Page 34 of Don't Leave Me

I nodded.Yes, I’m very much still a little girl in my dad’s eyes.

“Thanks, mom. I’ll let you know when we’re on our way,” I said cheerfully and hung up.

Two hours later I was in my apartment packing while Billie laid on my bed and watched.

“I can’t believe he’s already meeting your parents. You didn’t have to like, force him or anything?” she asked curiously with raised eyebrows.

Haha! Me forcing Michael. That’s a good one.

“No, I just asked him and he said yes!” I beamed.

“John was like, in shock about Michael. He came out of your room all shirtless and hot and he was like, ‘Who the hell is that?’” she laughed at the memory.

“Yeah,” I laughed back half-heartedly. “I told Jack that I couldn’t see him anymore though. I mean, this thing with me and Michael is getting pretty serious,” I explained, throwing some boots into my suitcase.

“Obviously,” she sat up. “I mean, it’s only been what…a week? And he’s already meeting your parents? He must be really into you,” she raised her eyebrows.

I smiled to myself.Yes, he must be.

An hour later, Michael was knocking on the front door with a duffle bag in tow. Billie answered enthusiastically and greeted him inside while I struggled to close my suitcase.

“Hi, I’m almost ready!” I glanced up at him and realized he was watching me with amusement.

“Let me close that for you, Hana,” he said, setting down his bag and leaning down on the suitcase, zipping it closed with no struggle whatsoever.

I smirked at him and shook my head. “Thank you,” I said and stood up.

He picked up my bag with his and started for the door. “Shall we?” he grinned happily.

I looked over at Billie and widened my eyes with a smile; she did the same.

“Bye, Billie. I’ll see you this weekend. Tell your mom I say hello,” I hugged her quickly.

Billie was born and raised just outside the city, so she didn’t have to travel much.

“I will,” she hugged me back. “Have fun,” she said in a sing-song voice as I walked out the door.

* * *

Michael and I tolerated the hour and a half train ride to Greenwich by sitting close to one another, me going through the music on my phone while we both listened to some of my favorite songs that he wasn’t familiar with, like “This Must Be the Place” by the Talking Heads and “That’s How Strong My Love Is” by Otis Redding. We giggled (well, I did – he chuckled in his contained way) and held hands and I realized that I was really comfortable around him; I was still sort of intimidated by him (especially in the bedroom) but overall, I felt like I could by myself around him. And it helped that he seemed endlessly amused by whatever I said.

It was almost 9 PM when the train stopped in Greenwich; I could see my mom eagerly waiting on the platform, just one step away from holding up a sign that read “WELCOME HOME HANA!”

Michael grabbed my hand as we exited the train, holding both of our bags like a real gentleman, and my mom’s eyes popped wide opened when she noticed us.

“Hi, sweetheart!” she exclaimed with open arms, nearly running towards us.

“Hi, mom,” I hugged her, briefly letting go of Michael’s hand.

I turned to look at him when my mom and I parted; he truly looked beautiful under the train station’s lights, his hair messy and his facial hair longer, his grey eyes wide and smiling almost shyly.

“Mom, this is Michael,” I started, putting my hand to his shoulder. “Michael, this is my mom, Jemma,” I beamed.

“Hello, Mrs. Miller. Pleasure to meet you,” Michael smiled kindly, holding out his hand to shake my mom’s.

“Oh, it’s such a pleasure, Michael! Call me Jemma!” she shook his hand eagerly. “Let’s get in the car, it’s freezing out!” she started walking in the opposite direction.

I raised my eyebrows at Michael and he smiled. We followed my mom to her car, apparently a new Escalade that I didn’t hear about.

---