"Are you sure you're okay with this?" I asked Steve for the millionth time.
He just laughed as he grabbed my hand and stopped me from walking into my house. "Y/N," he said gently, "we've been through this. I'm here to help you get through your family Christmas party."
"I know," I stuttered. "And I appreciate it but. . ."
"If something comes up or it gets too much, we'll just go hide out in your room."
"Not sure if that's the best idea," I mumbled. I cleared my throat before walking into the house.
"There you two are," my mom giggled when we walked into the kitchen.
"Sorry, Mrs. Y/L/N," Steve chuckled. "It's my fault. I couldn't figure out what to wear."
"Well, I think you look great," Mom smiled as she walked over and hugged him. "Y/N, why don't you go introduce him to people?"
"I don't know," I stuttered.
"Come on," Steve smiled as he took my hand.
He intertwined our fingers and I started introducing him around. They started asking us crazy and way too in-depth questions. Every person I introduced him to gave us weird looks. The looks were either knowing, teasing or flirty. After a while, I needed a break so I pulled him into the laundry room.
"I'm sorry," I instantly said. "I didn't think my family would ask you such specific questions. I'm sorry."
"It's okay," he laughed as he sat on the bench in my mom's laundry room that normally held baskets full of clothes. "I do have one question though."
"Anything," I shrugged as I wrapped my arms around myself.
"Why do I get the sense that your family thinks there is something going on between us?"
"Well," I cleared my throat to buy myself some time. "I might've told everyone that you and I just recently started dating."
I didn't hear his response because I was nervously rambling.
"I'm really sorry, Steve. I know I should've told you or warned you. It wasn't fair for me to just blindside you like that. The truth is, my family only ever asks me two questions at our family gatherings; how's school, and am I dating anyone. It's cliché and I hate it. I hate the disappointed looks I get whenever I tell them I'm not with anyone. They look at me like they knew it or they pity me. I didn't want to disappoint them anymore."
"Y/N," he gently cut me off. I hadn't noticed he had stood up until he reached up and cupped my face in his hand.
"It's okay," he said with a smile on his face. "I can play along."
"Are you sure?"
"Definitely."
* * * * *
The rest of the night, Steve played the role of Puppy-Love Boyfriend. He said all the right things, did all the right things. It was almost a little too perfect, but I shook it off.
After dinner, we sat in the family room and talked. The entire time, Steve held my hand. He looked into the kitchen and smiled. I held my breath when he leaned in and pressed a kiss to my cheek.
"I'm going to go see if your mom and Grandma need any help," he whispered. I glanced at my family and cleared my throat.
"I'll come too."
He stood up and instantly grabbed my hand, pulling me with him. We were just about to walk into the kitchen when my grandma's giggle stopped us. My mom looked at us and giggled too.
"What's with you two?" I chuckled.
"Look where you're standing," Grandma said in a teasing tone.
We looked up, my heart jumping into my throat when I noticed we were standing under mistletoe.
"You know the rules," Mom teased.
Steve and I looked at each other, the tension thick. Before I could try and tell him he didn't have to do anything, he reached up and gently cupped my face in his hand. He leaned in and soon I found myself leaning in too.
My breath got caught in my throat when our lips gently touched. At first, the kiss was soft, but the longer our lips were pressed together, the deeper it got. I was the one to finally break the kiss when my mom and grandma continued to giggle.
"I'm sorry," I whispered. Steve shook his head with a small smile on his face.
"I'm not."
He grabbed my hand and led me out of the kitchen. My face was on fire as he led us upstairs. When we got to my room, he stopped. He turned around and pulled me into his chest. He hesitated before leaning down and pressing his lips to mine.
I instantly started kissing him back. I wrapped my arms around his neck as he wrapped his around my waist. We both smiled into the kiss when I opened my bedroom door.
We briefly broke the kiss, our foreheads pressed together as we walked into my room. The second I closed the door, Steve pressed his lips back to mine. I couldn't hold back my moans as our lips moved in sync. I gasped, breaking the kiss when we fell back onto my bed.
We looked at each other with matching cheeky grins on our faces. We stared into each other's eyes as we struggled to catch our breaths.
"Y/N," he whispered. "Ever since we were kids, I've wanted to be more."
I reached up and cupped his cheek with my hand. I gently rubbed my thumb over his cheekbone.
"I've wanted that too."
I gasped when Steve leaned down and roughly pressed his lips to mine. The kiss got heated fast. Once we opened the doors to a relationship between us, it was hard to hold back. Before we could go too far, I broke it.
"Wait," I said out of breath.
"Are you okay?"
"It's just," I chuckled, "my entire family is downstairs. Maybe now isn't the best time for us to start anything."
"I hate to admit it," Steve laughed, "but you're probably right."