The Beach

“I think I’m sick.” Sawyer said, earning an eye roll from Alex, who was tossing a flannel shirt over the white undershirt he was already wearing.

“And I think you’re a bit fat liar and a coward.” Alex retorted, shaking his head with a laugh at his kind of girlfriend as she sat on his bed in a black and pink floral summer dress, swinging her legs against the bed, her black ballet flats creating a soft clicking noise as her shoes hit the bed frame.

“I’m nervous.” She whined, throwing Alex a pout that only resulted in another chuckle. “What if your parents don’t like me?” She continued, and Alex just laughed more.

“Sawyer. You met my parents ages ago and they adored you then. Why wouldn’t they adore you now?” Alex questioned, moving to sit next to Sawyer on the bed, wrapping his arm around her and pulling her close to him. She shrugged within his hold, not really having an answer for his question.

“I don’t know…” She trailed off. “Maybe they just don’t like who I’ve become?” She sounded stupid and she knew it, but Alex only sighed, realizing just exactly how nervous Sawyer was. Sawyer had never been a very self-conscious person. She was always so sure of herself, not really caring much for the thoughts and opinions of others, except for those within her closest circle. Hell, Alex still had a hard time telling if she cared what he thought, or if she just asked because she knew he had an opinion.

“Sawyer. My parents adored you years ago. I doubt that that’s gonna change once they realize how amazing you’ve become since then. You were absolutely amazing then, and now, well now you’re just phenomenal. They are going to be surprised, yea. And they are gonna be a bit confused, of course. But that’s not going to change anything.”

“It just feels so, I don’t know.” Sawyer paused, looking for the right words. “Out of order. We haven’t even been dating” She said, throwing up air quotes around the word, “for very long. It just feels awkward. Like what if they question about Allison? Or they prefer her over me?” At this, Alex couldn’t refrain from holding back laughter.

“Sawyer.” He said after managing to calm himself, moving to grab her hands into his, trying his best to not start laughing again. “My parents hated Allison. Like, really hated her. You would have to honestly try to be hated by my parents more than Allison was.”

Sawyer looked at Alex for a moment, trying to look for any signs of lying, but he looked and sounded sincere.

“Really?”

“Really, really.” Alex assured her, and she took a deep breath before nodding.

“Ok. I should probably finish getting ready. I don’t want us to be late.” Sawyer said, standing up and heading for her luggage. Alex shook his head at her, before standing up off the bed himself, moving in search of a beanie to toss on top of his head. His hair wasn’t exactly messy, but he had no desire to do anything to it since he knew he would be doing that for the wedding tomorrow.

It was only another 30 minutes later before Alex and Sawyer were sitting in the car on the way to the Gaskarth residence, and even though Alex had managed to squelch most of Sawyer’s nerves prior to leaving his house, it was becoming more obvious that Sawyer was overthinking once again.

She was trying really, really hard to not get overly nervous, because she knew that Alex hadn’t been lying to her. She knew he was being honest about his parents not hating her. But it was more than just his parents at dinner. A lot of family was in town for the wedding tomorrow and some of them would be at dinner tonight. Family she hadn’t met prior to today. And that thought was scary.

At some point before leaving the house, she knew that Alex had listed off who would be at dinner, but she couldn’t even remember much of it. She was pretty sure his aunt and uncle were gonna be there, along with some of his cousins, but she didn’t remember much past that. The more people she remembered would be there, the more nervous she was going to be. And she was trying so hard to keep her nerves in check. It wasn’t easy though.

“You’re thinking too much again.” Alex remarked, and Sawyer turned to look at him, shrugging a bit in response.

“Probably.” She admitted, and Alex sighed, moving his right hand off the steering wheel and grabbing her left hand. He rubbed circles with his fingers into her palm, trying to comfort her in some way.

It was only a minute later that they were pulling up outside of a cute two story home, a small yard with a small flower bed welcoming everyone. Alex parked the car and turned it off, turning to face Sawyer who had turned her attention to the house, looking at it as though it might house a monster. He reached over and grabbed her other hand, causing her focus to move to Alex.

“The only people that are in there that really matter are my parents. And my parents have already met you a few times.” Alex said, and Sawyer sighed, nodding.

“Stop freaking out. My mom is going to love you the second you tell her you made a boysenberry pie. And my dad will love you the second he takes a bite of it.” Alex said, and Sawyer couldn’t help but chuckle a bit.

“No let’s go.” Alex said moving away from Sawyer and getting out of the car. Sawyer took a deep breath before following his actions. She opened the back seat door, reaching to grab the pie she had baked at Alex’s house, before shutting that door as well. Alex had come around and was not next to Sawyer, wrapping an arm around her and leaning down to place a small kiss on her forehead.

The two made their way to the door, Sawyer tensing up a little bit underneath Alex’s touch with every step. Alex just gently urged her forward as they got up to the door.

“Relax” He whispered to her once more, kissing her head a last time before grabbing the door handle and pushing the door open.

“Mom. Dad. I’m here.” He said as he kicked her dirty sneakers off by the door. Sawyer rolled her eyes at his ever so classy entrance.

“Alexander” A female voice called excitedly, followed by footsteps that belonged to a woman roughly about Sawyer’s height, dark blond hair pulled neatly away from her face. She had a white apron on over her clothing, a dish towel in her hands as she seemingly dried or wiped them clean.

“Hi Mom.” Alex sad, letting go of Sawyer to move to give his mother a hug. As they pulled away, Mrs. Gaskarth’s eyes moved to Sawyer, going a little wide at the sight of her.

“Sawyer?” She questioned, and Sawyer smiled a little bit at Mrs.Gaskarth.

“Hi Mrs. G.” She said, and Mrs. Gaskarth smiled, moving away from her son and engulfing the blond into a large hug, Sawyer doing her best to hug back with the pie still in one of her hands.

Mrs. Gaskarth pulled away with a large smile.

“I had no idea Alex was bringing you!” She said excitedly, and Sawyer was able to relax a bit, because Alex’s mother seemed genuinely excited to have Sawyer there.

“Yea. Uh. Mom. Sawyer’s actually kinda my girlfriend.” Alex said, and his mother just smiled wider.

“Alexander.” His mother scolded lightly, the smile on her face never fading. “You didn’t tell me you even still talked to her! Oh hunny. Come with me. We have so much to catch up on.” She said, moving to grab Sawyer’s hand, only to realize that Sawyer was holding a pie. “Oh. You brought dessert!” She said, taking the pie out of Sawyer’s hand before dragging her away from Alex, who just laughed at his mother’s reaction.

He just wished he could see Sawyer’s face as his mother dragged her out of the room.

Alex moved to the front room, where he found his father and uncle sitting and watching the Ravens football game that was on. He chuckled, because it was so typical of his dad, but at the same time, he couldn’t help but let himself get sucked into the game almost instantly.

“Hey Dad. Uncle Dan.” Alex said before taking a seat next to his uncle on the couch.

“Hey Alexander” They both grumbled in reply before turning all attention back to the game, barely acknowledging Alex joining them.

It wasn’t until the game hit a commercial that the two elder men paid any attention to Alex.

“How was this last tour?” His dad asked, and Alex smiled, because he loved that his dad got so involved in what Alex was doing, always asking how things were going and wondering how their writing was progressing.

“It was awesome. The kids that came out were really into it and it was completely energizing. But being able to have a break was nice as well.” He replied.

“You been home resting?” His uncle asked, and Alex shook his head.

“No, not really. I’ve been in Virginia Beach. I typically go there over summer for a week or two on break.” Alex commented, causing his dad to raise his eyebrows at him. This was new information.

“You still go there?” He questioned, and Alex nodded slowly in response.

“uh yea. Actually. I do.” Alex said, and his dad nodded back in response.

“I bet Allison likes it there.” His uncle remarked, and Alex coughed a bit, reaching a hand to rub the ba/ck of his neck.

“Actually. Allison has never gone with me. And uh, she won’t be going with me in the future either.” Alex commented, before taking a deep breath. “We broke up. Well, I broke up with her. A while ago.”

“Oh. Well then, who the hell did you walk in with. I know I heard multiple voices.” His dad asked, curiosity getting the best of him.

“So uh. Do you remember Sawyer?” Alex asked, and now his dad was really intrigued.

“You still talk to Sawyer?” His dad asked, ignoring the game that had come back on tv.

“Actually. We’re kinda dating.” Alex said, and his dad nodded.

“I liked Sawyer.” He said, letting the conversation end and turning his attention back to the game.

Alex just stared at his dad for a second, not really surprised that the conversation had been that short lived. Sure, he had expected a little bit more shock, and a few more questions, but his dad wasn’t one to dwell too much on things that he didn’t deem worth an argument. Alex was gonna take this one as a victory, because his dad hadn’t exactly kept quiet about how he felt about Allison. He was just glad that he seemed moderately happy that Alex had mentioned Sawyer as his new girlfriend.

And his mother had looked beyond thrilled to have Sawyer in the house. Just like his dad, his mother hadn’t really cared for Allison and was probably thrilled that Alex had brought home anyone but her. His mother had always liked Sawyer while they had spent summers at the beach house, so he was so sure that she would be thrilled to see her again, and he was right. She was probably going to squeal with delight when she learned that they were actually dating, although he was sure that she suspected it since Alex had brought her to a family dinner.

A loud squeal erupted from the kitchen, sounding suspiciously like his mother, which only caused Alex to laugh a bit more.

He guessed his mother had just found out that they were dating.