Bruises

4

My eyes slowly widened. I didn't say a word, I just scooted closer to him and put my hand on his cheek and kissed him the same why that he did to me. "Is that a yes?" He asks me smiling. "Of course it is." I said smiling. Dylan's lips spread into a wide grin and started laughing, and I quickly joined him. It was undeniably awkward but it was adorable. We spent the rest of the time just talking, him lying the length of the bed and me sitting cross legged beside his torso. He told me about Iris, who I had never known exited until today.
"She's a little brat sometimes, but ultimately she is amazing. She loves to dance, and is actually pretty good at it." He told me. I could tell that he loved her, more than almost anything. "My mom does almost everything alone. Dad is almost always away on business or whatever, but whenever he does come home he is the best. They're pretty good parents, but I mean no one can be perfect. They piss me and Iris off a lot, but whatever. They try their best." He said simply. It was good that he actually liked his parents, not a lot of teenagers do.
"Dylan and Mixi, it's time for dinner!!!" Iris yelled up the stairs. "I guess we better get going before they start suspecting something." Dylan said raising his eyebrows at me suggestively. "We could never have that, could we?" I asked jokingly, getting up from his bed. "Never!" He said laughingly. We walked slowly down the stairs into the living room to find Iris switching off the television. She turned around to see us holding hands at the bottom of the staircase. He had small calluses on the tips of his fingers from playing guitar, but his hands were still extremely soft. "So......" Iris says, raising her eyebrows towards Dylan. "She said yes. You weirdo." He said simply. "YAY!!!!! MOMMY SHE SAID YES!!!!!" She said running into the kitchen. "They knew about this?" I asked quietly. "Yeah." He answered smiling. We entered the kitchen and dining room area, faced with an excited Iris going on and on about she hopes we stay together forever and ever. Not going to lie, but I agreed with her.
For dinner we had Breakfast. A huge buffet of eggs, sausage, bacon, ham, biscuits, waffles, pancakes, and a plethora of fruits. Basically, heaven on a dinner table. "I made everything since I didn't know what you liked. Plus, everyone in this house's taste buds seem to change every single day." Mrs. Hicks said chuckling. Everything tasted delicious, at least everything that I ate did. After about five minutes of friendly talk and meal time, the front door of the house opened. "DADDY!!!" Iris screamed and ran from the dinner table. "Hey there munchkin. You grow by a foot every minute, you're getting too big, stop growing." Came a deep male voice from another room. A man, maybe six foot four came walking into the kitchen with Iris slung over his shoulder. "Now you finish eating before you get in trouble." He said, setting her back down on the floor. "Hey Dad." Dylan said, turning around in his chair to face his father. "Good Evening Dylan, who's your friend here?" He said whilst putting his hand out for me to shake. "I'm Mixi, one of Dylan's friends. Well, girlfriend now." I said, shaking Mr. Hicks' hand. "Well, congratulations you two. He's been talking about you for a while now, and it's nice to finally put a face to the name." He replied. "Thanks Dad. That wasn't embarrassing at all." Dylan said rubbing his hand on his face. "Just doing my job." Mr. Hicks replied. All three of us girls started giggling.
By the time dinner had finished it was about seven thirty, and my father wouldn't be home for a long while, so everything was going perfectly. "Would you like me to help with the dishes?" I asked carrying them to the sink where Mrs. Hicks was slaving away. "If you would like, but I'd prefer you just kept me some company down here." She replied. "But she's my guest." Dylan said with a pout in his voice and face. "And you, mister, have clothes that need to be put away. I'll send her up in a little bit, now off with you." She said shooing him away with a dish rag. I couldn't help but giggle at his dramatic walk out of the kitchen. It wasn't until Dylan had gone up the stairs that Mrs. Hicks had struck up the conversation.
"He really likes you." She said with a smile. "Yeah, I guess he does." I said with a blush and a small smile. "No, really. Since he met you he's been lot more cheerful. You just have to come back again, hopefully we haven't scared you off just yet, have we?" She asked playfully. "Not in a million years." I answered. "You are welcome anytime, Mixi. If you don't mind, what is your real name?" She questioned. "It's Margaret. Margaret Stephens." I answered. "That is a beautiful name." She replied. "Thank you very much." I thanked her. "You can go back upstairs with Dylan if you'd like. I just wanted to let you know that you can come over whenever. It is really no trouble, we have plenty of space, obviously, and you seem to lighten the air in this house." She said. "Thank you very much Mrs. Hicks." I said. "No thanks needed. No go on upstairs, he's probably waiting by the door for you." She said with a smile. "Will do." I said walking to and up the stairs to his room.
I opened the door to see him hanging up the last of his clothes up in his closet. I quietly sit on the edge of his bed waiting for him to turn around. "Holy sh..." He yells "You scared me to death." I couldn't contain my giggles. "I can see that." I said doubling over in laughter. "You're mean." He says grabbing his guitar off the floor and placing back in the corner of his room. "Am not!" I said, throwing a pillow at his face. When it hit his face he dramatically fell to the ground and stuck his tongue out, pretending to be dead. "Have I killed you?" I said giggling. "Yes. Yes, you have with your adorableness." He answered leaning up on his elbows.
We spent the rest of the night just laying around, watching a movie, and enjoying each other's company. It was almost 9 by the time I left. Mr. Hicks had insisted that he give me a ride home, instead of me walking, so I accepted. "It really was a pleasure to meet you." He said when we had reached my house. "And you as well." I said before exiting the car and entering my house. I quickly made my way up the stairs and into my room. I was safely cuddled into bed when I heard the front door open, just fifteen minutes after my arrival, and my father made his way up the stairs. I quickly faked being asleep when I heard walking towards my room. The door to my bedroom opened a little but was quickly shut, and he made his way to his room. Not long after that, the snoring began.
I was safe for the night. I had a boyfriend. And my life seemed to be taking a good turn. This was a good end to great day.
*****
For the next month everything was amazing. Thanksgiving had passed and Christmas was in a week and a half. Dylan and I had been spending a lot of time together, though I hadn't gone back to his house yet. Dad had been going out more and more, whether it was for work of for himself, I wasn't complaining. It gave me time to see Dylan. I hadn't told my father about Dylan yet, because I knew he wouldn't be happy about it, and I didn't want to be at the receiving end of that anger.
It was, as I said before, a week and a half until Christmas and I was really feeling the lack of Christmas joy in the house. There were no decorations, no lights, not even a tree or stockings hanging up. Though it didn't surprise me. We never really did Christmas, whether it was because of money issues, or him going out of town, or something else.
Dylan had told me all about his Christmas traditions. They decorated their tree a week before Christmas, and slowly worked their way around the house with decorations and lights. And on Christmas eve, everyone would sit in the living room watching Christmas movies until it was time to put Iris to bed, which was ten o'clock. And after she was sound asleep they would set up the Christmas presents. Dylan would then go to bed, but only after eating a cookie or two that Iris had left out for "Santa". And on Christmas morning they would all gather around the Christmas tree and open their presents. Spending the rest of the day with each other and ending the day with a Christmas dinner. Basically, the picture perfect family, and they were exactly that.