Scared of love

23

~Keiran's POV~

Poppy jumps away from me and starts to move towards her friend. "Aria, please don't say anything." She begs.

"Oh my God. How long have you been..." Aria gestures between us.

"Seven months." I answer. I can't help but feel under pressure as Aria glares at me.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Aria is clearly hurt.

"Because I was just scared, Aria. I'm sorry, I wanted too, I really did. But this is illegal at the end of the day." Poppy rubs the back of her neck and sighs.

"Does he treat you like a princess?" Asks Aria, her deadly glare looking me up and down. She may be younger than me, but I know just how evil women can be.

"Like a queen." Poppy glances at me and I smile at her. Aria nods and her intense glare dies down a little.

"To be honest, Poppy, I never had you pegged as a bad girl." Laughs Aria.

"Kieran just helped me through a lot of shit." Confesses Poppy and Aria raises her eye brows, laughing.

"Kieran hey?"

"Sorry, force of habit. Why do you think I've been quiet in his lessons?" Poppy runs her fingers through her hair and chuckles slightly.

Aria reaches out for Poppy and gives her a hug. "If he is what you need for support sometimes, I will not stand in your way."

"Thank you, Aria. You won't tell anyone will you?"

"Of course I won't. This is exciting." Aria laughs. "But if you hurt her, Mr Reynolds, you will suffer in more ways than you can possibly imagine." I gulp at the snarl I receive from Aria.

We turn when the door opens, it's Poppy's mum and dad exiting the hall. "Poppy, are you going to the party?" Her mum asks.

"Actually, no. I think we should go home." Poppy looks excited, but a little nervous. I'm guessing that she's going to tell her mum that she's moving in with me.

I send a wink in her direction. "I'll see you later." I smile then head back in to the hall to congratulate students.

Blake approaches me. "Mr Reynolds, have you seen Aria? She disappeared."

"Yes, she's out in the hall with Miss Mendez. Congratulations Mr Dawson and that speech was brilliant." I smile as he hurries off to find his girlfriend.

****

I pull up outside Poppy's house. She text me and asked of I wanted to come over for dinner. I'm terrified. Her dad doesn't like me and I have a feeling that her mum is only tolerating me for her daughter's happiness.

I walk up the path with the roses in my hand and knock on the front door.

Soon, the front door opens and Poppy greets me with a broad smile. "Hello." She leans up and kisses my lips.

"These are for you, Baby Girl." I hand her the delicately wrapped bouquet of red roses.

"Oh they're beautiful, Kieran." She hurries off inside and signals for me to follow. I step in and shut the door behind me. Mr Mendez appears and shakes my hand.

"Hello, Keiean, how are you?" He asks surprisingly pleasant with me.

"I'm good thank you, Mr Mendez, and you?" I say as politely as him.

"We're good." I smile at him. I notice how he never says I'm good, he always speaks on behalf of his family. You can tell how he really thinks the world of them.

"Oh, Kieran!" Mrs Mendez comes up to me and wraps me up in a hug. "It's good to see you."

"You to, Mrs Mendez." I return the hug gently and step away.

"Christina, please." She chuckles and I nod. Poppy comes back in and takes me hand, leading me in to the beautifully decorated dining room.

Poppy pushes me in to my seat and she takes a seat next to me, her father opposite us. Christina disappears in to the kitchen

Mr Mendez doesn't waste any time. "We see that you've asked our Poppy to move in with you." I doesn't sound too annoyed really. He actually seems to be quite content with me being around.

"Yes I have, Sir." I look over at Poppy who has a huge smile on her face.

"As long as you worship the ground she walks on, I'm very happy that she has found someone." He smiles at me, but it doubles when his wife enters the room.

"Dinner is served." She places a plate of chicken wrapped in ham and buttered new potatoes with veg in front of Poppy and I, then she goes back in to the kitchen to retrieve the other plates.

"Darling, wait, let me help you." Mr Mendez pushes his chair away from the table and vanishes in to the kitchen as well.

"Your dad doesn't seem so annoyed that I'm taking his little girl away." I whisper in Poppy's ear.

"I told them everything." Confesses Poppy after taking a deep breath.

"Everything?" Why would her parents be happy about her daughters biological father being back in her life.

"Yes. I told them that he's back, that you found me once before he raped me and that he found me again and did attack me. They wanted to go to the police, but I told them I'd never forgive them if they did. I know that their begging isn't over, but I told them how supportive you have been and how you have gone out of your way to look after me." Poppy leans back in her chair and fiddles with her fingers.

"Are you okay?" I ask her.

"Actually, I'm great." She kisses my cheek, but we both jump back when her parents come back out with drinks and the remaining dishes of food

"Thank you." I say as we all begin to eat.

Dinner passes by pleasantly. We talk about almost everything, and her dad is still quite eager to learn about me. We make a toast to Poppy's graduation and future during desert.

Poppy and I offer to clean up the dishes after and we take them all in to the kitchen.

Poppy starts to place all the plates in the dishwasher and I place the cutlery in the stand in the dishwasher.

The kitchen is soon clean and tidy and Poppy is sat on the island, her legs swinging. I go over to her and stand between her legs, placing my hands on her hips.

"I can't wait for you to move in." I whisper as I kiss her neck gently.

"I'm so excited." She whispers back, tilting her neck so I have better access to her soft spot just below her ear.

"I love you." She moans quietly.

"I.." I move to the side when I feel something nudge my thigh. Kano is stood there looking up at me.

I laugh and crouch down in front of him, stroking him behind the ears. "How you doing?" I rub his neck then stand up again.

"Kieran." Poppy looks at me and I turn to her again. "I know this is a big thing to ask, but please can I bring Kano with me? I mean, I need him, he's always been there for me, I know he's a dog, but I love him and I can't not have him with me.." I shut her rambling up with a kiss and laugh.

"Of course he can. You're allowed pets in the apartment." I smile and hold her against me in a big hug.

"Thank you so much, Kieran." She says happily against my neck and I nuzzle my face in her hair.