"Well, that wasn't at all what I had in mind for tonight." Noah says shutting the door to his bedroom.

"I'm sorry," I say, rubbing his shoulders as he sits down on the edge of his bed.

"You're sorry? I'm the one who should be," he sighs, running his long fingers through his hair. "I shouldn't have made you stay." he apologises with his head buried in his hands.

"Hey, look at me," I say, standing in front of him "I'm glad you did. I loved meeting your grandma, she's super sweet and made me feel like part of your family. You should be really thankful you have her, she loves you a lot. And don't tell your siblings, but if you ask me I'd say you're her favourite." I whisper in his ear, getting him to laugh.

He grabs the back of my thighs, playfully pulling me closer and I sit on top of him, straddling his lap. "Seriously, don't worry about it," I say pushing his hair back as he looks up at me, "This stuff happens, families fight, it's normal. It's going to take a lot more than that to scare me away from you." he smiles and gives me a little kiss before resting his forehead against my chest and letting out a breath.

"It's just, this is what it's like most of the time. The snarky comments, the digs, the insults. They never stop." he looks back up and puts a hand to my cheek. "I come with a lot of baggage Mads, and I fear that if you get involved with my family you'll see everything I'm trying to keep you away from. I'll always carry the weight of my past on my back, and I'm okay with that. But what I'm not okay with is making you feel like you have to carry it with me."

"Hey, have you seen these guns?" I say flexing my biceps, "I can lift that weight no problem" I attempt to make him laugh.

"I'm serious," he says with the softest voice and I cup his face.

"Me too," I assure him. "You don't have to 'protect' me from anything. Whatever it is you're keeping from me, I can handle it. You said you wanted me to let you in, and I did, but this is a two way street, and if this is going to work, you're going to have to do the same thing for me." I say, stroking his cheek with my thumb.

"I know, you're right. And I will, I'm working on it," he says, "But for tonight, I think that the show my mom and my sister gave you was enough of a look into my world. I'm sorry you had to see that." He looks down at his feet, seemingly embarrassed. My hands travel up his shoulders and to the back of his neck, as my fingers get tangled in his soft curls and I bring him in for a soft kiss.

"You need to stop apologizing," I pull away with a smile on my face, which he returns.

"Can I ask you a question?" I ask, changing the subject and trying to direct our conversation to the topic that's been swimming in my mind for the last few days. I'm anxious to talk about this with him, but I can't keep postponing it anymore.

"Anything," he replies as he pushes my hair behind my shoulder, his fingers wrapping lightly around my neck and his thumb brushing the outline of my jaw.

"What are we going to do about the senior trip?" I ask.

"What about it?"

"Well, we both know there's all this hype around it, and that people want to let loose and be free during the trip, so I just wanted to know your thoughts on it. I don't want to tie you down, I feel like you might regret it later."

"I think it's a little bit late for that, don't you?" he asks.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, what's there for me to think about? Aren't we dating?" he asks casually.

I stiffen and for a second and I turn to him with eyes wide open. "What?" is all I manage to say as I stare at him.

He laughs at my concerned expression, "I didn't think it would come as such a shock to you. I just introduced you to my family, I don't just do that with every random girl I meet."

I open my mouth to reply, but immediately close it taking in his words. I blink a few times, gathering my thoughts for a minute before my brain and my mouth connect again and I finally speak. "I mean...I suppose we are. I don't know, I just didn't want to assume without talking to you about it first."

"What's there to talk about?" he says bringing his lips closer to my exposed clavicle, and I instinctively throw my head back to give him access, "I'm crazy about you," he places an open mouthed kiss on my neck, "You're crazy about me," he trails up my jaw, "What more is there to it?"

I know I had an argument prepared, but having his breath tickling the crook of my neck, and his fingers tangled in my hair, that argument seems to be escaping me right now.

"I mean, if it feels right, it feels right. Don't you agree?" he elaborates, his voice deep and low as he places his hand on my throat tipping my chin up as he whispers with his lips brushing against my ear, "Does this feel right to you, Maddison?"

With my eyes closed and my head thrown back I try to reply, but his touch and his words are melting away my thoughts, and all that manages to come out of my mouth is a soft moan. I decide I've had enough of his teasing, so firmly grabbing on to the curls at the back of his head I crash my mouth against his.

I kiss him hungrily, and he returns my energy, biting roughly at my bottom lip before letting it go and sliding his tongue into my mouth. His eager hands travel up my back, under my shirt and his fingers dig into my skin as they make their way back down.

He leans back and I lay on top of him, grinding my hips against his as I roughly kiss along his neck. His hands grip my waist tightly as a breath escapes through his parted lips. I'm nervous to let this escalate because I have virtually no idea what I'm doing, but the need I feel for him is stronger than my worries, so I decide to go for it.

"Did you lock the door?" I ask, pulling away from him momentarily.

He digs into the right pocket of his pants and pulls out a little golden key, "I never make the same mistake twice," he says with a mischievous smirk.

"Good," I say, lifting up his shirt and pulling it off over his head. I leave a trail of kisses down his bare chest and I feel his muscles tense as I move down to his abdomen, reaching the limit between his skin and the waistband of his pants. I reach up to unbuckle his belt, but he stops me with a hand on top of mine. I look up at him, noticing the way his chest rises and falls dramatically, in sync with his heavy breathing.

"Are you sure?" he asks, his free hand running his fingers through my hair.

"Absolutely," I reply with complete certainty and he relaxes back, letting me undo his pants and pull them down his legs.

He uses his hands to gather up my hair and I quickly tie it up into a ponytail to keep it away from my face. I close my eyes for just a second and I take a deep breath, bracing myself before I hook my fingers on the waistband of his boxers and pull them down.

***

"Hey honey," my dad greets me as I plop down on the passenger seat of his car. "How was your night?" he asks

"It was...interesting to say the least." I say, struggling to find the right words and trying to hide my flushed face as I put my seatbelt on.

"What happened?" he inquiries, glancing at the left side-view mirror as he pulls out of Noah's street.

"I had the pleasure of meeting his mom, for one. We had a lovely family dinner together." I reply sarcastically.

"I take it by your tone, it didn't go too well."

"Nope, not at all."

"I'm sorry to hear that hun. Maybe you could have him over for dinner with us and give it another try, I'd love to meet him." he says and I look at him with wide eyes. I've never dated anyone before, therefore I've never gone through the whole process of introducing a boy to my parents. Given how tonight went, I'm not sure I want to test my luck on that right now.

"Come on, I promise I'll play nice." he insists after I don't respond "I just want to have a nice little conversation with the boy, in which I'll warn him about the consequences of hurting my daughter, and then I'll just casually show him my shotgun, and that will be it."

"Dad!" I protest.

"Relax, I'm kidding." he laughs "About the last part. But I'm serious about having him join us for dinner. How does next Friday sound?" he suggests a date, and I know no matter what I say, it's now set in stone. Noah is meeting my parents.

Sighing deeply, I take my phone out of my pocket and type out a purposely vague message for Noah.

Maddison:

How do you feel about going for round two?