Disapproval | Trending 2

01. It's Just Family

The housewarming party is less of a party and more of a family get together. Madi stands holding her fiance's hand speaking with Clay's sister, Clay's mother laughing with Adaline and her sister. Clay talking to her brother. Maira floating between the groups of people.

Adaline and Clay's apartment is big enough for the both of them and their two cats. The one Clay has had for what feels like forever and the one they adopted at the start of the summer. Now, Adaline is going back to school and they are moving in together. Finally.

"It took you guys long enough," Em sighs as she walks over to her mother, brother and his girlfriend. "I was getting really tired of Adaline's clothes showing up in my closet when Mom did the laundry."

"Don't act like you didn't steal all my shirts," Adaline points out.

The normalcy of being a part of her boyfriend's family is still strange to Adaline. She treats Em like the sister she didn't have growing up, the sister she has back now. Aimee's presence in her life doesn't negate the damage done growing up.

"You're never getting that pink shirt back," Clay points out. He laces his fingers in between Adaline's.

"Figured," she shrugs. Em runs off to go talk to Maira. Adaline smiles at her boyfriend.

The apartment isn't all that put together. Things still feel odd, out of place. Adaline's coffee maker looks like it doesn't belong there. Clay's air fryer looks like it should still be in his mothers kitchen. Adaline feels odd, out of place.

It's not quite home.

Yet.

Hopefully.

Even if it isn't, though, there's something so peaceful about the way it could be.

The first day they looked at it, they sat on the ground and talked about where they could put what, how they wanted it to feel. Three bedrooms, one for the both of them, a studying/streaming room for Adaline and an office/streaming room for Clay. There's a hope there.

She didn't expect to ever move away from her friends, in all honesty. But now there is a spare room in her old apartment and a hole in the routine that was everyone's life. Not a bad hole. Just a different one.

"C'mere," Clay says, leading her off into her room quietly the moment his mother turns her back.

Adaline's personal room is quiet and secluded. It's only slightly like her old bedroom. It's crowded and dark and warm. The walls are covered with posters, pictures, artwork, ticket stubs, notes. The ceiling is covered in tapestries, there is a couch where the bed would have been. Shelves and two desks line the walls, a place for each of her books and her trinkets. A space for her altar. It's messy and dysfunctional, but it's organized nonetheless.

"What's up?" Adaline asks, shutting the door behind her and leaning her back against it.

"Housewarming gift," Clay rifles through his pocket until he finds what he's looking for. A bracelet with white, stone looking beads. "It's uh, moonstone. I thought you would like it. I don't know what it like, does? But Madi and Maira and Dante helped me pick it out."

Adaline smiles, puts it on. She looks at Clay with that good feeling. That safe feeling. "I love it." She kisses him on the cheek and watches his cheeks go red. "Thank you, Clay."

"You're welcome, Ads."

He looks around the room and smiles slightly. He sits in the navy blue gaming chair she's been using since forever and smiles at her again. Adalines eyes stay fixated on him only. Her boyfriend, the man she lives with, the one.

"It suits you," he says.

"What?" Adaline asks. "The bracelet."

"No," Clay answers, "The room. It's messy."

To Adaline's glare, he throws his arms up and says he's only joking.

There's a knock at the door, and when Adaline opens the door, her sister stands there with her arms crossed and that bored, dull expression that's forever painted on her face. Adaline's learned to accept that it's not her, Aimee just looks like that.

"Maira has a toast," Aimee says plainly. She turns and walks away. She's a little strange and not used to actually talking to Adaline yet. It's not easy to repair a long destroyed relationship.

The couple share a glance and then head out, Maira is being her ever dramatic self and tapping a wine glass with her long, white, acrylic nails and looking around the room.

"Friends, family, family of friends," Maira starts. "I have three words to say."

There's silence and it's obvious that she's holding in a laugh with everything she has.

"I knew it."

Then, there's yelling and laughing and cheering and clapping. Madi yells in agreement from the back, Clay hollers and Adaline laughs almost hysterically. It's simple, it's sweetness. It's late nights watching cartoons with Dante, it's Madi being worried sick, it's a drunk Maira on Halloween, it's late night drives, it's seeing snow for the first time. It's family and friends. It's just family.

Word Count: 842

A/N: A short start to a long journey. I'm so excited to continue writing about these two and show you all what's in store <3 Thanks for sticking around.