First And Forever (under reconstruction) (Wattys2018)

Chapter 20: Meeting The Parents Take 2, Liam's POV (edited)

I'm sitting in my room texting Clair, waiting for when I can leave to go meet her parents. I'm nervous as hell, but I hope I don't show it. Clair has been looking forward to this ever since I said I was able to go, and I'm not going to be the douche to ruin this for her. She's already met my parents, and they love her. Now it's my turn to meet her parents, and I'm worried. Are they going to approve of such a rebellious country boy like me?  What if I say the wrong thing, what if I screw this up? I bite my lip as I pace my  room rapidly, worrying myself as I wait for my girlfriend to text me. My phone buzzes with a text, I pretty much pounce on it. 

"William Jackson Black, stop pacing, you're creating a draft downstairs..." 

I glare at the screen, "Sorry Mom."

Another message buzzes my screen, Hey, Soldier! You can come over now, so I'll see you soon :) ~Clair

P.S- I hope you'll like dinner!

I bite my lip, marching downstairs with my head up as I walk to the garage to get my bike, here goes nothing...

~Time Lapse~

"So Liam, Clair tells me you're into hunting and things of that nature." I smile, feeling Clair's leg press closer to mine under the table as her father continues to question me. I've already given her the t-shirt I got her from Seattle, and she loved it. Her father is being very polite to me, her mother is polite enough, but still a little cold. Brandon isn't talking to me at all, doing nothing but sending me cold glares all through dinner. "Yes, she's right. I'm into hunting and fishing, and I really like the outdoors in general." Clair's father nods, 

"I've taken Clair hunting quite a few times, and she's really good at shooting. Even when she was little, she had a very straight shot and object disposition. She's taken down deer, dove, and a variety of other things before, all with a shot right through the heart or brain at long range. If we ever get into another goddamned war, I wouldn't be surprised if Clair ended up the best fucking sniper on the entire militia." I wasn't expecting that piece of information, Clair never told me that she hunted, or that she was this good at it. She's blushing next to me, her face down as she mumbles a "Dad! What did we say about things relating to gore or politics at dinner?" to her father's compliment. Clair scampers off to get the cake she'd made, her face still nervous as she carries it to the table. Once the cake is cut and served, I pop a piece in my mouth. Holy shit, this is amazing! I nudge Clair as she's eating her cake, "This is really really good, you made this?" She blushes again, nodding and looking pleased. As dinner continues in this fashion, Clair slowly starts to relax as her parents disperse to talk in their room, and Brandon disperses to the living room for video games. 

Clair tugs me outside, her smile relaxing fully as the crisp, surprisingly cool summer air hit her cheeks. We start talking about the stupidest subjects ever, laughing as her puppy Scamp comes trotting over to Clair. He sticks his nose into the space between her legs, causing her to squeal a bit as she stumbles, falling onto my lap with a giggle. I wrap my arms around her waist, smiling as I see her get hit with the rays of the slowly dying sunlight."Soooo....a sniper, huh?" My voice is teasing as Scamp scratches at our feet, and all she does is giggle in response as she smacks my chest, "That's just my dad who says that. Sure, I have a bit of talent for it, but that mainly comes from my ADHD helping me stay in-tuned enough to predict the most likely strategic motion path of the animal we're hunting. Each animal has a different set of instincts. Take a prey animal for example, their natural instincts normally have the dial set on "flight". And-" Se cuts off suddenly, slapping a hand over her mouth with red cheeks as she gazes at me in mortification. 

My mouth has dropped open from her sudden science lecture, and it takes everything in me to bring it back to the proper position. I blink at her slowly, 

"God damn Clair, you're a lot fucking smarter than you look. I knew you were smart, but holy fuck. How do you process that stuff? How do you remember it and use it in an attack?"

She giggles nervously, wringing her hands, "Well, I pay attention. My brain absorbs and catalogs certain patterns of both people and animals alike. I'm always watching and listening, and my quick mind allows me to transfer it to a strategy plan." The light of the sun tinges her sandy blonde hair with ruby as she continues to speak, bringing out almost non existent natural streaks of red and bronze in her hair. 

My god, she's so beautiful and wicked smart to boot, how the fuck did I get so lucky? I lift my hand, brushing Clair's wild curls behind her ears as she stops talking and blushes at my action. We've moved from her porch to the yard, sitting on swings as the sun continues to set. Clair gets up, moving towards the far corner of her yard and gesturing me closer, "This is where you can see the sunset the best in our yard, it's my favorite place in the whole yard." I move right next to her, seeing a complete clear view of the sunset, just like she said. I move in front of her, wrapping my arms around her waist as I pull her closer. "While the sunset is beautiful, I prefer this more beautiful view in front of me." When she looks up at me, my breath gets taken away. 

Her eyes, normally a shadowy green, are a deep pure gold in the dying light. Her hair is blowing in the gentle breeze, tinged ruby gold in the light and framing her face as her smile makes her eyes light up. I don't know how Clair doesn't see that she's beautiful, she's truly a jewel. A rare precious jewel that's all mine. I lean in, connecting our lips together as I feel a harsh nudge against my back that almost sends me tumbling forward. My weight gets shoved forward onto Clair, and I worry we'll both fall onto the grass. To my surprise, my little Clair manages to hold the both of us up as Scamp continues to shove his nose into my back. We both laugh as we walk back inside, smiling as each other as we walk to the front door. I guess I could say that meeting her parents went well. 

So this is a peek into the the complicated mind of Liam, it will delve deeper as FAF progresses

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