California

“You know, it wouldn’t kill you to slow down,” I commented as Mikey drove us to his parents’ house, his hand resting on my thigh.

He looked over and smiled. “I’m going the speed limit.” I shrugged and ran my fingers through my hair for the eightieth time since we left his apartment. I could not control the rhythmic bouncing of my leg, the anxiety getting to me. Mikey noticed and sent me a reassuring smile. “You’ll do great, trust me.”

“I’ve never met a guy’s parents before! I have no idea how to act. What if they don’t like me?” I worried aloud and stared out the window at the beautiful scenery whirling past us.

“Just be yourself. They’ll love you.” I exhaled and popped the sun visor down to check my appearance. My makeup was nearly flawless, which pleased me since I spent nearly half an hour on it this morning. I even sprung for some light eyeshadow to make my eyes pop. I made a face in the mirror to make sure nothing was stuck in my teeth. I smoothed out my eyebrows and attempted to tame a stray piece of hair with my finger, to no avail. My silver heart necklace fell into a ‘v’ shape around my neck, hovering an inch or two above the start of my shirt. It was a simple, yellow t-shirt that I slipped on under a denim, three-quarter length jacket. I put on a brown, twisted leather bracelet and some black jeans along with the red Vans Jaime got me for my birthday.

“You look beautiful,” Mikey grabbed my attention again. I looked over at him, the sunlight hitting his hair beautifully. He had on his black jeans and a gray shirt with black sleeves. I smiled and closed the visor.

I leaned over and pecked his cheek, my lips catching on the stubble that covered his face. “You look handsome.”

He grinned. “We’re nearly there. Are you ready for this?”

“This is a big step,” I commented casually, glancing at him out of the corner of my eye. He looked at me and smirked.

“Sure is,” he replied and brought my hand to his lips. “There’s still time to opt out.”

I rolled my eyes as he turned down a narrow, homey street. “I’ll pass on that.”

“Good.” He grinned at me and slowed to a stop in front of a large brick house. There were marvelous beds of flowers lining the house and alternating stepping stones leading a path to the blue, wooden door. He took the keys out of the ignition and turned to me. “You’ll do fine,” he repeated.

I took a deep breath and nodded. “Let’s go.” He walked around the front of the car and opened the door for me. I stepped onto the road and attempted to rid my shirt of any wrinkles. He grabbed my hand and kissed my temple before leading me up the path. My heartbeat picked up with each step we took towards the house. He swung the door open and led me inside. “We’re here!” he called out as I looked around. It was a split entrance house, with baby blue walls. Family pictures adorned the walls and I smiled at a young, orange-haired boy with a smile I’d recognize anywhere. He gestured for me to follow him up the stairs and I hesitantly did, wiping my sweaty palms on my pants.

“Mikey, my boy!” a woman appearing to be in her 40s appeared with an apron around her waist. She pulled him into a fierce hug, making me smile. She had hair much like Mikey’s, although hers was spattered with gray, pulled into a braid and she was very naturally beautiful. From the hallway to my right, a tall man with gray hair and a goatee appeared. He grinned and pulled Mikey into a hug as well. It seems that Mikey had taken after his mother for the most part, although he did have his father’s deep eyes.

“Mum, dad, this is my girlfriend Skylar. Skylar, these are my parents Susan and Mike.” All eyes fell on me. I bit the inside of my lip nervously before extending my hand.

“Hi, it’s a pleasure to finally meet you.”

“You too, dear. Mikey has told us so many wonderful things about you,” Susan smiled warmly, easing my nerves.

“You sure weren’t lying, son. She is quite the looker,” Mike chimed in.

“Dad,” Mikey groaned as he blushed and stared at the ground. Susan chuckled and I soon joined in.

“What?” Mike asked innocently.

Mikey shook his head and quickly changed the subject. “What are you making?”

“I’m cooking up some fish and chips with some peas,” she replied, walking behind Mikey into the kitchen.

“Would you like any help?” I asked as Mikey and his dad went to my left into the living room.

“Oh no, dear. Make yourself at home.” I nodded and followed behind Mikey. There was hardly an inch of blank wall space, astonishing me. I walked along the walls, taking in each photograph slowly. They were like a timeline, showing how the Chapman family grew throughout the years. It started with Susan and Mike’s wedding photo and progressed to include some fairly recent pictures of Mikey.

“He was a cute little bugger, wasn’t he?” Mike asked.

“Oh, good grief,” Mikey sighed and buried his crimson face into his hands.

I grinned and nodded. “Still is.”

“Dinner is ready!” Susan’s voice filtered throughout the house.

“Where can I wash up?” I questioned Mikey as he started towards the kitchen. He nodded down the hall.

“First door on the left.” I thanked him and entered the bathroom. It was remarkably clean. I used the flower soap dispenser to coat my hands in lavender soap, cleaning my hands. I panicked when I saw that the towels were neatly folded and had their last name printed on them. I bit my lip as I decided they were most likely for decoration. I looked around for towels that looked more inviting to dry my hands on. When I didn’t see any I wadded up some toilet paper and patted them dry.

I looked over my appearance and smiled. So far, so good. I departed the small room, entering the large kitchen. To one side was where the food preparation was; wooden cabinets, a stove, an oven, and a refrigerator were seated in a half circle. To my left was a large maple table with sliding glass doors that led to the backyard. Mikey and Mike were setting the table while Susan finished up the last steps in dinner. I looked over her shoulder and saw a tray of fries resting on the stove to cool. I blurted out, “I thought we were having chips?”

As soon as the words left my lips, I was mortified. Amused grins were all on me as I blushed profusely. “She really is American,” Mike laughed. I chuckled nervously and helped Susan place the pans and trays on the table.

“Shall we?” Mike gestured to the table. He held the chair out for Susan as Mikey did the same for me. I smiled to myself. Like father, like son. They soon took their places as well, Mike to my left and Mikey to my right.

“So, Skylar. What is it exactly you do?” Susan asked as we all started piling our plates with the delectable looking food. Mikey shot me a smirk, knowing that my biggest fear was interrogation. I kicked him gently under the table as I cut a piece of fish up with my knife.

“I’m the official photographer for Pierce the Veil.”

“That’s the band you went on tour with in America, right?” Mike asked. Mikey nodded and popped a fry in his mouth.

“What’s it like living with four men all year?” Susan asked politely. Mikey shot her a glare and I forced a smile.

“It’s nice. They’re my best friends, so.”

“It must get lonely…” she trailed off. That got Mike glaring at her as well. I knew her intentions were well; she was just looking after her son. Although, she could be a little more delicate about her words.

I shrugged. “Yeah, it can be. But thanks to technology, all of us keep in contact with our significant others, so it’s bearable.”

“So, you’re all in relationships, then?”

“Susan, why don’t you lay off, huh? Let the bird have a break,” Mike piped up, earning thankful glances from both Mikey and I. Susan shrugged and ate some of her peas. Mike turned to me. “What is America like?”

“Wonderful,” I smiled at the change of subject. “The only problem is it’s entirely too far away from here.” Mikey smiled at me and dug into his fish. I popped some fish into my mouth as well.

“This is really good, Susan.”

“Thank you, dear. How did you become a photographer?” Mikey seemed relieved that she was letting the ‘on tour with four guys that aren’t my son’ thing go.

“I took a class in high school and it just sort of clicked.”

“Did you go to uni for it?”

“No, I never was really interested in going to anymore school than I had to. I was already good enough to sell my prints, so I never really put much thought into it,” I decided I should ask some questions as well. “How did you two meet?”

“Oh, that’s a wonderful story!” she exclaimed and took her husband’s hand. I held back my smile at how much love the seemed to share, even after all these years of being married. “Mike had been my schoolgirl crush when I was a girl, although after we left secondary school we parted ways. My parents arranged for me to marry this awful, awful man. The night before the wedding, Mike showed up and declared his love. Thirty years later and here we are.”

“That’s really sweet,” I smiled.

“What about you and Mikey? He never gave us any specifics,” Mike spoke.

“I’m afraid it’s not as great as yours. We just bumped into each other on the first day of tour.”

“I hope he was and has been treating you like a lady. We raised him to be a gentleman,” Susan responded, eyeing Mikey as if he’d done something wrong.

I grinned at her as I chewed my fries. “He is a perfect gentleman. He holds doors open for me, pulls out chairs…he treats me like a queen.”

“Good, good,” she nodded approvingly. “Where do you see yourself five years from now?”

“Probably still touring and taking pictures. I’m not really sure.”

“Who will take care of your kids?” My eyes widened and I looked up. Mikey looked at her and shook his head.

“We haven’t even gotten married, yet, Mum.” My jaw nearly hit the floor. Marriage? Kids? Was he really thinking about these things already? I quickly fixated my eyes on my plate, my mind going a hundred miles an hour. My heart thudded against my chest heavily. Luckily, the conversation drifted away from me.

Once everyone was finished eating, I helped Susan with the dishes. I ran on autopilot, taking caution to laugh and smile at all the right times while Mikey went with his father to check something out in the garage. Soon, it was time to leave. I said my polite goodbyes to each of them and waited silently by the door while Mikey was surrounded in a giant hug. My phone started buzzing and I thanked the heavens that Tony decided to save me from a tense ride home with Mikey.

“Hey, Tone,” I grinned as I put the phone to my ear.

“Hey, Sky. How are things going?”

“Could be better,” I whispered, making sure that everyone was too preoccupied to hear.

“What do you mean?” his voice flooded with concern.

“We just had dinner with his parents. Apparently, it’s normal here to throw around marriage and kids when you’ve only been dating like four months!”

“Ah, shit. He’s got you freaked out now, huh?”

“Only a ton!” I whispered as Mikey came closer. I waved to his parents and exited the house with him, silently panicking.

“Did you talk to him about it?”

“I will,” I said. Mikey started the car and pulled away, driving back to his apartment. “What about you and Erin?” I asked, trying to discreetly ask the question I was curious about.

“You mean have Erin and I talked about our future?”

“Yeah.”

“Yeah, we have. Nearly a year after we started dating.”

I sighed. “If only. How are the shows going?”

“Really good. The crowds have been amazing. You’d enjoy them.” I could hear the smile in his voice and my own smile forced itself onto my face. It made me happy to know that touring made him this joyful.

“Is Adam getting some good shots?”

“Not as good as you would, of course.”

“Well, of course!” I chuckled, noticing we were turning onto Mikey’s street.

“Nah, he’s gotten some good ones. Hey, the show is about to start, so I need to get going. Good luck with Mikey, let me know if you need anything.”

I smiled as Mikey held the door open for me and I followed him towards the door. “Alright, thanks. Good luck on stage, though you don’t need it. Say hi to the guys for me!”

“I will. Bye, Sky.”

“Bye,” I hung up and felt the dread in my stomach at the inevitable conversation coming with Mikey.

“Was that Tony?” he questioned, going into the kitchen to get a soda. I nodded and sat down on the couch, plugging in my phone.

“Hey, are you okay? You’ve been kind of quiet all night. Did I do something?” I stared at him in shock, anger suddenly flowing through my veins.

“Gee, Mikey, I don’t know. Did you?” His eyes widened and he took a step back.

“What? Is this about the marriage thing?”

“What else would it be about?” I sighed exasperatedly.

“Why are you so angry?” he frowned at me.

I scoffed and stood up to face him. “Oh, just the fact that you’ve planned out my entire fucking life without giving me a say!”

“What? You’re mad because I’m thinking about a future with you?!” his voice rose in aggravation.

“I’m mad because you assume I want all this too! We’ve been dating for four months. How the hell are you thinking about this?”

He glared at me. “Well, when people are in love, they tend to think about a future together! You’re honestly saying it hasn’t crossed your mind?”

“No! It is way too soon!”

He scoffed. “When is it ever too soon to plan for the future?”

“When you and your partner have spent less than half of your relationship in the same place!”

“You’re saying if we were in the same place, you’d be thinking about it?”

“No, because it’s still too soon.”

“Not if we love each other!”

“Yes, it is!” I ran a frustrated hand through my hair. “You don’t understand.”

“Because you won’t fucking let me!” He screamed.

“The fuck I won’t! I told you, but you can’t get it through your head because you’re too busy thinking about marriage and kids without consulting me!”

“Why is that such a bad thing? That I love you, that I want to marry you and have kids with you? Why the hell is that so bad? Why does that make me the bad guy?”

“Because you’re forcing this on me! We’ve never discussed any of this, you just assumed! What if I don’t want to get married, what if I don’t want kids? What then?! Did you ever think about what I wanted or was it all about you?” I yelled, my heart pounding as the fury flooded through me.

He glared at me. When he spoke, his voice was menacing and low. “Are you fucking kidding me? All I ever think about is you! I put what you want first! Sorry I thought that someone who is supposed to love me wouldn’t mind having a future with me!”

“I do love you! But right now you’re being fucking infuriating.”

“Well, the feeling is mutual! All I want is to have a calm discussion with you about this but you’re making it pretty damn difficult.”

“Maybe you should try having a calm discussion with me before you try shoving it down my throat!”

“I’m not shoving anything down your throat! God damn it, why do you have to blow everything out of proportion?” He screamed at me as he threw his hands around in the air wildly.

“I don’t blow anything out of proportion!”

“The hell you don’t! A few weeks ago, when you saw that picture of me with that girl! What the hell was that?”

“That was me being concerned that my boyfriend would be interested in any of the thousands of beautiful girls that want to fuck him!”

“You should fucking trust me! I haven’t given you a reason not to! I’m the one who should be worried about you!”

“Why? Because I had sex with Tony ten years ago?!” My chest felt heavy and hot, the anger destroying my insides.

“Because you didn’t tell me about it and I had to be humiliated in front of everyone! Everyone knew besides me!” His face was red with rage.

“I was going to!”

“When? Three years down the road?! The point is you didn’t tell me and you waited too long before it came out!”

“You don’t trust me because of something that happened a decade ago?!”

“No. I don’t trust you because you didn’t tell me about it! It should have come from you. It wouldn’t be such a big deal if you had been honest with me from the start!”

“It’s not even that important!”

“Yes, it is! Don’t you get it? It doesn’t matter if nothing is going on between you now! If you’ve screwed a guy you spend the majority of your time with, I should know about it!”

“I was going to tell you!” I screamed again.

“It doesn’t matter! You still waited too long!” He glared at me and then shook his head. “You know what? I’m not dealing with this shit.” He turned and stomped up the stairs and slammed his bedroom door. My chest rose and fell with each haggard breath I took. I swallowed the lump in my throat, already feeling guilty. Angry tears stung my cheeks and I forcefully wiped them away as I picked up my phone and dialed.

After the third ring, his voice filled my ears. “Hello?”

“Sam?” I held back a cry.

“Sky? What’s wrong?” his voice was laced with worry.

“Mikey and I got in a fight. Can you come get me, please? I can’t stay here, not tonight.”

“Yeah, yeah, sure. I’ll be there in five minutes. It’ll be okay. I’ll be there soon.” We hung up and I squeezed my phone to my chest, tears streaming down my cheeks.

Notes