FLASHBACK

Fiona made her way into Julian's room slowly, and he followed, allowing her to take everything in. Her eyes moved over the different décor, the sports memorabilia, and even to the picture of him and his mother in the frame on his desk.

Closing the door behind them, Julian smiled a little as he saw her looking at the picture. Walking to stand behind her, he placed his hands against her sides, resting his chin on her shoulder. "What do you think?" he asked, thumbs brushing absent-mindedly along her hips.

"I like it," Fiona replied almost immediately, nodding. "When was this picture taken?" she asked, gesturing to it.

Julian turned his eyes back to the photo in the frame, smiling a bit fondly at the memories that came to his mind. "We were just about to see the Disney movie Tarzan in theaters.. for the second time. We both really liked it. I had mentioned that I wanted to watch it again, and my grandparents told me I'd have to wait until it came out on video. My mom said no, and she took me again later that week. I think that part of her just wanted to spite them, but it was still really cool."

Fiona glanced over her shoulder as he spoke, smiling as he described the time that he'd had with his mom with such a sentiment behind his words. "You seem like the two of you are really close," she spoke.

He nodded to agree, smiling, "Yeah. As stupid as it sounds, she's probably one of my best friends."

Fiona turned in his grasp, arms circling around his neck as she shook her head. "It doesn't sound stupid. I think it's great. I wish I had as good of a relationship with either of my parents."

Julian leaned in, resting his forehead against hers as he lifted his hand, caressing her cheek gently. "I wish you could too. You deserve so much more," he said quietly.

Fiona felt a pang in her chest at his words, unable to help but smile. He was so kind, and caring, and so, so good to her. At times, she didn't feel like she deserved it.

Leaning in, she pressed a soft kiss to his lips, her fingers threading into the back of his hair as her lips moved against his.

Julian let out a small, content groan at the feel of her lips against his, his arms moving around her waist, holding her close to him as he returned her kiss. He parted his lips after a few moments to deepen it, fingertips teasing just underneath the back of her shirt.

As his fingers began to move further up along her back, the two of them startled slightly as they heard a knock against the door.

"Hey kids, dinner's ready when you want to come down," Emilia called out from the other side of the door.

Fiona bit down on the inside of her cheek, stifling a laugh as she and Julian stepped back from one another.

"Alright, mom. We'll be down soon, thanks," he replied after a moment, smirking down at Fiona, seeing the way that she was stifling her laughter.

Once they heard Emilia make her way back downstairs, Fiona allowed herself to laugh, Julian grinning wide and shaking his head at her. "Does this count as you corrupting me, or the other way around?" he joked. "I just need to know who's the bad influence here."

Fiona hummed, pretending to think about it. "I think you're corrupting me. I've been nothing but an angel since we got here," she teased.

Julian arched his brow as he laughed. "Oh, is that right?" Reaching forward, he tickled her sides, causing her to squeal and squirm away before he wrapped an arm around her waist, using his other hand to continue tickling her.

"Julian!" she squeaked out, trying her best to get away, though she could barely think from how hard that she was laughing.

He chuckled softly at her attempts to get away, lightening up and eventually stopping the tickling after a few more moments. "Alright, alright," he spoke, kissing the side of her head. "Let's get downstairs before my mom thinks we were making out in my room or something," he smirked.

Fiona scoffed, hugging him close for a moment before pulling away and moving toward the door, "Yeah, we wouldn't want that, would we?"

The two teens made their way downstairs and took a seat at the dining room table, along with Emilia, Julian grinning across the table at Fiona from where he sat.

"So, Fiona, tell me about yourself. Julian's already said so much, but I'd love to get to know you a little better," Emilia spoke after a few minutes of silence.

"Well.." Fiona started, trying to think. "I'm a freshman, like Julian. I'm on the JV track team —"

"And she's the best one on it," Julian spoke up, giving his girlfriend a little wink when she looked at him, shaking her head.

"I wouldn't go that far," she laughed. "I'm the oldest of my siblings. There's five of us, me, Lip, Ian, Debbie, and Carl. They're really great kids."

Julian smiled at Fiona's protest, his expression leveling a bit when she talked about her siblings, knowing that she did a lot to take care of them. He'd heard around school about her parents, as well as what she'd told him, and he knew that she had basically stepped up as a second mom to all of them.

Emilia nodded as she listened to Fiona, smiling politely. "And your parents? What do they do for work?"

Julian's eyes widened a little and he tried to subtly motion for his mom to drop it and change the subject. "Mom," he spoke up, shaking his head.

Fiona saw the way Julian tried to change the subject and shook her head, "It's fine. My umm.. my parents don't work. My mom is in and out, mostly out, of our lives these days, and my dad's not exactly a great parent himself. They're not the best but, we work with what we're given, I guess."

As she listened to Fiona's explanation, Emilia couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for the younger girl. Obviously, she didn't have it easy, and having been a single mom, she knew how hard it could be to take care of a kid on your own. Still, she couldn't imagine having done so being as young as Fiona and with four other kids to watch out for.

"I'm sorry to hear that, Fiona. If there's ever anything that I can do to help, don't hesitate to ask."

"Thank you," Fiona nodded. "I'll keep that in mind."

Julian could sense the tension in the air, and he could understand if Fiona were uncomfortable. "Fi left out the part where she's really smart. Even with everything she has going on, she still keeps really good grades. She's really awesome, mom."

Fiona smiled as she heard Julian's praise, her cheeks flushing lightly as he continued to compliment her.

"I believe you, mi amor. She seems like a very well-rounded young lady," Emilia agreed, giving Fiona a smile and reaching over to gently squeeze the young girl's arm.

"Thank you, Ms — I mean, Emilia," Fiona spoke softly. After a moment, she spoke again, "This dinner is delicious. I could definitely get used to such great cooking," she laughed.

Emilia smiled wide at the compliment. "Thank you, dear. I'll be sure to send some leftovers home for you and your family if you'd like that. Plus, Julian has actually been learning to make this and a few other dishes."

Julian's cheeks were the ones that began to flush at that, and he looked down at his plate, "Mom.."

Fiona grinned, lightly nudging his foot with hers under the table. "Really? That's actually really cool. Most guys our age can't even make microwaved popcorn," she joked.

"That's what I told him! See, Julian? Your girlfriend finds it attractive, you should own it," Emilia teased him.

Julian rolled his eyes playfully, smirking to himself as he didn't say what he wanted to — that Fiona found everything about him attractive. Instead, he simply nodded, looking across the table to meet Fiona's gaze with his. "I'll keep that in mind for the future."

The conversations continued throughout their meal, and once they were done, Julian and Fiona excused themselves from the table, the former moving to grab the dishes and bring them toward the kitchen. Fiona moved to help him, but Julian and Emilia both disagreed.

"You're a guest," Emilia said. "Don't worry about the dishes, they'll be taken care of."

"Are you sure? I guess it's just a force of habit," Fiona said with a small laugh.

"Positive. I'll get to them in a bit," Julian spoke up.

Fiona nodded to acknowledge them, allowing Julian to bring the dishes to the sink, but following him still, leaning against the counter beside the sink as he rinsed them and prepared them to be washed.

Emilia made her way into the kitchen shortly after, grabbing a few takeaway containers and sorting out some leftovers for Fiona before packing away the rest into the fridge for her and Julian.

Once Julian had finished up the dishes and put them into the dishwasher, he cleaned his hands, then turned to Fiona. "You probably have to get home soon, right?" he asked, though he was reluctant to let her go.

Fiona nodded, "Unfortunately. The kids are probably waiting on me. Lip's in charge right now, so it will probably be chaos once I get home," she said with a little laugh.

"Alright," he spoke, reaching out and taking her hand, pulling her in and pressing a kiss to her cheek. The act made her flush, especially considering Emilia was still close by.

Julian grabbed the takeaway containers his mom had put together for her and used his free hand to keep a hold on Fiona's, guiding her back out into the living room. "Mom, Fiona has to get back home. I'm going to ride with her, I'll be back home before curfew."

Emilia turned away from the TV and nodded, listening to her son. Standing, she opened her arms to Fiona for a hug. "Okay, be safe, you two. Thank you for coming, Fiona. It was really nice meeting you, and I hope to see you again soon. You're welcome any time."

Returning the hug, Fiona grinned at Julian over his mom's shoulder, seeing the way that he was looking on at the two of them fondly. "Thank you for inviting me. I'll be sure to come back again soon. I had a really good time."

The two teenagers made their way to the train, getting onto the one headed back in the direction of Fiona's house, then settling into a couple of seats. Fiona almost instantly settled against Julian's side, laying her head against his shoulder. Julian obliged quickly, draping his arm around her shoulders and kissing the side of her head. He allowed her to rest that way for most of the ride, content to just have her close to him.

Once they reached their stop, the two got out and continued their walk to Fiona's place.

"I really liked your mom," Fiona said after several minutes, eyes shifting to look up at him.

"Yeah? I think that she liked you too," Julian nodded, smiling down at his girlfriend.

"I've never brought a girl home before, but that was probably the best outcome that I could have imagined."

Fiona tilted her head a bit, "Are you sure that I didn't ruin her impression of me with the whole thing about my parents?" she asked.

Julian returned her gaze with a confused expression, "No, why would you think that? No. She knows better than anyone that the way that someone's parents think or act doesn't determine how they are as a person. You're so much more than your crappy parents, and I'm sure she saw that," he reassured her.

Fiona nodded as she listened to him, allowing herself to relax with him a bit more. "You're really good to me. I'm really glad that I let myself go out with you."

He grinned at that, feeling his stomach flutter a bit at her words. It was silly, wasn't this supposed to be the other way around? Still, he couldn't help but feel that much happier and more alive when he was around her. The two of them were young, but something told him that they could have something real.

"I'm glad too."

He hesitated for a few moments then, considering his next words carefully. The last thing that he wanted was to scare her off. Still, he knew that he had to tell her how he felt.

As they reached her front door, he moved to stand in front of her, pulling her close to him. Holding her hand in his, he knew it was now or never.

"I know that it's fast, and that we're young, but Fiona, I think I'm falling in love with you."

Fiona froze where she stood for a moment, in a bit of shock and trying to process what he'd just said. Part of her told her to run. It was too soon, and they were too young, and it was just the teenage hormones talking. Yet, the other part of her told her that she should say it back. So what if it was simply hormonal, and so what if one day it all ended? At least she'd know that she took that chance.

"Come inside with me."