This Must be Fiction

Our dinner finished smoothly. It almost made me cry to see my family again, and then to think about how I would have to lose them soon. My determination kicked in, and I remembered how I told myself that I would be different. My entire life didn't have to change because I was going to change. I would keep my family.

We all went back into the living room for drinks.

"Molly, do you want a Coke instead? I've heard a lot of things about you lately that are really... worrying me." My mom said from the kitchen.

"Mom, we talked about this. I'm not an alcoholic. But Coke is fine, if you insist."

"Good because that's what you're getting." She entered the room with a tray full of drinks, handing me the single soda can.

"I promise you, I'm not an alcoholic. At least, not anymore." I said.

"Is that because of a certain someone?" My mother asked. I looked at Ville.

"Maybe."

He raised his hands in front of him. "I haven't done a thing."

"Except spend time with me." I added. He leaned over and kissed me quickly.

"Awww." My parents said in unison, mocking us.

"Can't even kiss a guy around here..." I shook my head.

"Oh that reminds me! I have Molly's baby book around here..." My mom becan searching her bookshelves for the large scrap book she had put together years ago. I slapped my forehead.

"No, mom, please..." But it was too late. She had the book out and opened on Ville's lap as she hovered over him. "For the love of God..." I couldn't even look at the book.

"Oh look at her in her little tutu! Never did take for dancing..." My mom said. Ville's laughter shook the room.

"They kicked me out of the class." I said quietly. He laughed harder. I blushed.

"For what?"

"Throwing up on another girl..."

Again, the laughter shook the room. Ville was not alone.

"Oh and here she is on her first day pre-school." My mom pointed to a new set of pictures.

"Alright, ok. He's seen enough." I took the book from Ville's lap while everyone was busy laughing.

"Oh wait, here's her high school year book!" Jason tossed a book to Ville. He caught it and began flipping.

"No! Absolutely not!" I yelled, leaping over the coffee table to steal the book away. Ville leaned back and held the book firmly.

"Just a few pages, dear. Come on, I want to see you from high school."

"It wasn't that long ago. Just look at me now and substract six years." I said, still in a struggle for the book.

"Molly, you're being rude. If Ville wants to look, let him."

"Ugh!" I groaned, throwing myself onto the couch beside him. It didn't take long for him to find the picture that I knew he would.

"What possessed you to do that!" He pointed at a picture of me with an outragious tan, hideously spiked hair, and eyeliner down to my cheeks.

"I was trying out the look!" I defended myself.

"That look lasted till... hmm.. senior year?" My brother introjected.

"No way.. I was way less... less THAT when I got into senior year."

"In your defense, that is true. But still I love that picture."

"Don't we all." I rolled my eyes.

Ville flipped threw a few more pages before shutting the book.

"Alright, I'm fulfilled with embarassing you for one night." He leaned over to kiss my cheek. I leaned away. "Aw come on, don't be bitter."

"I'm not bitter. I'm wallowing in pity."
My mom came over and hugged me. "I'm sure Ville had a phase too, dear."

"True. I had dredlocks for a year or two."

"Ew. You definitely have no room to judge me then."

"I would never judge you." He kissed my face. I let him this time.

"We should get going. I'm really tired. Jet lag is really starting to set in." I said to my parents. They both stood, ready to hug me. I have each their respectable good bye, and kissed my brother on the cheek.

"I'll call tomorrow. Love you." I said to them all.

"Love you too. It was nice meeting you Ville." My mom said.

"You too, see you soon."

"Oh crap, we haven't called a cab yet." I said, looking out the window.

"Cab? Oh honey take the old Honda." My dad said, digging through a box of keys on the end table.

"I can't take your car..." I said.

"Don't worry about it, I just bought a new one anyway. Just take good care of it."

"If you're sure...."

"Molly, you sent me the money for the car in the first place, so rightfully the old one is yours."
I remembered sending my family some money earlier this year, I guess I had forgotten just how much.

"Alright. Thanks Daddy." I kissed his cheek again and went in for another round of hugs with the family.

Once in the car, Ville let out a deep breath.
"They like me. And not to toot my own horn, but they like me a lot."

"I knew they would."

"You did not! You thought they hated me already."

"Well didn't they?" I asked with a smile lurking behind my lips.

"It wasn't hate it was.... dislike." His tone had went from arrogent to embarassed.
I rubbed his leg.

We pulled out of the driveway and headed down the street, but Ville suddenly grabbed my shoulder with a slightly rough touch.

"Sweetie, can you pull over up here?" He pointed to the corner.

"Sure. Is everything ok?"
I pulled over and he sprinted from the car into the bushes that were hidden from my sight. Ten seconds later, he jogged back with a slight smile on his face.

"Sorry."

"What was that?"

"I ate dinner with your family."

"Oh! I had completely forgotten. Are you ok?" I rubbed his back. I just realized how hard he had tried to impress my parents by actually eating food.

"Fine. It's all out of my system."

"Do vampires get pale when they're sick?" I asked. He laughed as I pulled away from the corner.

"I don't think I could get any paler than I am."

We spent the majority of the car ride to the condo mocking each other for our teenage outfit choices. No matter what he said about my style in tenth grade, I would not let him get away with having dred locks.

"Fine, fine dred locks are bad, but your tan... that was pretty brutal."

"You're telling me, I had to sit in a tanning bed for a year and a half." I rolled my eyes. We were just pulling into the driveway. I yawned just as I was unlocking our front door. My heart sank once I saw the inside and realize that we were not in the tower. I know I had only lived there for about a week, but it felt more like home than anywhere else I'd ever lived.

"Love, you're eventually going to have to accept the fact that we're living here." Ville put his hands on my shoulders and rubbed them.

"I know that. Please don't remind me." I took a step away from him and made my way up the stairs.

"I'm sorry. I want you to be happy, and I know that you've been really stressed lately. But focusing on the fact that we're living in this condo isn't going to help anything."

"Fuck Ville, I know that! Jesus Christ leave it alone will you?" I turned to face him in the hallway. He looked surprised, which was expected. I continued walking towards out bedroom.

"I didn't deserve that." He said quietly as I began stripping off my dress and digging through my bag for pajamas.

"Please, Ville. We had a good night, I don't want to fight. Can we just go to bed?"

"Well, I didn't deserve you yelling at me. I didn't say anything wrong."
I slipped under the covers and patted the spot next to me.

"You're lucky I'm an easy girlfriend and am willing to apologize. I'm sorry, I should not have snapped."

He crawled on top of me, forcing me to lay down while he hovered slightly above me. My breath quickened.

"I'm sorry too." He kissed me quickly before trailing some down my neck and back up to my lips.

"You don't have anything to be sorry for." I breathed out.

"Yeah, but I figure if we're getting married, I better get used to apologizing for things I didn't do."

I laughed at him. "I like the sound of that."