Lydia’s P.O.V:
“Wow!” Avery looked around my living room with wide eyes. “Your house is so neat and tidy! My mom hates cleaning so there’s stuff everywhere in our house!”
“Ave!” George narrowed his eyes at her. “You’re not supposed to say that to everyone.” And then he looked at us and laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head and probably cursing his sister mentally for putting him in an awkward situation.
“Alright, why don’t you guys take a seat?” I steered them towards the sofa. “I’ll get you some refreshments before dinner.”
It was Saturday, a week after Lyric’s parent’s anniversary party and Lyric and I had finally been able to call George and Avery over for dinner. Rather than ordering out, Lyric and I had actually cooked an entire meal together and it had been a fun, messy, new experience for the both of us. Don’t get me wrong, I know how to cook, but I’m not exactly a MasterChef. Lyric and I had taken turns cooking the past two week we had been living together and even though the food wasn’t five star worthy, it was healthy and edible. We had debated if we should just order in since it wasn’t just the two of us for dinner for this occasion, but had decided to go for a home-cooked meal instead. In the end, everything turned out decent looking and edible and quiet delicious.
I got out the sliced cheese, roasted nuts and crackers that we had arranged into a plate earlier. It wasn’t a fancy charcuterie board but it would go well with the beer and apple juice that we had arranged. We all sat on the floor with the coffee table in the middle, with me and Lyric on one side and the siblings on the other. Since Avery was underaged, I had gone with the apple juice while the boys got beer. Avery looked a bit sad at not being given any alcohol, but she didn’t complain.
“Did you make everything by yourself?” George asked, taking a sip of his beer.
“No, Lyric helped.” I told him honestly. “I couldn’t have done half of it if Lyric wasn’t here.”
“And to think we started preparations from last night.” Lyric grinned, clinking his bottle to mine before he took a sip.
“Wait a minute…” George’s jaw dropped open.
“So you guys are a live-in couple! That’s so awesome!” Avery clapped her hands in excitement.
“Wait…when did you guys start dating?” George looked at us wide eyed, completely ignoring a grinning Avery.
We might have forgotten to tell them at school that we had moved in, just to avoid gossip. But it wasn’t supposed to be a total secret. Lyric and I were both young adults who could share an apartment if we wanted to. But that didn’t mean it wasn’t awkward for me to explain the details.
“I…um…we-”
“It’s complicated.” Lyric answered for me. “We can’t exactly tell when we started dating…it just happened.”
“Wow.” George grinned. “I’m really happy for you two. You guys make the perfect couple.”
“Don’t they?” Avery clapped her hands again. “I wish I could get a boyfriend like Lyric!”
“Absolutely not!”
To my amusement, both Lyric and George protested at the same time, startling both Avery and me.
“You’re still in middle school, Avery!” George scolded her. “You’re not getting a boyfriend until you’re an adult.”
“And haven’t you gotten into enough trouble already?” This time it was Lyric who scolded her, showing once again exactly how close he was to George and his little sister. “Sneaking into parties wasn’t enough and now you want a boyfriend? Next you’ll want to move out at eighteen. I’ll be keeping an eye on you kiddo, so you better be careful.”
Avery gave me a helpless look, asking me to come to her defense, but I knew better than to get in between two overprotective brothers who were trying to protect their sister. I already had two of my own so I knew exactly what she was getting herself into.
“Sorry.” I mouthed to her before shrugging. But for her sake and everyone else’s, I decided to change the topic and steer the conversation in a different direction.
“So, Lyric,” I called him to get his attention off of poor Avery. “What were you saying about this barbeque next week?”
“Ah! I almost forgot!” That did the trick. “George, would you like to join my family and us for barbeque next Sunday? It’s at my house and my folks are in town. We hadn’t done this whole barbeque thing in a while now, so I wanted to invite you guys too. What do you think? Avery can come too.”
“Really?” Avery squealed in joy, clapping her hands in excitement. “Can we go? Please Georgy?”
“Well…sure,” George turned to Lyric skeptically. “Are you sure your folks won’t mind?”
“No, they asked both me and Derek to bring our friends.” Lyric shrugged.
I think George almost got teary eyed at the mention of the word ‘friends’, but he managed to keep his emotions under check fairly well. “Thank you! I wholeheartedly accept your invitation.”
“Geez, Georgy,” Avery gave her brother a narrow-eyed glare. “We’re not in the regency anymore.”
George gave a nervous laugh and accepted the offer. I was glad to see the delight on Avery’s face, the nervous yet shy smile on George and Lyric’s peaceful expression. It was at times like this that I missed not being able to express myself, not show what I’m feeling on my face. But then Lyric’s hand found mine under the table and I instantly felt better.
Avery and George left late at night, having enjoyed our meal of pasta and a whole roast chicken. In fact, both George and Avery had been very impressed by our cooking. It made me feel relieved that we had been able to not only host a good party, but Lyric and I had even bonded over our experiences together.
“I’ll just call Derek to let him know we’ll be bringing friends.” Lyric said as he put the dishes in the sink. “I’ll be right back to help with the cleaning.”
“Okay.” I nodded and decided to give him some privacy as I went over to the kitchen to get the dishes ready for the dishwasher.
Were Lyric and I acting like a married couple?...Kind of, but Lyric didn’t seem to have any problem with that and neither did I. We had settled ourselves into a routine that fit us both and it was a good fit. Lyric had almost quit fighting, although he didn’t say it directly, but he hasn’t been to that warehouse since he moved in with me
I must have been too engrossed in my thought because when I felt Lyric’s arms around my waist, I almost dropped a porcelain plate into the sink.
“I love you.”
My breath got stuck in my throat.