Thea

The air has an official cold sting in the mornings. Colorful leaves are beginning to fall to the ground, its nature's signal that winter is just around the corner.

I'm going to miss how beautiful campus gets during the seasonal changes on my walks over to the gym during the fall. Only 1 more year of this.

I'm doing my best to savor every single moment that I have here on campus with Will and my friends. I know Will will get drafted, and I try to give him words of encouragement about it as much as I can. What I'm truly worried about is where his next journey will take him.

What if he ends up going all the way back to the West coast? I love him so much and the thought of him moving far away from me has prevented me from telling him my feelings for him.

Ugh, I'm so attached and I don't know if this is a good thing.

There are many lessons that I've learned during my relationship with Zach.

1. Do not become too dependent on a guy.

Couples tend to hang out with each other nonstop (exactly what I did) and end up losing some of their friendships because of it. I'm so lucky that my closest friends have stuck with me and I can't imagine my life without them.

Will also always gives me space when I want/need it. I want to have a girls night? Will is there to pick our drunk asses up at the end of the night.

2. Boundaries are important.

I want to spend some alone time at my own place? "Sure, babe. Just let me know when you wanna see each other again."

He's just so freaking perfect.

I think we all remember what happened when I wanted to do things with my friends when I was with Zach. I was so engrossed in my relationship with him, with him being my first it made me miss all the red flags.

My current relationship feels like a walk in the park compared to my last. Will is so important to me, I'm scared of what could happen if we don't work out.

What if he decides to break up if he ends up moving far away? There are already tons of girls who are all over him, can you imagine what it'll be like when he goes pro? There's going to be a hundred Ashleys out there that I'll be up against. I don't know if my heart would be able to take any of this.

And that, is why I'm afraid to tell him that I love him. He deserves to know and I'm dying to say it but I'm also scared of what could possibly happen to my heart in the future. I trust him, but Zach has also caused a small nick at my trust and unfortunately, that has carried onto Will.

It doesn't help that I'm extremely nervous about this weekend. Will's parents are coming to visit him and Alana. I get the feeling that they wouldn't be coming if Alana wasn't here though.

They tend to favor her because she has more interest in the family business. She loves soccer but isn't interested in going pro and she has a knack for business. In their eyes she's perfect but Will being older and a guy (rolling my eyes), has made them disappointed that their only son's aspirations is playing basketball.

Most families out there would be so supportive and ecstatic that their son is such an extraordinary player and en route to becoming a pro but unfortunately, he was given the most unsupportive people as parents.

Will asked me if I wanted to meet them for dinner on Friday night warning me that they can be a lot and that I can say no but I wanted to be there for him. I'm hoping that my attendance will make them back off of their criticizing over Will's every move.

***

"Babe, you ready? We need to head out soon!"

"Yep, give me 2 more seconds then we're out of here."

Will's parent's chose a fancy restaurant in the heart of the city and I've decided to wear black pants, a pretty white blouse with a trench coach to swarn off the cold.

We'll be meeting his parents and Alana there since they mentioned that they would be picking her up from her dorm.

"You look beautiful, Chan." Will says bending down to give me a kiss on the lips

"You don't look too bad yourself." I say, smoothing down his button up shirt with both of my hands

Will's been quieter then usual today but I make no move to press him about it. I'm going to respect his space the way he does mine.

"Let's go before my dad reams me for making them wait."

On our way over, Will's normal laid back personality and body language continues to be rigid.

His fingers tap on the steering wheel and it's dead silent without the radio or one of his playlists playing in the background.

I don't want to make him more tense if I can avoid it but I need to hear that he'll be okay.

"You wanna talk about it?" I ask while looking over to his side profile

He sighs, "I'm sorry, Chan. I just haven't been looking forward to this. I should've told you to avoid it but I didn't want to make it seem like I changed my mind and uninvited you. My dad's an asshole and there's no telling what he'll say today about me or our relationship. Neither of my parents know we're together and once they do, I'll never hear the end of how I'm sacrificing my time fucking around over basketball and a girlfriend over caring about the company. I don't want to hide you anymore but I don't want them to offend you in any way."

It's news to me that they don't know about us but I'm not angry about it. If he was hiding me from Alana; someone who he loves and cares about so much, I would feel differently.

I place my hand on his thigh and he grabs it, kissing my knuckles while his other hand remains on the steering wheel.

"Babe, I don't care what they say about me. I'm here for you. You shouldn't have to deal with their patronizing comments alone. I know Alana will be there but now you have me as back up too."

His shoulders loosen up slightly and he glances my way momentarily as he says, "I don't deserve you."

My heart squeezes in my chest.

"You deserve someone who will support you all the way through and that's what I will do for you."

When we get to the restaurant, the hostess leads us to the table and his parents immediately catch my eyes.

His dad has dark brown hair that are grayed on the sides. He looks like an older version of Will, minus the green eyes. His mom has dark blonde hair with familiar green eyes. Alana looks almost exactly like her, it's striking.

Although they're both sitting, I can tell that they're tall. When we get close enough to the table, Will and I hug Alana in greeting, I'm glad she's sitting to my right. I almost feel protected with the Jameson siblings sandwiching me and I feel more confident about facing their parents.

Neither parents make the move to get up and greet me or Will in a loving hug the way Alana did with us. Already, I'm feeling awkward.

"Mom, Dad. This is Thea, my girlfriend. Thea this is Katherine and Richard Jameson."

Will sounds stiff, like he's introducing a business associate and not his parents. I've never seen him so cold, he's the most easy going person I know. It's like the moment we stepped into this place, a mask has dropped onto his face and he's became a different persona.

I paste on a smile and offer my hand out in a handshake.

"It's nice to meet you both. I'm so happy to meet the people who have raised Will."

They both shake my hand firmly. Katherine, tries to be more personable with a small smile but Richard just looks at me in a grating way like he has x ray vision and can see every cell that makes up my body.

It's unnerving and puts me automatically on edge.

Alana taps my thigh under the table in a calming way almost like she's saying "You got this, girl."

"Well, we must not have raised him well enough if he wants to throw away his family company for some sport that he may not even make it through." Richard says condescendingly.

To my left, I feel Will's body stiffen up even more but he doesn't make a move to respond back to him. I'm sure he's use to his father's shit.

We just introduced ourselves and he's already making a rude comment about his son to me? Does he think I'll agree? How are they not proud of him? I've been to almost all of his games so far and he's amazing on the court.

I'm unable to take my eyes off of him when he's in game mode, and not because he's my boyfriend but because you can see how much passion he has for the sport and how competitive he can get.

Immediately, the nerves I once felt are replaced with anger and I know that I'm in for a long dinner.

xxx

Hello! Hope you enjoyed! Thank you so much for reading and don't be afraid to leave your comments