❛ every heart wants to feel real love.❜
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THEY SAT ON the couch closely coddled against each other—his long arm extended behind her, securing her in place while she cradled her body comfortably against his chest. They've been sitting in the same position for the past half hour, gazing at the warm fire that cackled in the fireplace and exchanging a few languid kisses.

"So, you've liked me for a pretty long time, huh?"

River nods, glancing down at his nimble fingers which he intertwined within hers. He proffered them with a gentle squeeze before answering. "Yep. Since the day that I first met you. I just remember opening my eyes and looking at the most beautiful girl in the world." His words caused her to blush, she smiles shyly before playfully rolling her eyes.

"Ok, then what took you so long to tell me?" Ronnie accosted playfully, though genuinely wanting to know the answer.

River hesitates on revealing the real reason for him not telling her his feelings but they'd just got back on good terms and he didn't want to start off being dishonest with her. "Insecurities and fear mostly. I guess it was hard to believe that there was a possibility that you could actually like me back and I didn't want to deal with the humility if you didn't reciprocate those feelings, so I just kept everything a secret."

Ronnie looks at him, quite astonished by his answer. She was unaware about his insecurities and about the fact that they contributed towards him not telling her how he felt. She began to feel terrible because she hated that River doubted himself so much especially when it came to her.

"River, I've told you before how much of an amazing guy you are. Any girl would be lucky to have someone like you in their lives, me included. I like you for you, okay? That's all that matters." She says, declaring each of her words and looking deep into his eyes hoping that he would see that she meant every word she spoke.

He gives her a watery smile, feeling grateful for her words. She leans forward and pampers him with a soft kiss.

The heated kisses were leaving him breathless and dizzy. The more they deepened the more River felt himself growing weak under her control. "We can stop—if you want." She suggests after noticing how windless he appeared. River quickly shakes his head, denying the offer.

"No, I'm okay." He mutters lowly.

He rests his hand on her upper thigh, giving it a gentle squeeze before moving it upwards until it landed on her waist. He hooks his arm around her and gently placed her on top of him. She gasps softly, surprised by his eagerness. "Is this okay?"

She nods hurriedly, anxiously wanting to feel her lips against his again. "Yeah." Ronnie's dark hair curtains over his face as she leans forward. He treads his fingers through them, tucking a hand behind her neck and caressing his thumb against her cheek.

"You're so beautiful." He whispers lowly into her mouth.

She chuckles and retorts back with a quirky answer. "Mm. So are you." Ronnie swivels her tongue around his wet mouth, whimpering softly as they wrestled for dominance. River swallows the staggered moan that she breaths into his mouth.

This is what happiness feels like, River thinks to himself, getting lost in the feel of Ronnie's hungry kisses. He's only felt like this one other time in his life but even before then he's never felt this happy—genuinely happy. And in this moment sitting here with the woman of his dreams, he hoped that it would never end.

The loud sound of the house phone ringing startled both of them. Ronnie jumped, prying her wet lips away from River's. She places her hand over her rapidly beating heart and breathes slowly, trying to bring the thudding of her heartbeat back to normal. "Let me go see who that is." She climbs off of his lap and walks into the kitchen, grabbing the house phone off of the hook and pressing it to her ear.

When she returns from the kitchen he notices the shift in her demeanor—her face is twisted into an upset frown and her eyebrows are furrowed together almost as if she's thinking intently of something.

"Is everything okay?" He inquires worriedly.

Ronnie blinks rapidly before pulling her lips into a forced smile. "Yeah, it's just that—um do you want to watch a movie? I went to Blockbuster and picked up a few of them last week."

"Yeah. Okay." He answers briefly, watching as she enters into the living room again and waltzed over to gather the selection of movies. He wondered what happened that made her suddenly change the topic of discussion. He wanted to ask what was wrong but he didn't want to pry, knowing that she would tell him if something was bothering her.

They pick a movie—horror of course, and lay down cuddled on the couch together. Ronnie smiles softly at him before leaning her head against his broadened shoulder.

♡

She could hear the sounds of low murmuring. With her eyes still closed, Ronnie stirs and groans lowly as she shifts her body and pulls the warm blanket over her. "River, I thought you turned the tv off last night?" She ponders, gently nudging him in the shoulder in attempt to wake him from his deepened slumber.

The sound of a person clearing their throat made her eyes instantly snap open. Glancing up, she sees both of her parents standing in front of her with their arms folded across their chest and looking unamused. Her father's eyes are narrowed down at River who's hand was gently wrapped around her waist.

"Mom! Dad!" She chortles nervously, removing River's hands from around her and immediately standing on her feet. "When did you guys get here?"

"A few hours ago. We checked in our hotel and decided to make a house call to visit our daughter. We didn't expect to see you laying on the couch with a visitor." Her father, Victor chastises frowning as he looked at his daughters apparel.

"Right. Um, let me just—" She turns around and leans down, shaking River's body trying to wake him up. His eyes flutter open and a smile cracks in his face once he wakes and sees Ronnie staring down at him. It quickly falters however when he looks behind her and sees two figures standing there looking at him with intense glares.

"River these are my parents; Victor and Valentina. Mom and Dad, this is River." The young man quickly tosses the blanket aside and jumps to his feet, straightening out his tousled clothes and disheveled hair before extending a hand out.

"Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Drew it's good to meet you." They each give his hand a quick shake before drawing their hands back. He clears his throat and sheepishly rubs at the back of his neck before glaring over at Ronnie who looked just as uncomfortable as he did.

"How long are you guys gonna be in town?" Ronnie asks, finally speaking up and drawing away the awkward tension that filled the room.

"Just a few days for your father's convention." Valentina courts matter of factly, then adding. "Your brother is back at the hotel. He wants to see you, we're bringing him by for dinner later on tonight."

"Will you be joining us?" Ronnie averts her eyes to see that her father is looking at River, who glanced back with widened eyes. He opens his mouth to answer but Ronnie quickly interjects.

"River's busy today; he has to work and I think he'll be too tired to want to drive back here and have dinner with us." It wasn't that she didn't want him to come, it was the simple fact that she knew her father and the antics he played whenever a guy was involved in her life. Things with River were new and exciting, they were going great and the last thing she needed was her father interfering again.

"He'll be too tired to eat a nice home cooked meal?" Her father scoffs, walking up to River and clasping a hand on his shoulder. "What time do you get off?"

"Eight, sir." River gulped.

"Good, dinner's at 8:45. Don't be late!"

"Dad—" Ronnie opened her mouth to protest but her parents scurried off into another room, leaving her and River standing there alone. "You don't have to come, honestly." She whispers fearing that if she talked too loudly her parents would overhear.

Though he knew that her father only offered so that he could intimidate him, River didn't think that the idea of having dinner with her parents was all that bad. They were dating and he wanted to make a good impression to makeup for the compromising position they found him and Ronnie in earlier today.

"I mean, it can't be that bad. Can it?" He shrugged, sitting down on the couch so that he's able to slip his shoes back into his feet.

"Yes, it can and it will be that bad. I can't force you to decline, so if you want to come then come but you have been forewarned."

River smiles and stands on his feet again to give her a quick hug and a peck on the cheek. "I'll see you at 8:45." He said before disappearing out the front door.