Finally, the first part of what you all wanted.

To Ask For the Crescent Moon: Part Six

With the dance around the corner and Cress and Thorne having finally succumbed to meeting each other's parents as boyfriend and girlfriend. They weren't sure what to wear. If they should've gone formal, casual, or something in between. When Thorne and Cress met outside a corner café in town, they see that they subconsciously agreed to go in the middle.

Thorne was in a sweater vest and jeans while Cress was in a long-sleeve tucked into a skirt and a long jacket. They had small warm drinks since they didn't think they would grab something before heading out. When they saw each other, they smiled at the other person putting effort into making a good image for themselves.

"You didn't have to dress up for my parents," Thorne says.

He grins at Cress as he pulls her close by her waist. Cress smiles as Thorne plants kisses into her floral-scented hair.

"I feel like I have to pay when I look at your house," Cress responds.

"I tried telling my parents it felt like a museum but that's the look they wanted. A wild look don't touch and no flash photography aesthetic."

Cress grins. "You've given me the tour before."

Thorne nods. "And now you're stalling."

She frowns. "No, you're stalling."

They stare at each other, studying each other with squinted eyes. Their lips twitch wanting to break into matching smiles. They've decided today as the day to meet the parents and they've planned it with their parents, but they didn't discuss who they would meet first. Ironically, they both assumed the other person would take the lead but nothing of the sort happens.

If left to their own willpower, they would've stood there all day.

Instead, they hold out their fists. Time for a good playground game of star, moon, comet. Star beats moon, moon beats comet, comet beats star. Nobody knew how any of that made sense but they didn't make the rules.

Round one, after three pumps, Cress opens her hand to play a star as Thorne straightens his fingers and meets the tips to make a comet. He laughs as he zips his comet through her star.

"Best two out of three," Cress demands, more heated than usual.

Cress plays star again and squeals out of joy when Thorne makes a fist for the moon. She claps her hand on top of his before cupping his fist and kissing it. She laughs into his hand before looking up at Throne again.

"Not cool," Thorne states.

"Very cool," Cress whispers.

Tied. Round four. They shake their fists and make their choices at the same time. Thorne jumps to the stars when he shoots Cress's star with his comet. She groans in defeat as Thorne does a victory shimmy on the sidewalks.

"Rematch?" Cress pleads.

"Nope!" Thorne kisses her cheek before doing his victory shimmy to his car parked on the side of the road. "Time for the tour chez moi to meet my parents."

-o-

Cress thought the stars continued to be against her favour when the drive to Thorne's house only had green lights. All she wanted was one red light to breathe or else she'd panic. She tried to see how long she could sit in the car but then Thorne circled to open her door. Cress knew she had to step out because she was so smitten.

The walk up to Thorne's house nearly paralyzed Cress. She's been to his house many times but it's different knowing that Thorne's parents are expecting her. It's not like Thorne talks about them. Everyone knows Kai's father and Cinder and Winter sometimes mention Levana, but Thorne's parents are shadowy faceless figures.

Cress might as well be coming to his house for the first time.

Except instead of going through the front doors, they circle the side of the house. Cress has played many different scenarios of meeting Thorne's parents in her head but none of them involved not using the front door. She's barely walked on his property and she already feels unprepared.

Cress wants to ask why they're going into his backyard but her mouth is dry. Thorne opens the gate and lets her walk through but she stops since she isn't sure what to do. Thorne smiles as he takes her hand and raises it to plant a kiss.

"You're tense," he whispers into their intertwined hands.

"Why are we still outside?" Cress asks, not sure if she whispered.

"We're heading inside," Thorne says.

He points ahead into an enclosed patio. Cress nods, exhaling and able to see her breath. The windows are tinged with frost but she can make out two shadowed figures inside. That's the image Cress originally had for Thorne's parents. Faceless people who just exist. She isn't sure if having something familiar is helpful.

"Time for the real Captain and Mrs. Thorne," Thorne says, quickly planting a kiss on the side of her head.

Cress nods as Thorne opens the door to the enclosed patio for her. Inside, she sees two people who, if she saw them walking downtown, she wouldn't think for a second they were Thorne's parents. Spades, maybe she has seen them before. They looks so unexpectedly normal. Thorne had the same build and face shape as his father but had his mother's softer edges and bright eyes. He looks like his parents but doesn't at the same time.

Cress barely muttered a proper hello as she shook Kingsley and Amelia's hands. All the introductions went by in a blur since Thorne, not surprisingly, took control of the conversation. He was squeezing her hand tight, telling her that he's got this for her.

Cress wasn't even sure when she sat down but she now has a small plate of expensive deli meat slices, assorted cheeses, and crackers with an ice-cold glass of lemonade. Thorne must've made it for her but she isn't sure if she could stomach any of it.

"So, Cress," Amelia starts, "Thorne told us you share the same classes."

"Uh, yeah," Cress responds, hating herself for starting with a hesitation. His parents are so proper and she's so … not.

"But Cress is way smarter than me," Thorne adds.

"Oh really?" Kingsley says, making Cress's heart drop in fear.

"Top percentile, AP classes, tutors kids," Thorne chews on a cracker from her plate, "principal's fave."

"I'm not his fave," Cress says, her face burning, "or favourite, I should say."

"Totally are." Thorne grins.

"I knew Carswell's girlfriend was a good one," Kingsley says, "we and Jeanette have noticed that he's calmed down and stopped doing the really careless stuff, at least that we know of."

"Only the careless things now," Amelia says with a small chipper in her voice, getting smiles from her husband and Cress.

Thorne's mouth goes dry and he takes a sip of his lemonade. He didn't think his parents noticed that about him or noticed him at all. Thorne always believed his parents didn't care about him. He could've been an accident kid or created as an heir to the Thorne fortune. (A fortune of a lot of unnecessary and materialistic things, nothing that matters. He still hasn't made up his mind on what to do with it when his time comes.) Whenever his parents were home, it made no difference since he either felt alone the whole time or wasn't even home. His parents never made the effort to call him home unless they needed him for something, which in itself is rare. The only pertinent interactions in Thorne's mind would be when his mother scolded him for stealing her necklace and his father called him a disgrace to the Thorne name.

That first reprimand was the moment he started going by Thorne, to defy them … and because Carswell is a stupid name. As much as he wants to hate his parents, he can't help but realize that no matter how bad of parents they are, it could be way worse.

But they're here in a simple setting. His mother isn't wearing any jewels and his father isn't in a pilot's suit. They didn't look like millionaires but just well-off people. They're having a conversation with Cress who was slowly coming out of her shell. She enjoyed talking about school, computers, and video games with his parents. Her eyes and smile are so bright that it was like she forgot she was talking to his parents. It helped that his parents, who he didn't think had any interest in those things, were listening attentively or even asked probing questions to keep the conversation going.

"Cress, you seem like a good kid." Kingsley turns to Thorne. "You too. Good, sometimes, but mouthy."

"Oh, Kingsley…" Amelia mutters, nudging him. "Carswell hasn't said much since he sat down and I was starting to think he was unwell. Cress is a good influence on our boy."

-o-

Once their little meeting came to a close, Cress was spook-free walking back to Thorne's car. She was all smiles as she sat down, forever relishing that she wasn't an awkward weirdo in front of Throne's parents. Spades, she was more concerned that Thorne stopped talking at some point.

"I'm so overwhelmed," Cress exhales as Thorne starts the car.

"I think I'm confused," Thorne mutters. "I don't think those were my parents. They were too nice and smiley."

"Way not to prepare me for that."

"I wasn't prepared for that!"

Cress laughs as she kisses his cheek.

-o-

Cinder clears her throat as Winter sits at the kitchen island. "The vagus nerve, also known as cranial nerve X, causes the diaphragm to contract, making you hiccup."

Winter hiccups. "What - hic - does that mean?"

Another day, another set of hiccups. Winter thought her hiccups went away last night but her body only blessed her with silence just to let her sleep, but her hiccups woke her up. It wasn't cool. Not even the ice cube on the back of her neck was cool anymore. It was dripping down her back and making wet trails on her shirt. The matching ice cube on her jaw was melting in her fingertips and dripping on the countertop.

"I don't understand this," Cinder mutters, "apparently, this weird mess is interrupting nerve flow which will stop the signal from your body to hiccup. Did it work?"

Winter hiccups.

Cinder nods, turning off her phone. "I was afraid you would say that. Don't worry, I'll think of something."

Winter winces, scared of that answer … but not scared enough to make her hiccups disappear.