you know it had to be done. the cliche family reunion fic. hecka cheesy and unoriginal.
edit: if you didn't already know, i wrote an entire separate book about this! it's called "fake" and it's a completed story. go check it out if you wanna!
words: 1633
. . .
I didn't know exactly when I mentioned it to him, or what details he was in on: whether or not he was aware that my dad told me I'd end up being a true crazy cat lady; if he knew my extended family was genuinely getting concerned that I hadn't dated anyone at eighteen; if I told him the main cause of my trust issues was because my great-aunt said I'd never find a partner unless it was a stupid one.
But I noticed right away when he suggested he go with me to meet them.
"You... what?"
He shrugged. "I'm a master of pulling pranks and saving damsels, Katie-Kat. You're complaining to me for a reason, you obviously want me to save you from this situation."
Not true. Okay, maybe a little true. "And just how do you plan on helping by showing up at an uptight family reunion?"
"Easy. I pretend to be your boyfriend." Travis explained his concept plainly, like it wasn't absurd. "It'll get your family off your back, and it'll improve my already-impeccable acting skills."
I actually considered the idea for a split second before waking up to reality. "Why would you do this for me?"
"We're friends."
"Since when have we been friends?"
He threw an arm over me dramatically. "Since we met, we're meant to be together!"
I shouldered him off, crossing my arms. "Your stupid plan wouldn't work. Nobody would believe I finally..." I trailed off, biting my lip self-consciously. One thing Katie Gardner didn't do was look pitiful in front of her nemesis. So I rephrased it. "Nobody would believe that I started dating someone like you."
"We both know we hate each other, right? So what's the harm in acting like we don't for a few hours?" Travis reasoned, grinning devilishly.
I grimaced. Honestly, it wasn't a bad idea. Who was I kidding? It would be amazing to have a reunion without the crippling anxiety. My family would totally believe I was dating someone like Travis. "Fine. But don't steal anything or prank anyone. My family's a real funeral and they don't take jokes lightly."
So we drove up to New Hampshire for the Gardner family reunion, all the while bickering about the little things: how we "met", when he "asked me out", and what our intentions were with our "relationship". We had to be factually correct on both ends or it wouldn't fly.
Though I pushed the emotion out of my mind, I was grateful for Travis offering to do this. I knew there had to be something in it for him that I wasn't aware of, but for now I was relieved that I'd get a year of peace from the family saying I'd be forever alone. I was spiteful, and I couldn't wait to rub it in Great-Aunt Mary's face that I had a "boyfriend".
The second we got out of her car, Gardners crowded around the new guest. They bombarded him with questions until they got the answer they wanted.
"I'm Katie's boyfriend," he introduced casually, and for once I was glad he was the son of the god of lies and eloquence.
The family took on a reaction I hadn't expected: they loved him. Travis was the life of the party, he was in the limelight the entire time. Dad vaguely remembered me talking about Travis but didn't recall if it was for the good or bad of him, thankfully. My cousins made obnoxious kissy faces, and Travis gladly accepted that as an invitation to hold my hand (which totally didn't give me butterflies, shut up). My grandparents found him adorable, and said he looked like a perfect match for me (I may or may not have had to hold back a gag).
It was all going well until my half-brother started the interrogation.
When I was ten, my older mortal brother swore he'd scare off any unwelcomed boys with an attempt to intimidate them. If they stuck around afterwards, they were keepers. Ben was fond of protecting me, and he wasn't going to let anyone hurt me - which is why I hadn't dated someone seriously. But I forgot I hadn't warned Travis about him.
I prayed to the gods he did well under pressure.
"Tell me," Ben started easily, slipping into a seat next to us. "How long have you and Katie been dating?"
Travis smiled warmly and began the line we rehearsed in the car ride over. "Almost a year now - we met at summer camp and I couldn't keep my eyes off her." Adlibbing a little, but not bad.
Ben hummed in reply, nodding. "Okay. And how do you feel about her now, after a year of being together?"
Ugh.
He gripped my hand tight, smiling like a guy on his honeymoon. "She's amazing. I can't believe someone like her could be so good for me," he admitted, though he wasn't looking at Ben anymore. He was looking at me. "I really didn't expect it, to be honest. It started out as more of a 'oh, she'd never give me a second glance' kind of thing, but then she did. She noticed me and not only that, but she talked to me. I'll never forget her first words to me, because that was the first step to something crazy awesome I never knew I needed until now. People say I don't deserve her, and I probably don't, but I'm so happy she gave me that chance."
My first words to Travis were "Curse the ground you walk on, Stoll", but that wasn't important.
What was important was that he kept steady eye contact with me while he spoke. And he didn't have that undertone of a trickster. Instead, he carried a serious voice with an even more deadpan expression.
Was he being for real?
"As long as you remember I'll crush you if you crush her." Ben laughed, snapping us out of our now-awkward stare. "She's worth more than gold, and if you break her heart, you will regret it." My brother's eyes were deadly, but his smile stretched to his ears.
Travis gave a two-fingered salute before easing down to wrap an arm back around me. "Sir, yes sir. I'll treat her like a queen."
Once Ben stalked away, I shouldered Travis. "What was that about?"
"What was what about, Katie-kins?"
I grumbled, "Don't call me that again. And you know what. I couldn't possibly assume you meant anything you just-"
I was cut off by his chapped lips slamming into mine. What. The. Styx? Travis was kissing me.
Travis was kissing me.
His mouth tasted like sweets and mint, which totally made sense when I thought about it. He was also a really good kisser. I mean, a spectacular kisser. As in, he made me ponder if I really did hate him after all. With one kiss. I savored every second of it without shame. After all, he was the one that kissed me, I may as well enjoy it.
"Ewwwwww!" My little cousin Aubrey shouted, covering her eyes. "That's so gross!"
It actually wasn't. Which was weird.
We broke away. It wasn't an oh-no-we-got-caught kind of breaking away, but an oh-wow-I-just-kissed-my-enemy kind of breaking away. Travis probably hadn't thought this far ahead, because he looked just about as surprised as I was.
"That just happened." In a dazed stupor, I gaped at my fake boyfriend.
He grinned sheepishly. "Uh, yeah. Sorry."
I'd never heard Travis apologize to me, or anyone for that matter. "You don't have to apologize, I just... didn't expect it."
"Oh."
Awkward.
We slipped into a few wordless minutes, watching my family converse with each other about politically correct utterances, not wanting to address what went on between us. I was still processing things, and I didn't want to ruin anything I did want out of this.
I ultimately decided it was worth the risk. Reaching across the table, I found Travis' hand and squeezed it. His eyes lit up, and he smirked confidently.
"I knew you'd come around."
I shrugged off his arrogance. "Shut up."
"You totally liked it."
Yeah, I did. I really did. I hated that I did. But I couldn't help it if my make-believe partner gave me an amazing kiss in a public setting where I couldn't react badly.
I don't think I would've have reacted badly anyway, but I ended up ignoring it and moving on.
We went through the rest of the motions, tolerating the questions my family still had ("Thinking about marriage?" "You two want kids?") and wishing they'd go away. If I forgot it was Travis, I felt like I had a boyfriend to finally show off at my reunion. We covered up our irritation of each other as if we were Aphrodite's own match. It was surprisingly natural to curl up into his side, or kiss him on the cheek, or lay my head on his shoulder. He didn't mind resting his arm on my waist, or calling me "babe", or pulling me closer to him.
It was... so easy.
By the time we were leaving, I had to violently remind myself that we were supposed to be annoyed to no end by each other, not madly in love. Even though we held hands all the way home, talking casually and laughing gently, I told myself it must've slipped his mind that we were back to hating each other.
I didn't remind him.
I pulled up to camp, taking the keys out of the ignition and feeling a pair of eyes on me. I faced Travis, swallowing thickly. His crystal eyes bore into me, tension almost blowing my car up.
All he said was, "We should fake date more often." And he was gone.
I agreed.