The Falling virgin

t h i r t y e i g h t: my dad would kill you

We all took place at the table and Connor sat in front of me, grinning. I rolled my eyes and looked at my mom. "What is all this?" I asked, she looked at Dean. "Dean helped me with the food, I have no clue in how it tastes."

Dean laughed and sat down. "Also, Aunt Zara is coming next week with Ryan, Phoebe and Lily." Mom said and Ben smiled. "Really? Are they staying?"

"For a week, yeah." She said.

Aunt Zara was my dad's sister, she got pregnant when she was eighteen and her boyfriend at the time left her alone with Ryan. A few years later, when Ryan was eight, she found someone new who she had Phoebe and Lily with, they were my age, twins.

"Is Simon coming?" I asked, it was her husband and he really was a nice guy. Connor looked at me. "Who's Simon?" A tone of jealousy in his voice. "You do know, to make kids you need a man and a woman, right? It's my Uncle."

Everyone laughed as Connor's face turned red. "Yes, Simon is coming."

"What about your sister?" I asked and she shrugged. "Maybe another time. You know how Genève gets." She said and I chuckled. "Oh gosh, yeah I do. I remember she was all over Riley." My brother said and my mom nodded. "Her gay ass can't handle it sometimes." She said, joking.

"Bet she will be all over Connor when she sees him." Benjamin said. I pursed my lips. "Bet. She can try, right?" I said, my gaze drifting off towards the food on the table. "Of course she can." Connor said and I looked at him out of the corner of my eye. He looked at me, grinning. "You jealous dear?" He asked. I rolled my eyes. "Dear makes me sound sixty." I said and he kissed my cheek. "Maybe I'll still be around when you're that old."

I swallowed and fiddled with my hands, avoiding eye contact with everyone in the room. "Come on, eat all you want. Not too much though, we still have dessert." Dean said.

We all took food onto our plates and started eating, Connor's hand rested on my knee as he talked to Benjamin and Dean about football. I looked at Thomas who was telling my mom all about Diana. A smile came onto my face as I caught a glimpse of Connor laughing.

My hand intertwined with his, scanning the ring he was wearing. It had a wavy design on it, I ran my thumb over it and he looked at me. "It's my Grandpa's."

I met his eyes.

Ben looked at us. "You know, Alli, did I tell you about Emma?" I frowned and slowly shook my head. "Emma?"

"It's his new girlfriend." Connor grinned. "Man, we're friends." Ben said, cocking an eyebrow. "Dude, stop lying. I saw you making out with her in the locker room." Connor said, smirking. Benjamin was about to say something, but soon enough realised that Connor was right. "See? She's cool, man, way cooler than Riley. Plus-"

"I know, I know, you've had sex with her." Benjamin said and Connor shook his head. "No, I was going to say that she's the perfect girl for you. I haven't had sex with her, I would've recalled that."

I rolled my eyes and he licked his lip, biting it in the progress. "Kids, you can go if you want to. We'll call you in two hours for dessert." Dean said, clearly sensing the awkwardness. I let go of Connor's hand and stood up from my chair. "Thomas, wanna look at pictures of Ben when he was younger?" I asked, turning my gaze to Thomas. Ben's jaw dropped and he shook his head firmly. Thomas grinned, nodding and getting up too. "I'm down."

"Alli, screw you, we're looking at your pics, too." Ben said. Connor grinned at that and looked at me. "Oh, I can see four years old Alli in a purple dress."

I rolled my eyes and walked of the kitchen, strolling up the stairs to the highest level. I opened the door to my dad's old office, walking to the back to open the cabinet in his desk. I sighed, thinking about how many times I sat on the other side of his office if I wanted to talk about something. The room looked the exact same, only some dust on the objects, but that's it. I hadn't been here in four years. I got out two boxes and as I stood straight again I spotted Connor looking at me concerned. "Hey, you okay?" He asked and I nodded, preventing the tears from falling. "This place just brings up a lot of memories, you know?"

He was standing in the doorway, unsure if he was allowed to enter, no one really was anytime. I let out a shaky breath. "You know, I used to tell him everything in this place. This was like a secret-room. We had certain times we sat here, even if it was just to read books. I remember the day I was angry at him and even then I came, we stared at each other a whole hour long, not saying anything. He started laughing, me too, after that I told him about my day at school. He also told me that he had cancer in this room, I didn't know what it would mean for him back then. After that announcement, our meetings became less and less. There were definitely nurses coming in here daily and on our hours." I smiled a little, thinking back at how close we were. "He once told me that I could never have a boyfriend, but I did at that time, nothing serious at that age. The look on his face was unforgettable. I promised to marry him and not anyone else after the guy broke up with me." I said, not realising Connor had put his arms around me.

He rubbed my back and kissed my head. "Thanks for telling me, guess I couldn't have asked you to be my girlfriend then?"

I looked at him. "My dad would've killed you." I said, softly smiling. He chuckled and took my hands in his. "Yeah, I'd die for you, so I guess it is worth the risk."

"Guys, where are you?" My brother shouted from down the stairs. We heard him jog up and let go of each other's hands. Ben stopped in front of the door, looking around the office and his shoulder's sank. "We're coming." I said and walked passed the both of them.

I got back downstairs and settled down on the couch, next to Thomas. "You ready?" He nodded and smiled sheepishly. "I think so." He said, I opened the boxes, revealing pictures full of childhood memories. I picked out the one where Benjamin and I were standing in the garden of our old house. We were playing in the kidpool. My hair was in two braids that my dad had done. It was kind of his secret. I grimaced and Thomas picked out another picture. "Is this your dad?" He asked and I looked at the picture.

It was, indeed, my dad who was kissing my mom on her cheek. Me in between them, same for Benjamin. I slowly nodded at Thomas. "Yeah, that's him."

"You look like him." He said and I gnawed on my lip. "I'm sorry for you." He said and I sighed. "Don't be, this may sound weird, but I'm happy he stopped suffering."

I looked up, meeting Connor's eyes.

"Let's talk." Connor said and took my hand, leading me back upstairs. He opened the door to my room and sat down on my bed, letting go of my hand. "Look-"

"Wait." I said and sat down next to him. He frowned, but I leaned closer to kiss him. His hands found my cheeks, mine grabbing his. I slowly got on top of him, him laying down with his back on the bed. His hands had moved to my back and I put mine around his neck.

We pulled away and he puffed, smiling. "You can definitely do that more often." He said and I got off him, allowing myself to lay next to him. He pulled me closer by my waist, my head rested on his chest and he ran a hand trough my loose hair. "You can talk now." I said, interrupting the comfortable silence.

"I wanted to ask you this earlier, just so you know. As you may recall the talk in the park, I want you to know I meant all of it and that those feelings towards you become stronger every time I see you." He said, kissing the top of my head after.

"You better."

I kissed his chest, putting my hand on the other side, the side of his heart. His heart was racing, double time than normal. "Yeah, that's really what you do to me." He said, putting his hand over mine. "You know how I said I was falling?"

I nodded and met his eyes.

"I fell, hard."

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THANKS FOR 500 READS OMFG TY TY TY

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