Ch. 15
(three weeks later)
I awoke to see that I had slept in until 1:37. I blinked a few times. I've never slept that long, especially without waking up constantly during the night.
I got up and stretched. I immediately put on my binder. I haven't worn it in a while, but I just feel really uncomfortable with my body lately. I've always been uncomfortable with it, but Hannah has gotten me to where I'll sleep shirtless. But now, ever since a few days ago, I've just been really conscious of my chest and lower area.
I left the room and saw Hannah, in her pajamas, sitting on the couch with a troubled expression.
I sat beside her and kissed her cheek, though I was still half-asleep.
"What's wrong, babe?" I asked tiredly.
She held up her phone. I gulped as I read the text from her dad. He wanted to see her, and he said to bring her fiancé.
"Aw, fuck," I groaned. I wasn't ready for this yet.
Hannah's father literally banned her from even being with me in sophomore year. She wasn't supposed to text me, talk to me, hang out with me, nothing. He was serious that time. He told her to break up with me and take the heart out of her necklace that her grandmother gave her, because it was over between us. So, her father assumed that she had listened to him and broke it off with me, but no. We had dated in secret, using extreme caution because her father had teachers, buddies of his, watching us, and even Hunter, her little brother, had his friends on high-alert as well. When he found out that she was engaged, he thought she had gotten a real man. So he wanted to meet him. Which meant he had to re-meet me.
"Shit," I grumbled, placing my head in my hands. Hannah rubbed my back soothingly.
"It's okay baby... It'll be fine, right?" she said.
I sat back up with a huff. "Honestly," I began, "I really, /really/ don't want to do this. I don't. I don't want to go through this shit with him again."
"I know baby," she replied, "I would tell him no, but he is my dad. He has to know that we stayed together through all that. The first sign of danger, and we will leave. Okay?" She held onto my arm.
There was no fighting it. I had to.
I groaned loudly and ran a hand through my hair. "Fine," I replied.
"Thank you baby," she said, then kissed me.
"Don't thank me yet," I murmured.
***
By three we were dressed and ready, me wearing a Superman T-shirt over my undershirt and binder, Hannah wearing a black shirt with a guitar on it and my blue jacket over it.
I looked over at her as we stood at her parents' front door, feeling my legs tremble. She smiled at me and grabbed a hold of my hand and squeezed it lightly, then she knocked on the door.
A few moments later, Hannah's father opened the door, with a stern expression as always. He looked at me quizzically for a long time before he moved out of the way and let us in.
I sat down on the couch and Hannah sat beside me, still holding my hand. Her dad, Brendon, sat in his recliner, and Stephanie, Hannah's mother, sat in the other recliner.
"So," Brendon began, crossing his arms over his chest, "what's your name, boy? How long have you two been together?"
'This is it,' I thought to myself. I squeezed Hannah's hand tighter and took a deep breath.
