The Trials of a Misunderstood Teenager | ✅

Chapter 25 - Telling the parents

"I love you."

"I love you, too. Now go get ready. I don't want my parents to fill up on booze before we get to tell them we're back together," he says with a laugh.

We say goodbye, and I hurry to get ready. Within thirty minutes, I am showered, dressed, and ready to go. I go downstairs, where Dad is already waiting for us, and together we take his car. I sit in the back, texting Tobias to tell him we're on our way, and to keep his folks in a good mood. He texts back if he should order anything, and I wonder for a moment if I should ask my parents what they want. But I guess that would be a dumb move, considering they think it will be only the three of us.

When we finally arrive at the restaurant, we are about ten minutes late, but I guess that's not so bad. Dad parks the car and we walk inside. The Maitre D' asks if he can help us, but I quickly tell him we are expected. My mom glances at me suspiciously, but doesn't say anything. I walk ahead, and when I spot Tobias, I smile.

I hurry to where my boyfriend and his parents sit, and greet them excitedly. Marcus and Evelyn look up at us curiously, and then greet my parents and me, while glancing nervously at Tobias, who can't seem to stop grinning.

"Marcus, Evelyn, what a surprise seeing you here," Dad says, as he greets his friends.

"What are you guys doing here?" Mom inquires.

"Tobias invited us for a nice family dinner," Evelyn starts saying, and I see Marcus giving Tobias a suspicious look.

"Oh, that's nice. Tris surprised us with a family outing, too," my mom explains our presence at the same restaurant.

Tobias glances at me, and gives me an adorable grin. I can sense eyes trained on me, and just go to sit down next to my boyfriend. I ask Mom and Dad to sit in the two available chairs, avoiding their questioning stares.

"So, how long have you two been back together?" Marcus asks, surprising me a little. I fake innocence, and he tells me to cut the crap.

"We've been back together since Tris's birthday," Tobias reveals, leaving my parents and Evelyn stunned.

We go to explain how everything happened, leaving out intimate or too personal bits. All of our parents seem eager to find out what determined us to give our relationship another try. Tobias tells them that he realized, he wanted to be with me after the mass shooting at Logan High, and that his feelings for me were still very strong. I jump in, and tell them how we both decided to just try one more time. If we couldn't make it work, we would call it quits. But we both wanted to see if there was more than just infatuation there.

"Why didn't you say something sooner?" Mom asks with a hint of reproach.

"We wanted to explore this new relationship without any interference. We haven't told anyone about us. You are the first to know," I tell them with a smile. "We wanted to see were this was going first before involving other people." They all nod their heads, but I can tell they all have questions for us.

"And you live together?" Dad finally asks.

"Yes. We rented a house and live together. It's close enough to my school and Tris wanted to take some time off from work," Tobias chimes in. I know Dad wants to object to me living with a man, but this isn't his decision nor can he stop me from doing what I want. I am an adult now and I have my own fortune to afford all this. Besides, this is about my life, mine and Tobias's. I won't let anyone ever interfere ever again. They might have their opinions or objections or even advice, but I won't let them dictate my life.

Thankfully, they all seem supportive, and even ask when we're planning on telling the rest of our friends and families. Tobias tells them that we thought of doing it during the Thanksgiving dinner, since everyone will be there.

"I still can't believe you two are back together," Evelyn comments, and for a moment, I wonder if she won't try to convince Tobias to dump me after I dumped him the first time around. But I know Evelyn. As tough as she is, she would at least hear me out, before passing judgment. To be fair, if she wanted to give me a piece of her mind, she would have done it years ago.

"At times, I don't believe it either," I reply, causing Tobias to stop eating, and glancing at me.

"Are you regretting it?" he asks calmly, but I know him well enough to hear his insecurities.

One of the things I've learnt since Tobias and I resumed our relationship is that I am not the only one with fears and insecurities. We both agreed to always talk about our problems and try to find solutions together, no matter how big or how small a problem might seem.

"No. What I mean is, in California, where it's just us, I don't think much about the past. But right now, here with our parents, all the memories are coming back, and we both know not all of them were nice ones."

"The important thing is that you both try your hardest to make it work," Evelyn chimes in, surprising me a bit. She gives me a warm smile that eases my nerves a little bit.

"We are. We argue sometimes, but never to stay away from each other," Tobias tells her.

"Well, every relationship has its ups and downs. The important thing is to communicate and find solutions together," Mom offers, and we all agree with her.

From then on, the conversation is much lighter and by the end of the night, our mothers plan our wedding and baby showers. Apparently, we're having enough kids to have our own football team. I can't wait to go back to California.