Cliché

They walked through the door, letting their hands slip from each other. She run, happily, into the living room. He shut the door behind him, hearing the squeals and joyful voices of her family. Every year they would visit her family, everybody goes to her parents' house for a reunion. It always happened before Christmas.

He walked into the living room, being greeted by a chorused hello. "Joshua, it's so nice to see you!" Her mother engulfed him a hug, chuckling. He mumbled a response and smiled at her.

"Gloria, leave the boy alone, you'll suffocate him," a man standing next to the window told her. Joshua's eyes caught a sight of the glass in his hands. The liquid moved around the glass, swiftly. He brought his gaze away from the glass and at the family members who were chatting away. Gloria let him go and walked off to the kitchen, chuckling.

The family members asked them what they had done over the last year. They told them; leaving out that he had nearly turned back to alcohol, and that she had lost her job. Soon enough, her name was being called by her mother from the kitchen. She left him there, talking to her uncle as she walked into the kitchen.

As she entered the kitchen, her mother thrust glasses into her hands. She watched with intent as her mother opened the fridge door and took out several bottles of wine. Placing them down, her mother walked over to her.

"Please tell me that you're going further with this relationship this time," she said, taking the glasses back out of Hope's hands.

"Mother!" She exclaimed.

"Are you? Because, sweetie, you've known each other for half of your life; so, please tell me that you're going further," she pleaded.

"We're going slow and steady, mother,"

Her mother chuckled, "do you love him?"

Hope was taken back. "Of course I do!" She gasped. Her mother nodded as she began to pour some wine into glasses. She thought about what she said to him ages ago, that she didn't want to have a relationship with love. She knew how much that had hurt him; she could see it in his eyes. But, he went along with it, making her happy. She wished that she didn't say that to him now. "But, we've got an agreement, and I think this is how far the relationship goes."

The wine stopped pouring, and her mother turned to face her, a hand on her hips. "Agreement? You didn't, did you, Hope? To that poor boy?" She questioned, shaking her head.

Hope nodded her head. "I know, mother," she whispered, mostly to herself. She couldn't believe that she had either.

"I wonder how he must've felt. I know you don't like commitment, but you shouldn't have done that," her mother scolded her, continuing to pour the wine into glasses. "You're going to regret that, you know."

She nodded again, knowing that she would - that she already did - regret what she had said. "Can we just not talk about it now?" She asked, sighing. Her mother took a sideways glance at her, eyebrows raised. "I don't want to feel more guilty than I do, and this isn't helping!"

It was her mother's turn to nod her head now. "Of course, sweetie. Now, could you be a good daughter, and hand these out to everyone?" It was more of a demand than a question, but Hope agreed to it anyway.

"Just remember that Joshua drinks water," she reminded her before walking out of the room with two glasses in her hands.