Goodbye for now || n.h

Chapter 6

The doorbell rang and I pushed out my chair to go answer it, but mum was quicker. I slowly followed her towards the hall, hearing her opening the door and thanking for the flowers. I can't believe Dakota actually bought flowers to my mum. That's something the guy should do and not the other way around.

I came around the corner and laid my eyes on her. She was wearing black jeans and a white blouse, casual but still very nice. Her hair was straight for a change and not curly. She wore make up, but not too much. Everything about her looked simple yet she was beautiful.

"Hi." She said once we made eye contact.

I walked over to her, walking past the kitchen where mum now were to take care of the flowers. I felt the butterflies in my stomach growing back to life as closer I got to her.

"I should tell you before you kiss me that I'm wearing lip gloss."

She was assuming I'd kiss her. Well that leaves me no choice

"Doesn't matter." I told her, and placed my hands on her waist.

She smiled before reaching up to press a kiss against my lips. It was just as simple and gentle as the last one. I decided to pull away after only a couple of seconds because my mum could leave the kitchen any second and see us. That would make things awkward and tense between us.

"Are you nervous?" I asked her once we walked towards the dining room.

"Not at all actually. What, should I be?"

I shook my head, smiling.

My dad got up from his seat to shake her hand and so did my brother. When mum came back to put the flowers on the table, Dakota offered to help out in the kitchen. The two of them went into the other room and I turned to my family around the table.

"She seems nice." Dad said, lightly nodding while leaning back in his chair.

"Pretty." Greg said, also leaning back in his seat.

"I'm going to ask you again after the dinner, when you've met her for real." I muttered, crossing my arms on the table. "I like her a lot, so please be nice."

Dad looked at my brother.

"Aren't we always nice?"

Not to everyone

"Okay, who's ready for some chicken?" I heard mum call out and I turned around in my chair, seeing Dakota helping mum carry everything to the table. Then she took the seat next to me. Greg and mum sat across from us, and my dad on the edge. Like he always does, no matter how many or how few people there are around the table.

Everything was going fine. My parents asked Dakota questions, and she kindly answered every single one of them. She seemed to be interested in hearing more about Greg's work and she often complimented mum about either the food or the house in general. Everyone was having a good time, until my dear, dear parents decided to ruin it.

Dad started questioning mum instead, asking why he is the one who has to sleep in the guest room. Asking why she doesn't cook every day like she used to. She then asked why he's never home or why he always stays at work until midnight.

Greg seemed shocked. But I couldn't blame him. He had no idea our parents basically hated each other. And I just sat there, staring blankly into the wall, wishing I could disappear. Mum and dad are fighting during dinner, fighting when we had guests. Dakota seemed to be rather uncomfortable as well and I was sure she would get up and leave any second now. Then I felt her hand travelling over to my side, slowly grabbing onto my hand. Her fingers slipped through mine and she held my hand tightly under the table, without giving me a single glance. She just held my hand and we pretended not to hear my parents fighting.