TW: references of self-harm
Ryan stood next to Cat at the doorstep, holding her hand.
"It's gonna go fine, I promise. They're gonna love you. Who couldn't?" Cat looked at him with a smile. He was smiling too, but it was clearly nervous. Ryan squeezed her hand and gave her a quick kiss. "You ready?" Cat asked.
Ryan took a deep breath. "Yeah. I think so."
"You have nothing to worry about." Cat promised him before opening the door. "Mom, Dad, we're here!" She said as they entered the apartment.
A woman with dyed blonde hair walked out of the kitchen, smiling upon seeing the couple at the door.
"You must be Ryan! It's so nice to finally meet you, I've heard a lot about you. You can just call me Stela." She said, approaching Ryan and putting her hands around one of his.
"It's nice to meet you too, Stela. Thank you for having me." Ryan tried not to let his nervousness show. He saw a man walk out of the living room. Cat's parents weren't together, but they had agreed to both have dinner here.
"Of course! Oh," she said, her eyes falling down to his arm, "what happened to your arms?" She twisted his arm, looking at all the little cuts going up and down it. They had been harder to notice when Cat met Ryan, because they had healed, but now they were easy to spot since many of them were newer.
Ryan froze up. Oh God, what would she think if she knew her daughter's boyfriend was a cutter? He tried to think of an excuse. "I-"
"He's just clumsy, that's all. Accidentally hurts himself a lot." Cat said with a gentle smile. Her and Ryan's gaze met. She could see in his eyes that he was grateful.
"Poor thing. Be more careful." Stela pat his arm before letting go. Cat's father approached to introduce himself.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ryan and Cat began their walk back to Ryan's apartment, hand in hand.
"Thanks for covering for me. About the scars." Ryan said, looking at her.
"Of course. Sorry that my excuse made you seem like more of a dork than you already are." She grinned playfully.
Ryan sighed. "I love you," he smiled. He was so lucky to have Cat. He truly didn't know what he'd do without her.
