"Ava!" Seth's mom exclaimed as she opened the door to greet us. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Amanda."
She had an apron tied around her waist above her red dress. She shared the same flawless, dark hair as Seth. Stepping aside, she made way for us to enter.
"It's nice to meet you, too," I said with a polite smile.
"Dinner's almost ready," she said. "Why don't the two of you sit in the living room for some time?"
"Do you need any help?" I offered and she shook her head.
"I'm good," she replied, her smile not moving an inch.
Seth placed a hand on my lower back and steered me towards the living room. Sitting on the couch, he patted the spot next to him. I sat next to him and he wrapped his arm around my waist, pulling me closer to him.
"Seth," I scolded and tried to get out of his grasp. "What if your mom comes?"
It didn't seem to bother him as he wrapped his other arm around me and pulled me back to him. He kissed my cheek and rested his chin on my shoulder.
With a shrug, he said, "That doesn't matter. She already knows you're my girlfriend."
"Well, it's going to be embarrassing for me," I said, trying to wriggle out of his grasp but he wouldn't budge.
"Nice touch with the whole offering to help thing," he commented. I turned to look down at him. He stared up at me with a little smile on his face.
"I was genuinely offering help," I retorted, making his smile widen.
"Either way, you're off to a good start," he said, moving his face away and patting me on the shoulder.
"Is that so?" I asked, turning to wrap my arms around his neck.
His eyes widened slightly but he managed to recompose himself quickly. He wrapped his arms around my waist and gave me a cute nod.
I grinned in response as he moved his lips closer to mine.
"Seth! Dinner's ready," Amanda called out, causing me to jerk away from him.
Seth let out a breath through his nose and let his shoulders sag. We walked together with our hands intertwined together. Amanda sat at the head of the table and Seth and I sat opposite to one another.
"I hope you like chicken," she said, serving a piece of stuffed chicken breast on my plate along with some salad.
"It looks really good," I commented, making her smile at me.
"So, how long have the two of you been together?" she questioned.
"A few weeks," Seth responded, making her frown at him.
"You know, Ava," she said, turning to face me. "He didn't tell me about you at all. I only found out last night which is why I insisted on having you over for dinner tonight."
I glanced up at Seth to see him shaking his head with an eye roll.
"Tell me all about it," she insisted.
"Well, I got a letter on Valentine's Day from Seth asking to be his date," I began. She raised her eyebrows, surprisingly impressed with her son's skills. "But it was just one date and ever since then, he's been bugging me."
She chuckled. "Sounds like my son."
After dinner, all of us had settled on the couch with a bowl of chocolate pudding that Amanda had made.
"This is delicious," I said, taking another bite.
"Thank you," she responded. "This is one of Seth's favourite. When he was younger, I had to try my best to hide this from him. He would always make such a mess with chocolate all over his mouth."
I laughed in response while Seth sat embarrassed next to me, his hand on my knee.
"I might even have some photographs," she said.
"This is why I didn't want to tell you about Ava," Seth cut in, causing his mom to brush him off with a wave of her hand.
"I would actually really love to see the photos," I spoke up. Seth turned to face me as he tried to keep a straight face with a glare.
"I'll have to dig through our albums but it shouldn't be that difficult to find," she said, placing her bowl on the coffee table and stood up.
"Okay, we're going to my room," Seth declared, taking the bowl from my hand as I was in the process of taking a good scoop out of it and placing it on the coffee table.
He reached for my hand and dragged me across the room.
"Bye mom!" he called out behind him.
I tried to suppress my laughter as he led me to his room. Switching on the light in his room, he walked inside and jumped onto his bed. The high ceilings of the room made his room look big. A television was sitting opposite to his bed with what seemed to be a gaming console attached to it.
"I didn't know you were into gaming," I said, making my way to his bed.
"I was into gaming. Not anymore," he said, resting on his elbow as I sat on the edge of the bed.
I looked to my left to see large windows opening up to a balcony.
"You have a balcony in your room?" I said with an envious gasp. "I've always wanted one."
I got up and walked to the windows. Opening it up, I stepped out into the surprisingly large, dome shaped balcony. I held on to the railing and looked out into the dark neighbourhood. It was oddly quiet- the only sound was of crickets chirping and the occasional cars rolling by. As I peered down, I could see the garden in Seth's backyard, emitting an earthly smell.
I jumped slightly as Seth came behind me and snaked his arms around my waist while he rested his head on my shoulder.
"So beautiful," I mumbled as I continued admiring their garden in the dark.
"Yeah, you are," he agreed with a hum as he turned his head to leave a kiss on my neck.
I chuckled and turned around to face him. A warm smile was resting on his face as he closed the distance and wrapped me in a hug. I let my arms wrap around him too and we stood there in each other's embrace for a long time.
"I could stay like this forever," he said softly.
Eventually he pulled away and cupped my face with his hands as he kissed the top of my head.
"Seth, can I ask you something?"
"Go ahead," he said, moving to sit on the floor of the balcony.
I followed him and sat next to him, resting my head on his shoulder as I sat cross-legged.
"Why me?"
"What'd you mean?" he asked, turning to look at me but my gaze was fixated to the front.
"Why did you send me that letter?" I explained and finally turned to look at him. "What made you like me of all girls out there? We barely even talked."
He looked away as if he seemed to be thinking about it for a while and then, he shrugged. "I don't really know. I mean, I thought you were beautiful and that I wouldn't mind spending some time with you. So, I sent you the letter. After the date, I found you to be quite...intriguing. I liked having you around."
I felt a small smile come on to my face. "Well, you are charming, Mr Seth. I didn't even realise when I fell for you."
"Oh, am I?" he asked, raising his eyebrows suggestively as he moved to snake his around my waist and pull me closer.
I looked up into his dark eyes and said, "Not that charming."
"Pfft, don't deny it, babe," he retorted, making my smile widen.
His eyes flickered down to see my lips. He looked back up into my eyes as if asking for permission. I moved forward and closed the distance between us by connecting my lips with his. As I held onto the collar of his grey shirt, he cupped the side of my face and placed his other hand on the floor to keep his balance.
"I am so in love with you, Ava," he voiced out once I pulled away and smiled at him.
Instantly, my eyes snapped up to meet his eyes which seemed to be nervously searching my face for something.
"I love you too, Seth," I breathed, causing him to let out a laugh of relief.
A/N- Hey guys! Hope you liked the little Seva-filled chapter! They finally said I love you to each otherr! Yaayy!
I know I've been away for quite some time but I'm almost done with my IGCSEs, I've got my last exam on the 10th which is just music so I can't really study for it. 10th also happens to be my prom/graduation night ! I've got myself this really orange-ish coral dress, I know it's a bold choice.
Anyway, thank you for being so very patient! You can expect regular updates for the next whole month and who knows, I might even finish the book (I don't know whether to be happy or sad)
You know the drill- don't forget to leave a vote, comment and please share it with your friends! It will help me out!