FLASHBACK
It had been a few weeks since Julian and Fiona had their first date, complete with their first kiss. Despite some stares and disapproving looks in the hallway, the two had gotten together not long after their date.
Julian had been taught from a young age that no person is better than another based on their status or popularity, only because of the kind of person that they were, and he always wanted to be the type of guy that could be seen as a good person.
It had taken a bit more adjustment for Fiona, though she came around eventually. The attention to their newfound relationship wasn't something that she was used to, and at times she found herself doubting if she was truly deserving of Julian.
He always quickly dismissed those notions, yet still, he couldn't be around all of the time. He couldn't be around when she was in the locker room at gym and track practices, receiving dirty looks from girls who said that she wasn't good enough. She did her best to ignore it all, yet sometimes it proved harder than others.
Even when she struggled, though, Julian continued to do what he could to show her that it was her that he liked and wanted. He always made a point to treat her the best that he could, and he truly felt that she deserved it. Her life hadn't been the easiest thus far, and she still remained a great person, and for that, he felt she deserved the world.
Julian closed his locker after dropping his books off there before lunch, planning to meet Fiona at her own locker once he was done so they could eat together. When he closed the locker, however, he saw Jessica, a girl he recognized from the track team with Fiona, looking up at him.
"Hi, Julian," she smiled, brushing her blonde hair over her shoulder as she grinned up at him.
He eyed her confusedly, tilting his head as he looked back at her, "Hey.." he replied, tone questioning.
"Jessica," she filled in the blanks since he didn't use her name.
"Jessica," he repeated. "What's up?" he asked, glancing down the long hallway toward Fiona's locker, knowing that she was likely waiting for him.
It wasn't that girls didn't talk to him. Julian was a friendly guy, and knew a lot of the people in the school, even if he didn't hang out with many of them. For the most part, he had finally shaken the stereotype of being a northsider douche, but there were still some people who were skeptic, and he preferred to stick to the small group of friends that he'd made on the football team.
"Well," Jessica started, reaching up as she twirled a strand of her hair around her finger. "I was talking to Jake, and he said he was thinking we should do a double date sometime."
Julian arched his brow a bit, tilting his head curiously, "Oh, okay. I thought Jake was dating that one cheerleader.. Courtney, right?"
Jessica smirked a bit at Julian's response, stepping in a bit closer to him. "He is, yeah. We mean Jake and Courtney, and me and you."
He let out a little scoff at that, shaking his head, "I'm dating Fiona, Jessica. You and Jake both know that."
The blonde closed in further still, leaving limited room between her, Julian, and the locker. "Well, yeah.. but you don't have to be. Besides, I'm very good at keeping secrets," she spoke, lowering her voice seductively as she ran a finger down the center of his chest, toward his abs.
Julian tensed and froze as she touched him and it was then that he heard a familiar voice.
"What the fuck?" Fiona spat, taking in the sight of Jessica and Julian within such close proximity of one another, Jessica's finger slowly gliding lower and lower.
She spun on her heel, feeling that she'd seen all that she needed to. Everyone had been right about him, he was just some north side douche, slumming it with her. The proof was in all that she'd just seen. After all, why else would he allow Jessica to be so close, and to touch him that way?
His hand moved to grab Jessica's and pull it away, and he pushed past her, taking after Fiona.
"Fi! Fiona, wait!"
She continued to walk, quickening her pace as she heard Julian coming after her. She could hear him calling for her, but she wasn't going to stop. Why should she?
Julian saw her beginning to move faster and sighed, beginning to sprint behind her. As he finally caught up to her outside of the school, he grabbed her arm, turning her to face him.
"Hey — please just listen to me. That's not what it looked like in there," he started.
"Really? Because what it looked like was that you weren't going to stop her before she reached all the way down your pants," Fiona snapped, yanking her arm away from Julian's grip.
Julian let out a little huff, frustrated with himself more than anything. He knew that he shouldn't have let Jessica get that close to him, and he shouldn't have let her touch him. He'd been so wrapped up in the fact that the girl had said the guy he considered his best friend had tried to screw up his relationship with Fiona, only because he didn't agree with it.
"I know, I'm sorry. She just — she told me something and I was distracted, in my own head, and before I could realize it, there she was, then there you were. It looked bad, but I promise, nothing is going on there. I want you. Not anyone else."
Fiona eyed him skeptically, arms crossed so he couldn't just pull her in so easily. Shifting from one foot to the other, she looked up at him as she listened.
"What could she have possibly told you that left you so brain dead that you couldn't move away?"
Julian bit down on the inside of his cheek, wondering for a second if he should tell her what was truly said. If he lied and she found out later, it would only make things worse.
"She told me that my friend Jake.. the one who's supposed to be my best friend.. suggested that we go on a double date."
Fiona was even more confused then. "But, Jake's with Courtney from the cheer team."
"Exactly," Julian spoke, giving it a moment for everything to set in for her.
As she thought, Fiona nodded slowly, "He was saying Jessica should be your date."
Julian nodded, letting out a sigh, "Yeah. I- I'm sorry. I didn't think he would do anything like that, and she caught me off guard."
Reaching forward cautiously, he gently grabbed her elbows, lightly tugging down on them to uncross her arms, his hands sliding into hers afterward.
"Fi.. you're the only one that I want. Please, I'm sorry. I should have reacted more."
Fiona exhaled heavily, but allowed Julian to uncross her arms, his hands gripping hers soon after. She rolled her eyes lightly at his last words, shaking her head.
"If she touches you again, I'm going to break her fingers. And if you don't react to it, I'm going to break your face," she spoke, words harsh, yet the corners of her lips began to upturn.
Julian grinned at that, "That's my girl."
He tugged her closer by her hands, releasing his grip on one of them, cupping her cheek as he leaned in and kissed her softly. The kiss lingered for a few moments before he pulled back, resting his forehead against hers.
"I was actually planning to ask you something at lunch," he started.
"Oh yeah? What?" she questioned, dark eyes looking up into his.
"Well, my mom is going to be home at a reasonable time tonight, and you know, she's been wanting to meet the girl that in her words, I talk so much about," he started with a grin.
"Do you want to have dinner at my house?"
Fiona tilted her head, smiling softly, "Are you inviting me to meet your mom, Moreno?"
Julian chuckled at her use of his last name, nodding lightly, "I am, Gallagher."
Fiona smirked quietly for a moment or two before nodding, agreeing. "Okay. Yeah, I'll be there."
Julian texted his mom on the way back to class after lunch, letting her know that Fiona would be coming over for dinner and to meet her.
The more he thought about it, the more he couldn't help but feel nervous about it. Sure, it was meant to be a no pressure situation, and Fiona was the one meeting his mom, not the other way around, yet he still felt anxious. More than anything, he wanted his mom and Fiona to like each other.
After school and after practice for each of them, they cleaned up, then took the train to Julian's house.
Getting off at the closest stop, the young couple started walking toward the house, Julian taking Fiona's hand into his as he saw hers begin to fidget nervously.
"You nervous?" he asked, looking over at her to judge her expression.
"Honestly? Yeah," she answered, biting down on the inside of her cheek as she looked back at him.
Julian shook his head, "Don't be. I'm sure that my mom is going to love you. After all, I like you pretty well," he teased, nudging her shoulder with his.
Fiona smirked at his teasing, shaking her head as well. "Yeah, you'd better."
Julian chuckled softly, keeping hold of her hand as he moved his arm around her shoulder and pulled her close to his side. He kissed the top of her head gently, nodding, "Oh, I do. Trust me."
Their conversation continued with scattered laughter and small acts of affection as they neared Julian's house. Walking up to the front door, he unlocked it and let the two of them inside. He pushed open the door, stepping in, then to the side to let Fiona enter behind him.
"Mom?" he called, slipping his shoes off at the door. He hung his keys on the hook by the door, spotting his mom's set and knowing that she was already home.
"In the dining room, love," Emilia called back, setting the table for dinner.
Julian looked over his shoulder at Fiona, watching as her eyes moved around the room, taking in the sight of the large home. Reaching out his hand, he took hers gently. "Ready?" he asked.
Fiona looked over at him finally as he gripped her hand, squeezing his with a little nod. "As ready as I'll ever be," she replied.
Nodding, he squeezed her hand in return, guiding her toward the dining room. Seeing his mom, he stopped a bit away, speaking as Fiona stayed close beside him.
"Mom, this is Fiona. Fiona, this is my mom, Emilia," Julian spoke, gesturing between the two as he said their names.
"Hi, it's nice to meet you, Ms. Moreno," Fiona spoke, offering her hand for the other woman to shake.
Emilia stepped forward, smiling at the younger girl, giving her a gentle hug instead, "Fiona, it's great to meet you, Julian's told me so much. And call me Emilia, please."
"Okay, Emilia," Fiona nodded, "and all good things, I hope."
"Oh, of course, nothing but. I'm fairly sure that this one's never talked so highly of another girl."
Emilia reached forward, lightly tousling Julian's hair, to which he playfully swatted at her hand.
"You didn't have to set the table, I could have done it," he told his mother, grabbing the silverware she had left to distribute and doing it instead.
"I wanted it to be done before you both got here, but I ran a little behind. Fiona, do you want anything to drink?" Emilia asked, directing her attention to her again.
Fiona smiled politely, "I wouldn't want to impose or anything.. water would be fine, please."
Emilia shook her head, waving her off, "Please, you're not imposing in the slightest. Make yourself at home. I'll be right back with that," she spoke, then took off to the kitchen.
Julian arched his brow, smirking a little as his mom left the room, "I think that's the nicest that I've ever seen you be," he teased her, stepping closer to her once more.
Fiona rolled her eyes, letting out a laugh, "Well, obviously. What about you? This is.. nice. Somehow, I thought you'd have service staff or something."
He scoffed at that, "No, it's not like that. My mom doesn't like hand-outs, she prefers to do everything herself," he shrugged.
Reaching forward, he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, leaning over and kissing her cheek gently.
At that moment, Emilia reentered the room, offering Fiona a glass of water, smiling a knowing smile. She remembered how it felt to be so young, yet care so much for another, and she was glad that Julian had found someone he cared so much for.
"Dinner's almost ready, it just has about 15 or so more minutes. In the meantime, Julian, why don't you show Fiona around? No reason to stand around staring at each other," Emilia spoke, grinning at the two teens.
Julian nodded to agree, "Alright, yeah. You want to?" he asked Fiona, offering his hand to her.
Fiona thanked Emilia for the water when it was handed to her, taking a sip as Emilia spoke up. When Julian asked if she wanted a look around, she nodded, "Sure, that would be nice," she replied. Taking a few more sips of her water, she set the glass down on the table at one of the place settings. "I'll come back for that."
She took Julian's hand and he smiled, gently tugging her along, "We'll be back. Call up to us when it's ready if we're not back before then," he told his mother, and she agreed.
His fingers slid through Fiona's, lacing them together as they walked. "So, that was the dining room. Through here is the living room, and then the den."
He showed her several more rooms to which she nodded appreciatively, then led her to the stairs. Once they reached the top, he headed to the left. "In there is my bathroom, and then here is my bedroom," he spoke, pushing the door open and letting her walk inside.