Fight or Flight

The first month of dating was not like in the books or the movies. It was not a summer-fling from a sugary, teen novel. It was not like 500 Days of Summer or A Walk To Remember. It was an adult relationship. The casual outings and dates continued as like when they were just friends, but carnival rides and ice cream parlors were not there. No, Veronica was too mature for that type of relationship.

Matt greeted Veronica at his front door. She adjusted her overnight bag on her shoulder to give her space to kiss his lips and hold him close to her. It'd become a routine in the past month. She would spend the weekends at his house and he occasionally stayed at hers. She preferred spending time together at his spacious home than her small apartment.

They rarely saw each other on the weekdays unless Matt volunteered to drive the twenty-five minutes to Newport Beach. By the time she got home at night, Veronica was always exhausted without a doubt. They were both okay with not seeing each other 24/7. As adults, they didn't feel the need to have to be around each other all day, every day. Veronica liked her space. She thought of it as an almost exclusive relationship.

"I made dinner," He told her after he shut and locked the front door. "How does spaghetti sound?"

"It sounds great," Veronica said, placing her hand over her empty stomach. It'd been growling since after her lunch break at work. "I'm starving."

"You didn't eat again?"

"I ate lunch, I just haven't eaten since then," She told him. Her lunch break was at noon. Sometimes she had time to snack on slow days or pick up fast food on her way home, but today was not one of those days. The relentless Friday evening traffic wouldn't allow her to stop for food. She wanted to get to Matt's house as soon as she could.

She followed him to the kitchen. She wanted to eat first before anything else. Her mouth watered at the aroma of roasted tomatoes and garlic bread. She hung her bag over the back of a dining chair by its straps. She didn't have the patience to wait for Matt to prepare her plate. His home was now her home as he'd told her before. Therefore, she no longer felt like she needed to ask for access to things, especially his kitchen. Her mind and stomach was only on the food.

She immediately retrieved a ceramic bowl from the dish cabinet and walked over to the stove. She dug into the pot of spaghetti with a serving spoon, making a heaping pile of noodles in the bowl. She sliced the garlic loaf and stuck a slice into her bowl with the spaghetti. She grabbed a fork from the silverware drawer before sitting at the kitchen table. She turned the noodles into smooth spirals with her fork before shoving it into her mouth. She let out an approving moan at the delicious noodles in rich, flavorful tomato sauce.

"You really are starving, huh?" Matt chuckled as he watched her totally devour her food. He walked over to the stove to prepare his own dish.

"Mhmm," Veronica nodded, slurping a noodle into her mouth.

She was not a sloppy eater nor was she the cleanest. She wasn't the type to be afraid of eating in front of guys for the sake of being ladylike. She was not the one to pick over a salad on a date. When she was hungry, she was hungry. No man could ever ruin her appetite for fear of looking like a slob. She figured Matt had already accepted that about her being that he never commented on her eating skills.

"Thanks," She said when he placed a glass of fizzy soda in front of her. She'd forgotten to get herself something to drink while she was making her plate.

Matt took a seat at the table. He only ever used that table when she was around. She made eating dinner at the table less lonely. They ate in silence except for the sound of Veronica's fork occasionally scraping against the bowl and her noodle-slurping. Matt didn't mind at all. He liked watching her and each time, he fell more in love with her.

She hadn't exactly used the L-word on him yet. She wasn't sure what loving a man was or felt like. The only men in her life she'd ever loved were her father, Nathaniel, and her teammates. She wasn't sure if she was actually in love with Matt as her boyfriend or just really liked him in an intimate way. There was a big difference between the two.

Love was something she tried not to think about but thought about anyway. She remembered how loudly Audrey screamed in her ear when she called her on the phone. She'd told her that they were officially an item. Audrey asked for every detail like a high school girl would on losing her virginity.

Nathaniel was different. Audrey had obviously told him the news before Veronica did, and he asked her for the short story with intimate details excluded. He had taken it a lot better than Audrey, as a man. Besides, he couldn't let his tough image be ruined by congratulating his best friend on her boyfriend-win in the middle of training. They both agreed to keep her relationship quiet amongst her team and her friends on base. The last thing she needed was for the men to think she was softening by getting a boyfriend.

Telling Valary definitely went a lot better than expected. It was inevitable, almost. On another shopping trip, Val mentioned Matt and how Veronica was getting on with him. There was nothing to say, but to tell the truth. She didn't see the point in lying to the woman; she was only going to find out from Matt anyway. Veronica thought Val took it well and she even hugged Veronica on scoring her ex-husband. Veronica thought Val was just weird like that.

"So what'd you do today?" Veronica asked after she finished her food. Her stomach was full and greatly appreciated the meal. She pushed her bowl away from her and took a sip of the dark soda. It was Coca-Cola.

"Eh, Brian came over for a while. We just talked about some stage production stuff for the tour," Matt shrugged. His days were made of leisurely time when he wasn't recording or touring.

"Oh," Veronica nodded. She'd meant to ask when the next tour was, but for now, she left it alone. He would tell her when he got the information.

"How was work?"

Veronica groaned at the mention of her work day. "Exhausting, and a little boring."

She never went into detail with what she did at work because some things he probably wouldn't understand and some things were just a secret to the normal people.

"Sounds fun," He said sarcastically with a laugh. He clicked his tongue like he’d just remembered something. "Oh yeah, my parents did call earlier..."

"Really?" Veronica asked. She'd never met his parents. "That's good."

"They decided by themselves that it was time to meet you," He continued. "They want me and you to go over for dinner on Sunday."

Veronica refrained from gasping and choking at the surprise. "Really? Wow, that's soon."

"I can tell them you're working that day or something," He offered to make an excuse for her.

She put her hand up to stop him. "It's fine. I'll go."

"That's great," He smiled. "They'll love you, Veronica."

"Yeah." She licked her lips, tasting tomato sauce. She was losing her mind inside. If his parents wanted to meet her, then she was going to meet them.