A/N: I’m not familiar with Spanish cuisine so if I messed up, please tell me! Also, the twins have a birthday soon; what do YOU think they should get as presents?

Chapter dedicated to @layingonthefloor

*****

Nathaniel’s POV

How was it that up until now I’d been calm about this?

Was it because I’d had other things, other people, on my mind?

Even if it was not an official ‘let me introduce you to my boyfriend’ situation, I was still meeting her parents. Adults usually liked me but I found myself faced with the same fear which took over whenever I thought I might disappoint my own parents. What if I didn’t not live up to their expectations?
It was in that moment that I realized Irene was more important to me than any of the few girls I’ve dated so far.

I looked at her browsing absentmindedly through the menu. She probably knew it by heart; after all she worked here. Maybe she was just passing the time. Could she be nervous like me?

Her face was relaxed and her lips were even turned up in a small smile. No, she wasn’t nervous; I thought I saw a spark of excitement in her eyes, but she wasn’t nervous.

A hand landed gently on her shoulder and we both looked up to a smiling woman who wore a white apron over a simple light green dress. I immediately identified her as Irene’s mother; she had the same dark brown hair and eyes as her daughter, but her complexion was slightly darker.

“Hey, mom,” Irene greeted. “Nat, Val, this is my mother – Belén,” she then introduced.

“Hey, kids,” the woman saluted and I was surprised she had no accent. Then I felt silly; why would she have an accent when she grew up in America?

“How do you do,” I replied, standing up to shake her hand and she raised her eyebrows.

“‘How do you do’?” She replied. “So formal! Next thing I know you’ll be addressing me by my last name instead of as Belén.”

I bit my lip; that had been exactly how I’d meant to address her.

“So, Belén,” my sister began, her eyes glued to the menu, “what would you recommend?”

I pursed my lips at her behavior; I knew she was hungry, but she could’ve at least greeted Iren’s mother before she asked for food. I sat back down and kicked her underneath the table, a gesture which she blatantly ignored.

“That would depend on what you like,” Belén answered, her smile not faltering for a moment.

“Nat,” my twin looked up to meet my eyes, “what did I enjoy eating back in Spain?”

“What you enjoy eating everywhere else, Val: fries, pizza and steak.”

“We can make those here,” the woman replied.

“Thanks, but we came for something Spanish,” my sister murmured. “How about patatas bravas?”

I covered my forehead with my hand as she had managed to mispronounce both words.

“It’s patatas bravas, Val,’ I noted with the correct pronunciation. “We lived in Spain for four months, and you can’t even say that right?”

“Yeah, and even though I am not religious, I used to thank God every single day that a lot of people there spoke English,” she commented, without an ounce of shame at her ignorance. It never seized to amaze me how she couldn’t be bothered to learn new languages even though we traveled so often.

I sighed, deciding to just to let it drop. Irene was chatting with her mom so for the first time since we came, I reached for the menu and opened it, scanning quickly through it. There were so many things I wanted to eat and I’d love to take my time examining it, but I didn’t want to make Belén wait; she had to get back to work. Besides, I felt slightly awkward with her here.

The discomfort only increased as I picked a dish and realized I’d have to order my girlfriend’s mom to cook it for me. It was a small grace that I wouldn’t have to interrupt the two of them as they were done speaking and Belén had turned to me expectantly.

“Can I have some seafood rice, please?” I asked meekly. “And perhaps some sofrito de tomate?”

“Of course,” she replied then looked at her daughter.

“I’ll have the same as Nat,” Irene said. “Oh, and three sodas.”

“I’ll get right on it,” the woman smiled even wider if that was possible and leaned forward to kiss her child’s forehead before disappearing back into the kitchen.

“I’m sorry mom couldn’t stay longer,” Irene apologized to me in particular, “but as you can see it’s pretty busy tonight. Besides, dad has a cold so they are one chef down.”

“Not a problem,” I replied, trying to hide how relieved I was that I’d met only one of her relatives and briefly.

She smiled and placed her hand over mine, intertwining our fingers once again before starting a conversation with my sister.

*****

“You look like you’ve had a very long day.”

I turned my head to the left and saw Hunter leaning on the banister of their porch, his hands tucked into the pockets of a black sweatshirt.

“Just the evening,” I corrected with a sigh and leaned further back into the garden chair.

He used his leg to push himself away before jumping over the small fence and sitting next to me.

“What happened?” He asked genuinely interested and perhaps slightly concerned.

“We went to Irene’s family’s restaurant and I met her mom.”

He whistled quietly.

“Didn’t know you were at the meet-the-parents stage,” he noted, taking the soda I’d brought out with me and having a sip before placing it back on the round table; I did not object at the obvious ease with which he’d claimed something of mine.

“It wasn’t like that,” I murmured. “Besides, she’s already met mine. It just felt weird to treat my girlfriend’s mom like a member of a staff.”

“Wouldn’t know; I’ve never had a girlfriend.”

“What about…” I moved to the edge of my seat and leaned closer to him. “What about a boyfriend? I mean, a serious relationship, not just, you know…”

“Sex?” He filled in helpfully and I nodded. “Can you even say the word?”

“Of course I can say the word,” I insisted, looking at my feet. “Sex. You see?”

“Give this boy a prize,” he jested.

“Are you trying to avoid answering my question?” I asked, lifting my head up to face a pair of amused grey eyes.

“Why do you want to know so badly?” He tilted his head to the left as he spoke.

“I don’t,” I denied, fidget with my fingers.

Silence settled between us and Hunter seemed to be waiting for something; most likely for me to go back on my words. His tactic almost succeeded; I was busting my brain to find a way to proceed with my inquiries without admitting I really wanted to know when he finally relented:

“No, nothing serious,” he answered curtly.

“But you said you tried relationships and they sucked,” I reminded.

“I tried building one, yes,” he nodded slowly as if unsure of the legitimacy of his own statement which only served to ignite my curiosity further.

“What happened?” I asked and he replied with a question of his own:

“Do you see him here with me?”

We sat quiet once more, a weight settling in the air around us at the off tone of his words. As I took in his clenched jaw and the steely glimmer which I had not seen in his eyes for a while, I realized I’d been right before: Hunter Harris had been hurt in his past and whatever had taken place before I’d met him, he’d still had not gotten over it. I watched as sadness and anger battled to claim his heart while at the same time he tried to conceal both.

“How old are you exactly?” He then asked to distract himself or to break the silence; I did not know which.

“Seventeen,” I replied, keeping my eyes on his face. “Well, I’ll be seventeen in a few weeks anyways.”

That seemed to get his attention as his head turned towards me and he positioned himself on the chair to look at me better.

“Really? Are you planning anything special?”

I shook my head.

“Maybe a small get together with friends. Me anyways; Val might have a different idea,” I answered and his eyebrows furrowed at my words.

“Don’t you celebrate your birthday together?”

“We can never agree on the guests; you know we hang in different crowds,” I began to explain. “So on the date of our birthday, Val and I celebrate with mom and dad; then on a day of the weekend each celebrates with their own friends.”

“Will you invite me to your party?” He asked, leaning closer to me, his eyes sparkling.

“Wouldn’t you rather go to Val’s?” I hoped he’d say no although I knew he’d have a better time with my twin. “I bet Lyn and Colin will be there and there will be alcohol…”

“Then maybe we can have a private party? Just the two of us?” He bit his lip and to my great annoyance I blushed.

I had Irene and he was only teasing; why did he affect me?

I took a sip of my soda to buy myself some time.

I did fancy the idea of celebrating with Hunter but I knew he wouldn’t like the people I hung out with and I was sure all of them would be scared of him. Except maybe Dustin; he’d be cool with it.

But wouldn’t Dustin also go to Val’s party?

They liked each other so it wouldn’t surprise me if she invited him. Then I was left only with Irene, Matthew, Karen, Kaylyn and Lauren. The last I barely knew; I only spoke to her because she was a part of the group. The same applied to Kaylyn. I knew that Karen’s chatter will drive me nuts. I didn’t particularly like Matthew. That left only Irene.

Wasn’t I popular!

“I don’t feel like celebrating this year,” I noted through a loud sigh, casting my eyes down.

“I’m still going to buy you a present.”

My head shot up as he said that and I saw a smile on his face.

“You don’t have to do that,” I muttered to be polite although my heart made a little loop at the thought of receiving another gift from him.

“Didn’t you enjoy the last one?” He asked, the confidence of his tone a sign he was sure I had.

“Strawberries are my favorite,” I admitted.

“I know,” he replied. “I bribed your sister with pizza to tell me.”

“She probably would’ve told you without the bribe,” I pointed out.

“Probably.” He shrugged. “But I was also hungry so I got us pizza.”

“Where did you buy the lollypop from anyway?” I asked, planning to stock some of the tasty treats in my room.

“I’m not telling you, Natty,” he replied with a teasing tone to match his grin. “If you want one, you’ll have to come to me.”

“So what are you now? My dealer?”

He laughed full-heartedly.

“Guess I am.”

My heart sank as a thought settled in my brain: what if Hunter had dealt drugs before?

Real ones, not lollypops?

If he had been in a gang, then yes, he could’ve been made to sell those vile stuff. I hated the possibility of that being true but what could I do?

Ask ‘By the way, Hunt, were you a drug-dealing gang member back in your hometown’?

No.

I had to find a way to get that information in a more subtle manner. Perhaps he had tattoos which labeled him as a member to a certain faction. A blush darker than before covered my cheeks as I imagined how easy it would be for me to check every inch of his fit body for ink; all I had to do was ask him to take off his clothes…

“Natty, what are you thinking about?” His voice startled me. He sat leaning his left arm on the table, with his head propped in his palm and a curious glint shining in those grey eyes.

“N-nothing,” I stammered, shaking my head violently.

I couldn’t ask him to do that… could I?

*****

A/N: I bet you all guessed who Hunt tried to have a relationship with, didn’t you?

DO YOU WANT HUNTER TO HAVE TATTOOS?

And what should he get Nat and Val for their birthdays? Maybe something special for Nat…

By the way, could Hunt really have had experience with drugs?

I HOPE YOU ENJOYED THE CHAPTER. PLEASE SUPPORT IT WITH A VOTE IF YOU DID :)