Chapter 37

I hurried downstairs, almost tripping in my heels. "Pete, are you ready?" I called and slid into my coat, grabbing my keys and my handbag. "Pete?" I repeated but when the door to the backyard opened, only Gabe came striding in. I rolled my eyes and glanced up at myself in the mirror, pulling my lipstick from my pocket and redoing it. "He'll be right there" Gabe replied. "You look good." "I'm still not your biggest fan, Gabe, you know that" I said, quickly, not wanting to get into this because I was way too stressed. "You know, I ran into your friend in the street today when I came over here." I froze and turned to him, putting the lipstick away. "What?" "Yeah, you know, Ally! She's so nice." I gritted my teeth and pressed my lips together, really not wanting to reply. "What about Sofia?" I asked because I just couldn't help it. "She broke up with me, okay?" I raised my eyebrows. "Bullshit, Gabe." He shook his head. "I swear she did. After we had been fighting and just ... realising it's not going to work out, she took that step first and she broke up with me. I admit, I wouldn't have waited much longer either but it was her, it was all her." So many thoughts were running through my head and I wanted to scream at him for hurting Sofia and I wanted to call her to confirm it but I knew there was no way she wanted to talk if she wouldn't tell me herself.

"I really can't deal with this right now, we need to meet my parents in ten minutes ... Pete!" He finally came hurrying through the door and put on his jacket. "Can we go?" I asked and he nodded quickly, kissing my cheek while walking past me. "Yeah, I'm sorry, Gabe, can you lock the door or are you leaving too?" "I'm leaving with you" Gabe replied and I opened the front door, making a motion with my hand for them to go outside. I quickly unplugged my phone from the charger and put it into my pocket. The guys walked past me and I locked the door behind us.

Gabe left and I sat down in the car with Pete. He rolled off the driveway and drove down the street, through the gate and into the city. "We're gonna be late" I said, checking my face in the mirror above the seat. Pete shook his head. "Fashionably late." I shook my head, looking at him in disbelief. "So now you don't want to make a good impression?" "Miller, is this important to you?" "Of course it's important to me, what of it is giving you the impression that it isn't?" He sighed. "I ... you shouldn't try so hard. They're your parents, what are they gonna do?" "They're gonna judge me and they're gonna judge you and I don't want them to. I know I usually don't care what other people think about me but when it's my parents ... I do. Sorry but ... I'm glad you're with me." He took my hand that was resting on my thigh, squeezing it comfortingly. I looked up at him and smiled.

There was nobody in front of the restaurant which led me to believe that they were inside already. Pete put his arm around me and pushed the door open. The waiter that greeted us asked our name and then brought us to a table in the back, in a corner by the window where I spotted my mother and father. They both had changed very little. My mother was wearing a black dress and her hair was tied back, my dad was in a suit. We approached them and they got up. "Hey, mum, hey, dad" I said and hugged them both, kissing them on both cheeks because I knew that's what they did in Spain.

"Charlotte, you look lovely" my mother said and gestured to my dress that was the same color as hers. "And I don't think pregnancy has effected you negatively one bit. How unfair, you should've seen me when I gave birth to you and your sister." "Well, I'm not that far in yet" I replied. "Anyway, mum, dad, this is Pete. Pete, these are my parents." Pete shook my mum's hand and I could see her holding his hand for a little longer while she eyed him up and down to not miss any details about him. "I'm Maria, hi" she said. Pete nodded with a smile. "It's really nice to meet you." My dad shook Pete's hand as well but he only looked at him briefly. "I'm James." Pete nodded. "Sir."

We all sat down. "This is a nice place" my mum said but I wasn't sure if she meant it. "Pete eats vegan a lot so we come here every now and then" I explained. "Vegan?" my dad asked. "Interesting." Pete just shrugged, I knew he didn't want to get into that. "So, you two are back together, that's really exciting." "It's not really, mum" I said, happy the waiter came right that second. I decided to not order wine even though I wanted to but I knew I'd just get a lecture from my parents and worry from Pete so I settled for ginger ale and pasta. While we waited, I had to fight the urge to not lean over and rest my head against Pete's shoulder. Underneath the table, he took my hand though when the next question was dropped.

"So, how are you going to go on? Are you going to get married? Live together?" "Actually, I'm moving back in with Pete next week" I said. "Her place is really not the right place for her or the baby" Pete added. I rolled my eyes. He didn't know my parents. "Why? What's wrong with it?" my dad asked. "Nothing, it's just not the nicest neighborhood" I said quickly, hoping they wouldn't ask any further questions about it but of course. "It worried me a lot" Pete said. I squeezed his hand so he'd shut up. "You've never been there so you can't really say anything about it" I said. "But it doesn't matter now because I'm moving in with Pete who lives in a gated community so I should be safe there ... whatever I need to be safe from." I was tense and I just wanted this whole evening to be over.

"Gated community?" my dad asked. "That's interesting, that must cost a fortune." I was sure Pete didn't want to discuss it but he dove right in. "Well, it's what makes me feel best, especially when my son is over." "Oh, you already have a child?" my mum asked. Pete nodded. "Yeah, from my first marriage." She nodded. "I hate when marriages fall apart but I mean, you may get a new chance with Charlotte." "Mum, we don't know about that yet" I said quickly because I didn't want to bring up that conflict again. We had avoided it this whole time. Pete nodded, now we were on the same side. "So, I understand that you make a living with music, is that correct?" my dad asked and I could sense the Spanish accent coming along in his way of talking. Pete nodded. "Yeah, I'm in a band, we just got back together a while ago and it's been going really great, it's mostly thanks to Charlie, she's been very supportive" I smiled, happy that the food came and I had an excuse not to say any more.

But Pete kept talking, he answered my parents' questions about everything, Ashlee and Bronx, Fall Out Boy, his childhood and his parents but then he told them that I had met them not too long ago. "You met his parents but you weren't going to invite us to meet Pete?" "We weren't even back together back then" I replied, stuffing my mouth with pasta once more but I was starting to run out. "Still." "I bet she didn't mean it in a bad way" Pete said with a smile and I patted his thigh thankfully, still chewing. I was glad that they didn't know anything about the accident because more and more stuff that I didn't to discuss with them was coming out. I had purposely styled my hair so it was covering the scratches on my forehead.

"So, Pete, how do you feel about that video that's going around of my daughter online?" my mother asked and I quickly swallowed. "We really don't need to talk about that, mum, it's not really something I want to remember" I said quickly. Pete sensed my discomfort too and tried to put it off with just once sentence. "I thought it was horrible, Benji, who uploaded the video, should be ashamed of himself for using Charlie like that and I have not been friends with him since." My mum's eyes widenend. "Friends? You were friends with this man?" My parents were both staring at Pete now who seemed a bit confused. "Yeah but I haven't been since he uploaded that tape." I gulped, I knew where this was headed. "Did you introduce her to this person?" my dad asked. Pete looked up at him and bit his lip. "Yeah and I couldn't be more sorry about it, I really regret it." "It's not your fault" I said quickly. But I knew this one negative impression was weighing all the positive stuff from earlier down. I ran my fingers through my hair, I was getting more and more uncomfortable.

My mother gasped. "What on Earth is that on your forehead, Charlotte?" she asked. My heart skipped a beat. "I fell" I said quickly, trying not to be too obvious. "How?" "Down the stairs, headfirst." "Charlotte, I've had these kinds of injuries before. Were you in a car accident?" my dad asked and I gulped. "No, I fell down the stairs. Why would I lie about this?" "Oh my god, James, you're right!" my mother exclaimed and it didn't matter what I was saying anymore. "Is that why I saw you drive here with a new car?" my dad asked. "Did you stalk out the window?" I interrupted and I could slowly feel my self-control slipping away from me, things were getting out of hand and I was busted, I felt like I was fourteen again.

"Oh my god, you were in New York, right? Is that when it happened?" my mother asked and Pete gave in. "It was my fault, not Charlie's" he said and I kicked him under the table but he didn't react. "I know I'm probably not making the best impression but I promise that I am trying to do everything that's best for your daughter." I hated this, he was doing so many good things for me and those two ... they were coming out. "Charlotte, I don't think this man can take care of you." "He can. And even if he couldn't ... I could take care of myself, thank you very much. But when I couldn't, Pete let me stay with him for nothing, he tried to find me a job when I lost mine and he was there for me when I had nothing. I'm publishing a magazine because of his help." "Is that how you got together?" my mum asked bluntly. "No!" Pete and I both exclaimed in unison. "I'm sorry that I'm making a bad impression but please believe me when I say that I only want what's best for Charlie and she's doing great." "What kind of father will you be?" my dad asked. "He is one already and he's doing a great job, Bronx is amazing" I said. My mother shook her head and I knew that she had heard enough and that she had passed judgement already. My dad was doubting but I knew he was also not thinking very highly of Pete.

We didn't talk all the way back to the house and when he unlocked the door, he headed straight upstairs. I locked the door and took off my shoes, following him. "Pete, what's wrong?" I asked, running after him. "Nothing" he muttered. "Don't behave like a girl, just tell me what's wrong." He pulled off his shirt and turned around. "I told you this would happen, I told you they wouldn't like me. I do my best so you can have everything and this is the impression I make?" He was getting more and more worked up over it and I rushed over to him, taking his hands into mine and looking up at him. His face looked like he was in pain so I got on my tiptoes and kissed him. "It doesn't matter what they think" I said on his lips. He pulled away, looking down at me. "It doesn't matter because I love you anyway, what are they gonna do about that?" He leaned in and kissed me again, urging me to go backwards which made me fall onto the bed. He crawled on top of me and kissed me harder, I was overwhelmed for a second, then spun us around. I looked down at him with my hands on his chest. "Tell me you don't worry" I said. "I don't worry" he said quickly and pulled me down again, pressing my lips onto his.