Cohen

The days pass by too fast.

I love every moment that I get to spend with Teegan, and it's a lot. Her mom has invited me over for dinner a couple of times now and she doesn't mind if I hang out with Teegan when she's babysitting the kids. Reese may be my boss, but she's also my girlfriend's mom, and she likes me. It's pretty crazy.

    "Cohen's mom and sister are coming to Avila on Friday, for the weekend," Teegan tells her mom on Wednesday, as we are sitting down to eat dinner.

Her mom is an amazing cook and made lasagna and veggies tonight. The kids are already eating and Teegan is pulling out her chair next to Josie. I sit beside Teegan and my stomach growls, loud. 

    "That's great, Cohen. Have you seen them at all since you came back here?" Reese asks me.

I shake my head. "It's been a bit over a month since I've seen them, but I've talked to my mom a lot. I think she's just wanting to see if I'm taking care of myself, and the house. And they want to meet Teegan."

Reese smiles at her oldest daughter and then at me. "That's nice. I bet it'll be good to see them."

I nod and start eating, because it smells amazing and I'm hungry, as always. Teegan's eating and not really paying much attention to me but I watch her for a minute, because I just like looking at her. Reese clears her throat and starts talking again a few minutes later.

    "You two have gotten really close, and that's wonderful. You're obviously happy together."

Teegan looks up an over at her mom, a nervous look on her face. I have a feeling I know where she's going with this.

    "I just wanted to talk, maybe, about... you know... when the summer comes to an end."

Why? Why does she have to bring this up now? I mean, I get why she thinks she should. I should have been expecting it, really. She's trying to do some damage control. But right now, today, is not when I want to think about it.

    "Mom, we don't have to..." Teegan says, trying to sound like this is still casual conversation.

Reese nods and goes back to eating, and then I notice that she's looking right at me. Does she really want me to give my opinion on this, right now?

    "It's just that... I know it's going to be hard for all of us, when Teegan leaves. It's not like we can put it off, you know? It's happening."

Oscar whimpers and as soon as he swallows his bite of food, he is talking. "When is Teegan leaving?"

    "Mom," Teegan says again, warning her.

    "You guys know Teegan is just here for the summer. She lives in Seattle, and she's going to New York, for college, in September," Reese tells tells the little ones.

  Josie is barely paying attention but I see the look on Oscar's face.

    "I wish Teegan could always live here," he mumbles.

Teegan sucks in a breath and glances at me. I hold eye contact for second and then look down at my plate again. I don't like this feeling in my chest. Teegan has many an impact on all of us, but her time here was always going to be short lived. I let myself get attached to her, to the idea of being with her. And it's my heart that is going to shatter right along with her little brothers'.

*

An hour later, when the kids have gone to get cleaned up and Teegan and I are still hanging around, sitting in the living room, Reese strolls in and leans against the wall. She's watching us, and I can feel her eyes on me specifically. She's trying to figure this all out, whether we've decided it's just a summer thing or something more. The thing is, we don't know. Or, I don't know. Teegan doesn't seem to want to talk about it.

    "Mom, stop hovering," Teegan says, not even looking at her.

  Reese smiles and shakes her head. "Sorry."

    "What do you want?" Teegan asks, glancing over. She's smiling.

    "I'm just happy you two are hanging out here. It's nice," Reese answers.

    "We've been here a lot this week," Teegan says. "You're being weird."

  Reese smiles again and steps back. "I just keep thinking how weird it's going to be without you here."

  I feel Teegan tense up beside me, but it doesn't last long. She forces herself to relax and smile at her mom. "Yeah. I know. But I'll come back to visit. You know that. You don't have to wait another whole year to see me."

    "I sure hope not," Reese finishes and then turns to leave the room.

*

    "You're mom's not wrong," I tell Teegan, later that evening.

  We are outside at her house, sitting on the back deck. We already had a make out session in her bedroom while Reese was putting the kids to bed, and now we're moved outside. It's a beautiful evening and it's so hot that the air feels thick. I'm staring out at the water, the waves crashing into the sand, and thinking about how perfect everything is in this moment.

    "About what?" she asks me, looking over.

  I squeeze her hand and lean in to brush my mouth against her cheek. "It's going to be so weird here without you."

    "Oh, Cohen, don't," she says, and shakes her head back and forth and a few times.

    "What? We have one month left. The last month went so fast and I just know... it's going to be so hard to let you go," I admit, finally telling her how I feel about this.

    "It's not like I can change what's happening," she says, then meets my eyes for a second. "I don't think we should really stress over it right now."

  I sigh, my chest expanding slowly. "Okay."

    "Cohen... I just want to enjoy this time together," she tells me, laying her head down onto my shoulder.

    "Yeah, okay," I say, and kiss her head because I can. "You want to sleep at my house?"

  She giggles - the most amazing sound - and looks up at me again. "You just want to get me in your bed, huh?"

  I grin. "I do."

    "Alright. I'm just going to text my mom that I'll be home tomorrow," she says and pulls out her phone.

    "I have to work all day," I remind her, feeling annoyed.

    "I'll come see you," she says and leans her head onto me again. "I'll always come see you."

*

  Two days later, the car pulls up out front of my house and then pulls into the driveway, an hour before I was told they would be here. Good thing I'm basically staring out the window waiting for them. I rarely feel the type of anxiety that I feel in my chest right now, and it's because I know what this visit means.

Teegan has been at the hut since 2P.M., but we've been texting a bunch throughout the day. She's excited to meet my family, which is more than I can say for any other girl I've dated. I can't wait for my mom to see how much I care about this girl - love her - and that I am doing well on my own. Teegan's going to come over after her shift and we are going to have a late dinner with my mom and Margo.

The door swings open and Margo runs in, hollering for me right away. I move through to the front hall and catch sight of her, my little sister. Her hair is down and she's wearing make up and I realize that I really did run away from my family a month ago. She hugs me as soon as she's close enough and as she steps back, I see my mom.

Her dark hair is pulled back at her neck and she looks the same, but different. Her eyes are happy to see me, but she also looks sad. Somehow she looks older. I pull her into a hug and then take the bags from her.

    "You're only staying two days, right?" I ask, joking.

  Margo fake laughs. "I didn't know how many bathing suits I would need."

    "We have to leave Sunday afternoon, but I figured we'd do dinner tonight with your girlfriend and tomorrow Margo and I can catch up with some friends here," my mom explains.

  I nod. "Sounds good. Teegan should be here in under an hour."

    "You said she's working?" my mom asks, crossing through to the kitchen. She's looking around, inspecting the house.

    "Yeah. Until 7P.M." I follow her.

  She nods. "It looks pretty good here, Cohen."

    "Uh, thanks? I'm eighteen, I'm capable and cleaning, you know?"

  Margo laughs, now in the doorway. "You didn't do any cleaning in San Diego."

    "Well, I'm on my own here," I say, smiling at her.

    "You're so lucky. Is it so cool living on your own?"

  I hesitate. I don't want to make this seem like it's been all rainbows and unicorns. "It's been good for me. But I have to work, and spend my own money on groceries and clean up..."

  Margo grunts. "Never mind. That sounds horrible."

    "It looks like you're doing okay," my mom tells me. "I'm going to get started on dinner, then."

    "Mom, you just drove five hours to get here," I say, shaking my head.

    "I said I wanted to make some dinner tonight, didn't I? Did you get the things I asked you to get?" she asks me instead.

  I nod towards the fridge. "Stuff for salads and there's chicken breasts in there, too."

    "Good. I'll get it started. Let me know when Teegan is on her way."

I know not to argue, so I agree and go back to the living room with Margo. She tells me about her summer so far, things she's done with her friends and what her plans are for the rest of summer. And then she turns her questioning on me.

    "So, you came back to get Lola back but ended up dating a new girl?" Margo looks impressed and then laughs at the face I make.

    "I didn't come back to get Lola back," I say, but she knows I'm lying. "I didn't. I came back to hang out with Rex for the summer."

    "How's he? Man, I miss him," Margo tells me.

    "He's good. I'm sure he'll be around tomorrow."

    "So... how'd you meet Teegan?"

I bite my bottom lip and think. I haven't told her or my mom much about Teegan and they definitely cannot find out that she's Lola's step sister. My mom didn't like Lola much. Margo either. Lola was only in Avila Beach on the weekends and I was in Santa Maria during the week for school. But I got a bit obsessed with her and started staying with friends in Santa Maria so I could see her more. A month before my dad died, Lola started acting weird and wanted to "slow down", which made no sense to me. Now I think she was probably already cheating on me by then.

As I open my mouth to tell my sister that I met Teegan at the rental hut, where we both work, my phone dings right before I am able to. I check it and see that Teegan is on her way.

    "She'll be here in ten minutes," I tell my sister instead, and then stand up and head towards the kitchen to tell my mom.