“What’s up, baby doll?” I asked after answering my phone. It had only buzzed twice on my end, but it still seemed like Jack let out an exaggerated breath when he heard my voice. “Something wrong, angel?”

“No. No, it’s just that… look, I know this is last minute, but my mom and dad really want you to come have a pre-Christmas dinner dinner with us. They said they were surprised that I hadn’t invited you over to ‘properly spend an evening with the Barakat’s yet. You can totally say no,” he hinted, tone almost pleading. “They would understand if I told them that you weren’t comfortable with the idea just yet.”

A simper spread across my face as I stood from where I’d been sprawled on my bed. With my phone being pressed between my shoulder and the side of my face, I used both hands to pull my closet doors open and began rummaging through my things to find something that looked halfway decent.

“Of course I’ll be there, angel. I wouldn’t miss quality family time for the world. When should I leave? Do you want me to stop and get you something at the store before I come over?”

“Alex,” he groaned, and I could just imagine the way he’d throw his head back and pout at the ceiling, as though that was going to sway my decision.

An obnoxious kissing noise was made down the line, an ‘I love you’ almost spilled past my lips, and my phone was tossed onto my bed as I tried to not have a panic attack. It was getting harder to hold those words back, but I didn’t want to scare Jack away with the thought that I was moving too fast.

I had to shake my nerves out before I could set about my prior task once more. My finest pair of black jeans was tugged on, followed by a white button-up shirt and a thin black tie. There was a solid minute of thinking afterward, where I wasn’t sure if wearing a beanie would throw off my entire appearance, but then I remembered that since it was almost Christmas, it was very cold outside.

And I knew that Jack liked when I wore one more than he’d ever let on.

One final check through to make sure that I had everything I could possibly need—including some extra cash in my wallet and my over-sized snow coat, I was calling out a goodbye to my own parents and heading toward the corner store.

---

Admittedly, it felt a little weird having to actually knock on Jack’s front door. On every other occasion when I’d been around his place, he’d either been with me or had texted me to let me know that it was okay to just walk in. It wouldn’t have felt right, barging through the door like I owned the place, especially when both of Jack’s parents were there and expecting my arrival. I wanted to make a good impression, not have them decide that I was the complete opposite of everything they’d been convinced into thinking.

One, two, nearly three whole minutes passed by with me standing in front of the closed door, shaking in my boots as the cold wind nipped at my cheeks and nose. When the door eventually opened, Jack was behind it, looking even more warm and inviting than ever—which may have had something to do with the blood beginning to freeze in my veins.

“Shit, how long have you been out here?” he whispered, reaching out both arms to wrap them around my neck and pull me into his body. My own arms stayed behind my back, hiding what I’d grabbed from the store on my way over. Jack definitely took notice of something being wrong when my arms didn’t wrap around his waist.

Instead of him asking me what I was doing, he merely ushered me inside and closed the door behind us. I turned with him, not yet wanting him to see anything. When the door was closed and he looked back at me was when he sighed.

“Are you going to make me guess?”

“G-guess what, angel?” I asked, a shiver causing my slight stutter.

“What you’re trying to hide from me.” He stepped up to me with that, his warm hands pressing to my cheeks and causing me to let out an appreciative groan.

“You sure you wanna know?” I teased after a moment of soaking up his body heat. Jack pouted at that. With a sigh, I was taking a step back and moving my right arm from behind me, holding out a rose. My boyfriend flushed, grinned, and reached out to brush the pad of his pointer finger along the soft petals.

“What’s this for?” he asked, his fingers carefully taking a grip of the stem to take it from me. A shrug and I was stepping forward to press my empty hand to his lower back and pull him back into me.

“I saw it, and I thought you deserved it,” I answered, my lips pressing to his cheek. “That, and I knew you probably wouldn’t want to deal with a big bouquet again.”

He gave a small laugh at that, but nodded nonetheless before tilting his head up to give me a proper kiss.

“So… what’s in the other hand?” he inquired, tone playful. A kiss was placed on the corner of his quirked lips before I stepped back and shook my head.

“What I have in my other hand isn’t for you.” Jack pouted again, more than he had the first time, but it still didn’t sway me at all. “Where’s your mum? It’s for her,” I caved, but only slightly. I kind of liked how curious he was.

“Why can’t I see it then?” he whined, but he did move around me to lead me into the kitchen. Mrs. Barakat was at the stove, stirring both a pot of noodles and a pot of sauce at the same time. She kept glancing between the clock and the food before shuffling back to glance inside the over. When she noticed that we’d stepped into the room, she smiled and abandoned her cooking to step forward.

“Alex, sweetie, how are you?” she asked, reaching up to cup my face in her hands.

“I’m fantastic, thank you. Oh, and these are for you.” The bouquet, the one I knew Jack wouldn’t have wanted to deal with, was pulled from behind my back and held out to her. If it had been possible, I would’ve said that her face brightened a considerable amount compared to just moments prior.

“Thank you,” she gushed, taking them from me and stepping forward to wrap her empty arm around my neck. I let her lower me into her embrace, and smiled when her lips pressed a kiss to my cheek. “I can’t remember the last time someone bought me flowers. They’re so lovely.”

“A beautiful woman always deserves beautiful flowers,” I dismissed easily, and she let out a giggle as she moved away to find a vase to put them in.

“If you’re done hitting on my mom,” Jack whispered, fingers curling around my gloved hand, “then maybe we could leave her to her things?”

I nodded and was soon being pulled back out into the front hall. A small detour was made to Jack’s room, where all of my heavy winter over clothes were shed and dumped onto his bed, before he was leading me back down into the living room.

Mr. Barakat was sat in the recliner by the couch, his right hand curled around what looked like a small glass of whiskey and his left tapping at the chair’s arm mindlessly. He stopped after Jack and I sat down to take a sip of his drink and then grin at me.

“Good to see you again, son,” he said, not commenting on how Jack had pretty much invited himself onto my lap. I smiled politely in turn, and then the three of us were silent.

It was a little uncomfortable, the unending stillness—or, almost stillness. Mr. Barakat’s gaze hadn’t moved, aged eyes looking us over. I knew that Jack was doing his best to pretend that his dad wasn’t actually there, but it was a little harder for me. Innocent pecks of the lips were exchanged, and that seemed to be enough to keep my boyfriend preoccupied. When we weren’t kissing, he was cuddling himself into my chest.

Still, all Mr. Barakat did was watch.

Then, after what must’ve been at least fifteen minutes, he was finally speaking up to say, “Jack, why don’t you go see if your mother needs any help in the kitchen?”

My boyfriend turned a bit rigid, his voice strained as he answered, “I’m sure if she needed any help, she would ask. I don’t want to leave you alone with Alex w—”

“Baby,” I cut him off, my voice nothing more than a whisper and my lips brushing against his cheek. “Angel, hey, relax. I’ll be fine in here, alright? Go see if your mum needs anything. I promise I’ll be right here when you get back.”

He leaned away, dark eyes roaming my face before he sighed and nodded. Another kiss was left on my cheek, one that lingered a little bit longer than the others, and then he was pushing himself from my grip and moving from the room.

Mr. Barakat waited a good minute to speak up again, eyes glancing between the entryway Jack had exited the room from and my own face. When he leaned forward in his seat, I did as well.

“Tell me, son,” he started, looking me over suspiciously, “what is it that you, the star quarterback, sees in my boy? I’m sure you’ve got all sorts of people pining after you, being the good-looking boy you are. You could have anyone. What is it that makes Jack so special?”

For a moment, I was sort of unsure how to answer. Many a time had I told Jack himself how I’d felt about him, but it seemed different this time around. Probably because I wasn’t actually confessing my love like for him, but actually explaining it to an outsider.

“I’m, uh… I don’t really know what to tell you, sir. Jack is… he’s very important to me. There have been some, uh… some personal issues in the past few weeks that he’s helped me deal with, and if it weren’t for him, I don’t even know where I’d be right now. He’s just an amazing person all around. I feel like, if anything, I’m the one who doesn’t deserve him. I’m still not too sure what he sees in me.”

Mr. Barakat nodded, but his eyes narrowed at me. “But Jack is… he’s so quiet. Shy. Different. He only has a few friends. Boy like you must be pretty popular. How was it that you met again?”

The way the word different was said, like it was something to be ashamed of, had my body tensing. I’d known that Jack and his dad were still on bad terms with each other, but I didn’t know that it was that bad between them. I had to remind myself that I was still trying to make a decent impression on Jack’s parents, and that was the only reason I didn’t completely snap at him. Instead, I cleared my throat and did my absolute best to answer him politely.

“We met a few months ago. Got partnered up for an English project. I’d had my eye on him for a while at that point, but I’d always been kind of intimidated because, like you said, he can be very shy. I didn’t want to get rejected before I even had a chance or something. He is different, but there’s nothing I would change about him. I hope to be with him for a long time.”

A hum, another sip of whiskey. “So you’re not just using my son? I’m not going to come home to him crying his head off about another boy again, am I?”

“Of course not, sir,” I spluttered out, my eyes widening at what he was suggesting. “I would never… I couldn’t imagine hurting him like that.” Again. “He’s the only person I can see myself being with, and I would never deliberately go out of my way to make him feel like he wasn’t good enough for me. He deserves so much more than I can give, and there aren’t enough words in any language to fully describe how I feel for him. I can’t remember the last time I was in a relationship and actually felt wanted by the other person, not just for my social standing. He’s perfect for me, and I’d like to think that I’m at least somewhat good for him. I know that we haven’t been together for very long, but he’s one person I don’t think I could stand to lose. I’d do anything if it meant that I could keep him by my side.”

I wanted to comment on his own infidelity, but I figured that really wouldn’t be the right thing to say. He probably knew that I knew, seeing as how I was dating the one person who knew about it, but it still just didn’t seem like it was appropriate to bring up.

Even still, I opened my mouth to continue on with my speech about Jack… but all that came out was a gasp when arms were wrapped around my neck and pulled me back into the sofa. My boyfriend was there, his grip tightening and his face pushing into my neck.

“Dinner’s ready,” he mumbled, words muffled but loud enough to be heard. Mr. Barakat simply nodded and stood from his seat to walk from the room. When Jack moved away from me a moment later, I stood and moved around to the back of the couch.

My boyfriend was grinning. “Y’know, it’s gotten kinda old, hearing you talk about me, but it’s different when you don’t know I’m listening.” His arms moved to around my neck once more, pulling our bodies together tightly. My hands rested on his hips, squeezing softly as I kissed at his hair.

“Did you know he was going to say that?” I inquired, tucking my nose against his neck.

“No. I was coming out to tell you two that the food was done around when he called me ‘different.’ My mom came out to see what was taking so long, but I stopped her in the hallway and we both listened to what you had to say. My dad’s probably never gonna hear the end of it from her, about how he ‘interrogated’ such a ‘kind, sweet, handsome boy.’”

“Well, you can’t argue the facts,” I teased, standing up straight once more to give him a proper kiss. He laughed into it and pulled away to say something, but it was cut off by Mrs. Barakat’s voice calling us into the dining room because ‘the food’ll get too cold if you don’t hurry up!’

“Come on,” I said, pulling away from him completely before taking his hand in mine and leading him from the living room. “We’ll talk more later, alright? Let’s just get this out of the way for now, and then maybe tonight, I could give you something special.”

“What would that be, Mr. Gaskarth?” he played along, stopping just outside the kitchen entryway to send me a curious glance, eyebrow raised in question.

A final kiss was exchanged before I tugged him into the room. “You’ll just have to wait and see.”

Notes

ok i lied maybe one more