I push the door open, holding my breath. I start scratching the back of my neck. Is it too late to back out?

Tessa smiles at me, squeezing my hand with hers. I give her a weak grin before stepping inside my house.

By the time we are both inside and I shut the door, I am sweating bullets.

Tessa looks around, "Well, there certainly is a lot of nice furniture, it's all so... Gloomy.".

I finish, "If you find tons of black and white everywhere gloomy, then I find it suffocating.".

Tessa hugs my torso, silently calming me. I had never really thought about my life at home before, it was just a place I slept in. My dad slowly withdrew into himself since we buried my mom. I mean, he is there, but not really there. Like a ghost.

He was kind of there when Tessa broke up with me... That counts for something... Right?

I shout, "Dad, you home?".

Dad shouts, "Yeah, Sport! What do you need?".

I reply, "I need you to meet someone!".

Then I hear the boards upstairs creak and moan. Must have been in his study.

As he steps down the stairs, the light makes his salt and pepper hair shine. Dad's eyes look from me to Tessa and then back to me.

He stops once he is at the bottom of the steps and raises an eyebrow, 'Who's this?".

I swallow, "Um, this is Tessa, my uh...".

Tess rolls her eyes, "I'm his girlfriend.".

I blink once, as if I was a surprised anime character. I mutter, "Yeah, my my gur-girl fer-friend.".

Really! My heart thumped in my chest, jolting as if ready to fly. She reached down and grabbed my hand.

Why did she grab my hand? Why am I sweating so much now? Ug, get yourself together Thomas!

Dad smiled, the grin taking up his face. His eyes sparkled, the bags underneath them seems to fade a little. His laugh boomed around the hall.

Dad shook his head side to side before saying, "Girlfriend, huh.".

He looks at me, "When did you grow up so fast, Sport? Heavens to Betsy son, you don't tell me when you need a pair of socks. And now you have a girlfriend! Dang it, I'm getting too old.".

Dad turned to Tess, "You must be that girl that broke up with him before! Right?".

Tess nods, "Yeah, he needed a good kick to the curb right then.".

He nodded, "I like her, Sport. I like her a lot.".

I refrained from rolling my eyes and telling him we were already inside. I smiled. He likes her! Of course, he likes her... Why wouldn't he?

I wipe my palms on my jeans, turning to Tess. "You planning on staying for dinner?".

Tess nodded, "Yes, if that's alright with your father.".

Dad shouts from wherever he is, " She is welcome to join us. However, it won't be anything special.".

Tess just smiled, like at our first date, "I don't need anything too crazy. At my house, hot dogs are the norm.".

I reached out a hand, "Since I'm the one that usually cooks, want to join me? My dad's absolutely terrible at cooking, so don't be surprised if you don't see him until the food's done.".

Tess took my hand, "As long as you don't expect me to be much better than your dad.".

I kissed her forehead, "Any help would be wonderful, Tess.".

With my hand linked with hers, we walk into the kitchen.