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You had been dating for a few months now, and honestly, Arvid couldn’t have been more grateful to James for introducing you, since there wasn’t a day he didn’t text you, or receive a message from you on the days you couldn’t see each other in person. So he knew the day would come when he’d have to introduce you to his parents—but now, as he waited outside your house, the nerves started to take over.

He saw you come out of the house, and as always, you looked beautiful. He remembered seeing you buy the shirt you were wearing on one of your dates, and the best part was that smile that appeared on your lips when you saw him.

He was leaning against his car and walked over to where you were, leaving a short kiss on your lips, which you immediately returned, running your hand through his curls like you always did whenever you saw each other.

“You look great.” You knew he meant it completely, but you still sensed something different in him.

“So do you.”

Instinctively, his hand found yours, and he intertwined his fingers with yours for a few seconds before letting go and opening the car door for you.

During the ride to his house, you easily figured out what was going on with him—he didn’t hold your hand once or even rest it on your leg, something he never failed to do when he was driving.

“It’s going to be fine, you know that, right?” you said, taking his hand and caressing it with a smile, seeing him nod as he tried to calm his breathing.

“I really want them to like you.”

“So do I, but let’s not think about what could go wrong, okay?” Your hand reached his neck, letting your nails gently scratch that part of his skin.

For a moment, your words managed to calm him, although when you finally arrived at his parents’ house, all that progress you thought you’d made on the short drive disappeared instantly.

“Sorry,” came out of his mouth almost instinctively, and it caught you a little by surprise since your boyfriend had always been very confident—even when he met your parents, who had undoubtedly adored him from the first moment.

“It’s fine, do you need some time?”

“I don’t think we can.” You tilted your head slightly, looking at him, but relaxed when you saw a smile appear on his lips again. “My mom is watching us from the window.”

You raised an eyebrow and turned to look at the house, catching a glimpse of a woman ducking away from the window, which made you laugh a little.

“Should we go then?” you asked, picking up the bag where you had brought a small gift for his parents.

He didn’t respond with words, just left a small kiss on your lips before pulling away and nodding, that nervous smile still lingering on his face.

You got out of the car, and once again his hand intertwined with yours as you walked together to the door, which you didn’t even have to knock on—his mother opened it with a sweet smile.

“Took you a while, huh?” Anita said, scolding her son a little, who simply pursed his lips. Luckily, she didn’t focus on him for long when she saw you. “Look at you! You’re even prettier than in the pictures. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you. I’m Anita, in case you didn’t know.”

“She knows,” Arvid complained, and you gave him a small nudge in the leg to scold him for answering back to his mom.

“It’s a pleasure, I’m y/n.”

“The pleasure’s all mine, please come in.”

She led both of you to the dining room, and that’s when she noticed you had brought something. You carefully took it out of the bag and placed it on the table.

“Aww, darling, you didn’t have to,” she said, taking the bottle of wine and smiling at you before heading into the kitchen, leaving Arvid’s father to make his entrance.

“Your mom already scolded you, huh?” he said with a smile, hugging his son on one side before turning to you and offering his hand. “You must be the girl this one won’t shut up about.”

“Well, I hope so. It’s a pleasure, Mr. Lindblad.” He quickly shook his head at your words.

“That makes me feel so old. Stefan is more than enough.”

You simply nodded, and then his father led you both to the dining room for dinner. You took the opportunity to grab Arvid’s hand, noticing he was no longer so tense.

“Where’s Amil?” your boyfriend asked about his brother while his mother handed him the plates to set the table. When you offered to help, his mother shook her head at you.

“Let him work,” she laughed softly before turning back to Arvid. “He’s at Mike’s house. He has a project due tomorrow.”

“Shame, he would’ve loved you,” Arvid said, hugging your shoulders after placing the plates on the table, making you smile.

You managed to set at least one plate of food on the table before everyone sat down to eat.

“So, Arvid told us you’re already in university, right? What are you studying?”

“I’m in physics, second year,” you said, taking a small sip of your drink—these kinds of conversations still felt more like interviews to you.

“You got yourself a smart one, huh? How come you're with him?” Arvid’s dad jumped into the conversation, first addressing him, then you.

“Dad…” Arvid tried to scold his father, though you couldn’t help but laugh.

“He’s a funny one.”

“Now that makes sense.”

Arvid crossed his arms, softly pouting, which prompted you to lean toward him under the excuse of kissing his cheek, whispering something in his ear.

“You can be a bit smart too.”

“Just a bit?”

“You told me not to lie to you.” That, of course, only made him pretend to be even more offended, making his mother laugh.

“You all hate me or what? They like you too much.”

“Isn’t that a good thing?” Of course it was—it was great, actually. He just hadn’t expected a whole alliance against him on the very first night.

Dinner went perfectly, full of laughter—and, of course, a little interrogation directed at you. After all, everything they knew about you came from things their son had told them. And no matter how much they trusted him, they preferred hearing it from you.

That’s why Arvid decided to jump back into the conversation, and the late hour helped him finally call the evening to a close.

“I know she’s great, but I think we should get going,” he said when your hand found his under the table. You had started doing that whenever you were getting tired in a social situation. Even though you didn’t think much of it, your boyfriend had already learned to read you.

“I think you just don’t want your mom showing her your baby pictures,” Arvid’s dad chuckled softly before standing up to properly say goodbye to you.

Both his parents kissed your cheeks goodbye and walked you to the door, continuing the conversation until you and Arvid were already outside.

“Bye love, come back whenever you want,” were Anita’s final words before closing the door and letting you leave.

His arms quickly wrapped around your waist, kissing your cheek with a smile as he leaned into you.

“Oh my god, they really loved you,” he sighed, that silly smile he always had when talking to or about you lighting up his face—something you adored.

“See? Told you there was no need to panic.” You kissed his lips shortly with a smile.

“You’re always right. That doesn’t count,” he laughed, heading to the car and opening the passenger door for you. “Let’s get you home now.”