We both dried ourselves and slipped on some dry clothes. I brought a casual floral dress with me to wear at dinner, but for now I'm wearing Theo's black sweatpants and a red tank top.

We carefully exited the bathroom, making it look like we came straight from his bedroom instead.

"Hey-" I paused, almost calling her 'Mrs DeMarco', but biting my tongue. "How are you?"

"Camila!" She placed down her green carry bags to give me a hug. "I'm great, how are you, sweetie?"

We had a quick catch up while we unpacked the groceries. "What happened to Theo's face?" She whispered, while Theo went to get the last few bags from the car.

"Basketball." I lied, quickly changing the subject. "This place is gorgeous..."

*

Theo and I made our way to the sitting room, after he briefly argued with his Mom about who should cook - she insisted she could make a meal herself, and he finally gave in.

We entered the room and Becca and Zoe stopped their gossiping for a split second. I don't think I've ever seen Zoe smile so big.

We sat on the empty sofa beside them, watching 'Keeping up with the Kardashians' on the tv to avoid conversation.

"I feel like I missed a few episodes... and I don't mean about Kim K."

Rebecca looked at us confusingly. I looked at Theo for help but he just gave us both a shrug and pretended to care about Kim's diamond earring.

"Not sure what to tell you, Becs." I chuckled awkwardly, remembering she just heard me screaming her little brother's name.

She took a sip of her wine, looking back to the tv. Zoe is staying mysteriously quiet for Zoe, and I know her mouth is nuclear bomb just waiting to explode with questions.

"Don't forget, you need to tell her." Theo whispered softly into my hair, placing his hand on my thigh.

"I don't know if I can... she's so happy right now."

"Stop protecting people from the truth, it will only hurt more later."

I know he's right. The last time I protected someone's feelings it turned out to be self-sabotage.

"Before or after dinner?" I sighed, giving in.

"Before. I want you after." His grip tightened on my leg and my stomach did a front flip.

"Hey, Zo?"

We slipped out of the room, and decided to sit in Zoe's car to talk. Probably the best idea, knowing she's going to raise her voice.

"I'm so excited, go."

"Don't be for the first part..." I sighed, closing the passenger door as we sat in the car.

"Basically... After the game yesterday, I didn't go straight home with Theo..."

Her expression mixed with shock, anger, confusion, pity, and so many more types of emotions while I explained going home with Matthew. She's going to need Botox for the wrinkles she just gained in the past five minutes.

"But thankfully Theo texted me. He found out about it- Matt even secretly took a video the first time we kissed."

"That fucking piece of sh-"

"But it's fine, because Theo got there in time and drove me home-"

"Are you okay though?"

"Yeah, I think so."

I couldn't dodge her arms that stretched across the car to wrap around me.

"Wait. You're telling me, that you didn't tell me, this happened yesterday?"

"I'm sorry-"

"Twenty-four hours, you withheld this information? I should've been there for you!"

"You were going on a date! I wanted at least one of us to have a good night."

She gave me a sympathetic smile. "You're too selfless sometimes. But... I did, I'll give you details later. Now carry on."

I talked her through last night, how we talked and almost kissed, leaving out the part about our interaction in the bathroom.

"Then we went to school this morning- but we didn't have the same classes. Basically, Katie knew about the bet, but they were blackmailing her, so she couldn't tell us. We talked and cried a bit in the bathroom and when I was coming out, there was loads of gossiping and stuff, and then I spotted Theo with a bloody face and hands, just casually walking to class."

"I knew he beat someone up! Becca asked him earlier, but I didn't know if she knew anything at all so I covered for him and made a dirty joke- it was very funny, in my opinion."

"I'm sure it was, Zo." I laughed at her love for her own jokes. "Then we ditched and came here. I was cleaning up his bruised face and we had a deep-ish conversation, and then I kissed him."

"You kissed him?"

"Yep. Then we moved to his bedroom incase someone came home... and now you're all caught up."

"Damn. Proud of you for telling him - I wish you told me though!"

"Sorry!"

"It's okay." She groaned childishly. "So are you his girlfriend now?"

"I don't know, actually. We were actually talking in the shower like twenty minutes ago-"

"Twice already? Jesus, Camila."

"Shut up. We were just talking, and he said 'You're mine' and then we carried on and I asked him what he wants from me, and he said 'not from you, just you.' So I told him he always had me, and he said 'not the way I want you', I asked 'how do you want me' and he started to say something but we were interrupted again."

I rambled on too fast, not giving her a second to butt in.

"He was going to ask you to be his girlfriend, obviously."

"You think? Is that not too soon?"

"Well- when you think about it, you've been in the talking stage for four years."

"True. Anyways, we're done talking about me. How was your date?"

I sat eagerly, ready to listen to her when my phone beeped.

Dory ~ *Mom's serving dinner in five*

"Dinner's ready... Tell me later? I want all the details, but I need to get changed."

"Sure. You sleeping here tonight?"

"Hopefully." I raised my eyebrows, earning me a laugh.

*

"You look pretty."

Theo watched me get changed while I told him how it went with Zoe.

"Thank you." I smiled. "Can you zip up the back?"

"Sure." He quickly got up from the bed, making his way over to me.

I turned my back, lifting my hair off my shoulders for him.

"You do know it's just dinner at home, you didn't have to get dressed up."

"Well I'm not wearing a tank top and sweats to dinner with your Mom."

"Well I like both outfits."

He lowered his head to my bare neck, whispering onto it before softly pressing his lips to my goosebump-coated skin.

"You're supposed to be zipping it up."

"I'd rather take it off..."

His hands snaked around my waist.

"Nope, we're about to go eat with our family. Zip up my dress." I demanding jokingly.

"Where are your manners?" He tut, keeping his lips next to my ear, holding my waist tighter. "Try again."

"Zip up my dress, please, Theo."

"Good girl."

He dropped his dominant act and zipped up my dress, fixing it in place before spinning me around. His eyes scanned my body, pretending it fix creases in the skirt before meeting my eyes.

"Perfect."

"Thank you."

"Should I put on a suit or...?"

"Shut up." I smacked his chest, attempting to walk away.

He grabbed my hand, pulling me back. His other rested on my waist and he gently brought his mouth to mine, pressing our lips together.

"Do we mention this to your Mom?" I smiled as he finally let me free.

"And what's 'this', Camila?" He asked, lowering his head, making me feel belittled and vulnerable, questioning what we are right now.

"You never finished what you were saying in the shower..."

"I'd rather we figured out what we are before we try to explain it to Mom."

"Yeah." I agreed. "Let's go eat."

She looked beautiful in her flowery dress. As much as I wanted to sit opposite her at the table to admire her, Mom made sure to seat us beside each other.

I think Becca's going accidentally blab to Mom, even though I asked her not to. I'm not sure how much Zoe told her, or will tell her, but right now she thinks today was our first kiss, and that's probably best.

I sat opposite Zoe, who gave me a smile or wink every time our eyes met.

Although Camila and I are better-than-good, I still feel like I let Zoe down. I didn't get to her before Matt like I promised.

Mom served the stir fry, giving us all way to big portions. "There's more if you want seconds."

We sat down and dug into our meal, not looking at each other. I'm not going to tell Mom that we're together until we're officially together. I don't think she'd really understand the situation if she knew the truth.

Camila seemed to be enjoying her chat with Mom. I sometimes think Mom prefers her to me, the way they chat like best friends.

Feeling slightly jealous, my hand fell to her leg, making her freeze slightly but ignore me, listening to whatever Mom was explaining.

She slipped her fork into her mouth and I was slightly offended that I didn't get a better reaction. My hand slipped further, gliding up her smooth thigh. I wouldn't try anything bad, not in front of our family.

"That must have been hard..." Camila nod, seeming interested in Mom's story about one of her patients.

I reached the hem of her dress and slipped my fingers under it. "Didn't you do something like that a few years ago, Zo?" I interrupted. My fingertips stopped and began drawing circles on her bare leg.

"Yeah- I did." She laughed embarrassingly. "I fell down the stairs at work..."

I thankfully know the story, so I didn't need to pay attention. My thumb swiped across her thigh so I could grip her leg, giving it a gentle squeeze.

It wasn't until the side of my index finger brushed off her panties that I got a reaction. I felt her eyes burning the side of my face, but now it was my turn to be interested in our families' stories.

She casually lowered her hand, picking mine off her leg with her two fingers like it was dirty, and played it out like she was straightening her skirt.

We were half way through dinner and conversations when the front door opened.

The sound of shoes being kicked off and sighs made it's way to our room - Benjamin's here.

"Hell-o!" He extended his words, entering the room. "Oh- I'm sorry, I didn't know I'd be interrupting."

"Not a problem." Mom welcomed him. "Benny this is Theo's friend, Camila, and her sister, Zoe."

"Hey."

"Hi." Camila and Zoe smiled.

"Lovely to meet you both, I'll stay out of your hair..."

"Have you eaten? There's plenty to go around."

"Mhm..." he thought, like it was a life or death question. "Okay, fine." He smiled, pulling out a seat beside Becca.

"Oh Camila, do you still draw? Benjamin here is quite the artist..."