"Hey mom! Dad!" I welcomed my family through the front door.

Tiffany was setting the table and Audrey was getting the food ready.

Tiffany invited Natalie and Ryan, but Ryan was apparently "busy" and with Noah. Something told me he was doing something else judging by the array of female voices in the background of the call, that he was not running errands with Noah.

I saw Audrey frown a bit when he declined, but I assured her that Ryan was just Ryan. He didn't 'do' relationships and she shouldn't take it personal or be too hung up on it. He was a bit of an asshole, but that, somehow, was the appeal of his character.

Natalie thankfully jumped at the offer, laughing when Tiffany told her the embarrassing story about dinner with my parents. She freaked out, while I wanted to bury my head in the ground.

So she was here, Natalie was sitting at the dining table, conversing with Tiffany as she helped set the table.

"Hello baby." The words sounded strange coming from my mother, considering Noah had called me those exact things.

"Hey Mel." My dad gave me a pat on the back and smiled. I found it quite hard to look him in the eye.

"Ah! You must be Natalie! Melanie told us about you." My mother's heels clicked on the ground as she ran to give Natalie a big hug. Natalie accepted the hug with open arms and a big smile.

"Wheres Noah? Thought you invited him." My father turned to me.

"Oh, he couldn't make it...unfortunately." I laughed, thinly smiling and sitting in my seat.

"Why not, I was hoping I'd have a chat with him."

I froze. I know he didn't mean it menacingly, but his tone of voice seemed to prove different. Did he know? No way. Well... it wasn't entirely impossible.

"He was busy today. Too short of notice." I bit my upper lip and took a bite of my salad.

"Bummer. Maybe next time" My father shrugged.

I slowly took a bite of a tomato, narrowing my eyes at him.

*

After we ate, my mother, Tiffany and Natalie went outside to look at the garden Tiffany had recently started. My mother was in love with plants, she was quite excited to see what greenery Tiffany had out back.

"You got any scotch?" My dad turned to me, rubbing his belly.

"Cabinet above the fridge." I sighed, pulling out my phone.

"Audrey, can you bring me a shot?" He turned to my sister and tapped her shoulder.

"I'm not your maid." She sneered at him and looked back at the tv, ignoring my father.

"Audrey, I need to talk to your sister. Go do something else." He sternly said to her, pointing to the cabinet above the fridge. She rolled her eyes, getting up dramatically from her seat and trudging to the kitchen.

"You too, Mel?" She asked.

"Yep." I turned to my dad, smiling innocently. I had a lingering feeling that I knew what this chat was about.

"Listen honey, I know you're an adult, and you can make your own decisions. And you have relationships." He began, avoiding eye contact.

"And relationships, romantic ones, require physical attraction, of course."

I internally cursed, saying a million different words that meant the same thing. Fuck. Shit.

"Okay dad-" I tried to cut him off, waving my hands in front of my face.

"Let me finish, Melanie." He said.

"As I was saying, of course you need physical attraction in a romantic relationship. It's the foundation of a good alliance."

I groaned, holding my head in my hands.

"And I understand, two very attractive young people, hormones, you two have a very sexual relationship and desire-" he rambled on.

"Okay dad, I know. Noah and I are hot and young. Get to the point." I figured it was better to get this over with. He didn't seem mad, which was good.

"Y'know, I was hoping Noah would be here so he could hear what I have to say-"

"The point, father!" I yelled out loud, covering my face in embarrassment.

"I know you and Noah had sex at the restaurant yesterday. And all I ask is that you have courtesy and know that making love while with your parents are present is inappropriate. Not to mention in a public setting."

I sighed, already feeling horrible.

"On Noah and I's behalf, we are sorry. We were working through...personal stuff and we didn't care about our... surroundings at the time." I frowned and rambled. I hope I said what he wanted to hear. Anything to get him to just stop and erase this from his memory.

Fact is, I really didn't regret what happened. It was exciting and I felt real passion in those minutes. Of course, maybe I shouldn't have been so fucking loud. I could always improve for next time.

"I also... heard you. Everyone in that section of the restaurant did. You're lucky no waiters were there."

He laughed out loud and patted my shoulder. I shrugged him off, my face in an uncomfortable frown.

"Are you done?"

"Make sure you let Noah know." My father said, drinking the shot in one swing.

"I'll pass the message along." I swished the cup, watching the liquid move around, sighing.

"Don't speak of this again." I said and walked away, leaving the drink in front of him. I felt too sick to drink.

*

"Are you free?" I asked Noah when he picked up.

"Give me about 10 minutes." He said.

"What are you doing?"

"I'll tell you later. What's up?"

"I just need to get out of the house." I laid on my bed, feeling the coolness of the fan against my face.

"Lunch didn't go well?" He asked, I heard his voice change tone.

"I'll have to tell you all about it later. My dad wanted to tell you something." I laughed and cringed with embarrassment. My face got red, luckily no one was here to see it.

"Oh boy. Is it about-"

"Yep."

We both laughed, immediately groaning after.

"He hates me, doesn't he?" I heard him laugh. I always loved his laugh. It was so contagious.

"Well he didn't say that. He said to be courteous of others." I said, emphasizing on the word "courteous" sarcastically.

"That's a tough one." He replied, still laughing.

"Gonna be hard to look at him in the eye, isn't it?" I giggled, imagining the awkward handshake my father and Noah would give to eachother next time they met.

"Alright baby, I'm on my way." He sighed, ignoring my last statement.

"Okay babe. Stay on the line because I really don't wanna go back out there." I rubbed my forehead and sighed, sitting up and staring at myself in the mirror.

I pulled down my shorts, noticing that they rode up my thigh harshly. I decided my blouse was ugly, a tan colored, loose, off the shoulder, rag looking thing. I just wore it because my mother bought it for me.

"Do you like blue?" I said to the phone, looking through the various tops in my closet.

"Yeah, why?" He replied.

"Just asking." I smiled and pulled out a light blue crop top, the ones that had thin straps and were tight around the chest area. I just made sure to grab a cardigan I had laying around so my parents wouldn't see me.

I walked in front of my mirror, pulling up my high waisted shorts, making sure I didn't have a camel toe or look weird. It was a pretty cute outfit, even with the ugly white cardigan sweater.

"Come outside. I refuse to step inside that house with your parents." I looked out the window, seeing Noah's black car pull up right as he said that.

"Give me a second, I kinda need to find an excuse to leave." I said as I put my hair up in a loose ponytail and applied a layer of mascara.

"20 seconds before I drive away." He humorously said, making me laugh and speed out my room.

"Dad, I'm heading to target to pick up a few things, I'll be back in a bit." I gave him a kiss on the cheek and walked towards the door.

"I know your mother didn't buy you that napkin you're wearing as a shirt." He stopped me and narrowed his eyes at me.

I scoffed, "The other shirt was too hot. I'll be fine, I have this." I lifted the sleeves of the cardigan and spun around.

"I'm not an idiot, dumbass, where you headed?" He jokingly remarked, lowering his head.

I started to feel bad, I usually never lied to my father's face.

"I never said you were. I'm meeting a friend to go run errands. I'll be back before dark." I smiled at him, tilting my head. Maybe he would believe me this time?

"Bring me a case of beer. Pay you back when I see it." He said as he waved me off, smiling softly.

I sighed and walked out the door, making sure it was shut before running to Noah's car.

"You're like a minute late, sorry." He shrugged and began driving away slowly.

"Open the door." I rolled my eyes and went to grab the handle, but everytime I tried he drove forwards.

He smirked, watching me groan everytime I missed the door handle. This went on for forever. Everytime I thought I had it, he moved a couple feet forwards. I laughed out loud, threatening to slash his tires and key the car.

"Should I call my father?" I put my hand on my hip, smiling devilishly. Noah stifled a laugh before finally letting me in.

"You can't hold that over my head forever." He grabbed my hand and gave it a peck before putting it back down, making my cheeks flush.

After I buckled up, I stared happily up at him. He tapped his thumbs on the steering wheel before turning to me.

"Where to?"

"We need to buy beer."

He looked down at me, raising his brow.

"I told my dad I was going to Target." I said, hiding my giggle behind my hand.

"He said he was paying."

"Guess we're going to target." He sighed, starting up the car and driving away.

--