Lockdown {COMPLETED}

Epilogue

Rae's heart thudded painfully in his chest.

Aria and Rae stood on the patio of his house, waiting for the door to open. Jill would've come too, but she'd recently got the job in the news channel she'd wanted. Having put down papers for her new apartment, Jill was also busy moving into it.

He was nervous and scared. He hadn't come to the town in two years, and had recently trudged up the courage to come. The pandemic had been declared over six months ago, and there were barely any cases popping up anymore.

The door opened and his stomach dropped. Luckily it was just his brother. "Rae!" he exclaimed as he threw himself onto his brother. Rae stumbled back at the force that hit him, but managed to stay upright. He chuckled.

"Hey Max."

Max pulled back and turned to Aria. He raised a brow. "And you are?"
"Aria Katmann, nice to meet you," she said, smiling and holding out a hand. He looked at her hand and back to Rae.

"Is she your girlfriend?"

"No she's not," Aria said, putting her hand down. "You could've asked me, you know."

"Whatever," Max said, rolling his eyes and pulling his headphones back up. He went inside and they followed.

"Excuse his behaviour, he's going through the moody teenage phase," Rae whispered as they walked towards where his parents sat. The TV was running.

"Don't worry, I'm not offended."

His parents stood up as they came in. "Rae! You never told us you'd be coming. And you've bought a girl!" his mother exclaimed, though you could tell it was forced.

"Actually I'm just a friend."

Either they didn't hear or just didn't care. She hugged him, yet her embrace was cold. She went to hug Aria next, but Aria stepped back. "I'm not comfortable with hugs."

That was a lie, but only someone who knew her well would know that she never shied away from showing affection.

His mother's eyes turned cold ever so slightly. His spine straightened unconsciously.

His father came next. As he hugged his son he whispered, "You better break up with her soon, you're supposed to get married to Penny this year." He would've rolled his eyes if he were in a different situation. As it was, he thought, what is up with people assuming we're together?

The words themselves didn't affect him as much anymore. He'd come a long way in the past two years.

Rae's father pulled back smiling like nothing had ever happened, but Rae had a feeling Aria saw right through it.

"Where are our manners? Come sit," he said motioning towards the couches.

His parents house was big, their living room big enough to accommodate twenty people. They sat on the white couches, Aria and Rae making sure to sit with enough space between each other. Somewhere else they wouldn't have cared, but here everything needed to go smoothly with as few distractions as possible.

It was a good thing Max was up in his room. His mother had gone to the kitchen to bring refreshment for the both of them. "So, where did you two meet?" his mother asked as she set down the refreshments on the table.

Rae went to answer, but he was cut off by Aria. "Doesn't matter." She said, laying down two files in front of them. Trust Aria to cut straight to the matter at hand.

He could feel the heat of his father's glare even though it wasn't directed at him. Aria remained unfazed, going as far as to meet his glare coolly. That was the last straw apparently as his father exploded the next moment. "Keep your woman under control boy, or else I'll-"
"Shut the fuck up, Eric," Aria said, her eyes flashing murderously.