The next week at work proved to be a lot more relaxing and enjoyable since Troian and Shay had most of their scenes together. However, that Saturday, Shay was slated to go to her first ever Bellisario family dinner with her girlfriend.
About 30 minutes before Troian was supposed to pick her up, she got a phone call from Ashley.
"Oh, thank you so much for calling me! I am freaking out!" Was how the raven-haired woman answered the phone.
"What? Why?" The blonde asked her incredulously.
"Because I am meeting the Bellisario clan in like an hour. And you know how intense Troi can be; can you imagine like 20 people of equal intensity?"
"Good point. And good luck, you're going to need it."
"Thank you, Ashley. That is so helpful." She replied sarcastically.
"Well I don't know what you want me to say. Look, Troian wouldn't bring you if she didn't think you were ready. She knows you, and she knows that you will be fine. Don't sweat it. Just pretend that her dad is not one of the biggest names in the TV biz." The blonde added on.
"Well thank you for that, again."
"Hey, that's what I'm here for." Ashley joked as Shay scoffed.
"Okay, I seriously don't think I can do this! I'm sweating so much and we aren't even there yet. Why am I so nervous about this?"
"Because she obviously means everything to you and you don't want to screw it up. You know how crazy intense these huge Italian families can be. If they don't like you, you're out."
"Does that really happen?" Shay asked, panicking even more.
"It does in movies sometimes." The blonde offered.
"What am I supposed to do? She's going to break up with me."
"No she's not! That's not what I said. You can handle this, Shannon. Just be calm and collected."
"How can I do that?"
"Act. It's what you do for a living."
"Okay, I really need to stop talking to you. It's getting me more nervous. Did you call for a reason other than to freak me out?" She asked, suddenly remembering that Ashley was the one that had called her.
"Actually I did. Tyler and I wanted to know if you and T wanted to double date it when that new movie comes out. The Heat. Dinner and a movie?"
"Of course, we'd love to do that."
"Speaking for the two of you, are we?" The blonde asked with a smirk.
"Yeah, she won't mind. When were you thinking?"
"How about next Saturday?"
"We'd love to. That is if we're still together after this family dinner." Shay added morosely.
"We will be." Troian said confidently from Shay's doorframe.
"Ash, I need to go." Shay said quickly as she held eye contact with Troian, who looked somewhat confused.
"Alright, call me later."
"Yeah. Bye."
"Hey, T. How much of that did you hear exactly?" Shay asked shyly as Troian walked into her room.
"Enough. What are you so worried about? They will love you, alright? I have no doubt."
"Will you still love me if I screw this up?"
"Of course I will. I'm not going to fall out of love with you if this goes poorly. You honestly have nothing to worry about. My family really isn't as intimidating as you'd think."
"Yeah, I'll be the judge of that. I need to change before we leave."
"Why? You look beautiful."
"Because I'm uncomfortably sweaty in this outfit."
"Well alright then. Go change and then we'll leave, okay?" The brunette said, grabbing Shay's wrist and pulling her into a quick hug before she ran off to get changed.
The girls hopped in Troian's BMW and drove over to her dad and stepmom's house in silence since Shay was so nervous.
They pulled up in front of the Bellisario house and sat there while Troian turned off the car and turned to look at her girlfriend.
"Babe, this night will be fine, I promise."
"How can you be so sure?"
"Because they will see what I see. I'm not worried about this at all, and you shouldn't be either."
"Okay. I would just like to point out that this whole thing was your idea."
"Actually it was mostly my dad's. He's wanted to meet you, but I wanted to wait a little to make sure you were comfortable with it."
"Well let's get this show on the road then, and he can see what an underachiever his daughter is dating."
"Oh stop doubting yourself, Shannon. You're so smart and talented, and you do great things for so many people. My family knows that, and they like that about you. They all already like you; you just have to go in there so they can actually meet you."
Troian opened the car door for her girlfriend before pecking her on the cheek and bringing her into a strong hug. Once they opened the front door, they could automatically hear throngs of people in the family room.
"Hello!" Troian shouted, causing the crowd of people to say hi back.
She walked over and hugged her family members as they all stood up. Once she came to her dad last, he whispered in her ear as he gave her a hug, leaving her with a big smile on her face.
"Everyone, this is Shay." She said as she stood back and grabbed Shay's hand, squeezing it gently.
"I'll introduce you one on one later." She whispered into Shay's ear, getting a slight nod from her girlfriend.
"Hi Shay, it's nice to see you again." Nick said as he got up to give her a quick hug, "Beware, they can smell fear." He stage whispered into her ear, causing Troian to smack him on the shoulder.
"Oh stop. They do not!" She joked with her brother.
"So Shay, quick question: You have 60 seconds to answer and if you get it right, this dinner will be fine; if not, well, you'll see what happens." Donald Bellisario said as he stood up and walked about two feet away from Shay.
The raven-haired girl gulped visibly as Troian looked somewhat concerned.
"Uh, okay?" She said tentatively.
"What country has the biggest hole in the ozone layer over it?" He spit out quickly.
"It's actually Antarctica, interestingly enough." She said, shocking everyone in the room, leaving Troian with a cocky smile on her face.
Donald smirked suddenly, "Well it's nice to see that you know that; I didn't even know the correct answer until 5 minutes ago. But I was also kidding; if my daughter is serious enough about you to bring you to dinner, then I certainly approve. Plus, I've heard about you nonstop from Troian for a while now, so it's nice to finally meet you."
"Well I'm surprised that I knew that, too. Troian is definitely the brain of this relationship." She laughed nervously before shaking his hand, "It's very nice to meet you though, Mr. Bellisario. You have a wonderful daughter."
"Well thank you, I think so. And it's Don; no formalities needed." He added as he handed the two girls some wine.
They all chatted for a few more minutes, and Shay was introduced to more family members before they were all told to head into the dining room to start dinner.
Shay and Troian hung back for a few seconds and Shay immediately kissed Troian quickly once no one was looking.
"Thank you." She offered as her girlfriend smiled.
"For what?" Troian asked with a small smile on her face.
"Bringing me here and having faith in me. And being a braniac and reading that ozone layer article to me the other day." She added as Troian laughed.
"I love you." The brunette said, smiling when Shay's eyes lit up.
"I love you, too."
"Guys, can you stop telling her these stories?" Troian begged as her whole family laughed.
"Why? I think it's cute to hear about a younger, but just as nerdy Troian." Shay said as she squeezed Troian's hand under the table.
"My personal favorite was during her college years; I went up to visit her for the weekend and I showed up at her dorm and she was hammered. She was so drunk, but there she was, trying to do her statistics homework for like the only math class she ever had to take." Nick shared with the family, getting everyone to laugh like crazy as Troian blushed.
"I'll still remember what she was saying, 'Nick, Nick…do you know how to find the giraffe in this equation?' She was not making sense at all, it was fabulous." He shared again.
"Alright, I think we're done here!" Troian said as she stood up.
"Oh, stop it. You're going to get all the dirt on me from my family when you meet them, so it's my turn now. Don, do you have any pictures of Troian when she was younger?" Shay asked with a smirk as she pulled Troian back down.
"I like the way you think, Shay. Let me go get my laptop. Things are about to get interesting." The man smiled as his daughter shook her head.
"I still can't believe you and all of the other spouses beat the actual Bellisarios at charades! How did that possibly happen?" Troian said for the third time since they left her dad's house.
"Just talented I guess, babe." Shay said happily once they got back into Troian's car.
"Do you feel better now though? You and my dad were getting pretty buddy buddy towards the end there."
"I do feel a lot better now, thank you."
"Well I'm glad you had a fun time. I'd love for you to come to another family dinner if you want to."
"I would love to." She replied before she leaned across the car to plant a kiss on Troian's lips.
"So, home, some ice cream, and a movie?" Troian suggested.
"Sounds perfect. Oh, and Ashley and Tyler want to all grab dinner and then go see 'The Heat' next Saturday if you're up for it."
"Yeah, that'd be great. I've been wanting to see that movie."
"Perfect, I'll tell Ash!"
"Thank you again for coming with me tonight, I'm really glad that my family finally got to meet you." Troian said, smiling when Shay brought her hand to rest on Troian's thigh.
"Thank you for including me, your family is great; I can see why you are all so close."
"Well I hope they'll be your family too one day." Troian said quietly as she focused on the road ahead of her.
"I'd love that." Shay quietly answered back as she squeezed her girlfriend's thigh.