My hangover the next day was my worst in years. No exaggeration.

I even said no to seeing Melissa, not because I felt guilty about the night before, but because I felt like literal shit.

I threw up three more times once I surfaced from my room and then napped twice in the afternoon. It was embarrassing. I couldn't even stomach junk food. What a failure.

After dodging her calls all day, I finally decided that I should probably talk to my mother. I hadn't spoken to her since the night of our party and I'd found myself a little preoccupied with everything that had been going on.

"We just miss you, that's all," Mom said to me down the phone. Her country accent always seemed so much stronger on the phone for some reason.

"I'm hardly a million miles away," I sighed.

"You know what I mean! You never come and visit."

"I visited last month!"

"Well anyway, you know your fathers' birthday is coming up."

I made sure she heard the resulting sigh.

It wasn't that I didn't love my parents, I really did. I just spent so long trying to get out of the family home that I didn't want to always be going back. Besides, it also gets pretty old hearing that you're wasting your life living with two dudes and working at a dead end job.

"We were thinking of having a big party at the house and it wouldn't be a party without you there," Well that much was true.

"I guess I could make an appearance, but I need to get back pretty fast the next day for work," Whenever I was trying to get out of anything, I always claimed to have something to do for work. My folks may have hated my job more than I did, but they always appreciated my dedication, even if it was completely fictional.

"That's totally fine, David. It'll just be nice to see you. And we'd really like it if you brought that new girlfriend of yours too."

What the shit?

"Mom, I don't have a girlfriend," I laughed nervously.

"Sure you do!" She bellowed confidently. "Melissa! I would really like to meet her."

"How do you know about her?" I asked. Neither of my parents had Facebook to see our conversations and I was certain I hadn't drunkenly told any of them.

"Well Dean told me. He really is a lovely young man."

Of course he did.

"Right," I sighed. "Well I don't think she can make it. It's pretty short notice."

"Can't you at least ask?" She persisted. "It's not often that you actually have something like this to show off."

I couldn't decide if that was an insult or a compliment, but either way, I agreed to ask Melissa, knowing full well that she'd be unable to go.

*

"I'd love to go!" She cried down the phone when I asked her.

"But . . . but won't you have work?" I was stunned.

"I'm meant to be working but I can get someone to cover for me."

"I don't want you to have to do that!" I insisted. It was one thing for me to have met her family but if she were to meet mine then we'd definitely be in some shady territory.

"It's fine, honestly. You'd be surprised how easy it is to get holidays, from booking holidays. Ha-ha!" She cackled.

I was a little confused by the holiday-inception but nevertheless, I realised that I didn't really have a choice any more. Melissa was meeting my parents.

*

My parents still live in my hometown of Port Townsend, which is about a two hour drive from Seattle. I actually felt a little bad because Melissa had borrowed her mom's car to drive us there, somehow making me see this as a much more serious step then it maybe should have been. Her justification made sense though, we could save money on trains and busses if she drove; she wasn't exactly ever going to be hungover anyway, was she?

We made random small talk on the journey which loosened me from my apprehension within minutes. Melissa was wasted at a travel agent; she should have had a job calming down crazy people or something. Even her singing along to the Jonas Brothers on her playlist was soothing to me. Was there anything she couldn't do?

We arrived at my folks and I could have sworn that I was more nervous than she was. I took several deep breaths before checking that she was ready and stepping out of the car. My parents were out in a flash to greet us.

"Oh there you are!" My mom smiled before wrapping her large arms around me. Let's just say she hasn't been to a gym in a while.

"Hey mom," I groaned through my own smile, hugging her back.

"And you must be Melissa!" Mom literally fan-girled, throwing me by the wayside to wrap her anaconda arms around her.

"It's really nice to meet you Mrs. Bischoff," Melissa said while I left them to shake my dad's hand. He wasn't as excited as mom so just stayed by the front door.

"Oh nonsense, just call me Patty!" I guess every mother is the same. "And this is my husband, Peter. Dad just waved like the cool motherfucker that he is.

It had so far remained pretty dry but the dull clouds were threatening to burst open any minute and so we were ushered into the house quickly. There was a few hours left before anyone else was supposed to arrive so we were treated to a huge lunch which made me want to take a nap. Unfortunately though, I wouldn't be afforded that luxury as my parents burst into their own version of twenty-one questions.

"So Melissa, are you diabetic?" Mom asked, nodding at her bracelet that I now noticed every time I saw her.

"Mom's a nurse," I quietly explained.

"Oh awesome! " Melissa smiled before telling them all about her condition and the way she manages it. You're probably getting tired of me saying this, but I was in awe of her. To be able to deal with such heavy shit in such a controlled and relaxed manner was just baffling to me. I freak out when I miss an episode of Arrow for Christ sake, so I have no idea how I would deal with that.

My parents listened intently to her story before turning to the upcoming celebration. It wasn't actually my dad's birthday until the following week but we had this tradition where we'd always celebrate a week early so that he could take mom off to their condo in Florida for the week. Apparently most of my family were going to be there tonight and I actually found myself looking forward to it a little now that I was in some familiar surroundings.

We offered to help clean up but, as usual, my mom insisted on doing everything herself so Melissa and I retreated to my old bedroom to get ready for the festivities.

"I'm sorry if that was too much," I sighed, sitting on the old bed and taking in what had once been my whole world. Posters of various punk rock bands I hadn't listened to in years, films I no longer enjoyed and a guitar I never once played filled the walls around us.

"No it was totally fine. Believe me, I'm used to talking about it by now," She shrugged, sitting next to me. "So this is your room, huh?"

"At one time," I cringed, spotting another poster of "Stone Cold" Steve Austin in the corner. "I like to think I've upgraded now."

"I don't know . . . this place has a lot of . . . character," She laughed.

"Is that code for lame?" I snorted.

"No!" She blurted out. "Not at all! I mean, really this is like a time warp. Like, your two rooms are like two hugely different time periods. It's super cool!"

"Way to make me feel old," I jokingly nudged her over. Not expecting it, she fell to the side and instantly rose again to shove me back.

"Tell me about this one," She ordered, pointing to one of the posters after a brief play fight.

"Are you serious?" I asked.

"What?" She shrugged.

"It's the Goonies!" I cried. "Only one of the best movies ever! You haven't seen it?" This was blasphemy.

"Is it bad if I say no?" She smiled apologetically.

"The worst," I confirmed. "We have to watch it, right now.

"Now!?" She gawked.

"Yes, now! This is like one of those movies that are a rite of passage! Everybody has to see it at least once!" I may no longer be wildly entertained by this movie, but it's still incredible!

"Come on David, we can't watch it now! We won't be ready for the party in time!"

"I don't care, this is way more important!" I joked.

Unfortunately she convinced me to wait till later and we both got changed and were ready just as the guests started to arrive.

At least, I was. Being a girl, she took a little bit longer, so I went to greet the family I hadn't seen in ages while she finished up.

I'd managed to finish a whole beer before Melissa sent me a text, wanting me to come and get her. She was too nervous to come down on her own, which was fair enough I guess.

I climbed the stairs, taking two at a time and almost bumped into her at the top. I tried to apologise but was promptly silenced when I took her in.

She stood nervously before me with her hair tied behind her head and the wearing the same dress she'd worn to my party, only with a cardigan over it this time to combat the slightly colder weather.

She literally took my breath away.

"You . . . you look . . ."

"Is it ok? 'Cause I can lose the cardigan if-"

Interrupting her, I kissed her as hard as I could.

"What was that for?" She smiled, happily surprised. Her eyes were sparkling.

"You look stunning," I told her.

Now I didn't care what crazy ideas Eddie would put in my head. I just wanted to be with her.

"Come on!" I cheered, grabbing her hand and dragging her down the stairs.