fake [s.m] (REWRITE)

chapter fourteen

[third person]
-

anya drummed her fingertips against the armrest of the car shawn had rented to get themselves around los angeles, instead of relying on the teams' driver, as they were going around to meet anya's family too. shawn drove across one of the very busy highways, the music that was playing over the aux blaring out of the car.

"you have to be warned though," anya says to him gently. "my dad is a massive hockey fan. and when he finds out you're canadian, he's gonna talk to you about hockey for the rest of our time there, so please try to not say you're canadian."

"why? so you can talk to me?" shawn teases, making anya roll her eyes and groan. "i'm kidding, i'll try not to," he chuckles. "alright, wanna get some food before we're stuck in traffic for two hours?" he offers, making anya's eyes light up.

"um, yes!" she grins. "can we go to taco bell?"

"sure thing," he chuckles, changing lanes, and exiting the highway, driving around; looking for a taco bell. "anything else i need to worry about?"

"maybe some of my cousins, but i don't know if they're coming round. in my house, there's only my parents, my brother, and his wife, and my niece, but they might not be there. i don't know what's going on with their house, they're getting work done but i don't know if it's done or if there's a problem or whatever, so if they're there, then you can meet them," anya explains. "they'll like you, don't worry."

"do we have to act in front of them?" this statement slightly stings to anya, but she ignores it. "and what about names?"

"yeah we do, even though my family are pretty westernised. well, my mom tries to be slightly traditional, but it doesn't work. my dad, since he's second generation, and his mom was caucasian, is pretty westernised. my brother is pretty western too, but his wife is completely caucasian," she says to him, making shawn nod. "my dads name is adam, my moms is maya, my brothers name is dylan, and his wife's name is sierra, and then my niece is rose."

"your middle name?"

"yeah," she grins. "my brother wanted to name his first child after me. it was either a boys version of my name, or rose."

"what's the boys version?"

"honestly, i don't even know," anya chuckles. "they were gonna decide it if they had a boy."

"oh," shawn laughs, driving into a taco bell, pulling up to the drive through line. "so, i should call your parents mr and mrs steinburg, right?"

"i mean yeah, but they'll probably ask you to call them by their names," anya says to him. "also, can you order some nacho fries?"
-
"god damn, why does la have so much god damn traffic?" anya groans, slamming the door shut of the rental, shawn chuckling and following the girl. a range rover is parked next to them, and anya immediately smiles to herself. "my brother is here, by the way."

"oh nice," shawn says, nervousness filling his composure. "is it just your immediate family there?"

"yes, calm down," she grins, reaching for shawns hand, and squeezing it gently. "they're gonna love you."

"if you say so," he responds, an anxious smile spreading across his face, as he follows anya up to her front door. she takes out her keys, unlocking the white door, revealing a homely welcome area, that shawns heart swelled at.

"mom? dad?" she yells. "i'm home!"

"anya, beta," a woman no older that around 50 coos, running up to the brunette, cupping her cheeks, pressing a kiss against anya's forehead. "how was europe, anya rose?"

"it was really good, mom, i missed you," her mom grins, taking her hair out of the scrunchie, letting her dark brown curls fall down her back, before moving from anya, facing shawn. she smiles wider, her eyes opening brightly. "mom, this is shawn."

"hi mrs steinburg, it's a pleasure to meet you," shawn greets warmly, holding out the bouquet of flowers he had. "i know it isn't much, but i got you some flowers."

"oh shawn, thank you," her mom says warmly. "come into the kitchen, you have to try some burfi i just made," shawns eyes light up, and he looks at anya to explain what it is.

"it's like a sweet cake type thing, but it's not a cake. it's kind of like a solid dough, i don't know," anya explains. "it's good, mama, is it chocolate burfi?"

"kesar, anya," her mom says to her. "also, shawn, it's maya to you," she says, shaking shawns hand, who grins in response. "now, your father is still at work, but he'll be home in a couple hours," her mom says to anya, as both anya and shawn follow her mom into the large kitchen that has the fresh scent of aromatic spices wafting through the air.

"oh wow, maya, it smells amazing in here," shawn says, complimenting the culinary scents. "have you been cooking all day?"

"mostly, we have to make sure dinner is great for my daughter and her boyfriend," anya's mom grins, smiling at shawn. "now sit down, shawn, anya make some chai, and i'll finish preparing the burfi."

"yes mom," anya says, tying her hair up into a messy bun, before joining her mother at the kitchen worktop.

"chai? is that like spiced tea?" shawn asks, slightly confused, as he sees anya pulling out various different, large spice jars.

"exactly that, there's cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, and ginger," her mom explains, tying her hair back up. "dylan! come here!"

"what, mom?" a man slightly older than shawn comes into the kitchen, holding a baby monitor. "sierra just put down rose- who are you?" he asks, pointing at shawn.

"dylan!" maya screeches, slapping him with a tea towel. shawn chuckles, standing up, and going over to introduce himself. anya notices her brother, and puts down what she was doing, before running up to him and embracing him in a large hug.

"hey little a," dylan chuckles, hugging his sister back in shock. "when did you get here?"

"only a couple minutes ago," anya shrugs, grinning wildly.

"and moms already making you cook? wow," dylan laughs, earning another slap from his mom. "mom!"

"i will get the rolling pin," their mom warns. a visible emotion of fear crosses dylan's face, as he gulps softly, shaking his head.

"i'm sorry mom, i'll give you a back rub later," he says, before maya smiles to herself, shaking her head, and going back to what she was doing.

"anyway, dylan, this is shawn, my uh, boyfriend," anya says, introducing the two guys. "shawn, this is dylan, my brother."

"hey man, nice to meet you," dylan says, shaking shawns hand.

"you too, bro," shawn responds. "anya's told me so much about you, it's great to finally meet."

"yeah, i hear she went touring with you, how was that?" the two boys begin to have a small conversation, as anya smiles, and walks back to the counter, continuing to make the tea.

"very impressive, anya," her mother compliments. "he's so polite."

"i know," anya smiles down at the table, stirring the pot of tea that's just beginning to come up to a boil. "you like him?"

"i think he's going to fit in just fine," maya tells her, pinching anya's cheeks softly, before opening another cabinet, and taking out a glass plate to put the sweets on.

anya smiled to herself, and continued to make the tea. she was extremely happy that shawn was getting along with her family.