You Drain The Life From Me.

I was sitting on Garrett's bed, strumming the strings on the guitar that he "borrowed" from Trey, his older brother.

"What do I wear? What if they don't like me? What if they banish you from seeing me ever again? What if...?"

Questions like these were shooting out of Garrett's mouth at a shockingly rapid pace. He was walking back and forth in his room, fidgeting, trying to clear his head. Tonight, he was coming over for dinner at the O'Callaghan residence. It was nothing special, Garrett stayed for dinner often, just like the other boys in the band. This dinner was no different from the others.

Except for the fact that this was the dinner when Garrett and I would announce that we were in a relationship that was quite far from platonic.

"Garebear, can you please calm your tits? Everything will be fine. They already love you! And come on, it's not like they'll be surprised. Your parents weren't."

The last statement was completely true. This morning, I was standing in the Nickelsen's kitchen eating oatmeal when Garrett came and tried to tickle me. This resulted in Garrett getting oatmeal in his hair, me laughing, and him shutting me up with a kiss. His mother walked in from her early morning yoga class and said nothing but, "Glad to see you guys have finally realized what everyone else knew."

Garrett's dad walked in as well and just chuckled with that knowing smile on his face. Trey already knew, on account of Garrett telling him the minute it happened and all.

"Yeah, but what if their perspective changes because I'm suddenly making out with their daughter?"

"Okay, shut up. It won't happen because they've seen it happen when we were little, that time you kissed me on the cheek and John threw your toy dinosaur like a million miles away?"

"Yeah...I guess..."

"Now shut up and get dressed! My stomach yearns for food!"

"Fatty."

"Leave it up to you to still be able to make fun of me while being a nervous wreck."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"H-Hi Mr. O'Callaghan," he stuttered.

"Garrett! Hello! Come in, son," my dad replied, not noticing the buckets of nervousness in my boyfriend's voice.

My brothers, hiding behind the kitchen wall, snickered at him. When my dad wasn't looking, I flipped them off.

"We're having your favorite, homemade stir-fry!"

He couldn't even say anything, he just nodded. When my dad turned back and walked into the kitchen, I grabbed Gare's hand and held on tight. His hand was shaking and nothing could calm him down. I dragged him over to the dining table and he sat down in the guest chair next to John. I sat next to Shane and Ross on the other side of me, while my dad was at the head and my mother next to him.

My mother dished out all the food and we dug in. She noticed Garrett fidgeting with his noodles and she called him out on it, of course.

"Garrett, what's wrong, honey?"

"Oh, uh, nothing. This stir-fry is really good," he choked out.

"How can you say it's good if you haven't even eaten any yet?" John questioned.

I raised my foot and kicked him in the knee under the table. I grinned when he jumped about three inches into the air.

"Potato chip, what was that for?!"

"It was at accident, big bro."

"Yeah, sure, that didn't have anything to do with standing up for your boyfriend."

Garrett, who was taking a sip from his water, choked a little. My eyes darted in his direction, making sure he was okay.

"Garrett, are you sure you're okay?" my mother asked once again, while at the same time, my father asked, "Leigh has a boyfriend?"

"John, can you please shut up?"

"Uh, I'm sorry. Um, I uh..." Garrett stuttered.

To save him from the disease known as social awkwardness, I blurted out, "Guess what John did yesterday, dad!"

My father looked in my direction at the same time John did; my dad's face painted with curiosity and John's showing panic.

"He broke Ms. Clark's window."

Now it was John's turn to kick me on the knee, but I kicked his leg out of the way and it hit Shane instead.

"Ow, John!"

"You what?!" my dad bellowed.

John's face turned red and he started to stutter.

"Uhm, I was playing baseball..."

"You're paying for it this time!" by this time, they meant the fifth time.

Ms. Clark used to tell me that John's window breaking was becoming so regular that she might as well not have a window.

"I don't have any money, though!"

"Who's fault is that?"

"The record store's!"

"John..."

For a second, his eyes darted back and forth, looking for a way out of the spotlight. I guess he decided to blurt out, "Leigh has a boyfriend!"

Now I was the one choking on my water.

"For fuck's sake..." I mumbled quietly so my parents couldn't hear.

"Hey! I wanted to tell them!" whined Garrett, speaking for the first time tonight without stuttering. Then he realized what he had said and immediately bowed his head down to concentrate on his noodles. I guess they were pretty interesting because he didn't look up from them.

There was silence.

One. For the first time tonight, I was just as worried as Garrett about what my parents' reactions would be.

Two. Would they accept it? Would they be happy about it, just like the Nickelsens were?

Three. Oh, God. They hate it. They're going to keep me from seeing him. They're going to--

"Thank God it's Garrett she's dating!" my mother exclaimed.

"I knew something was up," laughed my dad, "Garrett usually never acts that nervous unless he's done something wrong or he's kissed my daughter."

Garrett smiled his meek little smile and finished eating.

"Welcome to the family, son."

"It's not like he was never not in it."