DREW'S POV

My eyes searched through the sea of people for my girl, and once my eyes landed on her, I felt my heart leap out of my chest and a smile found its way onto my lips. I was so excited to see her and be with her again.

I noticed she was still looking around for me and I tried to wave to catch her attention, but that didn't work. I described to her what I was wearing when her plane landed so she would be able to find me, but she still seemed clueless as she looked around the airport. I was wearing a baseball cap, sunglasses, and a black vest and denim jeans so she could recognize me since not many guys would be wearing this outfit with these accessories.

"Mallory!" I called out to my girlfriend and her head turned in my direction, her eyes immediately locking with mine and that smile that I was so in love with spread across her lips.

She began running towards me and I held my arms out for her. As she approached me, she let go of her suitcase that she was wheeling behind her, along with her backpack that was placed on top of it. Mallory jumped up and wrapped her legs around my torso and her arms around my neck as my arms secured themselves around her body. It felt so good to hold her again.

Mal nuzzled her face in my neck, catching her breath from the running that she just did and I lightly rubbed her back. I felt her lips gently kiss my neck and goosebumps didn't hesitate to rise to my skin. I had been craving her touch so badly and now that she was finally here, it didn't take much for my body to react.

After about a minute, Mallory lifted her head up and looked at me. A smile was still placed on her lips and I felt my smile widen.

"Hi," She giggled as she observed my face. "No wonder it took me a minute to find you."

"I told you what I was wearing." I chuckled.

She looked around at the crowds of people passing by before she looked back at me. "Do you see how many guys are wearing a hat and sunglasses in here? Way too many."

"Yeah but they aren't wearing this vest or these jeans, are they?" I raised my eyebrow, questioning her argument.

"Speaking of," She said softly as she bit her lip while she looked down at my lips. Mallory leaned in and softly pressed her lips to mine, both of us melting into each other. If I wasn't still holding her, I probably would've collapsed on the ground right then and there. I missed her lips on mine so much. She pulled away from the kiss that wasn't long enough and she bit her lip again, trying to hide her smile. "Never wear this around me again." 

"What? The hat?" I joked with her.

"This outfit." She elaborated. "You look so good right now."

I smirked at her response, knowing that I was getting to her the same way she was getting to me. Though she just wearing one of my sweatshirts, a pair of leggings, and her hair was tossed into a messy bun, my body was still craving her so badly. She was so effortlessly beautiful.

"C'mon," I told her as I set her back on the ground, our height difference causing me to look down at her. I held onto the handle of her suitcase and hoisted her backpack over my shoulder. "Let's get out of here."

Mallory grinned up at me, her hand locking with mine as we exited the airport together.

**********

"What if your mom doesn't like me?" Mal asked me as I felt her hand hold onto mine a little tighter, letting me know she was nervous. 

I looked over at her for a second before I directed my focus back onto the road in front of me. We were about ten minutes away from my mom's house, and I could tell the closer we were getting, the more nervous Mallory seemed.

"You're kidding, right?" I lightly chuckled. She was out of her mind if she thought my mom wouldn't like her. My mom already loved her from what I told her about my girlfriend, I knew everything would be fine.

"I'm serious, Drew." Mallory said sternly as she looked up at me. "What if she thinks I'm using you? Like Chase did? Or what if she doesn't like our age difference? What if-"

"Mallory," I couldn't help but laugh. "Babe, stop overthinking this. I promise you, she is going to love you. Mack and Brooke are so excited to see you again and it's been making my mom so excited to meet you. We've told her so much about you and she already loves you, okay?" I assured her. 

When my siblings came to Charleston to celebrate my birthday with my friends and I, they got to meet Mallory for the first time and I was amazed at how well my girlfriend clicked with my siblings, especially my sisters. Brooke and Mallory were the same age, so they had more in common and they got along so well. We were all excited that Mallory would be spending the week with our family.

Mal accepted my response and I tried my best to assure her that everything was going to be fine, because it was.

The rest of our car ride consisted of small talk about my hometown that I was driving her through in order to get to my mom's house. I showed her places I used to hang out as a kid, landmarks where I got into some trouble. She would ask questions about my childhood and what it was like growing up here. 

Though our ride was short, spending time like this with Mallory was something I had always dreamed of. I couldn't wait to bring home a girl to meet my parents. I couldn't wait to show her around where I grew up. I was so excited that Mallory was the girl I got to do these things with. I still had so much to show her and do with her, but that was why she was going to be visiting for the week.

I was going to be visiting Mallory in Philadelphia right after Christmas, before we went to NYC for New Year's, so I was looking forward to meeting her parents and seeing her hometown. I loved learning new things about her.

"We're here." I told her as I pulled into the driveway of my mom's fairly large single-family home. I noticed Mallory look up at the house, biting her lip and I could tell she was still nervous. There was nothing to be nervous about and I wished she would understand that. "Mal," I said softly as I gently rubbed her thigh. She looked down at my hand on her leg before she looked up at me. "There is nothing to be nervous about." I reassured her.

She nodded at what I told her and I smiled before I leaned over and kissed her forehead. We exited my car and as we did, I noticed Brooke running out of the house and over to my girlfriend, both of them engulfing each other in a huge hug.

I couldn't help but laugh as I watched them together. They were so excited to see each other and it warmed my heart how much my youngest sister loved my girlfriend. Another thing I always dreamed of was having a girlfriend that my family loved, and I was so glad that girl was Mallory.

I took her suitcase and backpack out of the back of the car and Brooke, Mal and I headed inside the house.

"Oh my gosh!" My mom gushed once she saw us enter through the front door. "Mallory, it is so nice to finally meet you!" My mom exclaimed as she ran over to us and enveloped my girlfriend into another hug.

"It's so nice to meet you too, Mrs. Hutto." Mallory smiled. "You have such a beautiful home. Thank you so much for letting me stay here."

"Oh, of course, sweetie. I'm so excited to have you! Drew, honey, why don't you take Mallory's bags upstairs to the guest room and show her where she'll be staying?" My mom said to me and I nodded, telling Mal to follow me.

Mallory followed me up the stairs and we walked down the hallway to the guest room. I set her suitcase and backpack down before I turned to look at her.

"See, it wasn't that bad, was it?" I asked her as I stepped closer to her. She shook her head as she looked up at me and I tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. I leaned down and kissed her lips for a few seconds before pulling away and looking around the guest room. "You know you're not gonna be staying in here, right?"

"Where else would I be staying?" Mal asked me, a confused look on her face.

"I was hoping you'd wanna stay in the bedroom that's about 2 doors down on the other side of the hallway." I hinted my bedroom at her, so she would know which room was mine.

"Oh," She nodded once she understood what I was getting at. "Just a forewarning, I sleep walk sometimes. So, if I end up in the bedroom that's two doors down on the other side of the hall," She paused as she wrapped her arms around me.

"You want me to just go with it?" I finished her sentence and she smiled as she nodded. "You got it." I smiled as I leaned down and kissed her lips once more. Though it had only been about a week since the last time we saw each other, it was crazy how much I missed her. I was so happy she was here. We pulled away from the kiss and Mallory bit her lip, trying to hide her smile. She knew how much her lip biting drove me wild. "C'mon, let's go back downstairs. My mom bought your favorite wine that she's been waiting for you to open."

"Oh, shit," Her eyes widened once I mentioned that. She removed her arms from me before she opened her suitcase and dug through it for a second. I saw her pull out a tall brown bag and Mal looked up at me as she removed what just so happened to be her favorite wine from the bag. "I completely forgot I got your mom this as like a housewarming gift." Mallory lightly laughed.

I couldn't help but laugh as I shook my head. "Well, with how fast you go through wine, it's not gonna hurt to have two bottles of it."

"That is true." Mallory smiled.

She held onto the bottle of wine and we exited the guest room, making our way downstairs and spending time with my mom and Brooke. Mackayla, her fiance, and Logan were coming for dinner which was in about two hours.

I was looking so forward to spending time with not only my family, but my girlfriend as well. I missed her so much and I was so happy she was able to visit us for the week.

*****

a/n:

ahhh only a few chapters left👀 who's gonna read the sequel when i publish it??

pls pls pls comment and vote!! i wanna see how badly y'all want the rest of this story🤔

can we get 20+ votes for the next chapter?? lmk ur thoughts!

<3