My One For Half A Million

Xylar

I loved her.

I loved her voice when we laughed about books, I loved the way her eyes lit up when listening to music she liked, I loved the smell of the shampoo she used, I loved the way her fingers brushed my skin.

Of course I agreed to marry her.

I mean shit, I'd kind of been hoping we'd date first, but... I never really wanted to be fuckbuddies. I just wasn't bold enough, and she wasn't ready enough, and it was enough to hold her. So we were never more than friends with benefits. God, they were good benefits though.

I loved her.

Zoey was the kind of girl that I could have, and would have, gone anywhere with. I knew I was big. She made me feel small. She sat on my lap and told me what to do, and she might as well have pinned me down and physically forced me, because I didn't have a choice. A few words from her, and I was helpless.

Of course I agreed to marry her.

The only problem now was making her realize that I loved her... without making her uncomfortable.

...

I reached over and opened the passenger side door of my car. "Get in, babe." I blushed, but either she didn't notice or didn't care about the pet name. "My mother awaits."

"Wildly unsexy, Xy." She smiled, buckling in, and leaned over to kiss my cheek.

Sometimes I could pretend I was okay with only being engaged to her, but then the simplest of gestures engulfed my face in flame and I remembered I was in love with her. And that she didn't feel the same. Maybe. It was hard to tell.

"I wasn't aiming for sexy, my mother literally is waiting for us."

She laughed, and I put the car in drive.

My mom's house smelled like lavender and freshly baked cookies. The lavender I understood, because she had dried sprigs of it tucked into every damn corner of every damn room in the house. She loved the stuff. The baking cookies, I didn't understand, because, with her health, it had been quite a while since she'd baked anything. She went to her appointments, she watched game shows, she did puzzles, and she slept.

She didn't even have the strength to walk down her front porch stairs to greet us. She had to wait until I came to her to hug me.

"And how is my little Xy Guy?" She asked, and pinched my cheek.

"Hi, mom."

"Is this her?" She waited until I nodded to gasp, covering her mouth. "Why, she's so pretty!"

"Hi, um..."

"Call me Beth. Or Mom. Either works for me- oh, let me hug you!"

Watching Zoey get hugged by my mother was an experience- her eyes went so wide and her shoulders became so stiff, it almost made me giggle. But then she relaxed and folded her arms around my mom, eyes closing. A smile played on her lips, and any anxiety I'd had about them not getting along faded completely.

"You should have let me meet her sooner," Mom scolded as they broke apart.

"Sorry, mama, it was kind of... an impromptu thing."

"Come in, come in."

We followed my mom into her cookies-and-lavender scented home, and sat on her couch. Mom insisted we stay put while she went and got us tea.

Beside me, Zoe pulled out her phone, typed a bit, and very quickly put it back into her pocket.

"Do you want to go to a party tonight?" She whispered to me.

I whispered back, "sure."

My mother shouted, "Sweet or unsweet? Half and half?"

...

"It was a pleasure, mom," Zoe said.

Her calling my mother, 'mom', made my eyes widen. I hadn't quite expected it. I mean, I'd guessed that they would get along, but not so well, so fast. I was happy they did, though. I'd hate to get even fake-married to someone my mother didn't approve of.

"You've got to call more often." My mother stepped back from Zoe's embrace and went to hug me. "I know you call me every day, but it's not enough." She pinched my ear, a joking repriman.

Waving and laughing, we walked back to the car. I cautiously slipped my arm around her waist- I was almost worried she would look at me like I was stupid or pull away, but she looked up at me, smiling, and leaned in closer. I was sure my face was bright, bright red.

We went back to Zoe's house and stayed curled up in her bed for hours until we got up and got ready for the party.

The party was at a mansion.

And I don't mean just, a really big house, no. I mean a full fledged, four story, Olympic sized pool and basketball court out back, mansion.

"How... did you know about this?"

"Friend of a friend," she said.

I blinked, and decided to just write this one off as normal.

We got put of the car and walked towards the grand entrance. Once we got to the top of the steps, a blur shot towards us, and Zoe was almost toppled. I went to catch her, but she didn't fall.

"Zoe oh my GAWD I am never going to forgive you!!"

"How could you not tell us about him?!"

Zoe was laughing, her arms wrapped around the two people who looked like they were about to squeeze the life out of her. "Xy, meet Sam and Jay. Guys, meet Xy."

A guy who came up to about my shoulder and was wearing long sleeves under his graphic tee looked up at me. He then turned to Zoe and stage whispered, "he's hot!"

She blushed, and her other friend reached over to shake my hand.

Eventually, she wedged them all through the door, with me trailing behind. And then a woman with a septum piercing and two lip rings came up, and leaned against the doorway. She was nearly my height, which threw me off until I saw the huge platforms.

And I did not like how she was eyeing Zoe.

"Hi, princess, been a while."

The music was bumping, I could literally feel it in my bones. It was quickly replaced by a weird feeling that tightened in the pit of my stomach and warmed my spine.

"How about we dance, and maybe then, I heard there are some rooms open upstairs..."

Pure, unadulterated hate.

"Hi, Petra," Zoe was smiling. It could've been the dancing lights overhead, but I thought I saw a blush. She gestured at me "This is my- um.. this is my,"

"Fiance," I jumped in, stepping to her side and wrapping my arm around her waist.

Realizing how aggressive that could have come off, I anxiously looked to her for approval. She was looking at me with her mouth slightly open, then smiled.

"I'll talk to you guys later. How about we go dance, Xy?"

I nodded, and as we walked to the mob of dancing people, all the fight seeping out of me like a balloon with a leak. And then she turned and wrapped her arms around my neck, going tip-toe to get closer to my face.

"Jealous?"