beetle | unedited ✔️

fifteen

Parker Elise Leon

"Where are we going?" I ask, fidgeting my hands as we drive away from my house. We go in the direction of his house and my heart rate picks up. "I've decided that I want you to have dinner at my place tonight." I widened my eyes at him.

"I thought home was a sore subject?" He shrugged. "It's time I talk about it. Especially since we're so close now. Closer than I imagined we'd be." He winked at me, making me heat up and blush. He laughed at my flushed self as he pulls into his neighborhood. We made it to his house a minute later and parked in his driveway.

"Since my mom is home this afternoon, I thought you could meet her." I smiled and nodded, stepping out of the car when he walked over to open the door for me. We walked up to his front door and he let me in first and then followed.

Their house was small, but the decorating was so homey and cozy. I loved it, more than my own house.

"Mom?" His voice rang out into the house and a tall, skinny woman came padding over to us. Both of them were taller than me, even though I'm five foot nine. "You must be Parker." She smiled at me and pulled me into a hug. It felt foreign but so lovely at the same time. "I've heard so much about you." She pulled away and left her hands on my shoulders. I looked back at Gabe with a smirk as he rolled his eyes, grumbling. His cheeks were red as I laughed.

"All good things, I hope." I softly respond, looking back at his pretty mother. "Your decor is lovely, by the way. I wish my home was this welcoming." I glanced around at the pictures hanging on the wall and the living room that I could see from the foyer. "Thank you, you could come to the living room while I finish preparing dinner." I smiled and nodded.

"I can help, Mrs. Anderson." I say, following her to the kitchen. "I'm almost done. All I have to do is move the pans over to the table." I nod, picking up the oven mitts and bringing one of the smaller pans over to the small wooden table.

"So, I heard that you and my son have gotten fairly acquainted over the last few weeks. He talks about you nonstop when I have the time to listen, it's so cute." I giggle as she spoke freely about Gabe talking about me. I didn't know he liked me that much. "Yeah, we have last hour together. The first day of the semester, we sat next to each other and he took my phone from me because I was laughing too much." Mrs. Anderson widened her eyes as she glanced over at Gabriel.

"That's how you two got to know each other?" She snorted; my kind of woman. "Yeah." I laughed, biting into the rotini pasta on my fork. Gabe looked content but annoyed that we were talking about him mostly. "After that class, I saw him walking so I decided to be nice and drive him home. You know, since he still had my phone." I glared at Gabe. I knew I was lying, but I didn't know if his mom knew we skipped class that day.

"Hey, it's not my fault you were being annoying. I was trying to sleep." He retorted, meeting my eyes. "Anyways, I got him a smoothie and he was silent and grumpy the whole time we were together." I rolled my eyes as I thought back to the day.

"Then, we just went back to my house and watched some TV." She doesn't need to know every single detail. "I think that's when he started to trust me, actually. Like four hours after we starting talking he totally opened up." She nodded with a smile as she listened and ate quietly.

"He does tend to open up very quickly to the people he likes." He groaned, smacking his hand on his forehead. "Mom," he starts to lecture her but I interrupt him.

"Well, who wouldn't like me?" I sarcastically asked, snapping my fingers. Mrs. Anderson laughed and nodded. "Exactly." We laughed together and got back to talking about random things. Overall, his mom is pretty cool. We have a lot in common as well. We both like the color orange and our favorite ice creams are Superman. I already love her more than I do Gabe. Wait what? I really dont even know him.

"Let me help, please it's the least I could do for having me over and feeding me." I pick up the dirty plates and bring them to the sink with her. "Thank you." She smiles, getting quiet as we silently clean up the kitchen and dining room. "I'm gonna go watch the game." We nod at Gabe as he walks to the living room.

"You know," she starts, turning towards me. "You're really good for him. And I love that he's opened up so quickly. He likes you a lot." I grin and nod in appreciation. "Thank you, I hope that's the truth." I giggle, placing the plates into the dish washer. "He does. Whatever time I do have at home with him, he's always going on and on about you." I was heating up, indicating my face was probably as red as a tomato. "I thought it was annoying at first, but when I realized he was talking about a girl I called my afternoon shift off and made him bring you here. Because I knew that if he was talking about a girl it was serious." I nodded, listening wholeheartedly.

"He's had a rough past, especially with his dad and hes not troubled as anyone might think. He is just sometimes incapable of feeling or giving love. When I heard him the first time he brought up your name I thought it was weird for him to be talking to someone." I continue to listen, feeling slightly bad for my silver eyed, blonde boy.

"Now that I've met you, I can already tell you that you'll both be in good hands. Just, don't break him. He doesn't need or deserve anymore of that." I nod, tears brimming my eyes as she sniffled. "Whatever I do that might hurt him will not be intentional." I whisper, hugging her and smiling as she wiped her eyes. "I like Gabe, a lot. If I hurt him, I really don't know what I'd do to myself. You don't have to worry about it." She nodded and hugged back before guiding me over to the living room where Gabe was animatedly cheering on his team.