Fire Emblem: High School Years (High School AU) - Junior Year

Chapter 10: Plans

Anna

I haven't baked in a while. I should get on that. Then again, I usually do big bakes whenever I'm super anxious. Is my anxiety decreasing? I mean, that's a fantastic thing, but I really want cake.

"Lost in thought?"

I turned to my boyfriend, whose eyes were trained on the road in front of him. "Little bit," I replied with a sigh. Now that the marching band season was finally over, Chrom and I had time for each other. This was the first date since homecoming that we went on, which I realized was well over a month ago; band season isn't a mellow one, that's for sure.

Now, I got to watch the sunset as Chrom drove us home; however, it wasn't much of a sunset by this point -- more of a "you looked away for twenty seconds and now it's pitch black". Fun times.

"Can you remember the last time I baked something?"

Chrom shrugged, turning on his left-turn signal. "Now that I think about it, no," he answered. "I guess marching band has been pretty distracting, huh?"

I pressed the side of my head against the window, watching trees and houses fly by. "That typically doesn't stop me."

He chuckled, relaxing back in his seat. "Thanksgiving is coming up. That'll give you extra incentive to bake."

I shook my head. "Mom and I don't really celebrate Thanksgiving."

My boyfriend spared a glance at me - only for a moment. "Really? Why?"

I drew in a deep breath, unearthing even more of my personal life. I don't mind telling him. I like it, in fact. He's a huge part of my life, now, after all. "We don't exactly have the family to celebrate with. Dad isn't a part of my life -- and incarcerated, we haven't heard from my grandparents in years, Mom's raising me all on her own, and we have no other family," I explained, picking at a nail. "My only other family that I know of and still keep in contact with is my Uncle Blaise, my mom's brother, and his family."

"What about family on your dad's side? Surely there must be someone?"

"Nope. They disowned us the second Mom divorced Dad. I guess they took that bastard's side or something."

Chrom took one hand off the wheel and squeezed my hand briefly. "I'm really sorry to hear that."

I weakly smiled at him. "No, don't be. I honestly don't care," I chuckled. "Mom and Blaise are the only family I need."

"Do you see him often?"

I shrugged. "Maybe a handful of times a year. They live a state over so it's pretty difficult to arrange visits." Doesn't mean I miss him and Aunt Sera and Maye like crazy. "On that note, I'm not seeing him and his family this year because they're going on a trip."

Chrom chewed on his lower lip, eyes narrowing. "I see..." Oh no. That's his idea look. I'm both terrified and intrigued to see what comes out of his mouth. "Um, well, would you and your mom like to spend Thanksgiving with my family?"

My eyes nearly bugged out of my head at that suggestion. "What?! Are you crazy?!"

My boyfriend smirked, rolling his eyes. "Babe, you should know the answer to that by now," he laughed. "But I'm serious: Would you like to come to Thanksgiving?"

I shrunk back in my seat. "I-I wouldn't want to intrude. That time for you and your family! Not your girlfriend and her mom!"

"You wouldn't be intruding. I'm sure Mother and Father wouldn't mind; in fact, I bet they'll be delighted to have you over," he said. "Emm and Phila won't be there this year since they're visiting her mom overseas, so there will be two empty plates at the table anyway."

"C-Chrom, you realize that this means I get to meet your whole family, right?"

"Yes, and I can then prove to them that you actually exist."

My face flushed at the prospect. "Meeting your partner's family is a pretty serious thing though, Chrom..." I muttered. "I mean, I'm not opposed to meeting them, not at all, but...I don't know... Are you sure you want to do this?"

He reached for my hand once more. "Last time I checked, I was pretty serious about you - about us - and I'm not afraid to admit that. Are you not?"

"No! No no no no no! That's not what I meant!" I frantically covered up, noting the amused gleam in his eyes. "I am serious about you and this relationship! I just don't know if you want to announce that to the world, yet!"

He pulled my hand to his lips, brushing a light kiss to my knuckles. "I want to. I really, really want to."

My heart nearly exploded from the warmth it felt, never feeling so full. Gods, just when I thought I couldn't love him more than I do. "...I hope you're prepared for your family to love me more than you."

He barked a laugh. "Oh, I'm more than ready for that to happen."

Maybe spending this Thanksgiving with him won't be so bad. It's been years since I last celebrated it, though. I don't really know what's supposed to happen. Well, hopefully he'll teach me.

And hopefully this is the first of many Thanksgivings we share together.

*****
He just wants her to be loved and accepted. Here's some more backstory to Anna's family. I always imagined Validar's side to abandon them after all that stuff went down (not that Anna and Evelina cared) and as for Evelina's parents, idk. I think in this universe, they're either dead or completely off the grid somewhere. As for Blaise, well, maybe you'll get to meet him someday in the future. 😉 Thank you so much for reading and look forward to reading more!