Four days later, we pulled up to my parents' decidedly non-mansion in Theo's extremely extra car. It had been four days of incessant questions—did he need a suit for dinner? Okay fine, if not a suit, then what? Should he bring his sexy pyjamas for sleeping on the couch? Oh, he gets a whole spare room? Great, and what were my parents' and siblings' names? Was my brother bringing someone too? What's on the menu? What time should we arrive? Can he stay until Sunday? What was my home address so he could plan a route?
I might've found his excitement endearing if I wasn't already drowning in self-doubt. Now that I knew what kind of family he came from, it was painfully obvious that mine was entirely different. We didn't host expensive charity galas. We didn't wear tuxedos. The fanciest things at our Thanksgiving dinner were the party cracker paper crowns that Dad always insisted we wear for the duration of the meal.
As if the worry that he'd laugh at my pathetically average family wasn't enough, there was the fact that the first guy I was ever bringing home wasn't even a real boyfriend. It was one thing to pretend in front of my classmates and new friends, but something entirely different to bring him home to my family. Jake knew about everything that was on Instagram, but he didn't know about the ruse, and pulling off the charade in person was seeming more and more impossible.
That was why, when Theo's engine finally cut, I gulped. It was too weird, sitting in his ridiculous car beside my brother's dented Prius and my parents' blue Volvo, and it was only about to get weirder the second we set foot inside.
"Okay, last refresher," Theo said, unbuckling himself. "Your brother's Jake, your parents are Sue and Peter, and Jake's boyfriend is..."
"Simon," I said, staring at the front door like it was about to eat me alive.
"Hey." Theo touched my leg. "What's wrong?"
I swallowed, then admitted, "I don't know if I can lie to them."
His shoulders fell, but he eyed the house and said, "Well, if you want me to just drop you and go—"
"No," I said quickly. "I just...don't lay it on too thick, okay? My mom's been dreaming of me bringing a boyfriend home, and it's going to gut her when we're broken up by Christmas."
"Ellie." He waited for me to look at him. That calm, open softness was all over his face again, and that damned something did a somersault in my stomach. "Do you trust me?"
I inhaled, considering it and trying not to think of the last time we'd spoken face-to-face in his car like this. "Yeah."
He smiled, a crooked, addictive thing. "Then trust me."
And just like that, he was out of the car, calling out a greeting to Jake, who I hadn't noticed was now standing in the open front door. Mortified that he might've witnessed my cold feet, I hastily unbuckled and climbed out.
"Hey, Jake," I called, as Theo fished our bags out of the trunk, alongside the massive, ridiculous flower arrangement he'd insisted on bringing for my mom. I'd tried to tell him that she prided herself on her Thanksgiving tablescapes, so she'd already have an intricately themed centerpiece, but he'd refused to show up to a holiday dinner without a hostess gift.
"Hey, El." Jake eyed Theo's car, then Theo himself, then fixed me with a wide-eyed look that promised a bajillion questions. "And this must be my sister's new boyfriend."
Part of me twisted miserably at the lie, but Theo gamely extended his free hand. "Theo Ellerby. And you must be Jake."
Jake ushered us in, his eyes dancing beneath the carefully groomed sweep of his red hair. Amusement lurked in the polite smile he flashed whenever Theo looked his way, but the sly looks he darted at me had me dreading that he could already see right through our little charade. He'd been able to tell when I was lying ever since we were little, and I doubted that had changed.
I kicked off my Uggs, and it was only when I felt the well-worn front hall carpet under my feet that I realized how much I'd missed home. Sage and butter filled the air, and the sound of football blared from the living room, competing against mom's Michael Bublé Christmas album.
I darted a look at Theo, waiting for his lips to tense against a smirk at how very ordinary my family was. Instead, he caught me looking and smiled, the same reassuring one he'd flashed at me in the car. Something squeezed in my chest.
I hurried after Jake, down the hall to the kitchen, and asked, "Where's Buster?"
"Out back with Simon," Jake said, "Who's apparently some kind of dog whisperer. Buster's already stopped eating poopsicles and we've only been here a day."
"Ellie, honey, you're earl...oh!" My mother appeared in the kitchen doorframe, hands clad in polka dot oven mitts as she clutched a casserole dish. "I thought you were kidding when you said you were bringing a guest! And just look at those flowers!"
"Nope, not kidding." I twisted my fingers, wondering if everyone felt this awkward when they first introduced a guy to their parents. "Mom, this is Theo."
"Smells divine in here Mrs. M-W," Theo said with a grin. "These are for you."
Mom gushed about the flowers, so excited that she nearly dropped the casserole dish. She bustled to the dining room table and found a place for the arrangement among the candles and mini gourds and pumpkins she'd artfully scattered around our plates and cutlery.
Dad sprang up from his recliner when we entered the living room, wrapping me in a big hug before offering a hand to Theo. Mom fluttered around, asking if we were thirsty and offering snacks since dinner wasn't quite ready yet. When Simon came in, Buster nearly bowled me over in his haste to greet me, his big blond tail wagging before he abandoned me to snuffle at Theo.
It was just like every Thanksgiving, and what I'd assumed was going to be terribly awkward with Theo...wasn't. He settled in as if he'd been to my house zillions of times before, cheerily chatting football with my dad as we watched the Falcons game, while mom and Jake bustled around the kitchen. Theo even got Simon, who'd always been notoriously shy, to chat when he asked about his research at one of Baltimore's hospitals. I caught myself watching Theo out of the corner of my eye, gauging his reaction, more times than I could count. But his easy smile never wavered, and when he caught me looking, he fired a wink.
It was the complete opposite of how I'd felt at the Harvest Gala. He seemed right at home, and it looked effortless. It had me wondering whether I'd been overdramatic at the gala. Or maybe Theo was just that good at being charming and faking it. Maybe he was as miserable on the inside right now as I'd been then.
When mom called us all to the table, Jake finally cornered me in the kitchen while I helped with the side dishes.
"So you did tell him that he didn't have to bust out his thousand-dollar cashmere sweater for our humble dinner, right?"
I huffed a laugh. "I think it's the only kind of sweater he owns."
Jake lifted his eyebrows. "Then you realize that mom will definitely, definitely be insisting he attend the Junior League Christmas charity brunch." He leaned closer. "Do I need to repeat your first ever daily reminder again? The one about how you weren't supposed to fall for the first rich guy with a nice car and fancy clothes who gives you any attention? You know you're worth more than that, right?"
My stomach tightened, and I cursed my older brother for knowing me so well. Before I could blurt, "it's not real, so don't worry," I yanked the potatoes from him and said, "Do you know how annoying it is when you get overprotective?"
"I mean it, El." He grabbed the turkey platter and carving tools. "I know a heartbreaker when I see one, and..."
He trailed off when Theo appeared in the doorway to the dining room. "Hey, you guys need any help?"
Jake fixed him with a bright smile and nodded to the kitchen island. "You can grab that basket of rolls," he said, before disappearing into the dining room.
"You okay?" Theo asked, "Or did I just interrupt the 'he's gonna break your heart' older brother speech?"
I grimaced. "Pretty much."
He nudged me with his elbow. "Did you tell him that I'm 'not like the other guys'? Or should I prepare to duel for your honor at dawn?"
I rolled my eyes. "Careful, Ellerby. Sass me some more and I might trip and spill this on your thousand-dollar sweater."
He grinned. "What, this old thing? That'd just be a waste of potatoes."
Even though he clearly meant it as a joke, something about it lingered like a bitter aftertaste. A reminder that even though Theo was fitting right in with my family as easily as if he'd known them all his life, he wasn't one of us. He wasn't Jake, who'd worked a fast food job to pay his way through college, or Simon, who relied on grants to fund his research and student loans to cover his share of the condo mortgage with my brother. Theo had a trust fund and a fancy car and probably no idea that his sweater cost more than my entire wardrobe. He didn't belong here any more than I belonged at his family's gala.
That was exactly what I had to keep reminding myself when he took his seat beside me and charmed my entire family over turkey and trimmings. I'd thought I could weather this collision of my home and Kingsbridge lives and still somehow keep everything separate, but the lines were blurring fast. Thanksgiving was supposed to be Jake's funny work stories and Simon's calm, intellectual analysis of science and politics with my dad, while my mom not-so-subtly probed us all for Christmas gift ideas before her Black Friday shopping spree. I'd thought that Theo would lurk on the sidelines, but he didn't. He laughed at Jake's stories and shared some of his own, even dragging me into a few of them—like the story of how we'd first met and how I'd nearly flattened him with a door shortly thereafter. Unsurprisingly, everyone but mom—who was horrified—absolutely howled. Even I laughed along, and part of me slowly started to wonder whether he could belong here after all.
When our plates were all empty and Theo reached for my hand under the table, it got even harder to remember that this wasn't real. I couldn't stop the smile that sprang to my cheeks because, for the first time in a long time, I felt content and happy and right. As if his fingers around mine as he complimented my mom and brother's cooking were exactly where they were supposed to be. As if the two of us sitting here, with my family, were exactly where we were supposed to be. Not at a Harvest Gala, lying through our fake smiles. Not at Kingsbridge, pretending to be something we weren't. Right here, just like this, enjoying ourselves as if we actually were dating.
Worst of all, though, was that I couldn't hide from the truth any longer. I wanted this version of us not to end as soon as we left. I wanted him to keep holding my hand and joking with my family. I wanted to stay here and never let this moment go.
I wanted it to be real.
**A/N: I can't decide if I'd consider this a mic drop or a cliffhanger but omg I am ridiculously excited for next week......😉👀😍
Predictions????
As always, if you enjoyed it, please take a moment to vote and comment!**