"You will face many defeats in life, but never let yourself be defeated." ~Maya Angelou

• • •

I've decided today is a good day to invite Abel over for dinner. Why, you ask? Well, my mum and dad are working shorter shifts meaning they'll be less cranky and Nolan would have had basketball practice making him less tired. Unfortunately, there's nothing I can do about Marcel and Omari. I just have to hope that they have the decency to not embarrass me. That's basically like thinking a pizza is healthy when there's peppers on it. Impossible.

For some reason, my mum wants us all to dress reasonably presentable to make a good impression. Therefore, I'm wearing a rust coloured paper bag skirt with a simple black top. All my brothers have been forced into trousers or nice jeans and shirts. My mother is wearing a traditional Nigerian dress while my dad tries to be intimidating by wearing his important looking uniform. Let me just tell you now, it's not really working. I commend him for trying though.

The sound of the door bell ringing breaks me out of my stupor so I can rush to let Abel in. Unfortunately, it seems as if my mum beat me to it. From the stairs, I can see Abel handing some Marigold flowers to her. If I can guess correctly, she's probably smitten already simply from his charm.

I walk all the way down the rest of the stairs announcing my presence. I look Abel up and down taking in his black jeans paired with a blue shirt that brings out his gorgeous eyes.

"Hey Abel." I say.

"Bro-I mean Keziah." He corrects himself before calling me his usual nickname. Maybe he thinks my parents' wont like it. Who knows?

"Well come on then, dinner is ready."

My mum turns around and heads straight for the dining room probably to finish setting the table properly.

I hold back for a minute to talk to Abel. "This shade of blue matches your eyes you know."

"Oh yeah? Do you like it?" He asks.

"On you? Of course."

Abel smiles at this and pulls me closer to him by my hips to give me a gentle kiss on my lips. "You better savour that feeling because you're not getting any more of that for the rest of this dinner."

"What? Why?" I whine at him.

"Not with your parents watching me like a hawk. I have to be on my absolute best behaviour. "

I roll my eyes at this and enter the dining room with Abel right behind me.

My mum and dad sit at the heads of the table leaving Omari, Nolan and Marcel on one side with me and Abel on the other.

I look at the food in front of us to find that mum has made her special jolof rice with jerk chicken and salad. I hope Abel is good with spice, because my mum makes her food reallly spicy.

"Everyone, this is Abel. Abel, meet Nolan, Omari, Marcel and my parents." I gesture to all of them.

"Hey, you're the boy from the plane. The one that was sitting next to Keziah." Marcel points out.

"Yes, I think we already knew that Marcel." I say dryly.

"I already know you because I'm friends with your brother and sister." Nolan says this happily probably thinking of the new friendship he has.

"Nice to see you again Nolan." He smiles at him.

The only one that has yet to meet Abel is Omari.

Omari says a simple 'hello' and averts his eyes.

"So, you're the lad that's dating my daughter." I cringe at the use of 'lad' by my dad who's obviously trying to seem cooler than he is.

"Dad, really?" I ask.

He ignores me and starts questioning Abel. "What are your intentions with my daughter?"

"Well right now, I'm enjoying getting to know her better and we'll just see how it goes." Abel replies confidently.

"Do you see this relationship going somewhere?"

"It's still pretty early but I hope so. Your daughter is amazing." I swoon at this comment.

"Do you plan on getting intimate with her at any point?"

My eyes widen at this, "Okay dad, that's enough questions for now."

I look towards Abel and find his cheeks tinted pink. That's surprising since he rarely ever gets embarrassed. Kind of cute too.

"I was just getting started Keziah."

"Stop harassing the poor boy Jamal." My mum jumps in to save us but doesn't hide the growing smile on her face that matches my fathers. Typical.

We say a quick prayer over our food before digging in.

"Abel, have you ever tried jolof rice before?"

"Yes I have, both my parents are from Morocco so although this isn't their traditional food, we eat it quite often. I have to say though, yours could definitely rival my mothers." I watch my mum practically beam at his compliment; she loves it when people like her food.

"Thank you dear, try the chicken too. It's delicious."

We eat in silence for a little bit until Marcel pipes up. "So how long have you two been dating exactly?"

"Only a week." I respond for us.

"Don't you think you're a bit young Kez?" He asks.

"You're literally one year older than me Marcel and you've had several girlfriends so shut up."

"No arguing in front of our guest please and thank you." My mum says this calmly clearly used to this.

"Since, you and my sister are boyfriend and girlfriend, does that mean I can see Tristan and Tati more?" Nolan looks up at Abel with wide pleading eyes.

"Sure thing bud."

Nolan shouts a big 'yes' and remains happy for the rest of the dinner.

Noticing that Omari hasn't spoken much, Abel directs some questions to him. "So what year are you in then Omari?"

Obviously shocked that he's being spoken too, Omari adjust his glasses before responding. "I'm in year 9."

"Just a year younger than one of my siblings then. You two could become good friends you know."

Omari just nods at this and returns back to his food. If you hadn't noticed, he's the shyer one out of us all.

Despite that, I'm really happy that Abel made the effort to include him. That's just another thing I find myself liking about him.

"Keziah tells us you moved here recently. Where from?"

"Only Preston, it's a couple hours from here. My parents had a better opportunity for their jobs."

"And what is it that they do exactly?" My mum inquires.

"My dads a neurosurgeon and my mums a cardiothoracic surgeon."

My parents both raise their eyebrows at this. "Impressive." I hear my dad mutter.

"What's a cardio t-t-." Nolan stutters this in an attempt to say the word properly.

"Cardiothoracic surgeon." My dad says. "It's basically a heart doctor son."

"Oh, that's so cool!" He yells. So easily amused.

While they have a conversation about Abels parents' occupation, I watch Marcel try and stare him down so I kick him in the leg. "What are you doing?" I hiss.

"Playing the older brother role." He rubs his leg and glares at me.

"Well don't, there's no need for it."

Marcel just scoffs. I shake my head and tune back into the conversation. "This meal was delicious Mr and Mrs Callayo."

"Thank you and please call me Aiesha." Abel smiles at her and nods silently.

If I could guess correctly, I'd have to say that this dinner went better than I expected.

We start to clear the table and Abel helps out. When we're done, my dad takes him to his office to talk. I really hope he doesn't scare him off; that's the last thing I need.

In the mean time, I ask my mum what she thought of him.

"Oh he's so lovely Keziah, you really should have brought him round earlier. I like that he's familiar with our culture too. He's very handsome as well isn't he? You did pick a good one, I approve."

I simply nod in response but inside I'm sighing the biggest sigh of relief. My parents approval is obviously very important to me.

Of course, Marcel has to input his own opinion, "Yeah, I suppose he seems alright."

I give him a dry look, "I really didn't ask for your opinion Marce."

"But I gave it to you anyway so appreciate it."

I shove him away slightly resulting in a mini fight between us.

"Seriously, can you two go a day without arguing or fighting?" My mother grumbles and starts muttering words to herself.

"You decided to have us mum so don't complain." Marcel points this out but runs away when my mum brings her hand back for a playful slap.

I head into the living room to wait for Abel to come out when Nolan crawls into my lap. "I like Abel." He says.

"I like him too squirt."

A few minutes later, Abel walks out with my dads hand in his shoulder. "Make sure you come around more often."

"I will Sir." I hear him respond.

"None of that Sir stuff Abel, just call me Jamal."

Abel nods and heads straight towards me before wrapping me in his arms.

"I thought you said none of this stuff tonight?" I tease.

"No, I said no kissing but since I'm already so close to your parents, me holding you like this should be no problem at all."

"Alright cocky." I say playfully.

"Not cocky Brown Eyes, just confident."

"If that's what you think." I raise my eyebrows and give him a big smile.

Abel looks down at me for a second and rubs his thumb over my cheek, "God, you're so beautiful."

I place my hand over his and lean into his touch. Before I can respond, my mum interrupts us.

"Abel, would you like to take some rice home with you? I'm sure your mum would like it."

Abel sadly removes his hand from my face and takes a step back. "Sure thing Mrs C. Thanks again."

"You are welcome and remember, it's Aiesha."

My mum looks between us for a second, "Keziah, walk Abel out would you?"

Does she even have to ask?

She leaves us alone while Abel and I head towards the front door. Abel puts on his coat and shoes before turning to face me again.

"I like your family Keziah. They remind me of my own in some ways."

"I'm just lucky they didn't try and embarrass me as much as possible. You'd probably run with the stories they have."

"I doubt anything could scare me away from you Brown Eyes."

"You're just saying that."

Abel looks straight into my eyes deeply, "I mean it."

I think it's a bit early on for him to be saying things like that to me but I won't argue with him about it. Only time will tell.

Abel continues speaking, "How come Omari is so quiet?"

"He's just shy around new people." I say simply.

Abel thinks for a second, "I think if he and Zane were to become friends, it would bring him out of his shell since they're so opposite."

"Maybe so."

Abel hugs my tightly to his chest. "You don't need to hug me so tight you know. I'll see you tomorrow." I say this with a giggle.

"Maybe I just like holding you." Abel says while still hugging me.

"Clearly."

Despite that, I can't help but feel happy about how much he likes to hold me. It makes me feel good.

We stay like this for a minute while I breathe in his comforting scent of sandalwood and cinnamon. I love it so much.

Abel pulls away from me and gives me a slow intoxicating kiss on my lips. It ends far too soon in my opinion causing me to pout afterwards.

"When you look at me like that, it makes me want to kiss you more."

I feel myself smile in excitement, believing he's about to do just that.

"But I'm not going to. See you around Brown Eyes."

I'm frozen in surprise for a second before truly realising what he's said. By this time, he's halfway down the driveway.

"Abel!" I shout in frustration.

All I get back is a happy laugh.

He's going to pay for that.

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