Imagine you're having dinner with Gilbert Grape's family.
For the past week, you've been hanging out with Gilbert Grape, a man you met at Lamson's Grocery after you moved to Endora. You walked into Lamson's Grocery one day to pick up groceries to take to your apartment and you accidentally bumped into Gilbert in an aisle. You both apologized for bumping into each other and you both introduced yourselves to one another. When you saw Gilbert's mentally challenged little brother, Arnie, you told Gilbert that you've dealt with a couple of mentally challenged students when you were high school. Gilbert took an instant liking to you because of how nice of person and how beautiful you are to him. After he was done with work, he took you around town and showed you everything in the small town.
Since then, you been stopping by Lamson's Grocery everyday just to see Gilbert and get to know more about him. After getting know more about each other, Gilbert had decided to invite you over to dinner to meet his family. You couldn't wait to meet his family. He's told you so much about them, including his mother, whom Gilbert hasn't really been talking nice about. But you weren't gonna judge her or anyone else. All it mattered to you was that you were going meet Gilbert's family and get to know them.
***
Once Gilbert pulled his truck in front of his family house, he got of the truck, walked around it, and opened the passenger door for you and Arnie, who was sitting in the middle. "Thank you, Gilbert." You said, as you got out of the truck, with Arnie following you, and, then, you closed the door. Arnie ran up the porch steps, laughing, as he ran inside the house, shouting something.
As you were walking with Gilbert, you started to feel nervous. "Gilbert, I-I'm nervous. What if your family doesn't like me?" You said. "Don't worry, (y/n). You'll probably like them once you meet them. Is it my mom that's making you nervous?" Gilbert asked, sounding curious. "Of course not. It's just natural for me to feel nervous when I meet new people." You explained. "It's alright, (y/n). I'll be with you the whole time and I can guarantee that everything will fine during dinner." Gilbert said. "Okay." You said.
Once you both reached the door, Gilbert opened the door and walked in. "Come on in, (y/n)." He said, while he gestured you to step inside and you, shyly, stepped inside the house. You noticed one older woman and a young teenage girl carrying a table, filled with food on top of it, and they set it in front of an obese woman, who happened to be Gilbert's mother as he talked a lot about her. Arnie was sitting on the couch with her, while he was still laughing and flicking his nose.
"Gilbert, who's this?" The older woman asked. "Oh, right. This is (y/n). I've been seeing her the past week and I thought it'd be nice to have her over for dinner to meet you all." Gilbert introduced. "Would've been nice for a heads up when you bring a stranger over, Gilbert." The teenage girl said, rudely. "Ellen, be nice." Gilbert said back to her. "Sorry about that, (y/n). That was my little sister, Ellen. You already know Arnie, of course. That's my older sister, Amy." Gilbert said, gesturing to the older woman by the table. "And that's momma. You can call her 'Bonnie'." He said, pointing to the woman on the couch. You walked up to her and held your hand out to her and said, "It's very nice to meet you." Then, she took your hand and shook it. "It's nice to meet you too." She said.
After doing introductions, it was time to eat dinner, which was chicken, mashed potatoes, and corn on the cob. Amy grabbed an extra chair for you and you sat in between Gilbert and Arnie. The food was delicious and you were starting to like Gilbert's family already, despite Ellen's attitude at the table.
While everyone was eating, they started discussing Arnie's upcoming Eighteenth Birthday party and what kind of appetizers they should have at the party. You sometimes glanced at Gilbert and he would sometimes stare at Bonnie whenever she made a food suggestion. You didn't want to be left out of the conversation, so you started saying some ideas for appetizers. "I think I would suggest deviled eggs as one of the appetizers for the party." You suggested. "I like that idea. That's a great suggestion, (y/n)." Amy said. "I want hotdogs, mom." Arnie said, repeatedly, at the dinner table. You chuckled at Arnie's love for hotdogs. "We're gonna have hotdogs, honey. I promise we're gonna have hotdogs." Bonnie said, sweetly.
Then, Ellen started saying something, with her mouth full of a dinner roll, you couldn't understand a word that she was saying. It even disgusted you whenever you see people eating and talking at the same time. But, then, Gilbert jumped in to get her attention and simply asked, "Ellen, could you not talk with your mouth full?" Ellen looked at him, offended, and asked, "Excuse me?" "You make me sick, I'm gonna throw up." Gilbert said. "Plus, I can't understand a word you're saying." You added. Ellen slouched back, with her arms crossed, and said, rudely, at you, "Whatever." Then, she looked at Gilbert and sneered, "Sure thing, dad."
"Ellen." Bonnie said, sounding hurt. You weren't expecting Ellen to say that since Gilbert had mentioned to you about his father, who hanged himself seventeen years ago, and has left Bonnie emotional about it. Everyone started talking all at once, with Arnie repeating what Ellen said to Gilbert and laughing at the same time, while you didn't say a word. "Dad's dead, Ellen." You, unexpectedly, heard Gilbert saying that, nonchalant, out of nowhere. You turned to him, shocked, never thinking he would go that far to say that. "Gilbert!" You, Amy, and Bonnie exclaimed at the same time. Things were starting to get more worse when Arnie started laughing more and kept saying, loudly, "Dad's dead! Dad's dead! Dad's dead!"
As Arnie kept repeating it over and over, while he was pounding on the table with his hands, you and everyone, except Bonnie, were trying to get him to stop, as you could tell that Bonnie was starting to get more upset. You put your hands on Arnie's shoulders and started shushing at him, but he kept on talking. Finally reaching to her breaking point, Bonnie stood up from the couch and slammed her hands on top of the table and started stomping on the floor, angrily. "Stop it! Stop it! Stop it! Stop it! I said 'stop it'!" She yelled, which was starting to calm Arnie down even more, even though he started whining.
Feeling like you needed fresh air from all the commotion, you stepped away from the family table and walked out the front door. You stood on the porch, with your arms crossed, breathing in the fresh air. This was not what you wanted to see when meeting Gilbert's family. You felt like everything would've been fine if Gilbert didn't say anything to make things worse at the dinner table. It wasn't right for him to bring up the subject about his father in front of Bonnie. You could tell she was really hurt when it was mentioned.
Moments later, you heard the front door open from behind you. "Hey, (y/n)." You heard Gilbert's voice from behind you. But you didn't say a word back to him. He stood next to you and took a deep breath before saying, "Look, I...I'm sorry for everything that happened at the dinner table." You turned to him and said, "Gilbert, why would say something like that? I get that Ellen was being rude, but that didn't help solve the problem by bringing up that subject in front of your mom and making Arnie repeat it." "I know, (y/n). I know it was wrong for me to say that to momma." Gilbert said, looking down, feeling guilty.
"I don't get it, Gilbert. The way I saw what happened in there looked as if you didn't care. What's going through your head right now when it comes to dealing with your family, Gilbert? I mean, do you not care or something?" You questioned, as you sat down on the edge of the porch. Gilbert stood there for a second, thinking, until he let out a sigh and sat down next to you. "It's complicated, (y/n). My whole life is complicated. Having to deal with all of this with my family, taking proper care of Arnie, and keeping up with the repairs of this house. I feel like I'm trapped here. I can't leave Endora. Every time I wanna spend time with you more after work, things get in the way when it comes to family." He said, while looking down.
You understood what he was saying. It's tough having to deal with stuff that involves family. But he still shouldn't behave that way towards his family, especially to his own mother. "I get how you feel, Gilbert. But you shouldn't behave like that. You know what your duty is to your family and that's to take care of Arnie and be there for your mother. Without you, your family would be under a whole lot of stress and pressure than now and I hate to think that. I might know you for a short time, but to me, it feels much longer. I like your family, despite your little sister's attitude. They already feel like a family to me. You've told me so much about them before I met them, but I never thought this is how you are when you're around your family and I think you shouldn't be nonchalant about them, especially to your mother. You should make amends with them because I know you love them very much and it'll only make things worse if you continue this behavior." You said.
Gilbert looked at you, with tenderness in his dark brown eyes. He listened to every word you said and he knew you were right about the way he behaves towards his family. He's never had anyone, not even from his family, come up to him and talk to him about his actions and ask him what's on his mind about his complicated life. He was glad that you came into his life and have helped talk with him. Plus, he was glad that you saw his family as if they were yours.
He placed his arm around your shoulders and he scooted closer to you. "You're right, (y/n)." He said. You looked up at him and asked, "I am?" "Of course you are. I shouldn't behave like that about my family, especially towards momma. I called her names and I didn't care about her feelings. Taking care of Arnie has been in the way of what I want to do in life. But you're right. I have a duty and that's to take care of my family. Protect my little brother and being there for momma." Gilbert said. You smiled at him when he finally came to his senses. He looked down at you and said, "I'm glad that I met you and talked about this with you, (y/n). I know we've known each other for the past week, but I feel the same way as you're feeling. I feel like I know you much longer than the past week." "I'm glad that I could help you and I'm glad you feel the same way as I do, Gilbert Grape." You said.
Then, he leaned towards you and he rested his forehead against yours, which made you blush as you looked closely into his eyes. "Would like to take our relationship to the next level as official boyfriend and girlfriend?" He asked, softly. "Even if we've known each other for a short time?" You asked back, softly. "Even if we have known each other for a short time. We're not gonna let others judge us." Gilbert said. You chuckled and said, "I would like that a lot, Gilbert." Then, he leaned forward and pressed his lips against yours and you both kissed each other.
The kiss was cut short when you both heard Arnie laughing and shouting from inside the house through the window. You and Gilbert pulled away and looked up at Arnie, while smiling. Then, you both looked at each other again. "Do you wanna go back inside?" Gilbert asked. You nodded and said, "Sure." "Come on." Gilbert said, as he stood up and held his hand out towards you, which you took and he helped you stand up. After that, you both walked inside his house and you helped clean up, while Gilbert made amends with his mother and his family.