"What?" Elian asked, his eyes wide.

"Shit, shit, shit," I cursed under my breath and ran to Elian. "I'm sorry, but you need to hide right now."

He didn't even ask why, just asked, "Where?"

I looked around my nicely furnished one-bedroom apartment and said, "My bedroom. Go, go." I started pushing him towards the door, panicking.

"Okay, okay, I'm going. Calm down."

Before he closed the bedroom door, I said, "I'm so, so sorry, Elian."

"It's fine," he said and shut the door.

I took a big breath and went to get to the door until I noticed Elian's shoes at the entrance. I quickly hid them in an empty box of heels and put it in the cabinet.

I plastered a smile on my face and opened the door. "Hey, Mom and Dad. What a surprise!" I feigned excitement.

"Hey, sweetie. How have you been?" Mom gave me a hug, then Dad.

"I have been great. What about you guys? Weren't you supposed to come this weekend?"

"Can't I take some time off work to come to see my only daughter who rarely visits home?" Dad asked, smiling at me.

I chuckled nervously and welcomed them in. "Still, you could have informed me beforehand."

"So that you could clean your apartment beforehand?" Mom asked, putting a finger across the shoe cabinet and wrinkling her nose in disgust. "Why's there so much dust in your apartment, Alena?"

Just great.

"Oh, Mom, it's been a crazy week—"

Mom interrupted, "The last weekend was just two days ago."

"Yes, and I had to work even on weekends."

"Aww, my poor daughter. Your boss is so cruel," Mom crooned and gave me another hug.

God, I hope Elian isn't eavesdropping.

"He's not. It's just that our company was closed off for weeks, so there's been so much pending work. We needed to get it done," I explained. "I'm gonna put your luggage in my room."

As soon as I said that, I realized the problem that lay ahead.

Whenever my mom and dad came here, I let them stay in my bedroom while I slept on the couch. But now, how the hell was I going to get Elian out of my bedroom before bedtime? Shit, I should have just shoved him in the fridge or something.

Alena, you're a horrible girlfriend, my subconscious scolded.

I dragged my parents' luggage to my room and opened the door. I found Elian laying in the bed, his suit discarded on my desk chair, and comfortably reading a book he must have got from my shelf.

I closed the door behind me and locked it. "Well, someone just made himself comfortable."

"Yep. Needed some time-pass," Elian said, sitting up straight. "So when are they going back to the hotel?"

I gave him a sheepish, apologetic look and said, "They are staying here."

"What do you mean?" He gave me a horrified look.

"They don't like to waste money on hotels when they can just stay with me."

He looked at me in disbelief. "What about me? How am I going to get out of here? Jumping from the fifth floor doesn't sound very safe to me."

I pursed my lips and tried to think of something.

While I did want my parents to meet Elian, this wasn't how I wanted it to go. I didn't have to think about the consequences if they found a man in my bedroom. They would bury me alive, no questions asked.

"Wait, I think I can jump from this balcony to your neighbor's. Your neighbors are really nice, right? I'm sure if you ask them, they will let me—"

"No way!" I opposed. "There's no way I'm letting you jump balconies from the fifth floor. What if you fall?"

"Well, I die—" I shot him a glare as my heart flinched just at the word. "Now you know how it feels when I talk about death," he taunted.

"I don't care. You are not hopping balconies. It's too far apart," I said sternly.

"But—"

"Alena?" There was a knock on the door. "Who are you talking to inside?"

"Mom, I'm talking to someone from work on speaker!" I hollered and motioned at Elian to hide under the bed while I made my way to the closet to change my clothes so that I could give the excuse that I was changing inside.

"Hiding under the bed is a bad idea," Elian whispered while I was in the midst of wearing one of my home t-shirts and shorts.

"Hide in the closet then," I told him, making a lot of space for him to hide.

Elian sighed and entered the closet. I was about to apologize to him again when he said, "It's okay. Close it."

I felt extremely bad for doing all this to him, I really had no other choice. I leaned forward and kissed him. "I love you."

"Love you too." He smiled at me, and I slowly closed the closet door.

I went to open the door for my mom, and my mom came in.

"Honey, you really need to get another apartment, you know? A bigger one with more rooms," Mom suggested, looking around my medium-sized room.

"Mom, this one is fine. How many rooms does one person need?" I asked, trying not to glance nervously towards the closet.

"Still, you are in a better position now. You can afford a much nicer apartment—"

"Why would she need another apartment at this point? She's almost twenty-five. She's going to get married soon," Dad interrupted, entering my room.

My eyes almost bulged out of my socket at what he said. "What? Married? Who, me?"

"Yes, this is one of the reasons for our early visit. We found a perfect guy for you," Dad said, and I couldn't just believe what he was saying.

"What do you mean 'a perfect guy', Dad? What does he do? Does he work in a bank?" I asked sarcastically. Not that people who worked in banks were a bad choice, but that was just Dad's ideal vision of a son-in-law.

"Good guess," Dad said merrily.

I slapped my palm on my face, thinking how much Elian must be trying to control his laughter inside the closet.

"No, Dad, no. I don't want to get married right now, especially not with the guy you're trying to fix me up with," I said in frustration.

"Why not? He's a really nice guy too. He even lives here in California—"

"I don't care about any of that!" I yelled, only to realize a second later that maybe it wasn't the most sensible reaction at the moment.

Dad narrowed his eyes at me and asked, "Why? Do you have someone else in mind?"

I took a deep breath and looked him in the eye and admitted, "Yes, I do."

"What does he do?" he asked.

"Dad, why does his occupation have to be the first thing you ask?" I couldn't help but ask.

"Because that's important—"

"Yes, I agree. But you could have started with: what's his name? Is he nice? Does he take care of you? But no, rather you ask what his job is. Just fantastic."

"Alena, mind your tone," Mom alarmed.

I let out a sarcastic chuckle. "Yes, Mom, that's what I should always do. Mind my tone and never let out what's in my heart."

"A family is important in a marriage. You don't know what's best for you—" Mom started to say.

"Mom, Dad, when will you guys realize that I'm not a little girl anymore? I'm almost twenty-five years old!" I snapped, trying my best to not let the tears seep out.

I hated that Elian had to be hearing this, but I couldn't control my emotions any longer.

"You guys always think you know what's best for me. You guys didn't even let me live properly. While people my age in high school had a curfew of nine or ten, mine was... five. Everyone got to go on school trips, except me, because you guys wouldn't risk me getting lost there. Every—everyone went to the high school prom, except... me, because who knew who got drunk there and God knows what I was going to drink. God, I can't believe I didn't even have a phone until I was in high school," I let out, my voice cracking occasionally.

"We still let you study here—" I cut off Mom.

"Only because I got a full-free scholarship and didn't apply to any universities in Georgia."

"You're such an ungrateful child," Dad muttered.

I scoffed. "I always listened to whatever you guys said, and one thing I don't agree to do, I become an ingrate. That's great. I'm fine being an ingrate. But no, I'm not going to marry whichever guy you choose. I'm sorry, but you guys can't force me," I concluded, breathing heavily at the end of my rant.

The heavy look of disappointment broke my heart, but I told myself repeatedly that just because they gave birth to me and raised me didn't mean my life was meant for them to control.

I would have brought up my accident right then, but Elian was still in the closet, and I didn't want him to hear that conversation.

"Oh, since you guys had asked, I will answer your question. He is in the mafia," I added in a sarcastic tone.

My dad gave me a disbelieving look. "Don't even joke about that sort of thing." He shook his head, definitely thinking I had finally lost it. I knew they wouldn't believe me about it.

Mom said, "You need rest, Alena. We will talk tomorrow."

"Maybe it's best if we stay in a hotel tonight," Dad said and grabbed their luggage and walked out of my room.

Soon, I heard the front door of my apartment closing.

I plopped on the edge of my bed and let out my tears.

I didn't know why I was crying. I only said what was right, what I always wanted to say but never had the courage. Maybe the volume and tone of my voice were wrong. Maybe I could have worded it nicer—

I feel like shit. Why did I talk to them like that? I become such a child in front of them.

A comforting pair of arms wrapped around me, and I buried my head in his chest.

"Elian, I'm so sorry you had to hear all that," I murmured.

Elian caressed my hair and whispered, "It's okay, it's okay. Let it all out. I'm here to hold you."

I listened to his soothing words and let myself break down completely, hugging him tightly for the rest of the night.