"I want your parents to meet Uchū."
I stared at the ceiling of my dorm with wide eyes. The leg that had been merrily swinging, balanced over my other knee, stilled.
"Pardon me?" I spluttered, shyly missing yanking out my lock of hair that I had been curling around my finger. Violet, finally back from wherever she went, looked over from her bed at my startled voice.
"I want your parents to meet my grandfather," Lloyd repeated confidently.
I blinked once, twice, and had to replay his sentence in my head another four times before I could manage to even move my mouth.
I ended up gaping like a fish, unable to find even a scrap of a word.
"You still there?" he asked.
"I- I am," I stammered. My messy duvet curled and dipped as I sat up, eyes still wide open and staring hard at the designs on my quilt. "I just- wow. Really?"
"Why not?" he commented nonchalantly. "I want your family to meet mine. Sure, it's a little unconventional-"
"A little," I breathed with a shake of my head. "Lloyd, you forget-"
Abruptly remembering my company, my words stopped dead. Seeking privacy, I quickly shoved my feet into my slippers and fled the room, ignoring the way Violet's eyebrows raised at my swift exit.
"I forget..?" Lloyd egged curiously at my silence. I glanced up and down the hall before turning towards the storage cupboard and lowering my voice to a whisper.
"You forget how... important your grandfather is, Lloyd!" I murmured as I shut the door behind me. It was dark and smelt of dust, but at least nobody could overhear me.
"And you forget how important you are to me," Lloyd reminded kindly. "To all of us, Uchū included."
"Flattery doesn't change the fact that he created the entire world," I pointed out.
"And it doesn't change the fact that your parents created my entire world in you," Lloyd craftily responded. I dropped my head back with a flustered groan.
"Lloyd!" I complained. "This is serious!"
"I'm being serious!" he laughed. "C'mon, sunshine. What are you overthinking about now?"
My bristling reproach subsided into wearisome acceptance. He knew how to pick out what was going through my head.
"I don't know," I muttered meekly, resting my back on the wall of the storage closet. "What if he doesn't think my family is good enough? Children are reflections of their parents."
"One; not true, and I'm the proof of that," Lloyd counterpointed, which I had to agree with. "Two; Uchū loves you! Even if your parents spat in his face, he would still adore you. Not- not that your parents would ever spit in his face, or anything."
"You can never really tell what my mother's going to do," I said offhandedly. "She's very unpredictable."
"True," Lloyd agreed. "She did punch Axon hard enough to knock him out."
"Yeah," I laughed quietly. "That was fun."
"I'll drop by your place to tell your mum, then," Lloyd said. "And I'll ring your dad, too. He's my best friend now, you know."
I rolled my eyes. "Suck up."
"It's not my fault that your parents love me," he said. "It's my natural charisma."
"I'm sure it is," I commented dryly. "Will you be picking me up tomorrow?"
"That's the plan," Lloyd chirped. "I'll text you when I'm leaving. Semester break, finally. I've been waiting for this for months."
"You know what I've been waiting months for?" I asked enthusiastically. "BIT holds a ball. A ball. Not prom, Lloyd, it's a whole dang ball."
"Heard you the first million times," Lloyd commented. "It's all you've been talking about for the past month."
"I'm excited!" I quietly defended with a smile. "You know, as long as I don't get shot in the leg this time."
I could almost see Lloyd grimacing. My chuckle was strained.
"Make sure you're using some of that energy for your exams," Lloyd reminded. I was tempted to roll my eyes.
"Yes, mother."
"Just looking out for you, princess."
"I know," I said with a soft smile. "Thank you, baby... I have to go." It was nearing on dinner time and my stomach was not shy in reminding me, even though I yearned to spend more time with Lloyd. "I love you."
