Vanessa snuck a glance over at Brooke who was still engrossed in her phone. Did she and her son really just sit together and look at those 'meme' picture things all day? What was the point of hanging out then? The phone in Vanessa's hand buzzed, and she brought herself to look at her son's phone again. Her phone, rather, until this mess got sorted out.
It was a text from Brooke, a picture of a puppy cuddled up with a heart pillow. Another text from her, simply saying "us" with an excessive amount of hearts and smiley faces. Vanessa felt so out of touch, so unused to this style of hanging out.
"What's on your mind?" Brooke's voice called out, breaking Vanessa out of her trance.
"Oh, sorry. Just a lot of stuff going on lately." Not a lie, but it wasn't like she could tell Brooke what was actually happening.
"Like your parents?" Vanessa just gaped at the girl, stunned and unable to answer. Fortunately, she didn't have to. "You've been evasive talking about them lately and been begging me to get you out of that house, and I don't think it's because they're grounding you." Her attempt at a joke fell flat in the air. "You can talk to me, whatever it is. You just seem especially out of it tonight."
For a moment, Vanessa felt compelled to answer, as though unburdening herself to Brooke would solve her problems. But then she realized the deeper meaning behind what she said; Corey hadn't told her about the divorce yet. She didn't know. Vanessa bit her lip, shaking her head. Whatever reasons Corey had for keeping it to himself, she'd have to respect that and not tell Brooke either.
Brooke nodded, the concerned look on her face not quite disappearing. "I understand. When you're ready, I'll be here, ok?" She took Vanessa's hand in her own, squeezing it gently. After a moment of just holding hands, Brooke took another step, leaning over and giving a soft kiss on Vanessa's stubbly cheek.
It felt nice, having that casual affection that had been starved from Vanessa's life as of late. Vanessa paused, before turning backing to Brooke. Gently she cupped the side of her son's girlfriend's cheek, and drew her in for a kiss on the lips. Awkwardly, Brooke did her best but there was still uncertainty throughout every movement she made. It was clear she didn't have a lifetime's experience making out like Vanessa did. Even kissing a girl wasn't new to Vanessa, given her history dabbling with the fairer sex before she settled down with Tyler.
Her tongue working deeper into Brooke's mouth, she hungrily kissed her; slowly, Brooke gave in to her feelings and reciprocated eagerly. Their bodies pressed together, padded only by the faintest hint of softness over top of Brooke's own muscles. After a long minute passed Brooke pulled away, both of them out of breath.
"Wh-what's wrong?" Vanessa gasped out between deep breaths. She shifted her legs, trying to hide her erection; it had only been meant as a nice kiss and already she had lost control.
Brooke blushed, shaking her head. "Nothing's wrong, I just..." She hesitated, holding back for a moment. "We talked about this, remember Corey? We're going to wait to have sex with each other until we're ready, since we're both... ya know..."
Vanessa fidgetted, unsure how to take the news. Her son was holding off on sex? Were things really that special with this girl for him, that he would wait for her? And that last part: was her son still a virgin? Was Brooke still a virgin? The room spun for a moment, and Vanessa realized how close she had come to ruining things for her son.
"Oh yeah..." She mumbled, nodding. Guilt sprawled through her mind, and she quickly stood up. "Look, I, uh... I have to go." Vanessa got up and turned away, heading toward the door of Brooke's dorm.
"Wait! Don't--" Brooke's voice cut off as the door opened before Vanessa had even gotten there. Both of them froze, looking at the girl with long black hair as she walked into the room. Her perfume followed her like a cloud, overwhelming Vanessa's senses as the scent of a fresh, rich dessert filled the air.
"Fucking history class," she griped, not noticing Vanessa at first. "Stupid teacher is making me do extra homework." The girl whipped her head up, noticing Vanessa standing there awkwardly with Brooke a few paces behind her. Immediately, her eyes narrowed, while a devilish smirk formed on her lips. "Brooke," she said, not taking her gaze off Vanessa. "Who's the guy?"
Brooke sighed, taking a few steps forward to place herself between Vanessa and the newcomer. "Felicity, this is Corey... my boyfriend. Corey, this is my roommate."
Vanessa nodded, but Felicity cut her off before she could speak. "Yeah, yeah. I thought we weren't having significant others over?"
"Look," Brooke said. "I'm not breaking any rules, and you weren't home. You didn't have a problem with me having friends over before--"
"Yeah, well, you weren't fucking those friends."
Rubbing her temple, Brooke sighed. "We aren't fucking, either. So chill out, ok? You can't be grouchy about everything just because--"