Ryan's mother, June, was standing near her car, talking to someone on the phone. Her hair were bound in a sleek ponytail and she was wearing a crisp black suit. Shailene found her strikingly beautiful. She looked as if aging was not her companion.

When June spotted them, she ended the call and waved at them. They waved back. In a few more strides, they had narrowed the gap.

"Hi. I'm June Willoughby, Ryan's mother," she greeted.

"Hello. I'm Shailene."

When they were done with the greeting process, they tucked ourselves inside June's car. Neither Shailene nor Ryan called shotgun and sat together at the backseat.
Shailene explained her address to Ryan's mother and she started driving.

Streets, trees and cars rolled by but Ryan's eyes stayed glued to his phone. Shailene had nothing to do, so she watched the busy streets through the window.

After a long drive, they reached the destination- Shailene's home.

"Thank you, Mrs. Willoughby."

"Please, June's fine. And I'm glad I was of any help," she confessed with a smile.

"Please, come inside."

"Sorry, dear. It's getting late, so we should better be going."

"Please, I insist. Mom and Dad would definitely want to meet you."

"Oh, alright. But we won't stay long."

"Yeah, sure. Let's go."

They disembarked the car and with them in tow, Shailene knocked on the door. A click was heard before a sliver of light came in view. Then her dad emerged out. His eyes were swollen and red.

He must be crying. My goodness. Poor dad.

"Shailene," he gasped and took her in an embrace. He was so full of love that he squeezed her like she was a plastic bottle. Before her bones could break, she interrupted the warmth of his love.

"Let go, dad. I'm choking."

At her statement, Ryan snickered. When Shailene's dad let go of her, she turned to have a glance at Ryan. But he stood with no expressions as if he was a blank sheet of paper.

Shailene returned her gaze back to her dad. "Dad, this is Mrs. Wil-June, June Willoughby and his son, Ryan. They helped me drop here," she said whilst gesturing towards them.

"Hello," they greeted in unison.

Dad asked them to come inside. He made them sit on the couch in the living room as Shailene inhaled the familiar scent of comfort. The scent that screamed-she was home.

"Shay, go call your mom. She's in your room." Her dad interrupted her meet and greet. She looked at him and nodded.

What's mom doing in my room? She thought as she scurried towards her room.

Shailene's mom was sitting on her study table and was gazing her notes under the white glow of the table lamp. Her hands were gliding on the curves of the shapes of Shailene's handwriting. The room was dark and the glow of the table lamp was only illuminating the table.

Shailene traced her hand on the wall and found the switchboard. The room flooded with light as she turned the switch on. Her mother startled and the notebook fell off of her hands. As soon as she turned around, she started wailing.

She knocked the chair in the process of getting up. Shailene advanced towards her mother to bridge the gap and she took Shailene in her arms. Her mother held her captive in the chains of her immense love.
Her mother started sniffing, so Shailene ran her hand up and down her back.

"Calm down, mom. I'm here now. Please, don't cry."

"Where were you? And why didn't you call?" Her voice sounded accusatory.

"Mom, I have to talk to you and dad too. But not right now. Come with me. The people who helped me, June and his son Ryan, are waiting in the living room for you. They won't stay long, so wash your face and come outside."

"That's so nice of them. Give me a few minutes," she said as they detangled. "You go and join them."

Shailene strolled towards the living room and her mother joined them a while later. Her mother greeted their guests and sat down to converse.

While her mother and father were conversing with June, Shailene saw Ryan's eyes stuck to the wall. When he saw her looking at him, he made a bored countenance and she went and sat next to him.

"I'm getting bored," he said drearily.

She gave him a weak, sympathetic smile that said-I'm with you.

"What do you do?"

She didn't grasp the question, so she furrowed her brows in confusion. Then it sunk into her mind and she answered, "Senior year. My exams are going on."

"Okay."

"What about you?"

"Well, this is my last year in high school too. My last exam is left. It's on Monday."

"Good." She nodded.

An awkward silence stepped between them. Ryan diverted his eyes back to the wall and started counting the tiles. As if on cue, the verbal exchange between their parents came to an end. All of them got up from their seats.

"Ask Mr Willoughby to come too. It would be great if he will be able to join too," Shailene's mother spoke.

I guess Ryan and his folks would be visiting again, Shailene thought.

"I'll let him know. Thanks for the invitation," June said.

"I assume that we will be meeting more in the future," Ryan whispered in her ear. His breath teased her skin making her breath hitch. That was when he realized that he had violated her privacy, so he stepped back.

He cleared his throat, and said, "It was nice meeting you."

"Likewise," she said with a smile.

Though they had separated from each other's presence physically, their minds were still stuck on that "accidental" moment. The moment that was playing in their heads like a broken vinyl record.

Shailene's chain of thoughts broke when she heard her mother call her name.

"Coming," she said and hurried towards their bedroom.

"Now, tell us everything that happened," her mother demanded.

"What are you talking about, mom? Dad asked the bus driver to drop me by the hospital, and he was supposed to pick me from there But he didn't show up," she retorted angrily.

"No, I was there waiting for you outside the hospital. But you weren't there. I tried calling your bus driver but he wasn't picking up my phone. I asked about you from nearby stores, but they all said that they haven't seen you."

"What are you talking about dad? I was there waiting for you outside the hospital and when you didn't came, I thought what if mom's inside and I went to check in, but of course I found neither of you."

"Wait. Which hospital are you talking about?"

"St. Grace's dad. That's where you wanted the bus driver to drop me."

"No, that's all my fault. I didn't know that there was another hospital in that area, and he didn't asked me 'bout the name of the hospital. I guess, he too didn't know that there are two hospitals in that area or maybe more than two," he confessed guiltily.

"It's alright, dad. I'm home now. By the way, why did you ask him to drop me outside Edenbrook or St.grace's. Whichever."

"Yeah, 'bout that. Well, your mom felt alright today but a little weary, so I thought to grab some vegetables to cook dinner for her. I mean, you and me. That's why I asked him to drop you there as it was near the grocery store."

"Alright. And... I wasn't paying attention to your conversation with June before. Will they be visiting us again?"

"Oh yes, we invited them on dinner this Saturday. We thought it to be a great way to thank them. What do you say?" her mother asked.

Let's see what another meet holds for us, she thought.

"That's great, mom," she said coolly.

"Dad, start preparing for dinner. I'll assist you after having a shower."

"Sure, hun," he replied.

Water snaked down her body as she closed her eyes. It held the power to release the day long tension from her muscles. She felt herself went light and buoyant with that shower. As her eyes closed, her thoughts ran wild to today's encounter.