Lifeboat Lighthouse

Chapter 15

Cruise Day 13 – Rhodes, Greece (Freen's POV)

This was the worst idea ever I thought, as I stood in my room trying to decide what to wear that evening. I'd said yes because I'd hoped it would give me the opportunity to properly fix things with Becky, but I hadn't really taken into account that dinner with her family probably wasn't the best place to try and do that. The likelihood was that I would do or say something to make her parents hate me. I honestly didn't care what they thought of me but what if that mattered to Becky? I'd never got to the 'meet the parents' stage of a relationship but it was a well-known fact that none of my friends' parents had ever liked me much. They usually advised their children to stay away from me without ever really giving me a proper chance.

I looked over at my clock. We were meeting at 6pm and I still had no idea of what to wear. Were skinny jeans ok for a 5 star restaurant?

I heard a knock at my door. I wasn't expecting anyone so I guessed it was probably Charlotte. I walked over to the door and pulled it open, ready to demand that she helped me, when my jaw dropped. It was Irin and Nam, the last two people I expected to see.

"What are you wearing?" Nam asked, without even greeting me hello.

I glanced down at my attire. "My pyjama shorts... I'm not going to bed... I just wear them while I get ready sometimes..." I explained awkwardly, almost as confused at that random question as I was about the fact they were standing at my door.

Nam gave me a strange look. "Good to know, but I meant this evening. Becky told us you're going for dinner with her family. What are you planning on wearing?"

"I don't know. I don't have a lot of options. I was going to go with black jeans and..."

"Yeah, no, that's not going to cut it." Irin chimed in. "You won't even get through the front door of the restaurant that they're going to. Plus, who wears black jeans in Greece during the summer?"

"Oh." I wasn't really sure what else to say.

"Luckily for you, we thought this might be an issue and we brought some options. I figured we're probably around the same size." Irin continued as the two girls pushed there way past me into my room, dumping a pile of clothes onto my bed.

I stood at my door, still entirely bemused by the whole situation. Had they forgotten how I treated them this morning?

Nam rolled her eyes. "Are you going to stand there gawking or are you going to try these on?"

I finally found my voice again. "Why are you helping me?" I asked, uncertainly.

"Because Becky is our friend and, for some crazy fucking reason, she really likes you, despite the fact you act like an obnoxious asshole. So, if you're planning on sticking around, you need to make a good impression. It's not going to help matters if her parents don't like you before they even know about you and their daughter." Nam said.

I nodded, still unsure why they were so willing to forgive me.

"Look, about earlier..." I began to say.

"It doesn't matter." Irin butted in, beginning to sort through the pile of dresses on the bed.

"Yes, it does. I really like Becky. I really, really like her to the point where it scares me a little. I know it's not an excuse for how I treated you guys, or her, but that's why I acted the way I did. It's hard to explain."

"Listen, it's done with now, and we're willing to look past it. But I promise you, if you ever hurt her, I will hunt you down and beat your ass."

"Noted." I said with a little chuckle, but I could tell by the look on Irin's face that she was deadly serious.