New In Town

"Maybe I should just go home." I muttered as Oliver continued to glare at the road in front of us. He sighed, turning left and moving up the drive-way towards his house. "I mean, I should probably sort this thing out with Dan and-"

"What thing?" I was caught off guard by his question. I was almost sure he wasn't even listening to me.

"Oh, um, you know. About my dad?"

"You have a dad?" He asked now looking rather confused.

"Well, of course I do. Babies aren't brought by stalks you know."

He rolled his eyes "I know, I just meant that you only live with your brother. I just thought maybe they died or something."

"My mother did." I frowned slightly at the thought of her. "My dad's in prison."

"Oh, I'm sorry." He said looking concerned.

"It's ok. I dealt with it a while ago. It doesn't bother me anymore." I said, smiling to reassure him. He nodded softly, still looking a bit concerned, and opened his door, getting out before moving over to my side and waiting as I got out. He took hold of my hand, surprising me, and lead me inside.

He was about to lead me up the stairs, most likely to his room, when we were stopped by his mum. "Oliver, who's this?" He turned around his eyes widening slightly. She glared at me as she interrogated her son, making me feel uncomfortable.

"This is Vivienne, mum. My girlfriend." She stared at Oli in shock for a couple of seconds before looking back at me and smiling.

"Vivienne, what a pretty name." She said, approaching us and rapping her arms around me, pulling me into a tight hug which I awkwardly returned. "How long have you two been going out?" She asked her son before gasping and turning towards me "Will you be staying for dinner?"

"Um, we haven't really been going out for long and I hope she'll stay for dinner." Oli said smiling. They both turned to me, expectant, and I merely nodded my head nervously in confirmation.

"Wonderful! I'll go tell your father." She said before returning to the kitchen. Oli beamed at me before taking hold of my hand again and leading up to his room.

"Um, Oliver?" I asked once we were seated on his bed. "A-are Val and Logan gonna be at dinner?"

He frowned before answering. "Logan might not be but Val will. But don't worry, I'll make sure she's nice." Oliver and I talked on his bed, time flying away as he told me about what had happened in his economics class that day. I merely listened to him, laughing when it was appropriate and nodding absent-mindedly when needed until his mother finally called us for the moment I had been dreading since the idea to eat here was mentioned.

Oliver must have noticed my sudden change of mood as his mother's voice floated through the thin walls because he quickly placed his hand in mine and started to whisper comforting words next to my ear. My breathing deepened with every step up until the point that I was practically gasping for air. I was broken from my worrying thoughts of Valery's snide comments and Logan's perverted ones my a deep chuckle.

"Jesus, Viv. Calm down, will ya? I already told you that I wouldn't let anyone hurt you."

"I'm not afraid you them hurting me." I mumbled, making sure he didn't hear me. 'I'm afraid they'll make your parents hate me...' I thought nervously, subconsciously tightening my grip on Oliver's hand.

"Ah, Oliver go and sit over there and Vivienne, you can sit next to him." She directed us to our seats, flashing us a comforting smile which I tried to return although I'm pretty sure it came off as a grimace.

Oliver's father was the first of the family, save Oli himself and his mother, to join us. He took a seat next to me, at the head of the table, not noticing the unfamiliar girl seated with his son until he placed his newspaper on the table to turn the page. "Who's this?" He asked, peering at me over the pair of reading glasses balancing on his nose.

I cleared my throat before answering, cutting my... boyfriend off "I'm Vivienne, Oliver's, um, girlfriend." I stuck my hand out for him to shake, he seemed just as surprised as I was by the action and as I sneaked a quick look at Oli, I noticed he was just smirking... looking kind of smug.

His father took my hand, smiling "Nice to meet you," He greeted before returning to his newspaper.

"You're in my dad's good books now." Oliver whispered in my ear. I turned to look at him, raising an eyebrow at his statement. "I'll tell you later." His said and smiled up at his mother when she entered the room, placing a big pot on the table.

"Oliver, darling, could you please go and get Valery?"

"No need, I'm here." The sound of Valery's high-pitched voice had me tensing in my seat before she had even fully entered the room. When she did finally arrive and noticed me sat at the dinner table, she didn't hesitate to attack me with a hostile glare "What the hell is she doing here?"

"Valery! How dare you insult a guest like that?! Especially a person so close to Oliver." Mrs. Winters scolded her niece, placing another dish in front of us.

"It's ok, I don't mind it." Both parents and Valery seemed surprised by my words, Oliver's mother composing herself quicker than the other two and speaking again.

"Even if you don't mind my niece's horrid behaviour," Valery's glare instantly grew fiercer "I would still like for her to a few manners."

We all finally sat down, me and Oliver next to each other, his father next to me at the head of the table, his mother next to him also at the head of the table, opposite her husband, and Valery opposite us, her glare shifting between me and Oli constantly.

Dinner was rather silent and I got the impression it was because of my presence. Despite the absence of much flowing conversation, Mr and Mrs. Winters, mainly Mrs. Winters, didn't hesitate to ask questions when had any. "How did you..." Mr. Winters paused, hesitating on how to finish his sentence "Get together?" I decided to let Oli answer that one and let him know my decision by looking away from his father and settling my eyes on his beautiful face.

"Uh, well on the first day she arrived in school, I just saw her, eating alone on the bleachers-"

"Because she's such a bitch she couldn't make any friends." Valery mumbled, playing with, but never eating, the carrots on her plate. Mrs. Winters glared at her but didn't say anything, letting Oliver continue.

"And it was the end of practice, I saw her and walked over to the bleachers and climbed them to sit next to her. We started talk- well, I started talking, she never said a word to me and well, I liked it, I liked her."

Oliver's POV:

I felt guilt fill me as soon as the words, the lies had left my lips. I didn't like her back then, all she did was interest me. But I liked her now, I liked her a lot. I looked over at her beautiful smiling face and the guilt intensified tenfold. And what made it all that little bit worse was the fact that if it all comes out, when it all comes, she's going to hate me, and she's going to be hurt, hurt by me.