“It’s, uh... almost eleven,” she said, checking her own phone. “Want to call it a night?”

“Well, I don’t want to,” I confessed. “But I kinda left Lydia waiting for me, back home, so I at least need to go pick her up and drop her at her place.”

“I understand,” said Amelia, as we reached the car. She let go of my hand, and turned to look into my eyes. “Thanks for tonight, Honey. It was lovely.”

I furrowed my brow, and smiled. “What are you talking about? You’re coming with me,” I told her. I unlocked the car doors, and motioned for her to get in.

“What... really?” Amelia asked, surprised.

“Yes, really,” I told her. She didn’t question me, and just did as I instructed her.

Once we were both inside the car, I locked the doors, and jumped over to the passenger seat, straddling Amelia and pinning her against the car seat. She laughed. “Honey, what are you—” she began to say, but I didn’t let her finish. I held her face with my hands and started kissing her. Amelia was a little surprised at first, but she quickly relaxed, and wrapped both arms around me while kissing me back.

On one hand, my date with Amelia had been almost perfect so far, and I would have been contented even if we’d ended it without doing anything more intimate. We chatted, had fun, flirted a little bit, it was a great night, by my standards.

On the other hand, I can’t put into words just how much I had been holding myself back until that moment.

Amelia had an intoxicating effect on me. There was this sexual tension between us, that kept coming back on several moments, during our date, and it became simply unbearable when we were this close to each other. I kissed her passionately, and I could tell by her ragged breath that Mel was just as excited as I was. I slipped my hands under her shirt, feeling her skin under my fingertips, and she placed her hands on my hips, pulling me closer. I was just about to pull Mel’s shirt over her head—

...and then we were startled by an ambulance siren blasting through the parking lot loud enough to wake the dead.

I pulled back, and looked around me, wide-eyed.

Shit, what was I doing? Even if there weren’t many people around in that parking lot, we were still in public. It was dangerous to do stuff like that there, not to mention wrong.

Amelia covered her face with both hands, probably realizing the same thing. I jumped back into the driver’s seat, mortified.

For a moment, we were both too ashamed of ourselves to say anything to each other. Then I turned the ignition and...

WELL I CAN DANCE WITH YOU, HONEY

IF YOU THINK IT’S FUNNY

DOES YOUR MOTHER KNOW THAT YOU’RE OUT?

“Oh, come on!” I snapped, angrily, turning off the radio again. Amelia was overcome with a fit of giggles. I snorted. At least the atmosphere wasn’t weird anymore. I placed one hand on the stick shift, and was about to shift the car into rear, when I felt Amelia put her hand on top of mine. I looked at her, surprised, and found her smiling gently at me. She caressed my fingers with her thumb, and I felt really warm inside, then.

We drove to my place, mostly in silence, but it wasn’t an uncomfortable silence. Whenever I glanced at Amelia, she was staring idly out the window with a cute little smile on her lips. It made me feel fuzzy inside. Goodness, that woman was just perfect.

I pulled into the driveway by my place, and we both got out of the car.

“Do you want me to wait here while you get Lydia?” she asked me.

I considered that for a moment. “No, no, come in,” I told her, motioning for her to walk into the building with me. Knowing Lydia, she’d probably swamp me with questions if I walked into the apartment alone, and that could take a while. There was no point in leaving Amelia waiting for us outside. I began to tell her that, as we walked up the steps to the second floor. Then I swung open the door to my apartment, and froze when I saw a middle-aged couple sitting at the dinner table, staring at me.

“Mom? Dad?”

My mother got up from the chair and dashed to hug me.

“Where were you?!” she asked.

“Mom... I can’t breathe,” I joked, prompting her to let me go. “I was just out with... a friend. Err...” I looked behind me, and saw Amelia standing still on the corridor, looking just like a mouse that’s been cornered by a cat. “This is Amelia,” I said. “Mel, this is my mother.”

“It’s... errr... it’s a pleasure to meet you, ma’am,” she said, before greeting her with a handshake. I had never seen Amelia so nervous and out-of-place before, and I really wished I could tease her about it, then.

“Likewise,” said mom. “Do come in, Amelia, don’t just stand outside.”

She hesitated. “Errr... maybe I should get going?”

“Nonsense,” said mom, motioning her inside. She followed, awkwardly, and I had to stifle a laugh as I closed the door. I was a little nervous, too, but not nearly that much. Mom and Dad were cool, and I had an openly gay older brother, so they probably wouldn’t mind even if they figured out what was going on between us.

Amelia went over to the couch, to greet my dad.

“What happened to your phone?” mom asked. “We couldn’t reach you for the past two days, and we were really worried about you.”

“Ohh...”

I told my parents that they’d better sit down for this, which obviously worried them, then I started telling mom and dad about what had happened recently between Michael and I. Namely, the aggression, and the break-up. I explained why I had kept my phone off for the time being, and how Amelia had been so kind as to lend me hers in case I had to call someone in an emergency. Mel took my hand in hers, while reassuring me that everything was all right now, and I was really grateful for that.

Mom and dad were left speechless for a little while. They had always treated Michael like family, and had never expected that “kind boy” to hit someone, least of all a woman.

“How are you now?” my dad asked me, sounding really concerned. “Do you need to move back home with us?”

I shook my head. “I’m fine, dad. I have friends here to support me. I’ve got Lydia and... Amelia, too,” I locked eyes with her as I said that, and we smiled at each other.

“Amelia, huh?” said mom, snapping us both back to reality. Mel pulled her hand away from mine, and I could have winced as her heat faded from my skin. “So, how do you know Hannah?”

“We have friends in common,” she said, and it surprised me at how readily she was able to answer that. She must have been preparing for a question like that ever since mom had her walk into the apartment. “Lydia introduced us, a while ago.”

“And why, pray tell, Hannah, is it that you never mentioned this lovely young lady to your parents, seeing as you appear to be such good friends?”

I could tell mom was making fun of me. “It slipped my mind,” I said, not caring for her attempt to embarrass me. “Where’s Lydia, by the way? She was here when I left. And she wouldn’t have left with my key, right?”

Mom furrowed her brow, and dad shrugged.

There was a noise in the bedroom, a soft thump. Oh, don’t tell me.

I got up from the couch, and walked to the bedroom. Then I turned the light on, and searched around. I found Lydia hidden inside the wardrobe.

“What the heck are you doing?” I asked her.

“Soooorry,” she said. “I heard your parents come in, and I didn’t want to tell them about Amelia, so I kind of freaked out and hid in here.”

“How long have you been here?” I asked.

Lydia pursed her lips. “Something like three hours?” I gaped at her, astounded. “Oh, don’t worry, I was playing candy crush on my phone,” she explained.

I snorted. “Ly, what the heck. It’s just mom and dad.”

“I know,” she whispered urgently. “But they don’t know you’re gay! I can’t just up and say you went to the movies with some girl they’ve never heard of. It’s suspicious.”

“It’s a lot more suspicious if you hide in my wardrobe, you know?” I said. “Now get out, I’m taking you home.”

“Will you drive me there?” she asked, hopeful.

“Of course I will, Ly,” I said, rolling my eyes. I walked back to the living room. “Mom, dad, I’m gonna take Lydia to her place,” I said. Lydia waved awkwardly at them. I saw my parents exchanging surprised glances and shrugging at each other. Fortunately for me, Lydia was famous for being a weirdo, and it wasn’t the first time my parents caught her doing something crazy like that. It saved me from having to come up with some explanation.

Amelia got up from the couch, and followed us outside. I immediately felt my heart drop. I was hoping we’d get a little more time alone with each other that night, instead of leaving things halfway (and yes, by that, I mean sex). But it couldn’t be helped now that mom and dad had decided to pay me a surprise visit.

I walked down the stairs with my friend and my crush, and opened the gate. Lydia hurried over to the car, but Amelia stood still on the sidewalk.

“What’s wrong?” I asked her. “Come, I’ll take you home.”

“Ah, there’s no need for that,” she said, awkwardly. “I live real close to here, to be honest, it’s like a five-minute walk. And... I think I wanna walk to cool down after, you know, meeting my girlfriend’s parents.”

My heart skipped a beat when I heard this.

“I’m your... girlfriend?” I asked, stunned.

Amelia’s eyebrows shot up, and she clasped her mouth, once she realized what she’d just said. I giggled. Then I took Mel’s hand in mine and uncovered her mouth, so that I could give her a quick peck on the lips.

“I’d love to be your girlfriend,” I told her, and she beamed at me.

“If you’ll take me,” said Amelia.

I nodded. “Of course.”

“Heeeeeeeeeeeeey!” Lydia shouted from the car. “How long are you gonna do that for? Do you know how late it is? It’s cold out! Come on, Hannah!”

I chuckled, and shook my head. “Same old Lydia,” I said, smiling.

Amelia and I locked eyes again. “I’ll... see you later then, Honey?” she asked me, with her hand on my left cheek. I nodded, happily. Then she gave me a kiss on the forehead, which just about sent my heart fluttering. Geez.

We told each other goodbye, and I watched her walk away for a moment before I turned around and went to meet Lydia by the car.

“I saw that,” said my friend, grinning maliciously. “That’s a nice smile on your lips, Hannah.”

I stopped in my tracks. I hadn’t even realized I was smiling. I forced myself to look serious again, before unlocking the car for us both to get in. I turned the ignition, only to hear Abba start to play yet again.

“Okay, that’s it,” I said, pulling the usb flash drive from the radio, and handing it to my friend. “Don’t go leaving your stuff in my car, Ly.”

Lydia sneered. “Aren’t you a bit too angry for someone who just got herself a girlfriend? Come on, tell me about the date!”

I shrugged. “It was fine, Ly,” I said, as I started driving to her place. “We watched a horrible movie, had dinner at a nice restaurant, and came back. That’s it.”

Lydia seemed unconvinced. “You sure that was all? What about ‘steamy make-out session in the theater’? Did that happen?”

“It did not, actually,” I explained. “We were too busy laughing at the alien sharks.”

Lydia chortled. “Whoa, you really meant it when you said it was a horrible movie. So, if nothing happened there, did you make out at the restaurant, then?”

“Nope,” I replied.

“In the car?”

“...No.”

“You hesitated!” Lydia exclaimed. “Tell me what happened.”

I felt myself blush again. I didn’t know a person could blush so many times in a single night. “Nothing happened, Ly! We just... kissed.”

“And?”

“Fondled,” I conceded.

“Awww, cute,” Lydia mocked me. “You don’t have to be shy about those sorts of things, little Hannah, you’re an adult now. It’s normal for adults to—”

“Lydia, I swear to God, if you don’t shut up right now, you’re walking the rest of the way,” I threatened, making her laugh.

“I can’t help it,” she argued. “It’s too much fun teasing you. You get all nervous and embarrassed.”

“Precisely,” I retorted. “And I don’t like it, so stop doing it, please. Please.”

“All right, all right,” said Lydia, with more seriousness. “I didn’t know it bothered you all that much. I’ll stop, okay?”

I let out a breath of relief. “Thanks, Ly.”

“...for now,” she added, making me roll my eyes.