Dining with my girlfriend's parents was the most awkward thing I did in my entire life. I wasn't raised in a perfect household. My home was fucked up as anyone could imagine it to be. Talking to parents wasn't something I do on a daily basis. Hell, talking to teachers isn't easy. So talking to my girlfriend's parents was a different level.

It didn't take long before Tamsin's father called me out to the back porch for a talk. We sat in opposite chairs while looking at their small backyard. It was clean. No garden or anything. It was expected with their busy schedule.

"Tamsin is my only daughter, and she believes you aren't the person who made you out to be."

"What kind of person am I?" I asked in return.

Her father took a sip of his beer before answering.

"That depends on what you tell me next."

I sighed and looked away from him.

"I'm neither good nor bad. If you're questioning if I truly care about your daughter, the answer is I do care for her. I love your daughter." I glanced at him and knew what he was thinking. "If you're thinking your girl deserves better than me, I'll have to agree. She is special. You raised her right and she is kind."

Tamsin's father snorted. "Are you trying to tell me you're not worth it?"

"Whether I'm worth or not, only Tamsin knows. If you're questioning if I'm the right fit for her, I can tell you I will never let your daughter do something she doesn't want to. In the future, if she wants to do something she enjoys, I'll support her in every way that I can. If she wants a shoulder to cry on, I'll be there to give her my shoulder. If she needs a hug, I'll be there to give her my arms. If you're asking if I'll leave her when times are hard, the answer will be never. I'm committed to your daughter, Mr. Smith."

I turned to Tamsin's father again. He took another long sip of his beer.

"And if she wants to leave you in the future?"

"I'll respect her decision. I'll never force her to do anything she doesn't want to."

Mr. Smith was quiet for a few minutes.

"When Tamsin was six, she fell on the playground and scratch her knee badly right here-," he points to his right knee, "I was running to her when I caught a little boy kneeling next to her. He wore old, hand-me-down clothes. The pants he wore were torn by the knees, but his face was clean. He leaned over and wiped away her tears and asked my daughter for her name. After, he said her name and told her everything will be all right. That her ouchie will go away. With a Band-Aid in his pocket, he placed it over my daughter's knee. He comforted her with gentle words and smiles."

I looked away immediately, because I remember that day. I saw Tamsin fall when I went to the park with my mom. I asked for her a Band-Aid and ran to her. When I saw her for the first time with her ponytails and cute purple dress, I thought she was as cute as the little dolls that my mom liked to look at the store.

"I watched you run back to your mom after you comforted her and put a smile on her face. When I looked at your mom, her clothes were also hand-me-down. I remember what she wore that day. She wore a thin white dress-shirt that she had rolled up her sleeves. She had the first two buttons unbuttoned and when the wind blew, I saw bruise marks around her neck. Her face looked much dirtier than yours." I tightened my hands into fists. Mr. Smith stood up and walked over to me and placed a hand over my shoulder and squeezed. "Everything that has happened isn't your fault, and you have no control over it, Kai."

"I know it isn't."

"But you still feel that it is."

I covered my face with one hand and inhaled deeply. He squeezed my shoulder again.

"You don't have to feel this way, Kai. Your past can't be changed, but you can change your future. If you love my daughter, as you said, you'll change your future so that you can be with her. Changing your future isn't just for my daughter, but for yourself. You are a good man, Kai."

You are a good man...

Tears ran down my cheeks before I could stop them. I wiped them away with the back of my hand before standing up.

"Because you are a good man, I accept your relationship with my daughter. Don't disappoint me and continue to prove others and me wrong."

I stood up from my chair and wanted to thank Mr. Smith. Instead, he pulled me into a hug and slapped my back. Oddly, it was nothing I ever felt before. To be accepted and understood like this...my father never had given me that chance.

After the dinner, Tamsin and I spent some alone time in the nearby park. She sat on the swing while I leaned against one of the legs of the swing frame. It was dark outside, but the streetlights lit up enough for us to see our surrounding.

I looked at Tamsin swinging and smiling. She was talking animatedly about how great dinner was and, like it wasn't anything she expected it to turn out to be. She told me about how her father was a hard and closed off person. But throughout all her talk, all I could remember was how cute she looked back then for a while.

That day... I remembered that day. It was the middle of spring and the weather has just turned nice. People were out walking around. My mom wanted us out of the house while my dad was drinking.

When I first saw Tamsin, she was laughing and calling out to her dad while going down the slide. Every time she fell on her butt, she would laugh out loud, as if it was the funniest thing ever. Then she'll get back up and do it again. I've seen no one as happy as her. She caught my attention immediately.

When I went to school and noticed that she was in the same school as me, I couldn't stop noticing her since then. Grade after grade. Years after years. I didn't think much about it for all those years until just recently when she got paired up in a project with me.

"Kai?" she pouted from the swing.

I smiled and walked behind her. Grabbing the swing, I pushed her from behind.

"What are you thinking about?" she asked.

"You."

She snorted. "Yeah, right."

I grabbed a hold of the swing to stop her. "If I'm not thinking about you, should I be thinking about someone else?"

She tilted her head back to look at me. Her eyebrows furrowed and lips pursed. I smirked and leaned down to kiss her lips. Before walking around to stand in front of her. I cupped her cheeks and kissed her lips gently. It felt good to kiss her openly and to get to love her in this kind of way. She slid hands up my shirt and tugged it to deepen the kiss.

I pulled my lips back enough to whisper, "I love you."

"I love you too," she whispered.

I threaded my fingers through the back of her nape while wrapping another arm around her waist. I lifted her up and away from the swing. She sighed through the kiss and wrapped her arms around my shoulders.

I pulled back and set her feet back onto the ground. I took hold of her hand and we walked back onto the sidewalk.

"There is something we need to talk about."

She glanced at me. "What is it?"

"Your dad told me I needed to think about my future. I shouldn't depend on you, but should support you."

"Don't listen to everything- "I glanced her way and put an arm around her shoulders to keep her close. I leaned in and kissed her forehead.

"He's right, Dollface. I want a future with you and I want to be there for you. I've been thinking about applying for a university."

"Oh, and what do you want to be?"

I smiled. "I want to be a doctor. I want to save and protect lives."

"That's great, but what about your grades? You don't exactly have a spectacular attendance record."

I chuckled, "That's something I've been hiding from everyone."

"What else are you hiding?" she narrowed her eyes.

"I have an almost perfect GPA. It just so happened. I don't need to sit in every class period to earn my grades the past four years."

"You mean to tell me you got brains, but refuse to show your talent?"

"I like it when people don't give a fuck about me." I leaned down and tried biting her cheek. She laughed and pulled away, only for me to pull her back into my arms.

"Then shall we apply for the same university? We'll get to see each other every day."

"That sounds like a great idea," I replied as I walked her back to her house.