Somewhere in Neverland

05 - Undaunted

"Your eyes, like a shot of whiskey, warms me up like a summer night. Can you tell that I need you with me? Let me drink you down tonight." - Intoxicated by The Cab

~

“Are you really sure about this?” Jason asked me with more reluctance than I ever heard of him, “Are you sure your family won’t kill me or some sort of that thing?”

“Relax, Jason,” I fixed the collar of his semi-fancy powder blue shirt. We were standing at my house’s porch, all the nerve of our bodies tingling with all the anxiety and pressure existing in the world right now. “They’re gonna love you as much as I do. I promise.”

“But your father’s too overprotective. Your mother has these great expectations. You said it yourself, Soph,” he sighed and held the both of my hands in his. “To add up to the equation, your older brother is a bit judgmental and—”

I gave him a light peck on his lips before he can say more. And then I just smiled the warmest beam that I could manage right now. Hey, someone has to be strong in our situation right now. If both of us are acting like chickens, we’re really gonna be doomed.

So on the bright side, I see this nerve-racking-introduction-of-your-boyfriend-to-your-family thing as an acceptance-of-one-important-part-of-your-being. I don’t know if that stuff even makes sense to you, but it does to me.

“Sophie,” Jason sighed, “I’m clearly not ready for this. And I don’t know if I will ever be ready, actually. But I’m just scared, okay. What if they don’t like me? What if they think I’m not good enough for their perfect daughter? What if—”

I placed my index finger on his warm, moist lips and whispered gently, “Who says that I’m ready for this too? I don’t think that we’ll ever be, so we better get this over with now.”

He sighed and held my hand that silenced him, rubbing his thumb at the back of my hand.

“Don’t over-think too much, baby. You’d do fine.” I caressed his cheek and kissed his forehead gingerly.

He took in another huge gulp of air and exhaled restlessly, “You know that I’m only doing this because I love you, right?”

I nodded and held his cheeks with both of my hands, “I know. That’s why I love you.”

He took away my hands from his face but remained holding my right hand with his left before muttering, “Here goes everything.”

~*~

Come to think of it, it wasn’t really that bad like we’d expected.

We’re currently in our second year in high school, and we decided that hiding our relationship from my parents wasn’t really healthy. Apparently, Jason lost both of his parents when he was ten years old from a massive plane crash. He survived because his parents made sure that he will. He’s an only child, so he’s got no one in this world but his Aunt Tamara, who is very fond of me since day one. So the only problem is my family. So we decided to stop hiding under the sheets because two years has been long enough. We can’t really build this strong foundation if we’re hiding this relationship from the most important people in my life.

My dad is overprotective of me. Sometimes it’s too much, but I understand completely. I’m the youngest and I’m a girl, so it’s just dad’s fatherly instincts kicking in. As for my mother, she married at age 27 that’s why she expects me to do the same—studies and books first before boyfriends. I think it’s so unfair for the both of them to feel that way, but Jason and I really loved each other. We can’t hide this thing any longer.