Chapter 23

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A/N: Dedicated to SunnysFeather XOXOX

Crissy's cell phone was riddled with missed calls and text messages from her mother for three days straight. And Crissy deleted every single one without reading or listening to any of them. Every time she hit the delete button, a mixture of relief and dread tightened in her stomach. This wasn't going to end well. She had the distinct, nasty feeling that it was only going to get worse before it got any better, too, which was not a comforting thought in the least.

After the third day of her phone ringing endlessly, it went silent. Terribly, terribly silent. She groaned and threw herself into making tiramisu, letting the scents of espresso, cinnamon, vanilla, and sugar ease her mind.

By the end of the week, with Quinn's family dinner taking up more and more of her thoughts, Crissy hardly worried anymore about what her mother had in store for her. It would come eventually, like a hurricane, shredding everything in her path. But Crissy had been through similar storms for as long as she could remember and they didn't really scare her all that much anymore. They passed eventually and her mother would move onto a new complaint to rage about.

At the end of the day on Friday, Crissy closed the shop early and slid a plate of fresh raspberry macaroons over to Amy. Her eyes lit up.

"I smell bribery," she said.

"That's exactly what it is," Crissy replied. "Will you do my hair? Quinn will be here in an hour."

Amy picked up the plate and headed for Crissy room. "Like you even have to ask, sugar. Get your cute butt upstairs."

Crissy settled on her bed, tucking her legs up underneath her. Amy sat behind her, carefully smoothing out Crissy's curls and pinning them into place.

"Nervous?" Amy asked. "I seem to recall the last time I did your hair for a certain special outing, you were a bundle of jitters."

Crissy paused, searching. "That feels like a lifetime ago."

"Hard to believe it's only been a few months."

"I'm a little nervous, I guess. Just because I'll be meeting the rest of his family and I want to make a good impression but I'm not jittery like I was before."

Amy hummed. "That's what happens when you've got those big hearts in your eyes all the time around Quinn. You seem much more...comfortable now."

Crissy laughed a little at that thought. "Considering our bumpy beginning. Sometimes I wonder how we even made it this far."

"Is that doubt I hear?"

"No," Crissy hurried to reply.

"I hope not. Because if it is, better smack that ugly bastard down. Don't start second guessing now. You've got a good thing going."

"I'm not second guessing. It just feels...like a dream. Like I'll wake up at any moment and it'll be over. You know?"

Amy blew out a breath and nodded. "Yes."

Crissy raised her eyebrows and turned to look at her. "You do?"

Amy widened her eyes. "You're not the only one who wonders if their relationship will make it through or not. Manny and I are human after all."

Crissy hesitated then asked, very quietly, "Is there something going on that I don't know about?"

"Nope."

"Amy..."

"I swear, there isn't, sugar. All I'm saying is that I know what it's like to wonder if the happy dream bubble will burst. That's perfectly normal for everyone."

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