I swear my parents are just this cool

Her mother gave the man a playful hit on his back, making him avert his eyes from him.

"Why do you have to say it like that?" She laughed. "You sound too overprotective."

The man cleared his throat with a surprised expression on his face. "Really?" He asked, looking back at him. His eyes were apologetic now, showing hints of his age in the corner of his eyes. "I meant that you're the friend she talked about. The one that helped her out on school?"

Allen looked confused for a second, but immediately remembered the show Isabelle's ex made at school. He nodded.

"Yes, sir. That'd be me." He stretched his hand out. "I'm Allen. Allen Hayes."

The father smiled. "Albert Williams. This is my wife, Helen."

Isabelle's mother stepped forward too, but instead of taking his hand, she hugged him fast. "Nice to meet you, thank you for taking care of my daughter."

His now bright blue orbs trembled as he quickly detailed Helen's face, then, the weight of her words made them drop to the ground. He remembered the reason he and Isabelle met in the first place, feeling he already messed that up. He smiled to one side, hiding his worry.

"Like wise, Mrs. Williams. Isabelle has done a lot for me too."

Helen laughed. "You don't look like it, but you're pretty formal, aren't you?" Her sweet smile was contagious, making him smile wider and nod.

"Yes. It's not the first time I hear that." Allen's gaze flickered from Helen to the two people behind her.

They were both smiling, more like laughing about the whole situation. Isabelle noticed too, revolting a little beside him before talking.

"Well, we have to go now, right?" She looked up to meet Allen's gaze. He blinked a couple of times, unsure about what to say.

"You're right," her father said. "Have fun, all of you."

"Oh no, Al," Cassidy spoke up from behind. "We're not going! MJ and I have… Some other plans, right, MJ?"

MJ's smile grew wider. "True that! I think we were not invited anyway, so…" His voice came to a stop, looking mockingly at Isabelle and Allen.

If looks could be weapons, hers would be a like a tank ready to blow something up. Allen, on the other hand, remained with a poker face. He felt hi chest tighten, though, as both Helen and Albert looked at him at the same time.

"So you're going out like…" Albert left the sentence hanging, his eyes going from his blue orbs to her hazel ones.

Allen swallowed, giving just enough time for his throat to moisten. "It's a date, sir."

Everyone's mouth hung half open for a second. Then, some turned into playful smiles, some others into thin lines. Isabelle looked up at him, her eyes wide open. She never thought he was the kind of guys who would just say something so compromising in front of her parents.

Allen kept eye contact with Albert, ignoring Isabelle's surprised expression, wondering if he might have gone too far. What if Isabelle didn't want her parent to know? What if they believe I'm a bad influence and make her stop seeing me? His thoughts rushed through his mind like a train without breaks, fast and dangerous.

His stoic face might give another impression, as if he was confident and sure he was the best thing that happened to their daughter, but it only represented how little he knew about showing emotions.

Isabelle, who was still staring at him, noticed how he stopped breathing right after saying what he said. Then, it hit her: has he ever introduced himself to a girl's parents? Has he ever introduced himself as anyone's boyfriend before? The answers was… Obviously no.

Before she could think about something to say, Albert's laughed exploded.

"Very straight forward." He said, still laughing. Helen followed with a more casual laugh.

MJ approached them, giving Allen a couple of smacks on his back. "Way to go, champ."

"What?" Allen asked with a blank expression. "Did I say something wrong?" This last sentence going to Isabelle as he looked down at her.

She smiled widely, shaking her head no. "We're going on a date so, I'd say it was accurate."

"It was just surprising." Helen said, patting her husband on the back. "Young men like yourself rather beat around the bush."

"Exactly," Albert spoke again, catching Allen's attention again. "I was expecting more of a stutter and an excuse than the flat truth." He was smiling, clearly having fun about the whole situation. He looked at Isabelle. "Didn't you tell him we're not that overprotective?"

"N—No." She half smiled.

Allen relaxed his shoulders, dropping his gaze to the floor. "It's fine. I don't have much experience, anyway."

MJ and Isabelle's parents blinked a couple of times. Allen's ears turned pink out of embarrassment, yet his voice didn't falter as he looked up again.

"Meeting parents… " Or dating in general, he completed the sentence in his thoughts.

"Are you kidding?" MJ asked, dumbfounded, his dark orbs question Allen's blue ones. Before he could reply, Helen looked at MJ with reprimanding eyes.

"Oh, MJ. Stop." She then laughed a little. "Looking at how handsome you are, I wouldn't have believed if someone told me that." She reached a hand out to squeeze his shoulder. "Don't worry, we don't eat young men for dinner."

Allen laughed softly, like a soothing purr, enchanting Isabelle's every sense. She loved how he laughed, how tender his features were when he was showing how sweet he actually was. And you could say she really did, by how carefully she kept some precious memories of him locked in her heart.

Albert looked at his daughter as she was deep in thought, gazing at the tall figure beside her. "Alright, alright. Now go, she's going to get a stiff neck from staring at you longer."

"Dad!" Isabelle yelled, her face turning to him in a blink. She sighed heavily, turning around and walking towards Allen's car.

Allen giggled before excusing himself. "I'll bring her back safely."

And with that, they left.

At first, the ride was an awkward: Isabelle was embarrassed by her parents' behavior, and Allen was embarrassed of himself. Isabella has many questions to ask, but she knew that, maybe, that was not the right time to speak about it.

Silence did not last long, though, as they started talking freely about a cute dog popping its head out of a car window. Allen found it cute the way Isabelle's eyes shone over the little fellow, and tried to memorize it as much as he could before she noticed he was staring.

They arrived to the amusement park twenty minutes later, as it was located on the outskirts of the city. It was a beautiful place, located in a meadow with a huge forest to one side and the shore to the other. It was a splendid sight, that was for sure. She had the same bright expression on her face as the walked from the parking lot to the entrance, not realizing how fast she was walking.

Isabelle was excited as this was her first time in a place like this. Even though she had traveled with her family before, for some reason they never prepared a day at the amusement park. It never crossed her mind before, yet it was the first thing she said when Allen asked for a place she would like to go.

Both of them reached the ticket booth, making the line to buy the tickets before more people arrived. Allen had come before, when his mother promised him and his sister she would be there by noon, but never arrived; so he knew how many people like coming to this place after a certain hour.

Allen could see how Isabelle's body moved from one side to the other as they walked towards the main gate, smiling as he confidently grabbed her hand and linked her fingers with his. Isabelle's heart fluttered, knowing that it was normal for them to just walking hand in hand in public.

The questions her mind formulated while in the car started popping out again, making her wonder if maybe she's misunderstanding something. Whatever it is, she thought, she was going to enjoy it as much as she could.

"Where do you want to go first?" He asked her, looking down to meet her eyes.

She looked up, and then to her surroundings. "I don't know! There are so many games and machines, I don't know where to start!" She smiled shyly. "Even though I was the one that wanted to come."

He laughed. "I wanted to come too. Last time I was here, I did't really enjoy it."

"Why?" Isabelle's big, hazel eyes hatred at him.

"Well, I guess things didn't turn out as I wanted it. I was a kid back then, too." He shrugged it off. "Do you want to start with the kids games or want to go to straight to the main attraction?"

"I want to try that one." She said, pointing out to the largest roller coaster in the back of the park. It was visible only because of how big and tall it was, but in reality, it was at the very end of the location.

Allen smirked. "Why doesn't it surprise me?"

"Yeah, why?" She asked back.

Allen lets go of her hand. His hand moved slowing up to the back of her neck, grabbing and squeezing it slightly. He then moves his face closer, whispering in her ear. "It was you who suggested we slept together, remember?"

Isabelle trembled. When Allen stepped back to see her face, her red cheeks met him along with her defiant hazel eyes. She's shy about it, yet she tries her best not to let it bother her.

"Your right… I guess I tend to take my chances." She pursed her lips, trying to hold a smile back. "And it has worked so far, hasn't it?"

Allen stayed in silence for a few seconds, his mind empty of possible retaliations. He knew she was right, and that fact amused him. He smiled widely, raising his hands in surrender. "True."

His hands reached out to hers again, resuming their walk.