School Bus [m. clifford]

45

Laura was looking at herself in the mirror, trying to be sure she looked perfect. She needed to make a good impression. She was meeting most of Michael's family tonight. It's terrifying, yet so exciting. All she wanted was for all of them to like her. 

Her mother walks into the room, "Laura, you look great. Stop stressing, it'll be okay."

"Thanks. I- I'm still nervous." She weakly smiles, trying to stay calm.

"I'm glad you get to do something for the holidays this year." She says, a sad smile on her lips. 

"Yeah, me too. Can I ask you something?" Laura asks.

Her mom nods, "Of course."

Laura looks out the window and sees Michael pull up to the house.

"Uh, well he's here so I have to go. I'll see you later okay? Love you." She quickly says, heading out the door.

She gets in the car with Michael, leaning over and quickly pecking his lips.

"Hey." He chuckles, as she smiles while buckling herself in.

"Hey." She giggles.

"You ready for this? They can be a little overbearing." Michael says, glancing over at Laura.

"Oh, I'm totally ready." She laughs.

"Good. I'm glad." He says, reaching out and grabbing her hand, his other hand on the wheel.

She intertwines their fingers, a smile stretching across her lips.

"To prep you, they don't know much about you so you're probably going to ask a lot of questions. A lot about to future too. Don't feel pressured to answer, but they will ask." Michael says, glancing over at her.

"It'll be fine, right? They'll like me?" She asks.

"Laur, they're gonna love you, I promise." Michael replies lifting their intertwined hands to press a kiss to hers.

When they pull up to the house, that's when Laura's nerves settle in. She just wanted to get all the introductions over with.

"Come on, it'll be fine." He smiles before the two head in.

"Wait, Michael. I'm nervous. I don't know if I can do this." She whispers as the two stand on the front step.

"If you don't want to, you don't have to." He replies.

"I want to. Just scared, that's all. It has to happen eventually." Laura tells him, looking up at him.

"It'll be okay. I'll be right beside you the whole time. I'm here." Michael replies.

Laura smiles, pulling Michael into a hug.

He smiles, looking down at her, "Come on, lets go in."

//

Laura was sitting at the table with Michael and all of his family.

Every time she was introduced to somebody new, Michael would introduce her as his girlfriend and she'd get butterflies every time.

Everybody seemed to like her, and she was glad.

"How are you feeling?" Michael whispers, leaning closer to her.

"I'm great. Your aunt over there is wild. Love her."

"Everybody has that crazy aunt." Michael chuckles.

"So, Michael, Laura. When did you two meet?" One of Michael's cousins asks.

"Oh, we met a couple weeks into school, on the school bus." Michael replies.

Laura couldn't stop smiling. She reaches out and grabs Michael's hand under the table.

"I hope you're nice to her." She tells Michael.

"He is, don't worry." Laura chuckles, smiling as she looks at Michael.

"Laura, what are your plans after graduation?" One of his aunt's asks.

Michael sighs, rolling his eyes, "Come on, a-"

"No, it's okay." Laura interrupts. "I plan on going to university, not sure exactly what I want to do. But I'm excited for it."

After talking for what felt like forever to Michael, he pulls Laura aside when everybody starts cleaning up.

"I'm so sorry." Michael quickly says, a shy smile across his lips.

Laura laughs, "Michael, it's totally fine. I loved it. They're great. Thank you for bringing me."

"As long as you're sure... I'm glad you came." Michael smiles.

"So am I, I'm really happy."

//

Michael and Laura ended up slowly straying away from the family as the night went on.

The two were cuddled on the couch in the living room off to the side of the house with the rest of his younger cousins.

"They're super cute." Laura replies, looking down at the two youngest playing on the floor.

"I know. I used to babysit them all the time. It's been a while." Michael replies.

Laura smiles, she didn't think Michael was somebody to hang around little kids. She thought it was adorable.

"I have a present for you, by the way. When you drop me off." Laura mumbles, holding him tightly.

"I have something in the car for you too, I wanted to give it to you later." He smiles.

Laura leans over pressing a kiss to his cheek, smiling up at him.

"I'm really happy you invited me, thank you. It means a lot."

_________

it's almost 1AM and I have an exam at noon send help (it's my last one tho!!! I'm almost done first year!!) I'm also super busy seeing musicals and getting drunk this weekend so I decided to give this to you now