I went to Creek's house for the first time ever. They hadn't been to school for a couple of days, and I texted him to ask if he needed anything. Chocolate milkshakes was his answer, so I had to get that for him. It wasn't a bother though.

I walked up onto the porch, rang the little doorbell, and waited. They had a screen-door here and a regular front-door.

I wanted a screen-door.

Their front porch was also really nice. A wisteria leaned against the house, branches crawling up and around the bannisters and poles holding up the little roof, making it look like there were purple curtains. I bet it was absolutely wonderful to sit out here.

The door opened and a middle-aged short woman opened the door. Her whole face immediately broke into a smile. "You must be Gael," she said with a voice that sounded a tad withered but also wise. Deep too for a woman. And hoarse.

"Yes, that's me. Lovely to meet you Mrs. Creek." I would've shaken her hand, but I had milkshakes in both of mine.

"Oh, oh no. None of that. I'm Maura and nothing else. Mrs. Creek is my mother-in-law." She had a booming and infectious laugh and I found myself smiling back at her. "It's so good you've come to see Creek. He really needs a pick-me-up. Has been walking around in their jammies for days, and he's starting to smell."

"Mum!" Creek's voice sounded from inside and they appeared quickly beside their mother pushing her away from the door. "Thank you very much for opening the door, bye bye now. We're gonna sit out here." He stepped out on the porch and closed door behind them. "I swear to every single god out there, that woman talks too much."

She wasn't exactly lying. Creek usually dressed in big hoodies and nice jeans paired with nice sneakers. They always had pristine sneakers. I was a little jealous because mine always got dirty immediately. I wondered if Fred had a spell for that.

But now Creek was wearing sweats and an oversized t-shirt with some band called Monochrome Skyline. It had also passed its expiry date for how many times it could be washed.

"I've got milkshakes," I tried and handed one to him.

"You're a peach." They sat down on the swinging bench and motioned me to join them. "I mean it. It was nice of you to satisfy my craving for chocolate milkshakes."

"Hey, cravings need to be respected. After a shift, my biggest craving is like... Salads. Because I've spent two nights in a row eating small animals raw. So, all I want is something green and crunchy."

"I'll remember that for next month then." He smiled a little tiredly and wrapped his lips around the straw.

We sat in silence for a while, softly swinging back and forth on the swing bench. There were some birds singing from the wisteria tree and a nice soft breeze slipping in between the purple curtain of flowers, making them sway.

"My dad loved wisterias," I said then, breaking the silence.

Creek glanced at me, silently urging me to continue.

"He tried planting a tree in our garden, but there wasn't enough sun, so it never grew as large as this one."

"We can't get it to stop. Soon it'll be inside the house too. My mum has given up with it but still tries to cut some of the branches here and there. Seems like two new ones just sprout in its place."

"It's beautiful though."

Creek nodded and took another sip of his milkshake. "Thanks for coming over."

"It's no bother. It was about time anyways, right?"

They smiled and nodded. "Yeah, my mum was starting to think you didn't want to come over. She's also expecting you're staying for dinner, by the way. So, I hope you don't have any plans."

"No plans," I said with a bit of a cracking voice. In all honesty, I was nervous. Parents had never really been a fan of mine, so my friends as a kid usually didn't invite me to their homes. I wasn't sure if it was because of how my mum left my dad to raise me or if it was because he let me do whatever I wanted with my looks... Or if it was because I was gay. But parents never liked me, even when I tried my hardest, so it still sat in me, despite being an adult now.

"You're sure I'm not imposing though, right?" I added a little hesitantly.

"Oh no, no. Like she's insisting. It's basically an order and you don't wanna get on her bad side." He chuckled a little. "But for real, she just wants to know my friends. She's protective like that."

"That's nice of her."

"Yeah, but like, I'm also twenty-one years old. I don't need her hovering."

"This might sound really sad, but I'd love if my dad could still hover. I know I'd be annoyed as hell by him wanting to meet you all, especially meeting Abel, and he'd crack really cringe-y jokes. But I kind of hate how he's missing all of this." I bit the inside of my bottom lip to keep myself from tearing up. It didn't really work. "Sorry," I muttered and wiped my eyes in my jumper-sleeve.

"Don't apologise." They patted my knee a little awkwardly. "In banshee culture you're never truly gone, even when you've left this life. Like there are ghosts after all. Your dad might be looking over you. In most cases there's usually a parent or grandparent hanging about. They're not very chatty and usually hide from us because they don't wanna be interrupted in watching their loved ones."

I nodded a bit and teared up harder. "Thanks."

"Nah no need. You brought me milkshake."

When it was time for dinner, Creek's mum came out to fetch us. We were sat around a large table with Creek's older brother and sister, their father, their father's sister who also lived with them and her boyfriend. I had never been at such a large family dinner and couldn't imagine this being a regular thing. Like a thing that happened every night? My dad and I usually ate in front of the telly, watching some pretty cheesy sci-fi films.

It was a little overwhelming, especially when they started passing the different dishes around. Two different salads, a big bowl of chili con carne, lots of fried rice with beans, freshly baked bread... There was just so much, and I wasn't sure how much I should take of each.

That's when Creek decided to take over and fix me a plate. He sat it down in front of me and offered me the breadbasket. At least I could do that on my own. I took one piece.

"So, Gael, Creek tells us you're in the art department as well?" Creek's dad said, pushing his black-rimmed glasses a little further up his nose.

"Uh yeah. Painting and print making. With Fred."

"Such a lovely girl," Creek's mum, Maura, chimed in.

"What're the job prospects for a degree like that?"

"Dad," Creek groaned and rolled his eyes.

"There's always Danton's Bakery," I tried and awkwardly smiled.

Creek's dad, Carlson, burst out laughing and nodded. "Nothing shameful in that though. Liza works there."

"Right but Dad, again, bakers is an actual profession. Don't know why you always forget that part." Creek's sister, Liza, rolled her eyes. "You'd be very welcome at the bakery, Gael," she said, turning to me and smiled.

I smiled back and tried to not make it a grimace. "It's a nice bakery."

"Alright, I think we've all fried Gael enough now?" Creek groaned.

"You'd rather we fry you?" Creek's aunt asked and tipped her head to the side. "Is Gael your boyfriend?"

Creek groaned louder this time. "No, Gael is my friend, and he's dating Abel, who's also my friend. I am capable of having friends."

"Abel? He's hot," Liza chimed in. "Good catch." She winked at me, and I couldn't stop a laugh even if I fought hard for it.

"Abel's a good boy," Maura said then. "Very sweet boy."

"That's my mum's way of saying he's as dumb as a door," Creek muttered.

His mum totally heard. "I've never said such a thing."

"He's doing his masters," I said a little defeated, wanting to defend my dumb boyfriend.

"Being smart is about more than education," Carlson chimed in. "But there's not a mean bone in that boy's body and that's what matters in the end."

I nodded a little but still felt I had to defend him. I mean... He wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer when it came to social interactions, but he was so nice and there were never any mean intentions behind any of his actions.

"I don't think he's dumb," I said then and frowned a little. "There's different kinds of smart. I can't follow any of what he's doing in school and to be honest, I'm not really... Smart with people."

"You're friends with very good people, so I'd say you're plenty smart." Maura smiled. "We love Creek's friends. All of them."

"Even Abel, despite him telling us our house was cluttered." Liza laughed.

I looked to Creek for an explanation, and he cringed a little.

"Well, he didn't exactly say it was cluttered, but like, he knocked over a lamp and apologised and said he'd never been in a house with so much stuff and so little space."

"Okay yeah." I chuckled a little. "So, he's not always the one with words."

"You just gotta know that about him though." Creek shrugged a little. "And he has gotten better lately, in fairness, which I think we should all acknowledge."

"Not like this family is the crown jewel of social interactions either. Everyone's roasting someone who isn't even here. Gotta go," Creek's brother, Casper, rose to his feet with his empty plate in hand.

"Where are you going?" Maura said immediately and sent him a scathing look.

"Practice."

"Casper's on the town's football team. He's the goalie," Creek explained.

"Come to our game sometimes." Casper made a two-finger salute at me and then hurried out of the dinging room.

"You don't have to come to the game," Creek said with a low voice.

I snorted. "Thank fuck. I don't do well with sports."

"Like any respectable queer," he laughed.

The dinner went on without any hiccups and I didn't make a complete fool out of myself. Maybe a little awkward when the pie was put on the table, and I probably drooled on the table. Maura only took it as a compliment and even gave me some to take home to Abel too.

The whole family seemed so nice but also honest. Like if they had an opinion, they'd let it be known, no matter if it was positive or not. I didn't mind honesty like that because it didn't seem malicious.