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As Cherry stood there deciding what she should make for lunch, she looked towards those doors into the next room. She spied those eyes. Those curious sets of eyes. Closing the door, she leaned over from the fridge to bend forward a little and give them beady eyes. Then, she stood up and looked back to Xander. Apparently, kissing Xander made her take leave of all of her good senses. Shades of insanity spurred her to do the next thing which she would never even dare to do. She didn’t for damn good reasons. Two reasons. One was named Dad and the other her mother. Her parents were good people. They were very good people. However, they were the sort of couple who were forever in their honeymoon phase of life. They were always excited and curious. For the majority of Cherry’s years living as an adult, they forever dogged her on if she was ever going to settle down. Why couldn’t she just find a nice young man? Her mother would give her sad and pitiful eyes about how she wanted her grandchildren before she was too old to enjoy them. Such conversations were a sort that Cherry didn’t want anyone else present to bear witness to her utter and forbearing mortification.

As she peeked back at Xander, a new consideration flirted around her mind. On the one hand, she felt like she was absolutely crazy to allow herself to go off on an emotional tangent. She knew one kiss shouldn’t be equivalent to looking into the future and immediately feeling naively assured of what path was for you. Where you were about to set your foot to. Yet, she did feel like that. Sure, there were the quiet insecure parts of her heart that fretted, but she knew that Xander wasn’t like other people. Or, not that he wasn’t like, but what he was… was good, and kind.. and so far honest. She didn’t think for one second he wasn’t trustworthy. A little part of her did feel that if something looked and smelled like it was too good to be true; a lot of times it ended up showing itself. However, in her heart she just felt a conviction.

These feelings bearing fruit with a willingness to take a leap of faith. “Xander… Would you like to meet my parents? They are lurking on the other side of the door here. You can say no. I’m sure they are going to be tenacious and annoying. Probably…. embarrassing… though that’s probably more for me than for you.” Her eyes sliding back towards the doors. She wondered if they heard that. The eyes and edges of the front of hair reappeared around the edge of the door. She wanted to laugh. Who did they think they were fooling? Like she couldn’t see them there.

Xander watched Cerise with a very curious expression, wondering what exactly was going through her head as she looked to the door and then to him and seemed to be thinking. However, what she asked his next sort of mortified him. His thoughts focusing on the work ‘lurking’. He was certain his whole face was red now. He was very happy they only lurked though and hadn’t saw fit to walk in because he probably wouldn’t have know what to say or do. As it was now, he felt like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar, only his lips had been exploring their daughters. Still he couldn’t say no, not knowing they were right there.

He gave her a week nod and a smile, “yes I’d like to meet them. It would be rude not to say hello, especially if I am staying for lunch in their house. They would probably like to meet your guest.”


As nervous as he was, he tried not to think about it. He hoped they would like him and that they would embarrass Cerise too much, like she said they would. He straightened up, smoothing his shirt and his hair, before motion for her to let them in. Here went nothing.

Her face deadpanned for a moment before rolling her eyes. “My guest.., geez.” She stuck her tongue out at him playfully. “Yeah. Well… It’s probably a little more than that, but if you’re ready to hang on to your bootstraps. Let’s do it. It’ll be an adventure, I’m sure. They’ll be ecstatic beyond words.”

She didn’t want to really just come out and say it to him. Her mother sometimes would tell her a thing about how that Cherry should be careful about who she was going around kissing. Because sometimes you just never know about a person when you date them. Her parents’ story itself was a great example of how a potent meeting could transform magnificently into something you never expect.

While Cherry knew that one afternoon of kissy face in her kitchen wasn’t exactly the same as having a ring put on her finger. She had to admit to herself. Even the vague idea, thought, or loose concepts of those things with Xander didn’t seem like such a bad thing. The fact they’d cross her mind at all itself was telling to her. She thought if this started growing and taking off. What if it did turn into all that? Not only that, she felt by having him here. She already had him in her kitchen. He was in her innermost place. Letting him meet and mingle with her parents was a method of opening herself up.

She sauntered over to the doors and flung them both wide open. “You just can’t help yourselves, can you?” She laughed. “Fine… Come in…”

In walked her parents. Her father at a 5’9 and a half. Her mother a short 5’3. Her father had an average build. Not too lanky or gangly but not pudgy either. He had short wavy hair the same shade of chocolate brown as Cherry’s. Her mother was pretty curvy. Her mother having dark black long tresses. Her features all petite and pointy.

Her father was trying to play it off as though they hadn’t been there. “What? Aw… pumpkin… we weren’t spying. I was just… looking at the door hinges. Making sure they don’t need replacing or something.”

Cherry just looked at him disbelieving. Wow. Really? That was what he was going for. She could only sigh with forbearing love for this absurd lie. “Oh, awesome. Well, Xander, meet my dad. His name being William, but most peeps call him Bill. And, this is my mother. Louise. My dad calls her Weezy. Mom, Dad, this is Xander. Please take it easy with him.”

Her mother moving about and checking him out. Then, her mother came to stand next to her. “Is.. is he staying for dinner?”

“Mom. Please don’t act like we all eat dinner together all the time.”

After shaking Xander’s hand, her father looked at her and made a finger pointing gesture at Cherry. “Yeah. Ain’t that right Princess. Someone is always too busy to eat with her parents anymore. There’s never anything left here lately. You and him should stay. “ He wanted to ask why she was throwing a hissy fit when she got there, but he decided to save that for some other time.

Her mother didn’t say much besides quietly shaking his hand, but it clearly she was delighted. She didn’t stop smiling at the young man, and her eyes kept watching both Cherry and Xander looking to read anything and everything. It might have been almost stereotypical that she was both French and a hopeless romantic.

“Oh Cherry. That’d be so nice. Why can’t we do that?”

Cherry sighed feeling herself caving. What was with her today. When had she became too nice for her own good. “Fine fine… I’ll whip something up.” Her mind thinking up something that would be great. Not only would it be good and filling for everyone. She felt more than a little psyched up to be making a meal that Xander would eat. She made breakfast at his house that one time.

She thought to herself. If she were to ever live there, would she want someone to cook for her? The idea wasn’t too appealing. She liked cooking. She liked the idea of making stuff he ate. Usually when she would bring him stuff to eat during his three day shifts at the hospital, he always seemed to like them.

Her eyes settled on Xander. Her parents went to the other room to work on clearing off the table. Cherry had never agreed to having a guy over for dinner with them. Cherry and Xander may or may not have heard her father tell her mother, “We better not over do it hun. If we go overboard, she might not bring him back again.” Her mother only nodding and moving about.

Xander made a face, one that very clearly denoted an oops moment, but when she stuck her tongue out at him and seemed otherwise happy, he relaxed. He watched as she opened the doors for her parents and the dad quickly made an excuse as to why they were behind them. Even Xander raised a brow at the ridiculous excuse, that was completely convenient for lurking and spying. He shook his head, but put on a gracious smile and allowed Cerise to introduce them.

He heard Louise asking if he was staying for dinner and he would have given Cerise a hapless look even he hadn’t been busy shaking her father’s hand. “Hello, sir. It’s very nice to meet you,” he said to the man polite and well mannered as ever.

Xander turned to properly greet her mother, but wavered at the families little tiff about dinner. He gave sort of a nervous half smile feeling a little guilty, but then the mother was shaking his hand as well and he smile more fully. “It’s very nice to meet you as well ma’am. You have a lovely home.” She was smiling at him and that made him feel a little more at ease, though all the talk of dinner made him think on the time because he hadn’t eaten lunch and hadn’t he and Cherry just been talking about that.

He tried not to laugh at Cherry’s father comment as he walked out of the room with her mother. He moved over to Cherry and put a hand on her arm. “They seem nice,” he said then his stomach growled, “but we haven’t even eaten lunch yet.” It was a bit later than lunch probably around 3 or 4, so while he never wanted to seem rude he couldn’t help but hope they’d get a snack before dinner. He wondered if they realized it wasn’t quite dinner time yet.

“I certainly don’t mind staying for dinner. I think it would be nice. I haven’t had dinner with my own parents since we went out to celebrate me finishing my residency and getting hired full time at the hospital. That was sometime and December, quite a while ago, so it would be nice to sit down and eat dinner like that. I would ask though if I could have a snack before then.”

He looked a little sheepish, as though he thought maybe he shouldn’t be asking, that he should just suck it up and wait, but his stomach disagreed with him. He didn’t even realize at all his words could have a whole other meaning having just been kissing Cherry minutes before. No right now, his brain and stomach were on the subject of food and sooner rather than later, not that he wouldn’t wait if the answer was no.

As her folks left the room, her eyes slid to where she felt his hand on her arm. Maybe it was all that kissing, but she had felt alive and everywhere. There might have been a look in her eye that would have told him that she was teetering hard on the edge of resistance to just consume him. She took a sharp deep intake of breath filling up her lungs slowly. As she exhaled, she blinked her eyes feeling totally arrested by the fact she readily knew and felt. Heaven help her; because she wasn’t sure that she would ever be able to tell him no. Whatever he would ever want of her; she would do it.

The person she looked at. The quickening in her made her feel like she was quite possibly losing her mind. Did normal people really feel like this ever? It clearly must be stemming from her own lack of meals for the day as well. When he mentioned a snack, she turned more to him while closing the fridge door from having peaked in it again. ******** her life; she could not seem to be able to see anything in it anyways. “What do you want? Snacks can be had.” Part of her nearly felt like saying, would you like to dine on my heart? Because… it no longer even feels like it belongs to me or is… Her mind was stumped on how to even complete that thought.

She felt seriously befuddled, and she sighed as she assumed this was due to the sudden and recent abstinence she was attempting. A feat of sorts for her given her previous habits. “Whatever Xander wants; he can have.” Snacks.. food… yes… food… stay on track, Cherry! “We can… eat a small something while I make stuff? Or… um…”

She turned to look in the fridge and found some carrot and celery sticks. Then, she saw a bag of grapes and cherries. She grabbed a few glass bottles of soda, “Are you sure a snack is going to be enough?” Was she standing too close to ask him something like that? What was personal space anymore?

Xander smiled when she asked him what he wanted and shook his head then gave a chuckle when she said he could whatever he wanted. It was nice that she was being so very accomodating, but he really didn’t ever ask for much. Cerise the gracious host, it was amusing to see. She’d been to his house before and she’d even cooked for him there, but he that was his house and he was generally the one offering things, drinks, food and even clothes. The last one would think would be an odd thought, but to Xander it was just a thing that happened.

“The fruits and veggies will be just fine. No need to worry, they are good for snacking so you aren’t really hungry, but also don’t ruin your appetite, right?” He gave her another smiled and took the things from her and sat the on the counters. He was happy to eat them straight of the bag, but knew that wasn’t the most polite thing to do. He only did that at home when he was grabbing just a handful.

“Plates or paper towels,” he asked wondering what they generally ate fruit on. In his house it depended on what was, but generally fruit was one paper towels, “and where?” He wanted to help, especially after having been invited to dinner. Not help with the cooking of course, because he couldn't cook, but with this simple task. Cerise was already going to be cooking dinner after all.

He would really like to make a good sort of impression, though there was probably something most people believed Xander just was. A walking good impression, of walking goodness. He looked to Cerise expectantly happy to be directed, hoping not to just be in the way.

What could she do but smile away like a grinning idiot? She watched him being Mr. Manners. Polite to a fault just about; she thought to herself. That was ok. It was part of his charm. Then again, in her eyes, everything was starting to look some version of that. She was quickly succumbing to the sort of thinking young lovers have when everything a person does that they love. It’s all beautiful and made of sunshine and rainbows. Seeing him as some white knight who showed up in her life to save her from herself.

In fact, she kept half gazing at him and forgetting what they were talking about. Or, what she was bout to grab next and put on the counter. It was an amazing bout of totally random amnesia that came upon her in disruptive and inconsistent flashes. In fact, when she went to grab a bowl and spoon for mixing. She had grabbed a big fork they used for serving sliced turkey or ham during the holidays. Half way back from grabbing it, she’d realize she took the wrong thing. This led to her making a lot of frequent back and forth trips. She kept cringing inwardly. ‘Hahahahahaa.. I’m acting like a complete idiot. Oh, i’m sorry people in this house. if anyone sees my brain; can they please return it. I seem to have misplaced it.’

She facepalmed a moment to help herself focus. Her thoughts were beginning to gel and go everywhere. “Yeah um. Usually when I eat fruit or anything really. I mean.. Usually I just have stuff in bowls as I cook. I nibble on stuff as I work on preparing stuff, so I don’t usually put them on a plate or paper towel. But.. that would be third upper cabinet from the right.”

She watched him moving about and trying to help out. Her eyes settling on the bag of grapes. Then, her eyes slid up to look at him. After putting rest of the utensils she needed to prepare dinner, she stopped by the sink. She plucked a grape out of the bag. She rolled it around in her mouth gently without biting down on it at all. Then, her eyes smiled mischievously at him as the grape slid halfway back out. She waited there a moment to see if he’d take it from her like that. Not just take it; if he’d eat it straight out of her mouth.

Her eyes fixed on his and made a muffled sound of a hmmm? Which was probably a variant on ‘here take this’; or what it might sound like if someone had something in between their lips. Which she did.

He turned to the cabinet she pointed opening it and grabbing a plate to put the things on. Sure a bowl would work, but wondered if her parents would want a snack too. It was just be simpler to put things on a plate so everyone could just grab things. He grabbed paper towels too just in case.

When he turned around Cerise was looking at with a grape sticking out of her mouth a little bit, and then she said something which made his face give a funny sort of what look. Clearly he had no idea what she said. He walked over to her lifting a finger and pressing on the grape to pop it into her mouth. “What did you say, you really shouldn’t talk with your mouth full.”

He pressed a kiss to her forehead before reaching around her to grab a grape from himself and popped it into his mouth happily eating it and before putting the plates and the paper towels next to them. Then he remembered something and looked to the side door. “Did you remember to bring the camera out the car. It would probably be bad to leave it in there, not with it being summer now. I don’t really even leave my phone in the car.”

He’d forgotten about the camera, the pictures, the park momentarily. It had been mostly good fun though and he figured Cerise probably didn’t want to lose the pictures she took. He didn’t want her camera to malfunction because it got left out in the heat, not that he was an expert on electronics because he wasn’t.

Despite hoping he’d take it, she wasn’t overly surprised when he didn’t. When he popped it back in her mouth though, she smiled and laughed. She gave him a playful eyeroll. “That was like.. a pop quiz. You were supposed to bite out of my lips, but it’s ok. No worries.” She flashed him a smug smile before resuming grabbing stuff she was using. She pulled out stuff to make these tuna and cheese wraps that she fried up sometimes, baked mac and cheese and flutes of chocolate mousse. It had been a while since she made something like this. She liked the idea of feeding him. If something amazing ever happened such as her getting to live with him, she hoped that sometimes she would get to make him food and not just have everything made for them.

She looked up at the mention of the camera. “Oh. Well.. it’s not in the car. It’s on the stairs on the way up to my room. If you wanna play with it, you can go get it. Just, when you go out these doors, just go straight for a little bit and then to your left. there’ll be a flight of stairs that go up, and then landing. then turn to the left again. It should be on the second flight somewhere. Maybe on the landing.” She saying maybe because the way she had been moving up the stairs. She forgot that all the stuff she had been wearing were strewn in a little trail leading all the way up there.

Not that she was always messy, but she had been moving in motion that was on fire and couldn’t stop to make sure things were being done right. She had been in a mission to get out of that and into something she felt was just her element.

“When you come back or get done, if you’re looking for something to do. You can always set the table. If my parents didn’t do it yet.”

Meanwhile, her parents had disappeared off into her father’s den. In there, the two were being mischievous conspirators of their own. They were grabbing lots of pictures of Cherry through the years to show to Xander. Much to her utter mortification to be ambushed in such a way.

Xander flushed when she told him what he was suppose to do, he kissed her, yes he definitely did, but he wasn’t sure about that. That felt intimate in that downstairs kind of way and he surely wasn’t ready for that. Still he didn’t like that he essentially failed a pop quiz, he was nothing if not very studious. He didn’t think he had ever failed a quiz in his life. He gave her a sort of look that said, hey no fair.

She answered him about the camera and he nodded, glad that she had remember to grab it. He didn’t notice her grab it, but that was okay. As long as she got it, that was all that really mattered. He headed out of the kitchen following her directions, though stopping when she mentioned about setting the table. He smiled, he could do that. He headed up the steps, only to notice clothes on them. More specifically what she had been wearing at the park. He picked them up as he went, noticing the camera as he went, but leaving it in favor of picking up the clothes and heading up the stairs, folding them as he went, until he reached the top.

He was a little surprised at the upstairs as it seemed he’d step right into Cerise’s room? He wasn’t really sure, but it was really open and from what he had seen, and knew of her so far, looked very much like her. He looked to the clothes in his hands feeling a little curious, but also feeling like he should be up there. He looked back down the steps momentarily before heading over to the lazy boy he spotted, putting the clothes neatly on it. He looked around for a moment before turning around and heading back downstairs, grabbing the camera on the way down. He felt a little bad for going into her room without her permission, but he didn’t think she would just want her clothes left on the steps.

He came back into the kitchen with the camera, “I picked up your clothes and put them upstairs. I didn’t snoop, but I thought you might like if they were just thrown on the steps. I hope that’s okay? Your room, that was your room, right? It’s nice, it looks like you.”

Unsure, that was Xander at the moment, wholly and fully out of his element. He realized he never really spent much time at other people house. Sure he did, like charity balls and little get together’s where you spent most of your time in one room or outside. This was different, more homely, more personal. It was going to take some getting use to, but that wasn’t a bad thing.

He asked about the things to set the table, waiting for an answer with a smile before heading out to set the table and coming back into the kitchen a few minutes later. He stood fiddling with the camera, looking at the pictures, snacking on the grapes and cherries, and watching Cerise cook. He made comments on the pictures she snapped of him, and a few comments of the ones he took before he went back one too far and it was a picture of him. He was at the checkers tables. He gave Cerise a curious glance, but said nothing smiling as a warm sort of feeling rose up in him. He put the camera down, the image him still on the screen and walked up to Cherry putting a hand on her back and looking over shoulder at what she was doing.

“That smells lovely,” he said. He sort of hoped she would turn to him, she was cooking, but that warm feeling made him want to steal a kiss.

She was still full of nothing but smiles. Smiles and cursory glances. Her eyes keenly watching his every reflex. Studying those for all their subtleties. When he came back to tell her he had picked up her clothes, she could only stare wistfully with her heart in her eyes. She popped the pan of mac n cheese into the oven, put the glasses of mousse in the freezer, and then took the frying pan to the stove.

When she felt his hand on her back, she sighed at the rippling of nerves coming alive again. Her head turned enough to slip an eye to look at him. She felt a need to do things to him. All the things. However, she was frying wraps. Even the act of stopping and smiling at him before softly kissing him; she couldn’t stay like that very long. She almost burned the first two in the pan. "Xander, you better go set the table now. If you keep standing so close and kissing me, I might burn all of it. I never burn stuff."

Then about forty minutes later, as she sat down. The feeling of sitting down with him and her family. With the way their table was set up, her mom and dad sat on the opposite side. She took a seat next to Xander. She was overflowing with excitement and contentment.

Her father nodded as he looked at what was on the table. Her mother just looking at her husband out of the corner of her eyes. Her wondering if it was too soon to break the photos out.

William leaned in and whispered in her ear for her to not put them out where they'd get dirty. Pristine photos being tarnished by a table of food would have made him beside himself. Louise could only nod knowing her husband was that way. She should have known better. "Oh, right dear. In a minute then."

Cherry sat there serving portions onto her plate watching the two of them with suspicious eyes. Why did she not like that whispering. She just looked at Xander. "Can I serve yours?"

Xander nodded and moved away from Cerise, he had already set the table, but it was likely she hadn’t noticed even though he’d asked where the things were. He went to the table picking the camera up as he went and switching it so he could take some photos. He wanted to explore see if maybe they had a piano of sort, but didn’t think it was likely. Instead he sat playing with the camera, but only the setting she showed him, snapping pictures. Some of Cerise, some of the things she uses for preparing dinner and even headed to a window at one point to snap some pictures of the outdoors. It passed the time, easily enough, though he stopped after a while because he didn’t want to fill her camera with senseless things even though she said he could play with it.

He pulled out his phone to text Lily about having dinner with Cerise and she’d text back telling him to have fun and to tell Cerise she said hi and not to forget about the superstar party. Xander had no idea about that, but that was okay. He figured it was a good thing Lily liked and got on with Cerise.

It wasn’t too much longer before he was sitting down to dinner with Cerise and her family. Her mother and father were whispering to each other and Xander was curious as to what they were talking about, but he didn’t ask. It was polite to intrude on a private conversation like that. He looked to Cerise when she asked if she could serve him and he nodded, “if you’d like. That’s fine,” he said politely making sure to sit back so he would be in the way.

Xander looked to her father, “We were taking pictures in the park today, or I guess rather Cerise was teaching me about photography. Ive never used a camera like that one before. I’m guessing she got that from you. She told me that you use to be a traveling photographer.”

He was attempting to start a conversation and starting with something he hoped would be a ice breaker of sort. He didn’t really know anything about her parents, though in all fairness, she knew literally nothing about his outside of the fact that Xander hoped to be as good at child rearing as he thought they were.

Cherry grinned happily as could be. She served Xander a little bit of everything. She only gave him modest portions. She wanted to wait and see if he liked it.

Her dad grinned hard. He nodded away at Xander. “That right? Well, hers is pretty simple even for professional standards. I have some that has a lot of interchangeable parts. Yes. That’s right. That’s how I met my Weezy.” He reached out a hand to squeeze his wife’s hand, and she giggled blushing. William could only pause to exchange a moment of eye contact with his lady. “If it weren’t for my travels during the height of my career; I might not have ever met her.”

Her father digressed back to telling Xander about his photography. “I used to really enjoy my trips that were mostly nature centered. Those are very serene and peaceful, but every now and then, a contract would pop up. They’d offer a lot of money to go and capture some live events or famous people. Can’t say no when your paycheck varies from one job to the next. Then, you get a few big ones. Gotta grab life by the horns and jump on when opportunity knocks.”

Cherry was quiet while her father was talking and relating things. She observed with intrigue. It had been a long time since her father had talked excitedly with people about his work. The way he kind of quit and gave up after his accident. She always thought it was a shame. She thought whimping out for half a decade wasn’t exactly grabbing life by the horns, but she wasn’t going to be rude and say that in front of Xander. Though her eyes would often drift to watch how Xander was about hearing her dad go on and on.

Cherry nibbled away at her own food as her eyes slid sideways to peer at Xander. Would he freak out if she brushed her leg up against his under the table? Or… if her barefooted toes brushed up against his feet? Well, he was wearing shoes, so he probably wouldn’t really feel it. Then, she interrupted everyone for a moment. “Hey, I’ll be right back. There’s nice bottle of Moscato in the fridge. I’m gonna go get it and some glasses. I’ll be right back.”

She disappeared into the kitchen for a moment and returned with glasses for all and a bottle in hand. She opened it and started pouring some for everyone. Her mother making a hand gesture for only a little bit. As she sat back down after pouring hers, she asked Xander. “A little? Or..? You don’t have to have it if you don’t want it.”