Epilogue: Meeting the Parents

After Aiden went home that afternoon, what awaited him was a pissed off father, with hands resting on his hips and a rather fierce look in his eyes. Mathew scolded Aiden for five hours straight, his voice not even going hoarse from all the talking, but Aiden's ears had gone numb and felt like they would bleed if he listened to his father's viscous scolding even for one more minute. His head was boiling from all that speech to the point he even felt like fainting, but all Aiden could do, was sit and patiently listen with his head lowered, bearing with this humiliating state.

This happened four weeks ago. After that long ass scolding, Aiden didn't dare say half a bad word to Jake, but that didn't stop him from glaring at his brother and Ryder every time he saw the two of them. As the days passed, the glares softened a bit, but the atmosphere between the three of them was anything but good. Still Ryder didn't care at all.

Ever since she and Jake became a pair, the unrestricted Mathew acted as if he was given a gift from heaven, treating Ryder like his daughter, inviting her for dinner or lunch and if it wasn't for Jake, he would most likely clean up a room for her in their house. No wait… Mathew had already started secretly cleaning a room for her.

At some point Jake started to complain that he loved Ryder more than his own son, which only earned him a smack in the end. Receiving such harsh treatment, Jake acted spoiled with Ryder, pouting and hugging her waist and rubbing his face against her stomach.

Ryder giggled. "Stop. It's tickling."

Jake pouted some more and unwillingly let her go.

The two of them were in his room. It was still early in the day. It was a cold Saturday with the sun not radiating even a bit of warmth, yet the atmosphere in the room was quite warm. The room was big, much to Ryder's surprise, but also awfully messy. The walls were painted a dark blue color with the ceiling painted white. There were books and pages scattered all over the place. Blank canvases or finished paintings could be found leaning against the walls or the desk that was filled with paint tubes and dirty brushes, huge piles of papers and notebooks. On top of a shelf Ryder found the resin cube with the little myosotis in it that she made for him. Next to it was the tiny white stuffed kitten and the mask, lined up as if they were trophies. Ryder felt her heart soften when she saw these things for the first time in Jake's room.

Despite Mathew not even hiding the fact that he literally wanted Ryder to move in, Ryder didn't come over often. That was mostly because she felt a bit awkward since Jake and her hadn't been together for that long and she already was coming over. Another reason was because the overcuring Mathew made her a bit uncomfortable. She wasn't used at being treated in such way by someone she barely knew, even though Ryder understood why Mathew acted this way. After all wasn't it all because of Jake?

Jake had noticed her unease and tried to control his father, but it was impossible to reason with that man. Still Ryder didn't stop coming over. That was because she actually enjoyed quite a lot watching Jake painting.

Today wasn't any different. Letting go of Ryder, Jake picked up his brush and continued painting on the already half-finished canvas. Sitting on his bed, Ryder watched with delight.

"You still haven't painted me your favorite place." Ryder rested her chin on the palm of her hand.

Jake didn't turn to face her, but his hand stiffened a bit. "I haven't decided yet what my favorite place is." He answered, trying to sound honest. However, from behind Ryder could see the tips of his ears as well as his neck turning red. Out of the blue, a sudden urge to bully him overwhelmed her. Unable to struggle against it, the corner of her lips turned up in a sly smug as she walked to Jake and hugged him from behind.

She stood on tiptoes and brought her lips to his flushed ear. Jake froze immediately, the brush almost falling off his hand.

Noticing his reaction, Ryder felt like laughing, but bit her tongue to stop herself before she whispered in his ear.

"Jake."

"Hm..." Even though it was just a hummed response, not even a word, Jake's voice still shook.

In a hushed voice, Ryder almost breathed out the next word. "Baby…”

Jake's face turned even redder as if he was in the verge of exploding, complaining in his heart.

A week or so ago, as the two of them with Remy and Jasmine were hanging out, the latter was almost growling at Remy for the numerous nicknames he was calling her. As Jake was watching this, Ryder suddenly looked at him with a serious expression.

“Do you want me to call you a nickname?”

God knows what crossed his mind in that moment, but Jake's face flushed red and he was biting both of his lips.

This reaction surprised Ryder and her brow raised in amusement.

"Is that a, yes?”

Jake didn't dare to answer, only shook his head, but his face betrayed him. Ryder found this amusing and started teasing him, calling him all sorts of names.

"Jacey."

"JJ."

"Honey."

"Sweetie."

"Baby." Once the word left her lips, Jake was blushing so hard, he had to hide his face behind his hands.

Ever since then Ryder would always tease him. When did his Ry turned so mischievous? Bullying him like this? Jake felt the need to bully her back.

"Why are you lying?”

"I- I'm not…”

Ryder chuckled and kissed his neck, sending shivers down his spine. "Liar."

"Ry..." Jake struggled out of her embrace and turned around. His arms wrapped around her waist; his face buried in her neck. "Stop teasing me." Even though his face was bright red, his voice was firm and a bit hoarse.

"Then don't lie to me."

"I'm not lying."

"You are."

"I'm not."

"But you are."

"No. I'm not."

"Jake."

"Ry."

"Babe~” Ryder dragged out the word, making the word feel like honey for some reason. It tickled his ears and heart, but the fact that Ryder was doing this on purpose didn't escape him. And so, Jake bit into Ryder's shoulder like a spoiled kitten.

It's not that he was lying because he wanted to. The truth was that when Ryder mention his "favorite place" the only thing crossing Jake's head was this. Him being in her embrace, being hugged by her, being able to hear her heartbeat and feel the warmth of her body and her calm breathe. How was he supposed to say that? It would sound so cheesy. Jake absolutely refused to say such things at loud. Was he someone to say such cheesy and cliché things? Ha! Forget it. Not in this lifetime or any other lifetime.

"You know I'm going to take revenge for this, right?” Jake muttered; his face still buried in Ryder's neck.

Hearing that, it was Ryder's time to blush. Flustered, she pushed Jake away. "Okay, that's enough. Keep painting. I… hem… I will sit here…”

However, Jake didn't let go of her waist. His turquoise eyes narrowed, showing his grievance to Ryder. The corner of his lips was turned slightly downwards and the messy grayish brown hair fell over his eyes, giving him a bewitching look that quickened Ryder's heartbeat.

Fuck! Damn it. Who made him so beautiful! I have complaints!

Not giving Ryder a chance to escape, Jake straightened his back, the grip around her waist tightening. Ryder was somehow lost in his eyes when out of nowhere she felt a cold wetness on her cheek. Taken aback, she stared at Jake with wide opened eyes.

The latter was still holding the brush dipped into red paint, smirking at her. "Jake!” Ryder raised her voice, her hand touching the now painted in red cheek, but before she could scold him any further, Jake brought the brush to her other cheek, leaving behind another thick red line. "JAK- humph" A third attack game from nowhere, but this time Jake pressed his lips against Ryder's, pulling her into an eager kiss.

Five minutes later, Ryder was breathing heavily, her face as red as it could get. She wanted to glare at Jake but couldn't for she also felt rather shy after that kiss… Let's say… a few sounds she had never done before came out of her and now she wanted to bury herself somewhere.

On the other hand, Jake had his mood improved and turned to his painting as if nothing happened. "That wasn't the revenge I was talking about by the way." The low pitch and somehow hoarse voice sent shivers down her spine.

"Jerk." Ryder muttered at him, touching her lips.

Jake only smiled even more and kept painting.

"Humph!” Ryder scoffed and sat back on the bed. Trying to ignore the intense blush on her face, she brought Jake's laptop on her lap. "Can I use your laptop?”

"Yeah."

Ryder opened the screen of it and frowned for a second. It seemed that the last time Jake had used it he was writing something, for the first thing that appeared once the screen turned on was a document on Microsoft Word.

"There was a story circulating in the palace ten years ago. It was about a young man that was loved by the king and queen. He was raised and treated like their son, but this ungrateful young man was like a dog that bit the hand that fed him.

He disappeared right after his betrayal and his story faded away through the years. Eventually people forgot about him.

There were a lot of inaccuracies in this story that the common people didn't know of. One of these was the circumstances of this young man's disappearance. Key Ai didn't disappear, didn't escape and didn't run away. What happened, even he didn't know.

What he knew was that everything was fine one moment and the next he was waking up from a sleep he didn't remember to have fallen in, in a room he couldn't recognize…”

"Are you writing a book?” Reading so far, Ryder took her eyes off the laptop and looked at Jake with a surprised gaze.

The moment those five words reached Jake, his back went stiff and as if what Ryder read wasn't a book but his diary, he rushed to her and slammed the laptop shut.

"You can't read that."

Ryder frowned. "Why? It was good."

Jake bit his lip. "It's not that."

"Are you shy about it? You don't have to. I really think it's very good."

Jake truly didn't know how to feel about all this situation and all he could do was sigh and grab the laptop off Ryder's hands. "I'm not shy." He said, putting the laptop on the top shelf, far from Ryder's reach. He was truly acting like a ten-year-old who had his diary read by his crush. His flustered face and movements were so cute, Ryder couldn't help but smile and want to tease him once more. But when she remembered the "attack" from before, she didn't dare. Her lips would be swollen and Henry would scold her for half a day.

Once again Ryder stood up from the bed and hugged him from behind. "Then why?”

"It's not finished yet."

"So what?”

"I don't want you to read the draft."

"So, you're going to let me read it after you finish it?”

Jake nodded, but still felt rather odd in his heart. Fucking hell, he should have just told her…

"Oh, I forgot to tell you." Ryder suddenly called. "Mom said dad is in a good mood today. How about you come over and meet them?”

But I haven't practiced sword fighting lately. I'm not ready to duel… Jake wanted to complain but he simply frowned and a furrow appearing in between his eyebrows.

He was rather anxious. Even though the two of them have been together for a month, Jake still had to meet Michelle and Henry. The reason why he hadn't done so yet was mostly because Ryder refused to let her father meet Jake. She wanted to give him some time to accept the fact that she was dating Jake before letting the two meet or God knows what her father would do if she didn't do so. Now that it had already been a month since they got together, her father should be okay with this.

Even so, Ryder was as anxious as Jake, but for completely other reasons. While Jake was worried if the Quinn parents would approve of him and not force him to break up with Ryder, Ryder was more worried about Jake being uncomfortable.

"Don't worry, I won't let them be bad to you. I won't let anyone bully you." Ryder assured him.

"You bullied me less than five minutes ago." Jake said with a face that clearly showed his displease.

The cheeks of Ryder turned red, yet she answered with a blank expression as if that accusation didn't have anything to do with her. "That isn't related to this at all."

How was that bullying! I clearly did that because I love you! Hmph! And because I love it when you blush…. Or when you get provoked and…. The already red face now matched the paint on her cheeks. Ryder felt the need to clear her throat as her thoughts were going astray.

Having this kind of reaction while facing Jake who found it amusing, staring at her as if he knew what she was thinking, Ryder couldn't bear it anymore and grabbed her backpack. "I… I'm going home. I… I will call you later…Love you. Bye."

With all that said she fled out of the room. Meanwhile the brush that hadn't fallen from Jake's hand even when he fiercely kissed Ryder, now fell on the floor when he heard those two words. He didn't hear wrong right?

While his eyes were still glued to the door that was left open by Ryder on her way out, Mathew walked inside frowning. "Did you have a fight with Ryder? She was… JAKE SCIAS CALEY, YOU IDIOT!”

The sudden exclaim from his father, scared the shit out of Jake. He jumped in fear, almost knocking down the canvas behind him. "WHY THE HELL ARE YOU SCREAMING LIKE A NASTY OLD LADY?”

“WHO'S OLD? YOU'RE OLD. YOU DARE CALL ME OLD! BRAT." Unsurprisingly, Jake touched Matthew's sore spot, making him completely forget why he was yelling at him to begin with.

"Why are you yelling at me?”

Mathew had to stop for a moment and think. Why was I yelling at him? Then his eyes fell on the dirty brush that was lying miserably on the carpet and lost it again. "THAT IS THE THIRD CARPET YOU HAVE RUINED, YOU BRAT!”

Jake looked down at the brush and frowned. "Oh…” This reaction almost drove Mathew crazy to the point he was about to get physical, but Jake's next words stopped him. "Ry said she loved me."

"Lo-love…loves you? She said she loves you?” Mathew asked, not believing his ears. "Love you like, I love your hair or love like I love LOVE you? That kind of love, right? LOVE love kind of love, right?”

Why are you acting as if she said it to you? Jake was getting annoyed, but the more he heard the word love the more he felt his heart turn into a puddle. He felt like if he died right now, he would have absolutely no regrets, he would die happy. My Ry… she loves me…

The totally unaware Ryder who accidentally spilled her hear heart's feelings at Jake in a moment of panic, slowed down her pace only after she had run a few blocks. Her heart was beating fast but she didn't know if it was because of the run or for some other reason. Either way she didn't dare keep thinking about what just happened lest she died of embarrassment.

By the time she walked through the front door of her house, it was already late in the afternoon. There was only Michelle inside, cooking in the kitchen that looked like a mess, utensils she had never seen before and didn't know they owned them had made an appearance, stains where all over the counter…

I will have to clean this, won't I?

Ryder sighed in her heart.

"Where is dad?”

"I sent him to the supermarket to buy chicken." Michelle answered. "Did you ask Jake? Is he coming?”

Ryder nodded. "Mihm. I will give him a call later. Dad won't make a fuss, right? I don't want him to make Jake uncomfortable."

“At most he will just be unfriendly, I guess." Michelle shrugged, but this answer didn't satisfy Ryder.

"Can you be… a bit considerate…?” Ryder didn't exactly keep Jake's mental state a secret from her parents. It's not like she was ashamed of it. Jake had been through a lot and it took him quite some time to finally have some progress in his recovery. He could finally sleep more than just a few hours a week and his condition were already better. Natalie, his therapist, was optimistic about his progress and Ryder couldn't be any happier. Yet she only vaguely talked about this to her parents. Now that the three of them will meet, Ryder was a bit anxious. What if her parents said something that would hurt him? Or trigger some bad memories?

"He's better now, but to be on the safe side."

"You never told us what is wrong with him." Michelle said, stirring the soup she was making.

"Nothing is wrong with him. He just has depression and insomnia."

Michelle frowned. This reaction didn't please Ryder at all. Quite the contrary, it irritated her. Yet before she could say anything, Michelle sighed. "I will talk with your dad, however… are you sure about Jake? It's not…” Noticing the furrowed brows and the angry expression on her daughter's face, Michelle didn't dare keep talking. She was only worried about Ryder's happiness, but facing that dark expression on her face, Michelle was quite startled. Ryder hadn't looked so angry even when the whole mishap with Grace happened.

"Geez, calm down. No need to get so protective. I was just asking."

The furrow between Ryder's brows eased as she looked away. Under Michelle's curios gaze, her cheeks flushed. "I love him…”

Those three words shocked Michelle stiff. During this whole month, the drama queen's role was occupied by Henry who would wail and complain the whole time for getting his daughter stolen by a brat, however Michelle was rather calm. Isn't it just a boyfriend? Yet only now did she realize the situation was quite serious. Where did this love come from? Wasn't it just a simple crush? What love? No, no, no. Nobody talked about love! This is serious. Her daughter really got stolen right in front of her eyes! Unacceptable!

The corner of her lips twitched. Michelle lost all desire to cook. She didn't even want to see Jake anymore. She needed time to digest all this. Wait a minute…. Does this mean she is going to meet her future son-in-law? BUT I'M TOO YOUNG TO BE A GRANDMA!

And so, when Henry came back, the pair of husband and wife looked as if they were facing a calamity. Who knew Ryder better than them? That damned girl didn't even make friends that easily. If she said she loved Jake, she LOVED Jake.

Now both, Michelle and Henry, didn't know how to act. When Jake arrived and the four of them sat on the dining table, the atmosphere was quite awkward. Neither Michelle nor Henry was in mood to say anything. This brat sitting in front of them was the man Ryder loved. They couldn't be bad to him. That wouldn't be any different from hurting their own daughter, but they couldn't exactly be friendly with him either. Their daughter was still wearing diapers yesterday. When the fuck did, she grow up so fast to even fall in love? Ash! They had gotten old. Their daughter is leaving the house. Henry in particular was feeling regretful for not making a few other babies. Is it too late now?

Under the table, Ryder kicked both her parents at the same time making them snap out of it.

Embarrassed, Michelle coughed twice. "How old are you, Jake?”

"Twenty." Jake said with a calm voice. Even though the atmosphere was quite awkward, as long as Ryder's parents didn't tell him to break up with her, he could deal with everything. He didn't care what they thought about him, either they liked him or not. He only cared what Ryder thought. He only needed Ryder's love. Still… he needed the Quinn couple's approval so he was in his best behavior, as if he wasn't the one who kissed their daughter's lips swollen earlier today nor like he was the one who sneaked in her room almost every night for months. Midnight who? Don't know him. ƪ (˘⌣˘) ʃ

"So, you're in collage?” Henry asked not looking at Jake at all. BAH! Why did his daughter find such a good-looking boyfriend? If he was ugly at least Henry could complain about something, but Jake was too handsome. Even looking at him made Henry depressed. He wanted to cry. Seeing Ryder and Jake sitting side by side hurt his eyes. Damn it! They look good together. (T-T)

“No. I quit school in my senior year in high school." Jake answered honestly.

The metallic clanking noise of the forks falling on the plates sounded rather loud in the dining room that had fallen in a deadly silence. Michelle and Henry stopped eating, looking at Jake with stiff expressions. Jake was too anxious to continue eating. Only Ryder was unaffected and kept eating as if nothing bothered her at all. She didn't care even if Jake would be unemployed his whole life. She just had to study and work harder and make a lot of money herself and support the both of them.

"S-so… do you have a job then?” Michelle barely managed to say, her lips twitching. She glanced at the undisturbed Ryder and for a second almost lost control. The urge to smack her was unbearable. HOW CAN YOU EAT AT A TIME LIKE THIS?

In response to this question that roared in Michelle's heart, Ryder kept munching on the chicken in front of her with delight.

"I do." Jake answered. This time it was Ryder's fork that fell on the plate while the owner almost choked. What the fuck? Her widened eyes stared at Jake as if she wasn't quite sure she heard him right. What the hell are you talking about? What job? When did you get a job? All you do all day is stay home and paint!

Is he lying to give a good impression? Ryder narrowed his eyes at Jake. Sly fox!

"What job?” Henry asked.

Calmly, Jake picked up his fork and knife and looked at Henry, secretly feeling quite confident. Yet he didn't dare look at Ryder when he answered. "I own a few galleries in a couple of towns and work as a writer too. I have published a few books so far and I'm recently working on a new one."

As he said this, the expressions on Michelle and Henry got better, but Ryder kept staring at Jake like she was seeing him for the first time. This is Jake, right? My Jake? When…. How… Why don't I know anything about this!

She remembered all the paintings in Jake's room. Sure, enough they were amazing, masterpieces. It wouldn't be much of a surprise if Jake sold them for a high price. But he actually owns a few galleries? A FEW! As in more than one? And he writes? He… he writes? Those four paragraphs she read in Jake's laptop crossed her mind. Fucking hell! I have to find these books of his!

"Really? That's amazing." Michelle finally showed a smile at Jake who still didn't dare look at Ryder, but couldn't help and steal a quick glance with the corner of his eyes. His cute Ry was staring at him with surprise in her eyes and even a bit of disbelief. Her lips were parted in an O shape and her brows were furrowed. She looked so adorable and it tickled his heart. If it wasn't for Michelle and Henry, he would have kissed that silly expression off her face.

"What books have you written? Maybe I know one of them." Henry asked. His tone wasn't exactly friendly but at least he didn't sound as if he was forced to dine with his mortal enemy.

Jake shrugged. He hummed as if he was thinking what title he should say. Seeing this, two thoughts crossed Ryder's mind. One: HOW MANY BOOKS HAVE YOU WRITTEN TO TAKE YOU SO LONG TO CHOOSE A TITLE? And two: don’t tell me his books are +18… (⊙_⊙;)

Right before he answered, Jake stole another glance at Ryder, feeling quite anxious. Ryder was almost convinced that this boyfriend of hers definitely writes +18 books. However, …

Jake chuckled, rubbing the back of his head. "This is so embarrassing… well… I guess "Who killed Midnight" has been well received by the readers… it's one of the first books I have written."

Ryder fell off her chair.

WHAT.

THE.

ACTUAL.

FUCK!

N-n-no… No way! No fucking way!

Her fall startled the other three sitting on the table. Jake jumped up, regretting telling her this way. He probably angered Ryder. Thinking this, he looked at her with apologetic eyes as he stretched his hand to help her up, but Ryder only stared at him with eyes opened so wide it almost looked as if her eyeballs would pop out of her sockets.

"I… I… you…” Ryder was unable to say anything. Then she stood up and pointed a finger at Jake. "You… You wait here!” It sounded like a threat.

Throwing those three words at Jake, she rushed to her room, leaving the speechless parents of her and Jake in a daze. When she came back, there were at least ten books barely balanced in her arms. Ryder laid out the books on the floor and looked at the covers of each one of them with shaking hands. Every single one of them had the initials J. S. C. written on them. And on the first page where the details about the books were written such as the editor or the publishing house, under the word "Author" was written in capital letters: JAKE S. CALEY.

What is this? Am I in a parallel universe? Am I dreaming? Where are the cameras?

Ryder was about to question even her own name. Usually when she read books, she doesn't pay too much attention to the author's name. If it was initials like in the case of J. K. Rowling, she wouldn't bother try to find out what J. K. stands for. Besides, the books of J. S. C. were already a big hit. Only knowing the initials was enough to understand who you're talking about. But Jake… JAKE! Her Jake! He wrote her favorite books? And… what she read earlier… Did she just read a still-in-progress book of her favorite writer? Wait… does that mean… I FUCKING NAMED HIM MIDNIGHT AFTER HIS OWN CHARACTER!

This is worse than I thought.

Find me hole to bury myself in. \(QΔQ」∠) _

"I lost appetite." Ryder muttered as she slowly stood up from the floor. She sat next to Jake, grabbed her glass of water and downed it in one go, wishing it had some sleep medicine mixed in there so she could knock herself out.

"Ry…” Jake started to say, but Ryder covered his mouth shushing him, before hiding her face in her crossed arms.

"My whole life is a lie."

Michelle looked at Ryder then at the distressed Jake who didn't know what to do with himself nor how to appease Ryder. Then her eyes landed on her husband with pursed lips. The meaning behind her gaze was clear. "She got THAT from you."

Henry bit his lip in shame and lowered his head. Ryder did get that from him.

Just like that, the dinner was a complete disaster. Half of the dishes that took Michelle half a day to cook didn't even have the chance to get looked at, let alone eaten. After the dinner, Ryder insisted on walking Jake out of the neighborhood. The latter was convinced he was in for a scolding.

It's not like he wanted to keep it a secret from Ryder that he wrote those books, but while she was still calling him Midnight, telling her this would be the same as telling her who he was. Later it became a bit awkward to bring it up in a conversation, especially when Ryder talked so enthusiastically about his books, explaining him the plots as if he didn't spend countless sleepless nights writing those plots.

The two had been walking for a while, but none of them said a word. Not taking it anymore, Jake grabbed Ryder's hand and brought her to a stop.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't talk to me. I'm still embarrassed." Ryder pouted, her eyes refusing to meet Jake's.

"What is there to be embarrassed about?” Pinching her chin, Jake forced Ryder to look at him. The look in his eyes was gentle and soft, pleading her to forgive him. Facing such glance, Ryder felt worse. Augh! I made him sad!

Without saying anything, she walked closer to Jake and wrapped her arms around his waist. "I'm sorry. Don't be sad, okay? I'm not angry at you."

Jake hummed in response.

They stood like that for a few minutes. Hugging Ryder like this, Jake couldn't help but recall what happened earlier today. He wanted to listen to Ryder telling him she loves him once more to confirm that it wasn't just something accidentally said. A few weeks ago, he thought he would be okay with Ryder only liking him. Hell, he thought he would be okay with just being friends with her, but reality proved him wrong. He didn't want to be friends. He wanted Ryder to like him… then only liking him wasn't enough. He wanted her love. He would die for it. Still, he couldn't just ask her to say it. In the end he could only voice his own feelings.

"Ry…”

"Hm?”

"I love you."

Against his chest, Jake could feel Ryder's heart beating faster. The anxiety that was mixed with the overflowing love he felt when he said those words eased a bit when he noticed that.

Ryder looked up at Jake. She was biting her lip and her eyes looked somewhat watery. In those moment her heart was filled with so much love she felt that it would shatter, unable to contain all of it. Jake was looking down at her. The yellowish light from the streetlights fell on his face, making him look not quite real. As if he was a dream. His messy hair fell over his face, and the turquoise eyes looked down on her with expectation. They were filled with love and looked so bright and deep.

She could see the stars in his eyes.

"I love you too."

—THE END—