf. Raine can hear, she just can't talk."

Libba's face flushes and she sheepishly smiles, shrugging her shoulders. "My bad, but it's wonderful to meet you, Raine."

I offer her a friendly smile and glance at West. "Translate?"

West's eyes shine and he nods, carefully watching my hands as I sign to her.

"It's nice to meet you too." He says aloud, and I smile in approval.

Libba's eyes widen a considerable degrees as she looks at her son. "You know sign language? West, how did I not know this?!" She exclaims, slapping his shoulder.

He flinches back. "Goddamn, between the two of you I'm going to lose an arm."

Now I slap him, "Don't curse in front of your mother."

He scowls at me and holds his arm before looking back at his mother.

"What did she say?"

"Don't curse in front of your mother." He mutters.

Libba laughs and sends her kind smile towards me, "I like you, Raine. Slap him whenever you want, he could use the extra discipline."

I smile back at her, blushing slightly, and nod my agreement.

"Such a great mother..." West sulks.

Libba ignores him and turns to me. "Are you staying for dinner?" She asks, her bright blue eyes light with welcome.

I glance at West in hopes of him translating."I don't want to intrude."

Instead, the beginnings of a smile fill his lips and he turns to his mom. "She would love to."

Libba's eyes brighten even more. "Perfect! You aren't a vegetarian or anything, right dear?" She asks.

West laughs, "I've seen her devour three McDoubles and a large fry in two minutes. She's definitely not a vegetarian."

I narrow my eyes at him, lightly slapping his shoulder again that causes him to scowl.

"Okay, great, this was fun but in order to ensure I don't get abused again, Raine and I need to get back to our homework," West mutters.

Libba chuckles as West heads towards his room, grumbling under his breath. She smiles at me, "I'm going to go get started on dinner, you two have fun."

I head to West's room and see him lounging on his bed with his guitar in his arms. He's sitting in the corner with his back against his wall, sitting against his extra pillow.

"Well she seemed to like you," he hums as he strums randomly.

I sit down next to him and smirk, "What's not to like?"

West pauses his strumming and chuckles, "Alright, ready to start on your Chorus lyrics?"

I nod, grabbing my Chorus song book from my backpack. I place it in my lap as I rest my back against the wall, sitting on the end of West's bed. I flip to the pages filled with the notes, and he sets his guitar next to him, scooting closer to read it with me. His arm brushes against mine but I don't instantly flinch away. Instead, I relax into the feeling and we begin working on the lyrics together.

Around a half hour later, Libba knocks on his door and pokes her head inside. I notice her eye our close proximity with a tiny grin before she washes that look away and nods to West.

"Hey, it's six o'clock."

West nods at his mom and she walks back into the kitchen. West sighs and pushes off of his bed, glancing back at me with a grin.

"Come on Sunshine, you've got one more member of the Love family to meet."

He grabs his shoes that he had neatly placed by his door, kneeling down to start putting them on. He glances over at my confused expression and chuckles.

"I've gotta go pick up my little brother from after school daycare," he explains, and I follow him as we head out of his room and to the front door.

"We'll be back in a half hour mom, try not to burn the place down!" He calls, grabbing his keys from the small table.

"Ha-ha," I hear her sarcastic laugh from down the hall in the kitchen, "Have I mentioned how much I love having you back home?"

West snorts at her response. "Be back soon," he calls before unlocking the front door and stepping outside.

West shuts the door behind me, instantly locking it back up with his keys. I wait close by him as the fall chill hits me full blast. Now that the sun has started to go down so early, it's significantly colder without the warmth brought on by the sunlight. If only my nickname meant I could radiate warmth. The cold air makes my cheeks freeze and then go numb, and I quickly throw my hands into my jean pockets so they don't suffer the same fate.

West finishes locking the door and walks down his sidewalk with me right next to his side. I steal some of his warmth from how close he is to me, his jacket brushing against me. When he sees the same two guys walking down the gravel road, he once again places his hand on the small of my back for me to pick up my pace a little and get to his Jeep quicker.

He opens my door for me and I shuffle in as he jogs over to his side, and I notice the lack of a second car in his driveway.

"Where's your moms car?"

West glances at my hands as he starts the Jeep and turns on the heat, throwing it into reverse. He places his hand on the back of my headrest and watches the back window as he backs out of his driveway.

"She rides the bus to and from work, the stop is just a block from the house. That's why my little brother goes to daycare, neither of us can pick him up from school and there are no school busses that would drop him off close enough to the house. My mom and I aren't comfortable letting him walk alone for more than a block," he mutters as the car bounces along the road.

My heart tugs at the embarrassment in his tone, wanting to be able to say that he doesn't need to be embarrassed at all.

"Where's his daycare?" I ask as he approaches another stop sign.

"I'm going to assume that last word was daycare. It's about fifteen minutes from my place. It's closer to your house." He explains, reaching for the radio as we exit his part of town. "As a matter of fact, it's just down the road from your place. Like five minutes." He says as he turns it on and finds a station he likes.

I glance out the window as we drive back the way we came down the highway. Then, as we approach a stoplight, my head swivels to face West.

"How old is your brother? What's his name?"

West chuckles as he turns down a road just a few before my own. "He's in fourth grade, which makes him nine. His name is Casper."

We pull into the parking lot of a building painted with a smorgasbord of colors. It looks like the rainbow puked on it, leaving a beautiful disaster in it's place. The sign resting just above the two front doors is made to look like an elementary school kid wrote it, complete with letters written backwards and a dripped paint look.

Kids 'R' Kids.

I smile at West as he parks, all of the sudden feeling giddy.

"I love that sign!" I exclaim, unbuckling along with him.

"Really?" He asks, giving me a weird look as we get out.

I nod, "It's cute."

He smirks as we cross the parking lot. "Like you." He says slyly.

My face heats up and I turn my head away so that he can't catch the redness on my cheeks. West heads to the front desk, confidence pooling off of him as it always does. He doesn't seem to let the rumors that float around him bother him, and it makes envy burn within me. I was a shell of my former self all through ninth grade because of the rumors that were told about me.

"Hey West." The girl at the desk says with a light smile.

She looks to be in her mid-twenties, with a smile worth a million dollars. I wonder if she was blessed with such perfect teeth or if thousands of dollars were put into them. Her black hair is pulled into a side braid, resting gently on her shoulder. Her eyes are dark green, making the tan of her face much more prominent.

"Hey Grace," he greets.

Grace's eyes drift from West and land on me where I awkwardly stand off to the side. Question fills her eyes as her smile directs itself at me.

"Who's this?" She asks kindly.

West glances over at me and smiles lightly. "This is my friend, Raine. She's been teaching me sign language." He explains, nodding for me to come closer.

"Oh, really? That's awesome, it's nice to meet you Raine."

I smile and nod at her to give my greeting.

"Raine actually can't talk," West explains when Grace tilts her head in confusion when I don't say anything. "She communicates with sign language, hence the lessons."

Grace's green eyes light up with interest and she looks back at me. "That's amazing, were you born without a voice?" She asks, tilting her head slightly.

I shake my head and begin to sign, wanting to give West a chance to show off his knowledge. "I've been mute since 9th grade."

West translates for me, his posture showing the slight pride he feels. Grace's eyebrows lift in amazement and she smiles at him.

"Look at you, learning sign language for a girl." She says, winking at him.

I start to chuckle and cover my mouth with my hand, glancing up at him. He blushes slightly and shakes his head.

"Let's just go get my brother." He mutters, walking down the hall.

"It was nice to meet you, Raine!" Grace says as I rush to follow West.

I send her a smile over my shoulder and then fall into step beside him. West stops in front of one of the many rooms and steps inside the door frame.

I peek over his shoulder into the hectic room. There are at least fifteen kids; some are coloring, others are playing with Lego's, and a few are playing on the computers. But my eyes take special notice to the one kid sitting off to the side reading a small chapter book.

He glances up when the other kids shout West's name, and as he does a wide smile fills his mouth. He jumps to his feet, setting his book down on the beanbag he was occupying and runs towards West.

He throws his arms around West's legs in a hug that causes West to smile widely and pat his back.

"Hey little man, you ready to go?" West asks, smiling down at the boy I assume is Casper.

He nods widely. "Let me get my backpack!" He exclaims before running towards the back to grab a small, Superman backpack. He shoves the book he had been reading inside of it and runs back to West. "I'm ready!"

He grins and pushes off the door frame, "Let's go. There's someone I want you to meet."

I wait outside the door and as they exit the room, Casper's eyes land on me. He has his mother's eyes, a light and icy blue that accentuates his brown hair.

"Hi." He says shyly, staying close to his brother's side.

"This is my friend Raine." West says, kneeling down next to his brother.

Casper avoids eye contact with me and nods. West sighs and looks at me rather apologetically.

"He's shy." He signs.

I chuckle, "I can tell."

West rolls his eyes at me and stands up straight. Then he seems to get an idea and nods at his brother. "Hey, Casper. You wanna learn the alphabet in sign language?"

That catches Casper's attention and he shifts his attention to his brother. "Sign language? Why?"

"Raine uses sign language to talk."

Casper looks back at me with newfound wonder in his blue eyes. I can tell his shyness is chipping away as every second passes. "Really? Like...Helen Keller? We just learned about her!"

I have to stifle a laugh from his only connection to ASL and recall the stories I used to have to read in elementary school about Helen Keller. An odd person to learn about as a nine-year-old, but a good segue into learning about ASL. When I was a kid, learning about Helen Keller was followed by learning the ASL alphabet, and my smile falters a little when I discover they must have stopped teaching it. 

I nod, "It's true."

His eyes brighten in excited curiosity. "What did she say?" He asks, tugging on West's leather jacket.

"She said it's true."

Casper glances back at me in amazement. "Wow..."

"Mom has dinner ready back at home so we've got to go, but maybe, if you ask nicely, Raine will teach you a few things at dinner." West says, beginning to walk down the hallway.

He takes Casper's hand in his own, and Casper glances up at me with wide, innocent eyes and a big smile.

"Would you?"

I smile at him and nod, "Of course."

His head swivels back to his brother as he tugs on his hand. "What did she say?!"

"She said of course." West says, messing up Casper's hair.

He looks back at me and smiles widely.

Well I guess that moment of shyness was short lived.

He tugs on West's leather jacket again and gestures for him to lean down. He does so and Casper whispers something in his ear. West looks over at me and smiles. "I definitely agree."

I raise a brow, "What did he say?" I ask.

He smiles and shrugs, "It's confidential."

OoO

We get back to dinner ready for us, plates set on the table and everything. West locks the door behind us as Casper runs to his mother, jumping into her arms with a giddy smile.

"Mom! Did you know West's friend is going to teach me sign language?" He asks, voice going a mile a minute.

Libba chuckles and glances over at me with a twinkle in her eyes that are a spitting image of Casper's.

"Is that so? Well, that's very nice of her to teach my two boys a new skill."

West chuckles and peels Casper off of his mom.

"Go wash up for dinner, little man." He says, and Casper runs off to the bathroom. "It smells really good, mom."

I nod my agreement as we head to the kitchen table, taking the seat next to West. Casper appears seconds later, practically leaping into his seat across from West who eyes him with playful suspicion.

"You washed your hands that quickly?"

"Yep!"

"With soap?" He asks, and Casper's face flushes red.

"Of course!" He says quickly, voice an octave higher.

"Let me smell your hands, then."

Casper's eyes widen and he sheepishly glances down at his hands, "I guess I could use a little more," he mumbles, getting off of his chair and walking back down the short hallway to the bathroom.

I snicker at the little interaction, catching West's eye as he chuckles too.

"You've got to stay on top of that one," he says with a shrug.

Libba brings over the bowl of spaghetti and places it down in the middle of the small, square table with a bowl of salad next to it. She sits across from me with a kind smile while we wait for Casper to come running back to the table.

"Raine, can you teach me the alphabet now?" He asks with an excited smile.

"How about after we eat?" I sign while West interprets for me.

Casper pouts, "We've had spaghetti three times in a row now."

West and Libba cringe a little at his comment, looking at me from the corner of their eyes. As though ashamed that they have such a low budget they have to eat the same food over and over again. But they have no reason to feel judged by me. I make the same meal nearly every day for me and Toby.

I smile and go ahead and grab some, loading a little onto my plate. "I'm jealous, I love spaghetti."

West's shoulders relax at my comment as he interprets for Casper and Libba, and I notice Libba's tense smile turn more genuine as well, and everyone else begins to scoop some onto their plates.

"So Raine, are you a senior as well?"

I shake my head, and West clarifies for me since my hands are occupied with the salad bowl as I put some on my plate.

"She's a junior, but we have English together."

Libba nods, twirling her spaghetti around her fork.

"I heard you and West working on a song earlier, was that for English or another class?"

Rather than needing West to interpret everything for me, he scoots his chair out and grabs the dinner whiteboard from off of their fridge, handing it to me along with the attached marker.

"Here you go, Sunshine."

His mom quirks an intrigued brow at his nickname, but she doesn't say anything aside from letting a tiny smirk fill her lips that she tries to hide behind her fork-full of spaghetti.

'That was for my Music class,' I write. 'I'm in chorus and I write the music for some of our concerts.'

Libba reads it over and her eyes widen in admiration. "That's very impressive, and West is helping you out?"

I smile at him and scribble down my next sentence.

'Now that I know he writes a little bit of his own music, I had to get his help.'

West chuckles, smiling behind his bite of salad.

"West writes really cool songs!" Casper says, spaghetti sauce smeared on his cheek.

West snorts, "Hey Casper, you got a little something right there," he says, gesturing to his own cheek.

Casper wipes it away with the back of his hand, causing Libba to grumble and pointedly hand him his napkin.

"What kind of songs do you write, Raine?"

'Nothing special.' I write shyly, but West shakes his head.

"She's being humble, she showed me one of her songs the other day. It was amazing."

I glance shyly at West and he sends me a wink as he scoops some salad into his mouth, chewing with his trademarked smirk as Libba responds.

"Are your parents into music as well? I don't know the first thing about how to play the guitar, but West picked it up a few years ago."

That comment causes me to hesitate and quickly take a bite of food as I think through what to respond with. West awkwardly drops his fork onto his plate, because he knows the awkward situation with my parents.

'My mom was really into music, I play on her piano.' I choose to write with a forced smile.

"Does she still play?"

From the corner of my eye, I notice West send his mom a pointed look that clearly says 'stop prying.'

I smile awkwardly, 'She passed away when I was little.'

Libba's smile disappears into a frown and she drops her eyes to her food. "I'm sorry, Raine. I didn't know."

"It's okay, Raine. We only have one parent too," Casper says from his seat, his innocent personality shining through. "But mom is awesome, so we don't really need dad around."

His comment sends a wave of silence through the room, and Libba awkwardly wipes her mouth with her napkin. I just smile at Casper, unsure of what to write. West quickly changes the course of the conversation by asking Casper about his day at school, and I note the tightness to his tone. He's never told me anything about his personal life aside from inviting me over today. Of course I noticed his lack of a father presence, but I didn't want to pry, and it seems he doesn't want to get into that conversation any time soon.

By the end of dinner, Casper is sure to remind me to teach him the alphabet and I go through it with him. The tension his earlier comment brought drifts away while I teach him, and West pokes fun at him a few times when he can't quite get the hand movements down. Libba begins to clean up dinner while I teach Casper, West eventually leaving the table to help her. Once I've taught Casper and everything is cleaned up, it's already eight and I get ready for West to take me home.

'Thank you so much for dinner, it was delicious.' I write on my phone, showing it to Libba as West and I walk to the front door.

She reads it over and smiles at me. "It was no problem, you come over whenever you want." She says, pulling me in for a hug. "It's about time my boy brings a girl home." She says as we pull apart.

I chuckle softly and let a smile overcome my lips. 'It was nice to meet you.'

"You too, sweetie." She says.

"Raine!" Casper calls, quickly walking up to me. "Goodbye." He signs, a proud smile on his lips.

I chuckle, 'You remembered!' I type, showing him my phone.

He nods, blushing slightly. "When can we have another lesson?" He asks.

I glance at West and then back at Casper. 'I'm not sure, maybe the next time I come over.'

He frowns as he reads it. "Well when will that be?"

'That's up to your brother.'

Casper walks up to West. "You had better invite Raine over soon! She's awesome."

West places his hands up in surrender, "Okay, okay. Just take it easy man."

I chuckle and he glances over at me with a smile. "I'm going to take Raine home, I'll be back in about a half hour." He says, opening the front door.

I wave another goodbye at the two of them before stepping out into the cold weather. It's pitch black out, the sky covered with clouds. I pull my small sweater tighter around my body as we walk down his steps and sidewalk and finally to his car.

"I had fun." I sign as he cranks up the heat.

"I'm sorry about my mom interrogating you at dinner. I didn't know she'd ask about your mom."

"Don't be. She was sweet, you have a great family."

West smiles at me, "They're alright."

I chuckle but don't respond.

"You know, I think Casper may have a crush on you." He jokes.

"He's a good kid," I sign as I chuckle.

West glances at my hands and grins, "He is, isn't he?"

We arrive at my house a short while later and I thank West again as I unbuckle. We both get out and he walks me to the front door.

"Thank you for having me over, I know it must have meant a lot to let me meet your family."

West carefully reads my hands and then lifts his gaze to meet my own.

"It did," he agrees gently, but then shifts his feet and looks down as he clears his throat. "Thanks for not...judging too hard. I know I don't live in the best neighborhood, and I'm sorry if you felt uncomfortable at all-"

I gently cover his hands with my own to cut him off, and he snaps his eyes to meet mine as I offer a small smile.

"I didn't. I had a good time."

West matches my smile before taking on a more serious, yet still soft, tone.

"Sunshine, I meant what I said earlier. About you being able to trust me," he says, "I'd never hurt you."

My heart does a little flip as I subtly swallow the sudden lump in my throat.

"I know."

But you don't know just how scary it is for me to trust you. To believe you. To realize that I'm letting you get close to me when I have so much I still need to hide.

He searches my eyes a little longer before dropping my gaze and stepping back. His previous expression is now masked with his signature smirk as he starts down my porch, pausing once he reaches the bottom step.

"Oh, also-" he starts, digging into his back pocket, "here you go."

He tosses me my keys and my eyes nearly bulge out of my head. Did he have these the entire time?

"Relax, Sunshine. I found them lodged into your seat in the Jeep when we got to my place," he says with a small chuckle, "Good luck with your presentation of the song tomorrow in Chorus, I'll see you later."

Without waiting for my response, he shoves his hands into his jacket pockets and heads back to his Jeep, sending me one more smile before opening the door and getting in and driving off. I step inside and, as I close the door behind me, I become aware of the giant smile on my lips.

---

10/2/2020 - Okay, so the beginning of this chapter remained the same (Raine meeting Libba), as did the scene with them going to pick up Casper from daycare. However, I added the dinner scene and the ending scene on the porch! Hope y'all enjoyed this chapters edits :) Please don't hesitate to comment on the new lines!

I have also noticed a lot of confused comments about Casper being in daycare, so I want to clarify. He is 9 years old and goes to an AFTER SCHOOL daycare. So, instead of taking the bus home when school lets out, he takes the bus to daycare. I was in an after school daycare until I was in 5th grade because my mom wouldn't let me stay home alone and she didn't get off work until 5:30. It's very normal- and as for him being able to read....I read The Hunger Games trilogy in 5th grade, so it's not unusual for a 4th grader to  be able to read haha. I would be worried if he couldn't. Hope that cleared some things up!