Tear Gas (Spec ops guy)

Target.

"Hey mom! Dad!" I welcomed my family through the front door.

Tiffany was setting the table and Audrey was getting the food ready.

Tiffany invited Natalie and Ryan, but Ryan was apparently "busy" and with Noah. Something told me he was doing something else judging by the array of female voices in the background of the call, that he was not running errands with Noah.

I saw Audrey frown a bit when he declined, but I assured her that Ryan was just Ryan. He didn't 'do' relationships and she shouldn't take it personal or be too hung up on it. He was a bit of an asshole, but that, somehow, was the appeal of his character.

Natalie thankfully jumped at the offer, laughing when Tiffany told her the embarrassing story about dinner with my parents. She freaked out, while I wanted to bury my head in the ground.

So she was here, Natalie was sitting at the dining table, conversing with Tiffany as she helped set the table.

"Hello baby." The words sounded strange coming from my mother, considering Noah had called me those exact things.

"Hey Mel." My dad gave me a pat on the back and smiled. I found it quite hard to look him in the eye.

"Ah! You must be Natalie! Melanie told us about you." My mother's heels clicked on the ground as she ran to give Natalie a big hug. Natalie accepted the hug with open arms and a big smile.

"Wheres Noah? Thought you invited him." My father turned to me.

"Oh, he couldn't make it...unfortunately." I laughed, thinly smiling and sitting in my seat.

"Why not, I was hoping I'd have a chat with him."

I froze. I know he didn't mean it menacingly, but his tone of voice seemed to prove different. Did he know? No way. Well... it wasn't entirely impossible.

"He was busy today. Too short of notice." I bit my upper lip and took a bite of my salad.

"Bummer. Maybe next time" My father shrugged.

I slowly took a bite of a tomato, narrowing my eyes at him.

*

After we ate, my mother, Tiffany and Natalie went outside to look at the garden Tiffany had recently started. My mother was in love with plants, she was quite excited to see what greenery Tiffany had out back.

"You got any scotch?" My dad turned to me, rubbing his belly.

"Cabinet above the fridge." I sighed, pulling out my phone.

"Audrey, can you bring me a shot?" He turned to my sister and tapped her shoulder.

"I'm not your maid." She sneered at him and looked back at the tv, ignoring my father.

"Audrey, I need to talk to your sister. Go do something else." He sternly said to her, pointing to the cabinet above the fridge. She rolled her eyes, getting up dramatically from her seat and trudging to the kitchen.

"You too, Mel?" She asked.

"Yep." I turned to my dad, smiling innocently.  I had a lingering feeling that I knew what this chat was about.

"Listen honey, I know you're an adult, and you can make your own decisions. And you have relationships." He began, avoiding eye contact.

"And relationships, romantic ones, require physical attraction, of course."

I internally cursed, saying a million different words that meant the same thing. Fuck. Shit.

"Okay dad-" I tried to cut him off, waving my hands in front of my face.