So, if you are too tired to speak, sit next to me. Because I, too, am fluent in silence.

-R. Arnold.

-Luke-

"Okay, what's up with the staring?" I asked, placing my spoon down. Since the second I walked in the kitchen mum and dad have been staring at me, watching every single move I've made. From grabbing a bowl from the cupboard, to pouring myself cereal, and even when I lift the spoon up to my mouth. I ignored it at first but now it's getting creepy.

Mum shrugged, finally turning her head in another direction as she looked down and played with the tea bag in her mug. "Oh, nothing, nothing." She said casually. I quirked my eyebrow, turning to dad who looked down almost immediately. With a sigh I lifted the spoon to my mouth and was about to take another bite when I felt their eyes on me again.

"Alright, spit it out." I demanded. Dad started to chuckle as he turned around to pour himself some coffee whereas mum, well she just gave me a grin with a glint in her eye that would most likely give me nightmares.

"Look Thomas, he's still on cloud nine! He's stuck in his own world that he can't tell what we're talking about." I furrowed my eyebrows as she cooed and ruffled my hair. "Mum, what on bloody earth are you talking about?" Dad groaned and lifted his hands in the air like it was the most obvious thing in the world, resulting in him dropping some coffee on the floor. Rather he had no clue it fell or he noticed and didn't care because he just started to speak. "Did you kiss the lovely lady or not?" He asked. I suddenly swallowed my tongue, completely at loss for words.

"Aww look! He's blushing!" Mum squealed and just then I felt my face heating up. "I'm not blushing!" I defended. She let out a sarcastic laugh and pointed at the vegetable basket on the counter. "Luke, you're blushing so much that this tomato is jealous." I rolled my eyes and continued eating. That tomato should be in the FRUIT basket.

Before I got to speak my thoughts dad spoke up. "Come on did you?" They both looked at me as they waited for me to answer. I smiled asI recalled last night, but shook my head. "No, I didn't kiss her." I replied. Mum frowned and dad gaped at me. "Why not? And if you didn't why are you smiling?" This came from dad, which surprised me. Usually mum is asking these questions while dad laughs as he watches.

I shrugged as I played eight the spoon. "I didn't get the chance to kiss her. But nonetheless I still had fun at the party yesterday."

"What do you mean you didn't get the chance? Lucas Josephus Banfield," I cringed as mum stated my full name. I hate my middle name. "You didn't make her walk up to her doorstep on her own did you?!" I widened my eyes and shook my head. "No! No, of course not. I walked her up to her doorstep and I was going to kiss her but then her dad appeared out of nowhere."

Mum nodded in understanding but dad raised his eyebrows, as if expecting me to say more. "What?" I asked.

"So what was the big reason that stopped you from kissing her?" He asked with a shrug. I stared at him incredulously. Oh I don't know, maybe the fact that his expression read that he was going to taser me in a not so nice place if I didn't step away from his daughter. "Her dad was the reason. I couldn't just kiss Maggie right in front of him while he was shooting daggers at me." Mum giggled and shook her head.

"Well that's what I did." Dad stated. I looked up at him slightly confused. Mum gasped and lightly hit his arm as she laughed. "Oh my God, I remember that day. I can't believe you did that!" She faced me and started to explain when she saw my confused face.

"Well it was the sixth time we went on a date, your dad and I. And all the previous times before, when he would leave me at the door, we would almost get to kiss until my dad and my three overprotective brothers would just open the door and stare at us while cracking their knuckles. They wouldn't say a word, their faces expressed it all. Anyways, he would always sigh and end up kissing my hand only before letting me go inside, until the sixth date. Well the same thing as usual happened. We would almost kiss, but my dad and brothers would be there at the door. Your dad here got frustrated and told them to kill him if they wanted to, but he was going to get a kiss either way. After he grabbed me and bam! Kissed me right in front of them."

I stared at dad with wide eyes as he chuckled, looking like he was recalling that night. "I ended up being banned from seeing her for a whole month, but man was it worth it." He looked at mum and winked at her, causing her to blush. I swear these two are like teenagers.

I shook my head slowly and looked at my now soggy cereal. "Yeah well, I doubt he'd let me off that easily." My smirk turned into a frown as I looked up at my parents. "Never did I think you two would be urging me on to kiss someone." I said. Mum smiled and patted my shoulder.

"Well, Maggie is one of a kind and trust me, if she wasn't I wouldn't be encouraging it. I think you deserve to fully move on, you know? And I seems that Maggie's been the only one to help you do that." I gave her a small smile, swallowing down the lump in my throat. Mum grinned, suddenly lightening up the tension and patted my back twice. "Now, I don't know about you but I do recall your phone ringing just a second ago." She smirked as I widened my eyes and rushed upstairs. I grabbed my phone from my nightstand, wondering how I never heard it ringing. When I clicked the home button I frowned when I saw I had no missed calls.

"Very funny mum!" I exclaimed. I heard her and dad laugh as I groaned and flame planted onto my bed. Oh I love my parents.

-Maggie-

"Okay first things first. Did you or did you not get to kiss him?" I gasped in surprise as my bed sheet was suddenly pulled off me. Sarah stood there in her pajamas with a bright grin, mom right behind her. What made me smile was mom's hair, which was ticking out in random directions as she tried to decipher why in the world Sarah dragged her in here. I could see her perk up as Sarah asked the question and they both sat on my bed. I yawned, moving my hair out of my face and trying to control it. "Where's Graham?" I asked mid yawn. Just then dad walked in with Graham sitting on his shoulders. All the tiredness I had in me suddenly washed away as dad was about to step in my room, which would cause Graham to hit his head on the door frame and to fall off of my dad's shoulders. I could already see it happening.

"Stop! Stop walking!" I stood up with a start as my dad froze, shocked at my sudden outburst. I sighed in relief and walked up to him, reaching up and grabbing Graham despite mom's protests because of my stitches. "He could've gotten hit with the door frame." I said, explaining my shock moment. Dad sighed and shook his head. "I was going to duck." He took Graham from me again, this time setting him on his hip. I pouted, placing a kiss on Graham's forehead. "You still have your stitches." Das warned. I groaned and went back to my bed.

"Okay, so I'm waiting." Sarah said. I rolled my eyes and shook my head. "No we didn't kiss Sarah." She gasped and hit the bed. "Why not?!"

"Because Luke knew what would come after him if he laid a finger on Maggie." Sarah turned to dad and gasped. "You waited at the door didn't you? Dad! I told you not to! She was supposed to have a Cinderella night!"

"Exactly! Cinderella had to be home by midnight and she was home by eleven fifty-six. So yeah. I have no idea what version of Cinderella you watched but there was no kiss at the ball.... or the doorstep. Only kiss there was is at the wedding." I blushed as dad emphasized on the wedding part.

"This is so embarrassing. We only danced and talked. There's nothing more to it." I said. I tried to rack my mind for something else to talk about. "Dad, has Graham eaten some of that baby food?"

"Don't change the subject Maggie! You're hiding something." I looked up at mom as she put a hand on her hip. Jesus Maggie, you're beautiful without even trying. I blushed, quickly looking down so they wouldn't see it. Then again I'm pretty sure dad did since he was staring at me like a hawk.

"He just said some really nice things." I mumbled. I twiddled my fingers as Saran nudged my shoulders. "Care to elaborate what those really nice things were?" I groaned and covered my face. "Nope." I looked over at my phone as it chimed and grabbed it, open ring the text from Luke.

Was I the only one who was interrogated about last night?

"She's smiling. Why is she smiling? What did he say? It's not something inappropriate is it? Let me see that message." I looked up at dad as he walked further into the room, trying to peer over mom and Sarah's shoulder to see the message. I chuckled as mom tried telling him to relax and texted back.

Going through the interrogation right now.

"Luke and Maggie, sittin' in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g. First comes-"

"No! No kissing." Dad said sternly. I blushed as Sarah started to sing the song louder and dad protested. Suddenly my phone was snatched out of my hands and before I could process it my dad was on the phone.

With Luke on speaker.

"Hey Maggie mouse." Luke greeted. Dad gaped at me. "He has a pet name for you?" I blushed even harder, completely mortified that Luke heard that.

"Mr. Brown?" Luke asked through the phone.

"Why do you sound disappointed after hearing my voice instead. What were you expecting from my daughter? A cheesy conversation that leads to you asking her out?" I gasped and stood up from my bed, trying to reach for my phone but dad lifted his hand up, making it impossible to reach. It was silent on the other line until Luke cleared his throat.

"Actually, yes sir." I stopped moving and gaped at the phone. And then I started to blush even more. I'm pretty sure my face was scarlet right now. "And exactly where do you plan on taking her?" I looked at mom, silently begging her to help me. She muffled her laughs and shrugged.

"Well, I want to take her to the most cliché date ever. You know, picnic on the beach, talking while we watch the sunset- of course I won't touch her- watching the stars right after, oh and we can't forget to walk along the edge of the water bare footed. Then I would take her home, peck her on the cheek, and then when she closes the door I'm going to grin like a man who just won the lottery. Except of course the person we are currently speaking of is much more valuable."

Mom and Sarah quietly awed as I turned on the ceiling fan, trying to cool down my face. Sorry, I just gotta, Kmdrjifjedokdmejdemwnfjrjrifkek! Yeah excuse that outburst but that sort of how my heart is feeling at the moment.

"I'll have to say you've earned most of my respect by saying that stuff. Just exclude the lío contact and I'll allow it." I bit my lip and started shaking my hands.

"Thank you sir. Well, I can now put a check mark by the cheesy conversation. Maggie, was that cheesy enough for you to say yes?" I widened my eyes and put my hands to my mouth. That little jerk knew I was here the whole time! I can practically see him smirking. "Uh, well- I g- uhhh." I was completely tongue tied, so I nodded. But then I realized he couldn't see me.

"Um, yeah. But only if we do something a little bit more casual." I finally managed to say. I was flattered he suggested all those thing but I could only take a certain amount of cliché. Sarah rolled her eyes just as Luke chuckled, sending chills down my spine. I shivered, cringing when my dad narrowed his eyes at me. Well that wasn't embarrassing.

"Deal. I'll be there at around five." I nodded my head once again before face palming after being met with silence. "Right! Uh, yeah. See you then." I managed to snatch the phone from my dad before hanging up the call. Mom and Sarah started to squeal immediately as dad walked out of the room with Graham who was starting to fuss with all the noise. "Maggie he's so charming!" This came from mom.

"If you don't make a move soon I swear I won't hesitate." I rolled my eyes with a laugh as Sarah warned me. "Were just two friends hanging out." I said. Sarah face palmed. "People who are just friends don't almost kiss and go on dates." She said. I blushed, once again, as she mentioned the almost kiss.

"Yeah and I've never seen someone blush so much. Might as well have idiopathic craniofacial erythema." Mom said. I buried my face in my bed. I started to think as mom and Sarah started looking for an outfit for me, even though it was barely nine thirty. I almost kissed Luke yesterday, and now I'm agreeing to go on another date with him. What in the world is wrong with me? I shouldn't be going on dates! I should be staying at home taking care of Graham. I- I'm leading Luke on.

"I need to cancel the date." I said as I stood up. Mom and Sarah stopped rummaging through my clothes to look at me. "Why?" Mom came back to the bed and grabbed my hand. I looked down at my lap, frowning.

"Because, the last thing I should be doing is going on dates with a nice guy and leading him on just to have it end to nothing. Mom, I have a baby. I have responsibilities as a mom just like you do and I don't think that dating should be on one of those lists. Maybe when I'm older, but now?" I bit my lip and shook my head.

"I should just stop before we get our hopes up."

"Maggie, as a mother I am telling you that you are right, you do have responsibilities. But as a mom, I'm telling you that you haven't been doing nothing but completing them ever since day one. Dating won't hurt. Just because you go on dates it doesn't mean he'll be laying child support. Right now you two are just getting to know each other, not getting married. To date him doesn't mean giving him court papers to grant him joint custody of Graham. I know that what's holding you back is that you don't want him to think you're dating him just for help with Graham. Heck, you've managed to raise him right for six and a half months, you can do it even longer. He knows that too; otherwise he wouldn't be asking you out."

I nodded my head slowly, taking a deep breath. "What if Graham latches on to him?" I asked. Mom smiled and put her hand on my shoulder. "Well, I would say that isn't going to happen but while you were at the hospital Graham was always leaning towards him when he walked in the room." I widened my eyes but she stopped ,e from speaking.

"Latched onto him or not, that shouldn't scare you. Just look at them as best friends." Mom winked, standing me up from my bed and pulling me towards my drawer where Sarah already had my clothes picked out. "We have time to binge watch on Netflix, so let's go. At four you can start getting ready." Sarah started to walk out of the room as I groaned.

"But I wanna play with Graham."

"Well first you guys need to eat. Second, I'll let Graham sit on your lap but you can't move a lot." I shot mom a grateful smile as we headed downstairs. We ended up watching five episodes of Grey's Anatomy before Sarah checked the time.

"It's four fifty-two!" I widened my eyes and looked at the clock on the wall. I had to start getting ready a long time ago. To make matters worse my phone chimed. I gently pulled it out from Graham's hands and got off the Elmo episode on YouTube, reading the message I received.

Five minutes away, see you in a bit ;)

"He's only five minutes away!" I exclaimed. Mom jumped up from the couch, picking Graham up from my lap and running upstairs after Sarah, me following behind.

"Maggie, you put on your clothes they're in your desk. Mom, connect the blow dryer. I'll get your shoes and do your hair after." Sarah ran into my closet as I hopped into the outfit she picked out for me, high waisted shorts and a white shirt with black stripes that goes tucked in. As I tucked the hem in my shorts Sarah came out of my closet and tossed me my black converse with a matching pair of socks. I put them on and tied the laces before brushing my teeth quickly and putting on deodorant, something I should've done earlier.

Sarah pulled me onto my chair as mom grabbed her own blow dryer, and together they started doing my hair. After they finished attacking my head Sarah added some heat protection for my hair as mom started doing my make up lightly. Mascara, blush, lipgloss. The doorbell rang and Mom jumped up. "He's here! Oh my God he's here." I laughed as she ran out of the room but then panic started to kick in. "Oh my God he's here." I said. Sarah nodded, putting on a little bit of perfume on me. "Alright, now you go down there and have the best Saturday night of your life. And I want every single detail this time." She warned. I nodded my head before we both rushed downstairs.

Luke was talking with my mom about wherever he was planning on taking me, but all I managed to hear was something about pots before he abruptly stopped talking when he spotted me. He grinned as I walked further up to him. "You look gorgeous." He said. I internally groaned as hear started to ambush my face. As I was looking down I decided to check him- I mean analyze him. He was wearing jeans, some very good looking Nike shoes, and a gray t shirt with a flannel over it. I couldn't help but ogle- I mean mutually agree with the way his t shirt hugged his chest and abdomen. As I looked up at his face he had a light smile, his usually shaggy- in a good way- hair was sporting a black cap that was on backwards so it wouldn't cover his eyes.

"You look hot." The words blurted out of my mouth before I could process them. Sarah widened her eyes and tried muffling her laughs along with mom while Luke quirked an eyebrow and simply smirked. Oh look, what a surprise. I'm blushing again.

"I mean nice!" I cleared my throat and lowered my voice. "You look nice." Luke softly chuckled and grabbed both my hands lightly in his. "You ready?" I nodded my head slowly, getting ready to follow him out the door until I remembered about Graham. "Wait! Uh guys, Graham has to have his bottle at-"

"We know!" Mom and Sarah both exclaimed. I huffed as they pushed me out of the door, causing Luke to chuckle. "So, where are we going?" I asked. Luke grinned as he started his car when we got in.

"I'm glad you asked. You and I, are going- oh wait. This is the part where I tell you it's a surprise." I gasped and hit his arm. "You did that on purpose." I whined. He laughed and turned on the radio, letting it play softly. "It wouldn't be as fun if you didn't guess." He retorted.

"But if you must know," he added, "you and I are going to Narnia." I groaned as I fell for his trick again, causing him to laugh. "Your face, I can't even." He said. I raised my eyebrows. "What? As if yours is any better." I teased.

Luke glanced at me and shrugged. "Well I was saying that your face was cute as you got your hopes up only to start pouting. And besides, I'm pretty sure I look hot." I blushed, again, as he made fun of my choice of words just a second ago.

"Luke Banfield, you are one rude guy."