"Do you usually do the food shopping?" I laughed, putting on our playlist and turning up the volume. He smirked over at me, taking a second to try to figure out what song was playing before nodding in acknowledgment.

"Mom and I would typically go together." He said, making it louder.

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"That's sweet." I said, reaching over for his hand, bringing it over onto my lap, intertwining our fingers. I could see his smile growing as he kept his eyes forward.

"I just like to help out." He shrugged, giggling to himself. "So, you're gonna have to be able to keep up. We kinda have a way of doing things."

"I'll try my best." I said softly, knowing I could never replace her. Nor would I ever want to. I loved the relationship he had with his mom; I wished more boys did. I liked to think that was why he was so gentle and understanding, having grown up under the influence of a woman's touch to such an extent.

As we pulled into the parking lot, he flashed me his usual playful grin before quickly making his way around the car to open my door before I had the chance to do it myself. At this point, I stopped fighting it, but I loved seeing just how effort he put into keeping it going, always assuring him that once again, he beat me to it.

"Thank you." I laughed. He instantly reached down for my hand, helping me out of the car and guided us into the grocery store that was already packed.

"Looks like everyone had the same idea." He said, swiftly guiding me down the aisles, casually grabbing things as we went along.

"I can hold something if you wa-"

"No, no it's okay I got it." He said simply.

"Aren't I supposed to be helping you?"

"You help me by being here." He said, flashing me a toothy grin. I couldn't help but smile, feeling my cheeks burn.

And in a flash we were already in the checkout line.

"You weren't kidding when you said you had a way of doing things." I said, watching as he quickly scanned everything, placing them into the shopping bags without skipping a beat.

"We learned how to be fast." He smirked. "Mom hated wasting her day in here, which was mainly why I started going with her, I figured it would speed up the process."

"Well, it's nice to know you're so domestic." I laughed. He peeked back up at me, his eyes lighting up.

"Why's that?" He asked, his eager grin making my heart beat faster, now realizing what I was saying.

"N-no reason." I muttered, bringing my attention back to the scanner.

Though I guess it was only natural to start thinking of someone like that, cause isn't that what we all wanted? Someone we knew we could trust to build a life with, someone who could handle the "adult things" where the rest of us might be lacking.

As we got older, these were the kind of things that mattered the most. Is this someone I'd want to come home to every night? Someone who I'd want to share a home with? Have children with?

Our whole lives we were forced to settle for so many things, and it always made me sad to see people settling for the one thing in our life we should be romanticizing; the one person you'd be spending the rest of your life with.

Him and I were so lucky to grow up with parents who loved each other so much, and showed us what it truly meant to love, so the idea of getting to share that with someone like him..

Dreaming of the future suddenly became a little more.. exciting.

"So.. who all comes over for Thanksgiving?" I asked as we made our way back out to his car. He popped open the trunk, carefully placing them inside before coming around, opening my door again, leaning up against the car as I sat down.

"Pretty much everyone." He laughed. "This and Christmas are a pretty big deal, and Mom loves hosting so.. she insists everyone comes over to our house."

"And who's.. everyone?" I asked nervously. He gave me a gentle smile, more than aware of how I got with much bigger crowds, especially of those I didn't know.

"Well, some people from the neighborhood that basically come to all the parties, my aunt and uncle and their two kids, my cousins and their kids, and.. really just anyone else who just decides to show up." I nodded, trying my best to do the math.

"But don't worry. You'll have a spot next to me the entire night." He said, leaning into a gentle kiss before shutting the door and making his way around to the driver's side.

He was quiet for a bit on the drive back, I could tell, holding something back.

"What are you thinking about?" I asked, smirking over at him. He bit down on his lip, trying his best to contain his smile.

"It's.. it's nothing, it's just.. we should probably talk about.. well.. I mean, my family, they're gonna ask what we are." My heart jumped.

"Okay. And.. what do you want to tell them?"

"Well, you know what I want to tell then." He laughed. "But.. I just think taking our time is the best thing for us right now, and.. I don't think we should do anything just for other people."

"We don't have to say anything you don't want to."

"I know, it's just.." He said, his voice trailing off.

"What?" I asked, now starting to get nervous.

What could it possibly be?

"So.. my cousins are all kinda.. my age, and.. they're all established already, and they have their careers and.. families.." I couldn't help but smile, now feeling my face get hot.

"Mhm.."

"I just.. don't want you to get.. overwhelmed if my family bombards you with questions."

"What kind of questions?"

"About.. us."

"What about us?" He sighed, peeking back over at me again with a flustered grin.

"They already gave me a hard enough time last year, about how 'I should have my life together already' and how could we be so far behind when the rest of our cousins are all off living their own lives already, and.. I can just tell every year is gonna get worse, so.. if we don't tell them we're together, they're just gonna assume we're screwing around, but if we do.. they're gonna ask when things are gonna start getting more serious. Now, please don't freak out, it's normal, you don't have to think too much about it, I can talk to them and-"

"I don't mind." I sighed, looking back over at him. He stopped, his face now looking a little more relieved.

"I just know it can be a lot for some people, and.. in their mind, you go out, you get married, you have kids, and that's it. And.. that's not our path right now and that's okay and we don't have to feel bad about it. We can tell them about touring and school and everything else we have going on. So it'll be fine."

"It's okay." I assured him, reaching back over for his hand. I heard him sigh, his smile growing.

"I just really want you to be there. I've never had someone to bring, but I could understand if that might sound a little too.. overwhelming."

"I want to be there." I said. "It's okay. How bad could it be, right?" He playfully rolled is eyes.

"You'd be surprised." He laughed. "I can't tell you how many times they forced my little cousins on me because 'I better practice now so I'm ready when it's my turn.' But.. I don't even know if that's what I want. I feel like.. I haven't really lived yet. There are so many things I want to do and.. maybe I want a family like that one day, but.. I don't know."

I held my stare on him, just imagining how much of an amazing dad he would be one day. But if that wasn't something he wanted..

"Do you?" He asked. I quickly snapped out of it.

"Do I what?"

"Do you think.. you'd want that one day?"

Growing up, I never considered not being a mother one day. I guess like the rest of his family, that's just what I was taught. That's just what you did. I never saw it any other way. Until I met them, and they taught me how to dream, and suddenly it felt like anything was possible.

"I guess it all depends." I finally said.

"On what?"

"On a lot of things, I guess." He nodded, staying quiet as we finally pulled into driveway, but he didn't get out. So I stayed put.

"Like what?" He asked. I felt my face get hot, but little by little.. these things became easier and easier to talk to him about. Like it wasn't this "big thing" anymore, but just something that of course we would talk about with each other. I loved his ability to get me to open up about the parts of ourselves that everyone else seemed to want to keep hidden away.

"Well, what if.. filmmaking works out?" I asked. He nodded for a moment, keeping his eyes forward until a subtle smile spread across his lips.

"Well.. there are filmmakers with families." He said quietly.

"Mhm.." I agreed. "And.. what if the band works out?"

"People in bands have families too.." He said. I nodded, noticing his demeanor starting to change from anxious.. to hopeful.

"So, I don't think that.. it necessarily needs to be.. one or the other." I muttered. "I think.. if.. the timing was right, I think.. we could do anything." He turned back to face me, his eyes instantly lighting up.

"We?"