The Last Architects

Chapter Thirty-Six.

 I kept Ema's hand in mine as I made a call to my mother, ignoring Ema's aggressive eye roll.

'Skyler? You called! Oh my goodness, let me get that very nice feature of the camera!' My mother's voice came through the phone.

"No- no, we don't need to do FaceTime-" I sighed when she managed to turn it on, looking at her face basically pressed to the camera. "Did you receive my texts?"

'Yes, yes, let me see this student? He must be something if you are recommending him. Let's see!' She sounded excited, and I glanced at Ema.

"Do you mind? You will be meeting her." I couldn't leave any choice for an argument.

"Oh-? Wait- when..?" He looked up at me quickly, having begun to swing our hands around in clear annoyance. "I don't even know her name."

'My name is Dua, love!' My mom beamed from the screen.

"... Her name is Dua, and in two days. Since the school can't expelle you without proof." I sighed, "nothing can go wrong meeting my mom, trust me." I covered my phone's mic.

"You promise? I don't really meet other people's parents- at least I haven't before." He lifted our hands to his mouth, letting out a breath against mine causing me to freeze, staring at him as heat spread across my face.

"She's nice, whatever image you have of her is probably completely wrong." I snapped out of my sudden daze, giving his hand a light squeeze, turning my phone a little so my mom could catch a glimpse of Ema. "So you can meet us for dinner in two days?"

'Yes! He's so pretty! I am excited! Ask him what he likes to eat!'

"Spicy foods." I couldn't help the smile when she went silent, before a sigh.

'I can survive some spice! Don't worry. You two have fun and come home for dinner around 7pm, yes? In two days.'

"Tell Kane, yeah? I love you, but he's better at planning." I glanced at Ema who was looking up at me expectantly, boredly shifting his weight from one leg to the other.

'Oh, could you send him a text? I'll forget a detail.'

"Yes, but I must go now, take care, mom." I waited for her to blow kisses at the screen before hanging up. "We have a dinner to go to then, in two days." Tucking my phone away I lifted our hands to give his knuckles a kiss as payback.

His cheeks slowly became red. "...She-she... aha, she seems nice..." He looked past me, then at my hand, anywhere but my face, causing me to chuckle.

"She is. As I said, you'd probably like her. She's into arts and crafts or whatnot." I gently began to lead him again, "you weren't too uncomfortable in class, right?"

"It was fine, yeah. I didn't pay much attention... But I'm enjoying being out with you... Don't bring that up, I swear to god." His grip on my hand tightened.

"I won't. Not in front of others at least." I grinned, "in private..." I trailed off with a shrug.

He bit his lip lightly for a second, tapping my hand with his thumb. "I... I don't know what to say to that. We do a lot in private anyways." He huffed, pressing the back of my hand to his lips as he spoke.

"Mm, very true. I can't wait to see what that will turn into when we quit giving each other black eyes." I took my glasses off to wink before putting them back on before I could lose my footing.

"...Did I hit you too hard..?" He stopped, bringing me to a halt, our eyes meeting when I looked back at him.

"No, there isn't any bruises on my face, is there?" I raised a brow, lifting my spare hand to my face, making a face when I felt stubble.