"Your parents are such candies."

Jack looks up from his suitcase with an expression half amused, half shocked by what I just said. "You don't mean eye candies, do you?"

"Nah—ooh, maybe. They do look very good," I muse. Jake throws a pillow at my face, making me laugh and curl up on his bed. We're in his room, unpacking and calming down after his brother's outburst. While Jake is doing all the work (good, I'm his guest), I'm lying on his bed and staring at the ceiling. 

"I'm kidding!" I grin. "They're just sweet, you know? Like candies? But obviously, their son did inherit his beauty from somewhere," I tease. As expected, my boyfriend gets that lovely blush on his cheeks. 

"Shut up," he mumbles, turning back to unpacking my suitcase. I stand up and walk up behind him, hugging his waist. He snickers as I start kissing his neck, telling me it tickles. I don't listen. 

Then, my eye falls on the aquarium in front of us. "You have fish?!"

He glances at the two goldfish in there. "Yeah. They're my friends. Don't judge that one, I think something's wrong with him." Not to mention, the fish is upside down and gasping for air. 

"What are their names?" I ask, never letting go of his waist. He shrugs. "They're fish. They don't need names."

I gasp, horrified. "Of course they need names! How will you call them for dinner?"

He gives me a 'seriously' look, but I am serious. Fish need names. Jake rolls his eyes and shrugs me off, continuing to lay my clothes in his closet. "Okay, then why don't you choose names for them? And do not say Blub."

I sit down on the floor in front of the aquarium (totally in Jake's way) and stare at the fish swimming around. My boyfriend whines and tries to drag me away, but I stay put in place. He gave me a job and I'll do it well. 

"What do you think of Alex and Xander?" I propose. Jake groans. "Even Blub is better. Alex, move."

"What's wrong with my names? I used hours of my time to come up with them," I pout, laying down on the floor so I annoy Jake even more. He scowls at me. "Move, douchebag."

"Ow!" I cry out, placing a hand over my heart in mock pain. "You call me a douchebag after everything I've done for you?"

He glares at me, and I start to realize maybe he really is irritated with me. Oh, well. He loves me and will get over it. "You called my fish parts of your name. You probably thought about it for like a minute. And now, move!"

Like the perfect boyfriend I am, I roll aside and allow him to walk past me. "Are you sure everything's okay? You look a bit—" 

"A bit what?" he snaps. I shake my head, avoiding eye contact. "Nothing! Nothing. You look gorgeous, baby."

"A bit what, Alex? Annoyed, with you? Absolutely. Sit down on the bed and don't move. I'll talk to you when I'm done." 

Aye aye captain. I climb back in the bed, a little impressed. So far, I was always the one bossing him around, but that doesn't mean Jake can't do the same to me. Yum. 

"Can I make it up to you?" I ask, turning until I'm on my stomach. My hands are tucked under my head as I watch Jake pull off his sweater (and accidentally his T-shirt) and catch a glance of his abs. Bless ice hockey. 

He snorts, which makes me fall in love with him even more. Seriously, how is he doing this? 

"And how would you do that, Alex?" he asks. "By eating my piece of pie, I bet?"

I roll my eyes. Maybe I need to up my performance of being the best boyfriend ever. Clearly, I'm not appreciated. 

"No. When we're done with your parents for the day," I tell him, getting up again and pecking his lips. He's unimpressed. Oops. 

I continue my sentence anyway. "When we go upstairs to sleep, I'll let you fuck me. To make up for being so annoying, but as an extra Christmas present, too." 

His sharp intake of breath has me smiling. Oh, how I love catching him off-guard with something. "How does that sound?"

"You did not just tell me that five minutes before we have to go downstairs for dinner," he groans, hiding his face under his hands as he takes a deep breath. "You're a monster."

I grin and kiss his forehead again. "But you adore me."

"And I'm an idiot to do so. You're such a handful," he complains. Feeling a little sorry for him, I pull him close to me. He accepts my hug and cuddles into my touch. "But yes, I adore you. You're my handful."

"And you're my idiot," I smile, before grabbing his chin and giving him another kiss. A sweet one, slow and passionate. I don't always need to devour him. Besides, I bet his parents won't allow me to sleep in his room anymore when they see him with red, swollen lips. 

"Jake! Alex! Damian! Hailey! Time for dinner!" his mom shouts frown downstairs, interrupting our moment. Jake ignores her for a moment, holding on to me. My heart feels heavy as I think about how much I want to stay here, in his hug. Shit. I'm turning into a fool. 

"Are you okay with eating? I know the last few days have been hard on you—" I hush him with a finger on his lips. "I'm okay. I've noticed some change in my body, good change, and it motivates me to keep eating. Of course, the fact our dinner is the best pie ever helps, too."

He grins almost proudly. "I'm glad to hear that. Let's go eat and then disappear upstairs, yes?"

Impatient little thing. 

With my hand in his, he walks out of the room and down the stairs. I'm dragged along, but I would voluntarily follow him anywhere. I laugh, "Okay, now, slow down."

"Ah, the two lovebirds." Jake's spine immediately straightens, though he doesn't turn around to look at his older brother. Damian doesn't care, but then again, he was never that interested in his siblings. Whenever I was around the house, he went to his friends', miles away. 

"Damian, I don't appreciate—" "There are a lot of things I don't appreciate about you, too, Jake," Damian snaps right back, not allowing Jake to even talk. "Don't start this bullshit."

Jake shuts up, but his grip on my hand has tightened. I believe, if Damian keeps this up, my boyfriend will snap soon, and it won't be pretty. 

"Now, where the hell—oh, but what are you doing here? Dinner is downstairs!" Jake's mom exclaims. She's halfway the stairs, staring at us in her apron. "Damian, leave them alone. Just because you don't have a partner doesn't mean you need to bother Jake's. Downstairs, chop chop!"

"Mom," Jake's older brother groans, but he does move. "I'm literally twenty-six." "And yet you still live at home," Jake's mom shoots back. That shuts him up for a while. 

By the time we're all seated at the table and we all have our piece of the pie, Damian is glaring again and Jake is avoiding his gaze. I don't remember our teenage years being like this. Granted, his older brother wasn't home a lot, but I don't think it was this bad.

"So no one is going to say it?" Damian suddenly snaps, shutting an enthusiastically talking Hailey up. Their parents watch their son with narrowed, suspicious eyes. "No one is going to ask why the actual fuck Jake is with Alex again, after all the misery we've been through?!"

"Damian," Jake whimpers, resting his head on his arm. He doesn't look at anyone, not even at me. "Drop it."

"Fuck no," Damian shakes his head. "You were the biggest mess I've ever seen, all because mister Barett here left you without any notice, but then you bump into him again and just. . . forget about it? I always knew you weren't that tough, but this? It's a new low, Jake, even for you."

It's hot in here. Did someone turn the heat up? I should have gotten rid of my sweater before I came downstairs. Oh no, my hands are sweating, too. Holding hands with Jake under the table doesn't seem like a good plan anymore, but he doesn't let me retreat my hand. 

"Enough," Jake's dad speaks up. "I'm sure there is a good explanation for it. This is not your business, Damian. And you certainly shouldn't insult your brother like that. I want you to apologize."

Damian rolls his eyes and keeps eating. "And I want a decent explanation, but not everyone gets what he wants. Except Jake, of course. He gets his fairy tale or whatever."

I swear to everything, I'm gonna—

"Alex. Don't," Jake warns, so I relax in my chair again. He turns to his brother. "Not that it's any of your business, but I did get a good explanation. I said I didn't want to be friends, though, but we kept running into each other. So I gave him a chance, and it turned out great. Why can't you just be happy for me?"

Damian grumbles something incoherently before grabbing his plate and disappearing. Jake releases a breath, clearly trying to calm down, while I avoid eye contact with everyone. Maybe Damian's right, and maybe I do need to explain myself. 

"I—" "No," three voices quickly comment. Jake and his parents are watching me with caution. "He's being a pain in the ass. Don't worry about it. Eat your pie."

I do as said. Damn. Who knew Jake could take charge? It's like being back home is giving him the confidence to switch our positions. And I certainly do not mind. Hell, I enjoy it. 

". . . and then Milan just stole it back from the teacher, which is why he has detention now," Hailey goes back to telling her story about how she lost and regained her phone. I'm smelling love between her and Milan, I'm telling you, the things he does for her. . .

The longer she's talking, the more I feel comfortable again. Their parents aren't scowling at me, Jake's not upset (at least not with me) and Hailey has totally already forgotten about Damian. And when Jake's mom asks me if I want another piece (a small one, it's just so good), I feel like they really don't blame me for what happened. 

"So this Milan," Jake starts. Hailey rolls her eyes, and I bet she already knows what kind of protective questions will follow. "Is he the kid with the motorcycle?"

The girl actually snorts in between her laughter. "He's fourteen!"

I join her laughter, only because Jake's defeated face is too funny. Really, how did he ever think a kid in the same grade as her can drive a motorcycle?

"Does he get detention a lot, though?" Jake asks. Hailey keeps grinning, but answers his question anyway. She's probably used to it by now. "No, this is the first time. But he stays a lot after school to study."

That pleases Jake, so he decided to leave his sister alone. He turns back to me. "Let's go back upstairs."

"Oh, no no no," his mom ruins the plan. "We're all going to play Scrabble, like a family. You're home now, so I don't want you to be asocial."

With a groan, Jake stands up and gets Scrabble from the drawer. "But Scrabble is the worst."

I shove a hand in his face. "Shut up. You don't know what you're talking about." What is it with everyone around me hating Scrabble? First Kai, and now Jake? It's definitely contageous.

"Your boyfriend is right, Jake," his mom shakes her head. "You're rambling nonsense again."

"Excuse me?" Jake says, "Again?"

His dad chuckles, looking from his wife to his son and enjoying their conversation. His wife laughs at Jake's indignant tone. "Yeah. Remember last Christmas, when you said She's All That was the worst movie to ever be made?"

I gasp. Dramatic, but also very fitting. Imagine the horror of getting to know your boyfriend hates a ten out of ten movie. "What?"

"It's a very bad example of love!" he exclaims. "They only accept her when she's had a make over! As if she wasn't beautiful before! It's misogyny at its finest—" "It's a cute movie," his mom sighs, shaking her head and winking at me. 

"There's nothing cute about it!" Jake groans. "And don't even get me started about 10 Thing I Hate About You, oh my fucking god."

I almost fall off my chair. "I think we need to break up."

He glares at me. "Shut up, you Scrabble-lover."