-July 4, 2010; Independence Day-

Mike managed to convince me to go home with him for Independence Day. Home with him. To Ohio. Parma, Ohio. To his parents. I'd met his parents before. As his friend. Not as his girlfriend. Which is why Mike insisted that I spend the day celebrating the Fourth of July with him and sa famille.

I kept passing him sidewards glances as we walked up the stone path to his parents' front door. I knew he could see me out of the corner of his eye because he wouldn't stop smirking. As we reached the door, he gave my hand one last quick squeeze before letting go. He knocked once and then opened the door, announcing loudly that 'The Awesome One' had arrived home.

"My baby!" his mother, Kerry, literally ran to the front door and engulfed Mike in a hug. I couldn't believe how much energy the woman had because it was barely even ten thirty in the morning. Maybe I'd just been so nervous I didn't sleep at all the night before. "Where's Maryse?" she asked with a small smile, looking around the pair of us for the blonde. "You said you were bringing your girlfriend."

"I did, mum." He moved his arm so he could put his hand on the small of my back, "I told you Maryse cheated on me. Awhile ago," he added. "And I said I was dating Claire."

"Oh, of course!" she was faking it; she had absolutely no idea that Mike and I were dating. "I'm so stupid sometimes! Come in, come in! Both of you!" I tensed slightly as I was pulled in for a hug. "Donnie should be around here somewhere," she looked around for her husband – Mike's step father. "Donnie! Mike's home!" she shouted as she led us through the small home.

Mike pulled me away from his mum and into the family room once she returned to cooking in the kitchen.

"Your mum doesn't like me." I said quietly to him, inhaling deeply as he wrapped me in a strong, never-going-to-let-go type of hug.

"Of course she does." He whispered into my ear, trying to reassure me.

"She likes me as Claire. She doesn't like me as Mike's girlfriend. She likes Maryse as Mike's girlfriend." I spoke without breathing, "She doesn't want me dating you. She wants you to be with Maryse."

"And? It's not my mum who decides who I'm with." He laughed at me, not once loosening the hug. "I want to be with you and that's all that matters." I sighed and he kissed the top of my head, "Look, today we're going up the street for this party and we're going to have and show my mother just how much I love you and how much I don't love Maryse."

"Up the street?" I questioned slowly, "Um, I can't be going to other people's houses. I hate this day, it seems pointless. I don't care about Hitchcock and Edison signing the thingy of Independence. It's all well and good that I'm here because it's your place and I don't feel as weird about not being all into the stars and stripes bullshit... But if I have to go to another person's house, I have to at least pretend that I know what happened and I really don't. That's just plain rude of me, Mike; to show up to someone's house and no nothing about their culture."

Mike had pulled away from me now, holding me at arm's length waiting until I finished speaking. He raised his eyebrow, nodded and spoke very clearly, "Now you know how I'm going to feel when I go up for French Day next week."

"It's not the same!" I protested, "That's my house it's not weird and besides, no one expects you to know anything. I'm a damned American citizen for fuck's sake."

"Language!" I heard Kerry scold me and I blushed bright red.

"And your mum hates me." I mumbled childishly, pouting and furrowing my brow.

"Your dad doesn't like me, Claire." Mike reminded me and I countered by saying that my dad doesn't like anyone – that's not even much of an exaggeration. "All we have to do is spend a couple of hours there – you don't have to speak to anyone – so people don't think that I think that I'm too good to show up to a small party and then we can bail and go to the carnival across town."

"Can't we just skip the party and go to the carnival right now?" I asked with my best seductive smile. Mike laughed before bluntly stating 'no'. He kissed me quickly before pulling away to see if Kerry needed any help in the kitchen.

"I'm going to spend a lot of money, aren't I?" Mike asked as we walked through an alley of games and I looked at all the toys to be won.

"It's been awhile since I've been to one of these." I reminisced. The last time I had been to any sort of carnival or fair had been with James many years prior. The lights still amazed me and even the idea of winning a stuffed toy was enough to make me smile.

"We can do all that stuff later or I'll be carrying it around all day." Mike told hold of my hand and he pulled me through a large group of people towards the sideshows. "There should be a wrestling match or something today." He commented and I bit my lip – even on his day off he couldn't stay away.

The local wrestlers weren't half bad but they lacked any sort of charisma that would get them far with the WWE. I was at work, too, even if it was my day off. Spending so much time with the NXT Rookies had me mentally critiquing just about everything the local guys were doing in the ring; I couldn't help myself.

The hours past quickly and soon enough we had been on almost every ride, had food from almost every cart and tried out most of the side games. Mike's romantic side came out as the sun began to set and he pulled me towards the long line of the Ferris Wheel.

"We're going to be here awhile." I mentioned just as Mike was stopped by a group of giggling teenage girls asking for an autograph. There were two boys with the group of girls who looked somewhat embarrassed to be seen with them.

"He's with his girlfriend." One of them commented, "Leave the guy alone." He tried to pull one of the girls away but she quickly fought him off and stared at Mike with puppy dog eyes.

"Hey, you used to wrestle." The other boy cocked his head to the side and nodded, "Claire, right?" I nodded at him and he ripped a pen and piece of paper from his girlfriend's hand, "Autograph, ma'am?"

"Aaron!" the girl screeched, "The Miz was going to sign that for me!" she stamped her feet on the ground angrily. The original boy scrunched up his face and walked away, causing me to laugh. "It's not funny!" the girl snapped and my head shot up to look at her, "Aaron, give it back to Miz or I'm breaking up with you."

"You're kidding?" the angry girl shook her head furiously and watched with a glare as 'Aaron' handed Mike the pen and paper.

As the group of teenagers walked away – a few of them in tears after having met their idol – I burst out into a fit of laughter.

"I keep trying to tell everyone that I have fans. No one believes me." Mike had put on his 'Miz' tone of voice and was acting offended.

"They weren't fans. They were fangirls." I corrected him and he shrugged.

"Fans are fans." I nudged him in the side. He wrapped his arm around my shoulder and we stood in the line for the large attraction. Everyone had had the same idea, to wait until the sun was setting to get on the most romantic ride in the park. Teenagers, young adults and elderly couples all blended together as they – as cliché as it is – ate their cotton candy and whispered into their partners ears.

"Don't let anyone ever tell you that you aren't a nice guy." I spoke to Mike as we sat frozen at the top of the Ferris Wheel – other people were still being loaded in. He dropped his hand to my knee and squeezed, "Tu esparfait, Michael."

"Je t'aime, Belle." My heart fluttered. He placed his pointer finger under my chin and used it to make me face him. "I mean it." The kiss was absolutely perfect. You're all jealous. You are all so jealous.

a/n mmm, yes? You are, aren't you? Reasons for being a bit slow with this update – illness, hospital, more illness, hospital release and fucking writer's block to top it all off. Only me, right? Lol Thanks to Julzi, LaReinaMia, Showni13, Neurotic-Idealist and tvox12 for reviewing. You all make my day with your kind words! I hope you enjoy this chapter enough to review it! =D

Translations:

Tu es parfait – you are perfect

Je t'aime, Belle – I love you, beautiful.