Perfect Harmony

𝐮𝐧𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

"He's the boyfriend?"

"Don't try to act like you're gonna shoot him in the head when you freak out even around fireworks!"

"Don't ruin my moment! He needs to know that there will be consequences if he hurts you."

"Like you did with Romeo who you still invite to have dinner with you guys even after we broke up?"

Cringing at the last sentence, Noah looked at the father-daughter duo who were in the middle of the conversation that was about him. Despite that, both of them seemed to have forgotten that he was there too, standing right next to Penny.

A small part of him wanted to join them and speak up but because he felt so incredibly awkward already, interrupting would only make the situation worse. Besides, it would also make him look bad in front of Mr. O'connell who he, while not trying to become best friends with, wanted to accept him.

They hadn't discussed what would happen if her parents ended up disliking him. Even though Penny was an independent woman who made her own decisions, he wasn't sure if she could go out with someone her parents were so against.

"No way are you staying in a hotel even if it's your anniversary! You can stay here," Anthony frowned, clearly hating that Penny had even mentioned that.

The anniversary wasn't about them dating for a year. This weekend missed only a week of their three-month anniversary as a boyfriend and a girlfriend but that wasn't what they would celebrate.

What really mattered was the fact that today on July 10th was the anniversary of their first meeting. It seemed that fate was on their side when Penny had enough free time between her shows to visit home again. Quoting her own words, why not kill two birds with one stone and introduce Noah to her family now that he was finally willing to do it?

"You're gonna let her speak for you all the time?" It took him too long to realize that the older man was finally paying attention to him too after coming here ten minutes ago.

It had been a long time since he had last met his girlfriend's parents but that didn't even matter. This situation was completely different because he had never been this serious about a woman before and he wanted to make a good impression on her parents.

It was clear that Penny's father had decided before even meeting him that he wasn't going to make this easy for Noah. Despite that, with a new kind of determination, he managed to create a smile on his face and even talk without stutter that could show how nervous he was.

"No, sir. I just didn't want to interrupt your reunion since I know that it's been a long since you have met Penny and I wanted to let you talk in peace," he smiled and turned to look at Penny who was glaring at her father.

Anthony stayed quiet for a minute as if trying to decide whether he liked what Noah said or not. Fortunately, he didn't seem to hate it all that much. "Thank you, I appreciate it. And you're right, I haven't seen my little girl since my birthday and it was almost a year before that."

"It wasn't even close to a year. You're always exaggerating, Dad!" Penny rolled her eyes at his words.

"I never do that," he just said before going back to Noah. "It's Noah, right? Why don't we go inside and introduce you to my better half? Jane's dying to meet you after all we've heard about you."

"Yes, sir. I'm Noah Fletcher," he offered his hand and hoped that the man would take it. Although there was a look of surprise on Anthony's face, he still shook his hand and even smiled.

"You can drop the sir and call me Anthony. Come inside, son," Son! He doesn't hate me anymore! "You too, darlin' unless you want to sleep outside like you did before!"