The Fear Is Paralyzing

Quinn was dreading walking into her parents' house. She had missed the previous dinner and she knew they'd make up for that, asking her all kinds of questions and focusing on her. She could only hope Dean wasn't there, but she knew she wouldn't be that lucky. Dean tried on Garrett for money so he would be at every family dinner.
 
She didn't see Noah's car there yet, and she groaned as she walked to the front door. She walked inside, taking her jacket off. It may have been June, but it was still chilly in Pittsburgh for some reason. "Quinn, so nice to see you this week," Corinne said when she saw her daughter.
 
Quinn forced a smile on her face. "Sorry about last week, but you know I had to go to Detroit," she told her. She didn't know why her parents were making such a big deal about missing dinner, Noah had missed quite a few for courtroom cases he had to attend. But the rules were always different for Quinn, something she had learned to accept over the years.
 
"I saw they won last night," Corinne told her, and Quinn nodded her head. "So it's almost all over," she continued, and Quinn quickly realized that this had nothing to do with the playoffs and everything to do with Quinn's personal life. "Have you thought about how you're going to reveal everything?"
 
Quinn sighed. She hasn't even been three the minutes and her mother was already bringing this up. "No Mom, we have more important things to worry about right now," she told her.
 
"Meaning they're too busy screwing each other," Dean's voice rang out behind her, and Quinn slowly turned around to see he had a snide smile on his face.
 
"Dean," Garrett warned his son.
 
"It's true!" Dean exclaimed. "That's all those two do, isn't it, Quinn? You know he's only in it for the sex," he quipped.
 
Quinn rolled her eyes while Garrett said, "Dean, what did I tell you?"
 
Dean heeded the warning this time, backing off, leaving the living room and going into the kitchen
 
"Quinn, honey, is this a real relationship? Is it with everything?" Corinne asked, and Quinn's eyes went wide with disbelief. Did her mother truly she with Dean? Did she think Quinn and Kris were just messing around?
 
Quinn crossed her arms over her chest. "Yes, Mom, it's worth everything. I love him."
 
"I know you feel like you're in love, but are you sure it's not just the excitement of everything?" Garrett spoke up this time.
 
Fortunately, the front door opened and Claire and Noah walked in, giving a little bit of support for Quinn. "Dad, you've never even met Kris, let alone seen him and Quinn together," Noah instantly jumped into the conversation without so much as a greeting, having heard the conversation as he was walking in. "They're in love," he started matter-of-factly.
 
"Noah's right," Corinne said, and Quinn spun around to stare at her mother. Quinn couldn't believe it, had her mother just moved over to her side? "We haven't met Kris," she said, and Quinn's happiness had deflated. Of course Corinne couldn't be on her side even one time. Corinne looked at her daughter. "When do we get to meet him?" she asked
 
Quinn wanted to tell her never. She never wanted Kris to meet her family, except for Noah and Claire, whom he had already met. "I don't know," Quinn said with a sigh.
 
"Maybe you can bring him to dinner next week," Garrett suggested, and Quinn was ready to tell him there was no way in hell she'd ever subject him to family dinner, but Garrett continued. "That way we can have a little chat with him before everything becomes public knowledge."
 
Quinn shut her eyes. "I'll have to see if he wants to," she told him.
 
"Oh I'm sure he'd do anything for you if he's as in love with you as you claim," Dean spoke up. Quinn really didn't want to have Kris have to deal with Dean at dinner, whom she knew would make her life a living hell around Kris.
 
"I'll ask him,"Quinn promised, hoping they would drop the subject with that.
 
Corinne started to say something else, but Noah cut her off, giving Quinn a break. "So I've got this new case I'm starting," he said, drawing the attention to himself, and Quinn have him a thankful smile.
 
Dinner couldn't get over fast enough for Quinn, who was the first out the door after dinner. The conversation had gotten back on hockey and the playoffs, which led to get relationship coming out to the public. Claire had tried to help her feet the subject changed, and Noah shot her a sympathetic look, but the other three had taken over the conversation, not letting it go this time.
 
Dean's comments kept getting more rude, and Garrett eventually stopped trying to silence his son. Quinn could feel her headache growing as Corinne asked her is she was ready for the public hatred that was bound to happen when they found out she was dating Kris.
 
Quinn practically ran out the door, realizing when she got to her car that she had left her jacket inside. But she wasn't about to go back in to get it. It would just have to wait til next week. She had thought about texting Kris to let him know she was on her way back, but she didn't even bother, deciding to surprise him instead. He had told her he would go over to get place after practice, so she knew he had been there for at least an hour.
 
She made it home in record time, surprised to find not a lot of traffic on her route home. She parked her car, smiling to herself when she saw Kris's vehicle parked a few feet away in visitor's parking. She grabbed her purse off the seat next to her, shivering a bit as she opened her door to go inside.
 
As soon as she opened the door, her jaw dropped. Candles were lit around the room, and there was a bouquet of roses sitting on the table. She saw Kris sitting on her bed, smiling at her, and she just stared at him. "What in the world...?" she asked him.
 
Kris stood up as he spoke. "A little apology for last night," he began, his French-Canadian accent coming out strong with the words for some reason. "And something to make you feel a little better after your family dinner," he added.
 
Quinn couldn't help but smile at him as she stood on her tiptoes to give him a soft kiss on the lips. "Merci," she said softly.
 
"De rien, ma chere," he told her, deepening the kiss. Quinn could see his eyes turn a shade darker, and she knew this wasn't going to be any normal experience. This was going to be different, more special. And she was right.
 
His kisses were slower, more tender, but still needy. He needed her, and she needed him. He didn't rush things, taking his time stripping her of her clothes. And when she shivered when her dress hit the floor, Kris put his hands on either one of her arms, rubbing up and down to warm her up.
 
He slowly moved her to the bed, caressing her in all the right places, taking his time, kissing every spot of exposed skin on her body as he took off her panties. The look in his eyes made her weak in the knees, and she was hall happy she was lying down at the moment
 
Kris didn't want to pause and ruin the moment, but he knew he had to put a condom on. He did so as quickly as he could before looking down at Quinn, pushing her hair out of her eyes. Je t'aime," he whispered right in her ear as he entered her.
 
After they had both come and Kris had gone to dispose of the condom, he came back to her bed, cuddling her. Quinn leaned up, kissing him. "So I guess now is as good of time as any to tell you my parents want to meet you," she said, trying to stifle a giggle. She knew her timing was the worst, but she had to tell him at some point.
 
"Anytime you want me to," he smiled at her. She wasn't expecting him to accept so easily, but she didn't say anything.
 
"Thank you," she told him, giving him a quick peck on the lips. "And thank you for everything tonight," she added. "You didn't have to do all this. Hell, you shouldn't have, Kris! You should be focusing on the game tomorrow!"
 
Kris just held her tighter. "What I needed to do was keep from worrying about the game tomorrow and get a good night's sleep tonight. And I know I'm going to do that with you," he spoke.
 
Quinn didn't say anything but instead smiled up at him before kissing his chest again, snuggling into his arms for the evening.