Andrea held Joba's hand tightly as he stroked the back of her hand with his thumb. Andrea looked around nervously for her any sign of her parents.
"You okay?" Joba asked, looking down at her as she shrugged.
"I'm fine, better with you here." Andrea sighed, smiling up at him as he kissed her softly.
An Uber arrived shortly after, the car pulling up in front of the restaurant. Andrea hugged them as they exited the car.
"This is Joba, my boyfriend." Andrea said, grinning at him as he politely smiled and shook their hands.
Andrea looked back at her parent's faces, her mom had a smile on and her dad nodded slowly and looked in other direction.
Joba scratched his head nervously when he noticed Andrea's dad's expression. Andrea rolled her eyes at her dad and grabbed Joba's hand.
"Okay let's go eat, I'm starving!" Andrea said, breaking the tension as everyone agreed and went through the front doors.
They all sat at table and got the menus from a waiter.
"I'm sorry." Andrea whispered so only Joba could hear as he furrowed his eyebrows.
"Andrea, stop apologizing. I wanted to come, remember?" Joba reassured her, squeezing her hand under the table as she grinned.
They all ordered and were talking about how work was going.
"So, what do you do Joba?" Andrea's mom asked, sipping her water.
"I work in music. I sing and produce music with a group called Brockhampton." Joba smiled as Andrea's mom did too, which relieved Andrea, but her dad furrowed his eyebrows.
"What do you mean, are you in like a boyband or something?" Her dad asked, laughing as Andrea glared at him.
"Yeah, I guess you could say that." Joba chuckled nervously.
"Is that why Andrea is going all around the country? With your little boyband?"
"Can you stop?" Andrea groaned, breaking the silence that emerged after that comment.
"Stop what?" He said drinking his water.
"Mocking him." Andrea said flatly as her dad rolled his eyes.
"I wouldn't mock him if he had an actual job, or if he came from a good family. He's not hispanic, either." Her dad continued as she breathed heavily, trying to keep herself calm.
Andrea looked down at her lap, trying to contain herself and not make a scene.
Joba squeezed her hand from under the table again, giving her a small smile as she looked up. She grinned too, holding his hand. She was glad she was with him and she knew she wouldn't wanna be with anyone else.
The waiter came out with everyone's food and they ate and some engaged in conversation.
"So, where are you from Joba?" Her dad asked, crossing his arms ask he made eye contact with him.
"San Marcos, Texas." Joba explained as her dad nodded slowly.
"Is that where you got your weird name from?"
"Uh no, that's just my nickname actually."
"What's your real name? Actually, I don't need to know." Her dad chuckled to himself, shaking his head and getting back to his food.
Joba looked down at his plate as Andrea filled with anger. She couldn't contain herself anymore.
"You know what? Fuck you." Andrea said, angrily standing from her seat. Her parents were taken back from her outburst. She usually never had the courage to stand up to them, but hurting Joba set her off. She stormed out of the restaurant, Joba trailing closely behind her.
"Hey." Joba said softly as he wrapped his arms around her. She closed her eyes, hiding in his chest. She felt like they were the only people in the universe at that moment. She felt herself begin to cry as he hugged her tightly. She desperately wanted this night to go well.
"Wanna go back to the hotel?" Joba asked, pulling away from the hug. She sniffled and nodded, ordering the Uber on her phone. They headed back to the hotel, going up to the room that they had all to themselves.
Andrea plopped down on the bed as Joba did the same.
They turned and looked up at the ceiling, their hands crossed on their chests.
"Fuck." Joba said rubbing his hands down his face.
"I'm so sorry Joba." Andrea said, turning to face him.
"It's not your fault."
"He's so fucking annoying. You didn't deserve that." Andrea said with a sigh.
"I don't know, I guess I just wanted them to like me." He admitted, rolling over to face her.
"I get that. But their fucking opinions don't matter."
"We got each other, and that's all that matters." Joba nodded, caressing her cheek with his thumb before crashing his lips against hers. She kissed him back, scooting closer to his frame.
"I just wish I had a better family like Alicia's."
"You know, every family has problems."
"Yeah. But they're all so supportive of her. Oh my god, and they fucking love Matt. You should hear her dad on the phone. He's literally ready to be a father-in law. Her aunt already bought him a Christmas gift." Andrea laughed, making Joba chuckle.
"Yeah, Matt really loves her family too. They got lucky with that, but you still have people that love you. Some people choose their own family, you know?"
"I know, I guess I was just hoping that seeing me with a good guy would make my dad realize that I'm not a fuck up."
"You don't need to prove anything to him."
"Everything in my life is a mess. I'm a fucking mess." Andrea groaned, covering her eyes with her hands.
Joba took her hands away from her face and kissed them lightly.
"I love that mess." Joba said softly which made Andrea grin. The men in her life weren't the best and she finally found someone who loved and cared for her.
"I'm just sorry you had to see this part of me." Andrea mumbled, looking down at her and Joba's hands.
"Andrea, I want to see every part of you. The bad and the good. You don't have to apologize for that."
"I love you." Andrea smiled, kissing him eagerly as he did the same.
"I love you too." Joba chuckled, playing with the curls in her hair.
Joba wrapped his arms around her as she snuggled closer to him. She put her hands to his chest as her head was snuggled into his neck.
Joba stroked her back as she stroked his cheek with her thumb. They fell asleep in each other's arms, trying not to think of everything that had happened.
