He insisted on walking me to my door as per usual, he says it gives him a sense of assurance that I’m inside my apartment safe and sound. We can’t hang out for long these days so each chance we get, we have to grab it.
“I guess, I’m okay to have lunch and coffee with your parents during the semestral break?”
“Yeah that’s a nice schedule, I'll check which weekend okay?”
“I got my ways with Moms but tell me, how scary can your father get?”
Oh what a question. I guess he’s worried. I wrapped my arms around his neck and gave him a soft peck on the lips.
“It depends, let’s just say they’ll play good cop, bad cop in certain phases of the conversation. But all will be well, don't worry. I got you.”
“Did they meet your former boyfriends?”
“Nope, just one. Nathan.” I still have my arms wrapped around him.
He didn't respond right away and was seemingly in deep thought.
“Hmmm. Okay. It’s getting late and you need rest. Please tell your mom thank you again for the food. I’ll make sure to enjoy them.”
That’s sudden. Here I am trying to be sweet and he’s calling it a night. Why did his mood just turn 180.
“Wait a minute, not so fast. What’s up? And don’t tell me it’s nothing, cause by now I know when your mood changes.”
I’m looking at him intently but he’s trying to avoid me.
“Just probably tired.”
I think I got it. I know the reason.
“It’s the mention of Nathan meeting my parents huh?”
I pressed my code and opened the door, “Let’s talk inside. I know you’re exhausted but you can’t say no. I’ll make you coffee.”
I dragged him inside my apartment because I surely do not want to end this night with unresolved issues.
He settled in the living room while I quickly fixed him a cup of coffee. I keep some in the cupboard for my Dad whenever he visits.
I sat next to him and handed the cup to him.
“So?” I urged him to start talking. I waited until he got a sip. I know he’s working on what he’d say in his head before he says it out loud.
He’s still looking down, at his cup of coffee to be specific, when he spoke.
“Out of all you dated, he was the only one introduced?” he then took another sip.
“Yeah, I dated him for a while, it was bound to happen.”
“You two were that serious?”
We do talk about our past relationships but we don’t dwell too much on them because like we both agreed, it’s the past and they do not have any room in what we have. But since meeting my parents was brought up, this is a conversation that’s inevitable. I personally do not mind if his parents have met his exes before because I know we’re not new to having relationships, this is not our first time to exclusively date someone.
“Yeah you could say that, two years is considered long.”
I took the cup out of his hold and placed it on the table, then held his hand to get him to look at me.
“He’s the only one I introduced because we dated for quite some time. It was bound to happen and you know I tell my parents things. If you’re going to ask if they liked Nathan, yes they did, he was nice. But like I said, my parents will never meddle in any of my relationships because they know I can handle it. Even when we broke up, they didn’t ask questions. So if you are gonna start comparing and asking why, please don’t.”
“I just thought about it and I got a little, ya know jealous. I don’t know how else I am going to explain this mood change.”
I sighed. This man, this silly silly man does not completely see how special he is to me. It’s true what my father said, we have to communicate - in all aspects.
“Sean, please look at me.”
I held his face in place because he’s still keeping quiet. Took a deep breath and just decided to let out what I realized after the talk I had with my parents this afternoon.
“Dad said that it’s not how long you’re dating someone, it’s the quality of the relationship you have. And I agree, we might be seeing each other for less than a year but the time spent with you is incredible. I’ve been trying to process this for a while and it has always led me to what I already know…”
“...I love you.”
He looked stunned. Creasing his eyebrows, he decided to break his silence.
“Jamie, that is not something you just say because I admitted being jealous of someone that’s not even in the picture. But baby, I hope you are serious.”
Oh wow, I thought he’s going to say he loves me back right away. I don’t take offense though, in fact I find it endearing that he hopes I am serious with what I just confessed.
“When did I ever joke about my feelings with you?”
“You never did.”
“Then I am serious. I love you. And if we are counting, I already said it twice, which is above my being sweet and cute threshold already. So you ask again if I am serious or say something else other than either you’re going to think about it or you love me back, I am going to punch you real hard.”
He’s not laughing, I was just joking about me punching him. It’s now a little nerve-wracking that he’s being awfully quiet which is so unlike him. He slowly reached for my face and gave me this look I think I’ve never seen before.
“I love you. I love you, too. I love you even more.”
He gave me the softest kiss he could ever give and when he pulled away he said, “You just beat me to it which kinda is annoying but there, I said it three times, no need to punch me.”
I covered his mouth with my right hand and started laughing out loud when he tried to get away from it. We talked a bit more and called it a night a little over 11:00PM, we’re both exhausted but this day ended the best way it could for the both of us.
It’s a relief that I finally told him what I’ve been feeling for a while.
