Little Shades of Blue

In Laws

A/N: Long time no see! I am still alive, sort of? Another one of those segments in LSOB that didn't quite make it to the cut. This is the alternate version of a little scene in the Epilogue that I wanted to write but didn't until today (when I have a ton of readings to go through and cases to digest -- but who cares right?)

Unbeta-ed, sorry.

 Enjoy!

.::.

In-Laws

Ariel sat on a booth in a random coffee shop, sweating buckets as his heart raced. His vision was swimming as he felt the anxiety roll off of him. It was a different kind of torture to wait here and hope that the universe was kind today and that fates did not choose violence.

"You can do this," he convinces himself, though the anxiety he felt told him otherwise.

His eyes darted to the door of the coffee shop, as he started wringing his hands together in nervous anticipation. Just then, the couple he had been waiting for came swanning in and he'd had to stop himself from standing too quickly or jerking on his seat. Instead he leaned over a little and tried to wave as casually as he could, trying to ignore the daggers the man was shooting at him. Instead he tried to relax the muscles on his face and mustered a small smile, one which was promptly returned to him by the lady standing next to the man who was still sort of glaring at him.

They started to walk over to him, and with every step, Ariel felt the temperature drop. Despite the cold though, he felt as though he was sweating even more. Taking a tissue, he quickly wiped at his brow, just as the couple approached the table.

He wiped his palms on his jeans and cleared his throat as he extended a hand for them to shake. "Hi, thank you for meeting me," he said.

The man stared at him, making him fidget a bit, while the woman beamed and extended her hand for him to shake.

"Our pleasure," she said. "You said you wanted to talk."

"Yes," he replied, feeling his heart triphammer at the look they both gave him. "Please, sit," he added, as he gestured to the chair across the table and waited for them to take a seat before taking his.

"Nice to see you, Ariel, but excuse me for a second, I'll just order," the woman told him with a soft smile before she turned to her companion and asked him. "The usual for you, love?" When the man nodded, she dropped a kiss on his cheek and then she stood up and left.

Ariel had to swallow the lump on his throat as he watched his only saving grace walk away. He had known that this was going to be difficult the moment the idea had developed in his mind. To be quite honest, he had pushed this as much as he could because he had feared meeting these people. These people were going to be his in-laws if he was lucky. Well, he supposed they would be anyway, considering Carmen already said yes, but it is important to him to get their blessing, too. After all, they were Carmen's family, and Carmen's Kuya Gab and Ate Laura were important to her.

The minutes felt stretched and stifling as they waited for Laura to come back, and Ariel had to endure the way Gab was looking at him. He knew, logically, there was nothing to be afraid of, but he still felt himself shrinking in his seat. Mercifully, Laura finally came back and took her seat.

"Is everything okay? Is Carmen okay?" she asked with great concern, her smile dropping a little as worry took over her features. "Did something happen?"