Let Me Perfect It

Chloe's POV

Being familiar with your surroundings is a wonderful feeling. It's like a sense of control returns when you realize you can navigate yourself through a city.

This is New York. This is home.

All of the girls seemed as excited as I was to see the city passing in the windows. None of us could settle down and it was easy to tell that we all just wanted to get off the bus and take in the sights of our home while we were given the chance.

I turned my attention away from the window for a moment to look at Brendon, who was sitting beside me. "I think," I said, a small smile playing on my lips, "Since our show isn't until tomorrow, how would you feel about me giving you the grand tour of New York?"

“Do I get to meet your parents?” Brendon teased, a small smile tugging at the edges of his lips.

A nervous laugh escaped my throat to cover my sudden loss of words. “I don't even think they know I'm in town,” I finally said. “Since my phone broke, I haven't had the chance to call them. I should stop by...”

Brendon smiled and I leaned forward, stealing a quick kiss. “Do you wanna call them?” He asked, digging into his pocket and retrieving his phone.

I nodded and took the cell phone from his hands. After a moment, I dialed the number to my parents' house. My mom answered the phone on the third ring.

”Hello?”
“Hey, Mom. It's Chloe.”
I could hear the smile in her voice when she said, ”Chloe! I've missed you! How are you doing? Where are you calling from?” She paused to laugh, “The caller ID had a weird area code...”
“I'm doing good, Mom,” I replied with a small laugh, “And, I'm calling from my.. boyfriend's phone. Mine broke the other day.”
After a short pause, she chuckled and said, ”Travis lives nearby, though...”
I sighed and bit my lip to stop the sudden emotions that shot through me. “Not him, mom,” I said simply.
”What happened? He was so nice!”
“Not really... but I'll explain that later, alright? I'm in town for the day, so I'm gonna come visit later.”
”Alright, Chloe. I'll let your father know.”
I smiled and said, “I'll see you later, mom. I've gotta go.”
”Alright,

We ended the conversation and I hung up the phone, returning it to Brendon.

"So, what did they say?" Brendon asked, wrapping his arms around my waist.

"They're expecting us," I smiled weakly, not sure how this dinner was gonna go. "We can leave once we get to the hotel, if you want,"

“Alright,” Brendon grinned before pulling me into a kiss. Without hesitation, I returned the action.

Fifteen minutes later and we were at the hotel. Brendon was in a different room than I was while I changed my clothes. I changed into a pair of dark blue jeans and a gray baseball tee with darker gray sleeves. For shoes, I slid my tall, silver boots over my jeans. I straightened my hair and pulled it into a ponytail, leaving only my bangs and some hair on the side down. Finally, I made sure any darkness left around my eye was hidden well.

Before I had a chance to leave the room and find Brendon, he entered the room. He looked great, with black jeans and a white button-up shirt, as well as black and white sneakers. He pulled me into a hug and gave me a quick kiss before asking, “Are you ready to go?”

I swallowed hard, my voice stuck in my throat. “Yeah,” I finally said, giving Brendon a meek smile before we left the room.

It's not hard to find a taxi in New York, and that was our form of travel between the hotel and the house. It was a short ride and eventually we arrived. I pushed away my nervousness as we approached the house – my parents couldn't do anything that bad.

I opened the door, entering the house. The furniture was set up the same way I'd last seen it. The matching sofa and recliner sitting in the same place, facing the television.

My dad was sitting on the recliner and my mother was in the kitchen, which I could easily see from the doorway. She turned her attention away from the stove to greet me. “Chloe! You're home!” She smiled, as she left the kitchen. “Where is this new boyfriend of yours?”

At that moment, Brendon entered the house behind me. “This is my mom,” I said to him, with a smile. “Mom, this is Brendon.”

In my peripheral vision, I noticed my dad turn away from the TV to look at us. He let out a sound that might have been a grunted, “Hi,” before returning to the TV.

“Don't mind him,” My mom said with a laugh, glancing towards my dad for a mere moment. It didn't take long before she found the best way to embarrass me while she had me finish up dinner.

"And this is when she three, wasn't she just cutest thing?" my mom asked holding the family photo album on the kitchen table as she pointed out pictures to Brendon.

"Why don't you wear your hair in pigtails anymore, Chloe?" Brendon smirked playfully.

I sighed, wishing the night was over already. I held up the wooden spoon, as if to say 'don't mess with me, boy,' and laughed.

Brendon returned the laugh before his attention went back to the pictures.

A few minutes, and a few more jokes about my childhood pictures and dinner was done. It was just spaghetti with garlic bread, nothing special. My mother quickly set the table and we sat down to eat.

We were having basic dinner conversation for a few minutes, with my mom asking me how everything was going with the band, and other simple questions. My dad hadn't said much and Brendon noticed; he turned to look at him and asked, “What do you think of your daughter's band, sir?” There was a small smile on his face.

“I don't think it's safe for my girl to be going all over the country with a bunch of people she's never even met.” He said, his voice rough.

“It's not dangerous, dad,” I interjected. “I'm with Sophie and the girls all the time, and all the other guys are really nice.”

“I just don't think you need to be surrounded by guys for months at a time,” He said simply. “Even you,” He looked straight at Brendon.

“Dad,” I sighed, but it was no use arguing.

“Chloe,” My mom said, giving me a sympathetic smile. I'm sure her next sentence was meant to change the subject, but it didn't work out that way. “What happened with Travis? He was such a nice boy...”

I took a deep breath, about to respond, when Brendon spoke up. “Yeah, he was so nice,” his voice was dripping with sarcasm. “That's why he-” He cut himself off and looked down at his almost-empty plate of food. “Nevermind.”

“That's why he what?” My mom asked before taking the last bite of her garlic bread.

I felt like a character in a cheesy soap opera, with a huge secret that could be revealed at any moment.

“That's- that's, um, why he kept arguing with her, about being on the tour, even when we were weeks into it.” It was easy to tell how hard it was for him to make that story up on the spot.

“Brendon, are you done eating?” I asked quickly, before my mom had a chance to respond. He nodded. “We should probably get back to the hotel, we need to rest before the show tomorrow.” I said, wanting to get out of there as quickly as possible.

“Yeah, definitely,” Brendon nodded; I could tell he wanted out of there as badly as I did at that moment.

We said our goodbyes to my parents and within ten minutes we were back in the cab, returning to the hotel.

"I'm sorry about them," I said to Brendon, moving over to rest my head on his shoulder. "I didn't expect them to be that ridiculous."

"Don't worry about it," Brendon said, followed by a yawn. "It wasn't that bad."

"Whatever you say," I chuckled, and we enjoyed the rest of the cab ride in a peaceful silence.