One Direction: Another OS BxB - Book (80% Larry)

Larry - the dinner (engl) + Info!!

Disclaimer! Louis uses they/them pronouns in this story, which indicates that they are genderqueer! Don't like it, don't read it! But please read the information below! Thank you!

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I never really cared for family dinners that much, but this time I freaked out hours before.
Cause my mum had invited Louis.

So I sat at the kitchen table, watching my mother cook, checking Instagram, then Snapchat, then Tiktok, and the Instagram again, only to see that barely five minutes passed.
I didn't really know if I wanted this dinner to finally start or to end fast, but either way: time was my enemy.
It still was 30 minutes till Louis would arrive. And I really needed that to happen.

"So.", my mum said, apparently waiting for me to look up from my phone.
She didn't look too happy with her food and searched for the salt. I could have counted that as being nervous, but I knew better. My mother never would get nervous.

"Just so that I make no mistakes tonight.", she continued, glancing at me for a moment, to check if I'm listening. And I was, cause I had a feeling what she was gonna say.
"Yeah?"
"They are vegetarian, right? Not vegan?"
I nodded.
"Yes."
She smiled relieved.
"Good, so I can finish this with a little butter."
I rolled my eyes. She was putting way too much effort in the food. It was only a dinner, not a big celebration. Louis wasn't my first boyfriend.
Well, but I sure hoped that they would be my last.

"And they use they/he pronouns, right?"
I smiled. Thats what I was predicting.
"Yeah. Well, I guess. They didn't really encourage anything other than 'they' lately. So... its probably safer if you'd stick to that. It's an ongoing struggle for them."
She nodded.
"Y'know. Just making sure I'll make a good first impression. They sound so nice."
I continued to shift between social media sites.
"They'll like you. I promise."

I couldn't believe that I was calming my mum down while I was having a little panic attack about the evening. Not a real one though. A metaphorical one.
It just... felt so real. I only once brought someone home. It was this guy I went to school with. Liam. We dated for three months when I introduced him to my family and broke up two weeks after.
At this point, I'd already been dating Louis for over a year. So... nothing to be afraid of, right? It's not like they would end this kind of relationship in two weeks.

I was probably just making a fool out of myself.
Louis asked me to take them home with me. So, when I headed back home for spring break I told my mum that Louis would come over for dinner the night before I would leave again. And she was genuinely happy about it, even excited.

Now we both were stressed.

Finally the doorbell rang and I ran to the front door.
"Hey.", Louis said. They didn't seem nervous at all. No, they were carrying a flower bouquet, without shaky hands, and smiled like they weren't on the way to meeting my parents for the first time.
"Hey.", I answered lowkey confused, and greeted them with a kiss. "You aren't... freaking out?"
Louis laughed a little. "Well, on the inside... Maybe a little. Why? Should I? Are you?" Now they looked concerned and I regretted ever bringing this up.

So I tried to play it cool. "No! No, I'm not, and there's no reason, everything's totally fine."
They looked at me and raised their eyebrows a little.
"You sound like you're going to blow your house up tonight."
I stepped aside and let them in. "Well, depends on how the dinner'll go...", I mumbled, but Louis heard that. They gave me a look over their shoulder and then continued to take a few steps into our house.

My mum was already standing at the living room entrance, ready to greet our guest. I looked at her and gave her a hard look. She winked. Not a good sign.
So I closed the door and followed Louis, sighing.