After the sex we laid there for a very long time in silence. Since we had been on the couch, and Tony had gotten very butthurt, he had moved on to the floor and was now laying there while I was laying on the couch.

”Are you still angry at me?” I whispered and giggled. He groaned.

”Shut up.”

”No but seriously. It's perfectly normal, right? It happens to guys all the time.”

”Yeah but not to me,” he muttered,

”Just so you know, I wasn't laughing at you. Your reaction was just so funny,” I explained.

”Yeah but you're the last person I want laughing at me. I'm supposed to make an impression, you're supposed to think I'm cool.”

”Tony... I do think you're cool. This didn't make me change my mind about you, don't worry,” I said.

I rolled over to my side and looked down from the couch at him laying on the floor. He was biting his lip and staring up at the ceiling.

”Tony,” I whispered and he turned to look at me, ”It's okay. Don't worry about it. You lasted long enough, didn't you? And, besides, I don't even want to spend so much time on sex. Quick is good.”

”Yeah, whatever. I don't even want to talk about this anymore.”

”Will you come up here and cuddle?” I whispered and flashed a smile.

He tried his best to ignore me but a few seconds later let out a dramatic sigh and sat up. He grabbed his t-shirt from the floor and pulled it on before climbing on the couch and pulling me into his arms.

”Better?” he mumbled.

”So much better,” I whispered and cuddled closer to him. After a moment of silence I opened my mouth again.

”Tony?”

”Huh?”

”How much do you like me?” I whispered.

”What kind of a question is that?” he asked and chuckled quietly.

”Do you like me like you would like your girlfriend?”

”Uh... Yeah,” he admitted, ”Yeah.”

Then why won't you ask me to be your girlfriend, you idiot? It took my everything to keep my mouth shut because I didn't want to push him, even though I really wanted him to ask already. But I was afraid that asking too many questions could scare him and he would end up not wanting me to be his girlfriend.

All of a sudden the front door opened and it scared the shit out of me. Who could it be, I thought and sat up on the couch, because nobody was supposed to come over? I looked at Tony with my wide eyes and realized that he was just as confused as I was. And then it hit me. Somebody had broken in to rob me and the house.

”Shit,” I whispered, ”What if it's a burglar?”

Even though it was a serious situation, a grin appeared on Tony's face and he tried not to laugh.

”And why would anybody break into a house that has all the lights on?” he whispered.

”I don't know and that's not the point,” I whispered and stood up. But before I could take a step, Tony grabbed my hand and stopped me.

”What?” I mumbled and watched as he got up from the couch.

”I'm not letting you go there first,” he whispered, ”What if it's a burglar or something, huh? You'll get hurt.”

”Oh so now it's a burglar when you say it?” I whispered.

He just grabbed my hand and started pulling me towards the front door with him. I noticed that the door was wide open but there was nobody there at the door. I furrowed my eyebrows as all sorts of awful thoughts ran through my mind. What if somebody was there to kill us?

”Tony,” I whispered and stopped walking. He froze and turned to look at me.

”Huh?”

”Maybe we should get some kind of a weapon,” I whispered.

”Aww, come on, Abby. Are you seriously so scared?”

”Aren't you?”

”No,” he shook his head and I cocked an eyebrow at him.

”You're lying,” I whispered but quickly shut my mouth when I heard some noise coming outside.

I held on to Tony's hand more tightly and he pulled me closer and together we waited for somebody to come in. But nobody did. After a minute or so, Tony let go of my hand and marched out of the door. He stopped walking as soon as he was out.

”Oh, hey,” he said suddenly and waved his hand at somebody. Then he turned to look at me.

”It's your mother,” he told me. I furrowed my eyebrows and walked out to see my mother standing in front of my eyes.

”Mom? What are you doing here in the middle of the night?” I asked her.

”I took a week off from work and booked flights here,” she said, ”I came to see how you've taken care of the house down here and I can't say I'm very impressed.”

”Huh?”

”Have you been spending all your time with your boyfriend? You have not taken care of the pool and you've apparently forgotten all about the yard! What will the neighbours think?” she exclaimed and ran a hand through her hair.

”I'm sorry,” I said quietly, ”I've been having so much fun that I've forgotten about the yard and the pool...”

”Have you been just drinking and partying, Abigail?”

”No, mom. And if I had, it would be okay because I'm not a kid anymore...”

”Let's see what the inside looks like. And if it's anything like the outside...” she muttered as she walked past us right into the house. Luckily the inside of the house wasn't a mess and everything went fine until she got to the living room. She froze completely and picked something up from the floor.

”What are these, Abigail? Are these... Are these condoms?” she exclaimed in shock and turned to look at me. And when I saw that she was holding up some of Tony's condoms, my face turned red. I realized that, after the sex, they must have fallen out of Tony's pocket when he laid down on the floor.

”Those are mine,” Tony said quickly and grabbed them from her before she could react in any way.

And to my surprise, Tony wasn't embarrassed at all. He played it cool and I realized that he was, what, 28 so it must not have been the first time it happened to him. But I, being 22 and having never talked about sex with my parents, was beyond embarrassed and didn't know what to do.

”Have you been having sex here?” mom asked me and I grimaced.

”Yeah,” Tony said suddenly, ”We had sex right there on that couch. And it was good.”

I wasn't sure if Tony felt the need to prove something to somebody or wanted my mom to think something of him, but I was glad he had opened his mouth. Because now, my mom was more shocked of what Tony had said than the fact that her daughter had slept with somebody on her couch.

”Excuse me?” she stuttered and stared at both Tony and I with her mouth hanging slightly open.

”We will give you some time to... Settle in,” Tony said then and grabbed my hand before quickly pulling me out of the house. And as soon as the front door was closed behind us and we were outside, I stopped him and pulled him into a big kiss.

”Thank you,” I whispered into his mouth, ”For that. Thank you.”

And he only nodded, going back to his old shy self.

”I'm serious. I had no idea what to say back there,” I said quietly and as I said the words, his expression changed completely. I suddenly saw such sadness and pain in his eyes that I'd never been so confused about it.

”Tony? Is everything alright?” I whispered and held his face between my hands.

”I've started to think that this was a mistake,” he admitted and my face fell.

He didn't need to explain what he meant because I knew it right away. It was something that I'd been waiting for him to say and now it had come true. He thought that what we had was a mistake. He thought that we could never happen, that there was no future for us.

”What do you mean?” I asked and pulled my hands away from him.

”The way you acted back there... The way you completely froze in front of your mother... Maybe you are too young for me. Maybe I'm way too old to be with you,” he said quietly.

”What the hell?” I mumbled and looked at him with my wide eyes. Was he serious?

”Your problems are so different from mine and... And... I don't know. Maybe we live in different worlds,” he said and shrugged, ”I'm sorry, Abby.”

And then, without another word, he walked away, leaving me very confused and slightly angry. No, wait, he left me very angry.