Kenzie Lewis

Meeting the Parents: Kenzie & Samuel

Samuel matched Mackenzie’s bright smile with one of his own when she bumped against him. She was so cute that he had a hard time focusing on her words, but he was tuned in just enough to hear her agree to show his parents around. It meant so much to him to know that she was willing to hang out with his family on a day where she was basically ignored by her own. He had no idea how to thank her.

“Wonderful,” Rose said, happier now that she wasn’t accidentally offending her son’s girlfriend. “Samuel hasn’t told us much more than what buildings he takes classes in, so your expertise will be appreciated.”

“You can blame dad for that,” Samuel defended to his mom, laughing quietly as he began to explain it to Mackenzie. “When we had Family Weekend at St George’s, my dad showed everyone around because it was his old stomping ground and he was trying to relive his glory days or something, so my school tour experience is very limited.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Eli interjected, a smile playing on his lips. “Where’s your kitchen? If we’re about to go on a real tour, I’m going to need re-hydrating.”

Samuel pointed down the hallway behind where he stood beside Mackenzie and watched as his parents passed by, leaving them alone with the promise of being ‘back in a few’.

“Oh thank God,” he said once they were gone, turning to her. “I’m so sorry. I had no idea they were going to grill you like that - I should have warned them but I didn’t think we would see you this weekend so it kind of slipped my mind. I’ll explain it to them as soon as I can and they’ll never bring it up again, I promise. I know how much this weekend sucks for you and they just made it worse and I’m really sorry.”

“You’re the strongest person I know and you handle yourself with such grace all the time and you just never fail to impress me,” he said, his cheeks turning pink as he dropped his tone into a whisper just in case his parents could still hear them, “And you have no idea how badly I wanted to kiss you that whole time… and right now, too, if I’m being honest.”

#I JUST THOUGHT OF A PLOT THINGY WITH KENZIE AND HER PARENTS AND WHOOPS #meeting the parents

There was something heartwarming about how Samuel interacted with his parents. It was weird to her that she hadn’t known much about them before that moment. At least not personality wise. She was always one who preferred to meet a person and come up with a judgment rather than the other way around. Her gaze followed the conversation, following along and laughing at appropriate moments.

As they walked off, Kenzie held off releasing a breathe until they were gone. But then her breathe was taken away once more as he started off on a rant. Her eyebrows rose and eyes widened slightly as he continued on and on and thankfully she was able to keep up with it. She had never really thought about what others would think of her parental situation. Honestly, at first she didn’t want anyone to know what had happened. It was exactly that thinking that had her breaking up with her boyfriend of many months without warning and pulling herself away from the things and people she loved. But as her parents began to do the same, she began to do the opposite. The more they pretended that nothing happened or ignore that their eldest child was dead the more Kenzie began to realize the error of her ways.

Now here she was, with friends, a future, a boyfriend. And she couldn’t imagine her life any different--well there were a few things she wished were different, but overall it was good. She felt no shame in talking about her family life because she didn’t feel like she was doing anything wrong. Her brother had died. Her parents ignore that as well as her. It was how things were and while it sucked she wasn’t going to let it bring her down.

“You really don’t have to be sorry. For anything. I don’t mind talking about it. I just don’t think its a good conversation to have upon first meeting my boyfriend’s parents.” She smiled, wanting to diffuse any notion that she could be upset. “It’s really sweet that you’re thinking of me though. Thank you.” She figured they only had a few more minutes left before their House Mother would be finished talking with the Harris’ so she smiled mischievously as she leaned up to press her lips against his. It was chaste but she settled there for over a couple seconds. Pulling away, her voice was low just in case, “We can continue that later.” She leaned back down and smiled. “Your parents are wonderful, by the way. I see why you turned out so amazing.”

“Oh, that’s easy. A night of dares. See, that way you can see how creative they are, there’s spontaneity, you can see how willing they are to do the most ridiculous stuff, see if they can laugh at themselves, there’s a good bit of competition thrown in, stories are bound to come out somewhere to help you get to know the person on another level, and, if it goes south, you can guarantee good memories to laugh about with your friends later on,” Mickey said while counting off her fingers. “Why sit down and talk and be bored when you can run around town like a crazy person and actually have fun?”

“You have seriously thought this out. I can tell.” Kenzie laughed but felt a little off just because she hasn’t thought about dating or relationships. At least not since before.. “Is it bad that I don’t think about this stuff? I mean, don’t get me wrong, sometimes I brainstorm ideas with Samuel but...my last boyfriend was before Garrett--I just haven’t had the energy to focus on all this relationship stuff.”

#i had to #not sorry #photos

amazingyoungwomen

Meeting the Parents: Kenzie & Samuel

Samuel pressed his lips together in a sad smile as Mackenzie tried to paint a better picture of her situation. It was far from a genuine portrayal but he knew she was trying to get his parents off her back. He didn’t even mind so much that she was squeezing his hand because it made him feel like he was, in some small insignificant way, helping.

“Oh,” was all Rose could say.

“I’m sorry to hear that they couldn’t make it,” Eli added, putting a reassuring arm around his wife’s waist as he smiled at Mackenzie, “But their loss is our gain. Now we have two tour guides for this adventure, and everyone knows two heads are better than one.”

There was the Harris charm that his father and uncle were always talking about. Samuel didn’t think he possessed any of it, but sometimes he could see himself in his father’s words and that was enough for him. Glancing down at Mackenzie, he gave a soft smile. “What do you say? Wanna help me show them around? If you’re lucky, they’ll probably tell you something really embarrassing about me.”

She was satisfied with her short explanation and hoped it would keep his parents at bay. She didn’t mind talking about them but knew it was a difficult situation that she lived with. Her grip on Samuel’s hand slacked only slightly in fear she was gripping too hard. There was something strange about holding hands in front of his parents but not in any bad way. More that her emotions only grew for him because he wasn’t afraid or embarrassed to have her meet his family.

The comfort she received from Mr. Harris’ change of pace in conversation was overwhelming and she found her smile really reaching her eyes this time. She bumped against Samuel lightly and looked up at him. “I could never deny an opportunity such as that.” Her gaze turned back to his parents. “Besides I’ve been at this school longer. I may know something he doesn’t. Can’t have a proper tour without all the random fun facts about Lefeuvre!”

#meeting the parents

scnsorial

Mina laughed. “Oh — roommate bylaws. Should’ve known. Gets me every time.” They reached the bleachers by the tennis court, and she promptly sat under the shade. “How are you with him, by the way? I feel compelled to ask because you know. New relationship. Roommate bylaws.”

“I told you to read the fine print of that housing form.” She laughed and followed behind Mina, sitting beside her once they were at the bleachers. “We’re good. Nothing to complain. No outward flaws just yet in the whole thing.”

#c:mina

“It really does. Like how some people have warm milk, I have hot chocolate.” She reached forward, pinching Kenzie’s nose between her fingers and gave it a shake while laughing. “You’re so weird, Kenz. Every girl has thought about that one perfect date at least once.”

“Dating is just not a thing on my mind normally.” There was a time when she once considered what dates she wanted in her future but she’d changed, particularly in the past year. “What’s your perfect date?”

Meeting the Parents: Kenzie & Samuel

“Me too,” Samuel agreed, giving her a small grin. Asher was great and all but all the Harris’ were partial to lovely, kind, awesome women like Mackenzie. He reached down and took one of her hands in his, loosely lacing their fingers together.

“Well, it’s not a competition,” Rose reminded them, chuckling softly, “There’s plenty of Momma Harris love to go around.”

Eli raised his eyebrows when Mackenzie mentioned she was spending his day cleaning and managed to question it before Samuel could distract them all with something else. “You’re cleaning instead of spending time with your family?”

“Dad-” Samuel said, disapproving of the subtle change in his father’s tone of voice. He didn’t understand - he had no right to sound disappointed in her, even if it was an almost imperceptible change.

“I am taking them on a tour,” he told Mackenzie, “And I was going to show them my dorm but I don’t know how safe it would be with just Marco up there. Marco’s my roommate,” he told his parents, trying his best to change the subject. “And he has a thing for taking all his clothes off whenever he’s left in the dorm alone.”

“We don’t need to see that, son,” Eli said, looking perplexed.

“All dorms look much the same anyway, dear. Mackenzie, are your parents around? We’d love to meet them, too. Perhaps we could all go out to dinner?” Rose suggested, looking hopefully between her son and Mackenzie.

“Maybe another time,” Samuel said vaguely, trying not to be too mad at his parents. They were just being nice but they didn’t know what they were doing.

“Let Mackenzie answer for herself, Samuel, you’re being very rude.” Rose admonished and Samuel ducked his head. It wasn’t often he got in trouble from his parents and it was even worse that it happened in front of Mackenzie. Especially when he was just trying to do the right thing. He gave Mackenzie’s hand a gentle squeeze.

Her eyes went down to their hands and she tried to calm down the smile that was on her lips. The sign of affection was simple to others but to Kenzie she felt like it meant far more than normal hand holding. It was how she thought about every sign of affection they showed each other.

His father’s question pulled her bad thoughts forward once more but she had no time to respond because Samuel was commandeering the conversation. His mother was staring at her in a way she couldn’t decipher just yet. Kenzie focused back to Samuel’s rant about Marco knowing all too well how right he was.

While it was a great sight to see the Samuel Harris be berated she also knew that she needed to ensure he wasn’t in trouble for simply protecting her. Kenzie never really thought about how other parents would react to her situation. At least not ones who were friends with her parents first. They always put her mother and father on a pedestal; survivors of a tragedy, and they could do no wrong. But to outsiders...that was a scenario she had never found a reason to consider it. The squeeze on her hand pulled her back into focus enough to form a response.

“Um, no. They couldn’t come, they were just too busy to come down.” She didn’t notice it much at first but her own hand was gripping Samuel’s a little tighter. “But it’s okay!” She smiled brightly though it didn’t completely reach her eyes, “I don’t mind spending time with our House Mother. Plus I don’t really see this house this empty too often so it’s a nice change.”

#meeting the parents

Meeting the Parents: Kenzie & Samuel

Samuel couldn’t have been happier to see his parents than when they arrived in the parking lot that morning. It had been too long since he’d seen them, just on four months, and he’d missed them greatly. They were both insanely busy so the fact that they had taken time out of their schedules to spend time with him and see his new school meant the absolute world to him. He adored his parents and he was excited to share his world with them.

The next stop on their makeshift campus tour was Patrice House and he was slightly anxious as he guided them inside, unsure about what state his dorm would be in considering Marco had been left to his own devices in there for too many consecutive hours. He had been in the process of explaining as much to his parents when they came across Mackenzie in the entrance hall.

“Hey,” he said, happily surprised to see her. He hadn’t expected to, honestly, because he knew what days like today meant to her and if it was him, he’d probably want to hide away from it all. But Mackenzie was a lot stronger than he was and she was braving the world like a true champion. He couldn’t help but smile at that realisation and he had to fight the urge to hug her. But that made him uncertain of how to proceed. He wanted all his favourite people to meet but what if she was uncomfortable with it? What if it was too soon in their relationship to meet the parents? What if it just made her sad? Behind him, his father cleared his throat as an awkward silence fell over them.

“Right, yeah,” Samuel stuttered, “Um. Parents, this is Mackenzie. Mackenzie - parents.”

His parents shared a knowing glance before his father extended his hand, correcting Samuel’s pathetic attempt at an introduction. “I’m Eli Harris and this is my wife, Rose.”

“It’s so nice to finally meet you, Mackenzie,” Rose said with a smile, “Samuel has told us a lot about you so I was secretly hoping we’d bump into you somewhere along the way. You and Asher - he’s such a sweet boy.”

“Mom likes Asher more than she likes me,” Samuel joked to Mackenzie, trying to keep the conversation light. "And she’ll probably like you more than she likes me, too, so you’ll have to fight him for the top spot.”

#meeting the parents #I AM SO EMOTIONAL

Kenzie wasn’t sure at all what to do in the situation. She had no idea if he had even told his parents about them and she didn’t want to overstep any boundaries. She may not be new to relationships but she knew he wasn’t and had no idea how he handled being in a relationship. Her hands moved from her pockets to her side as he smiled at her. She felt like there was more to the smile but felt like it was a conversation for later.

Her attention turned to his parents and she grasped Mr. Harris’ hand in hers and shook it firmly. She watched them interact with a bright smile and pushed off the feelings that had been looming on her all day. Her laughter matched the rest and she shook her head. “I think I could beat him.” Her attention turned back to his parents. “It’s lovely to meet you both. I’ve heard plenty about you as well. It’s nice to put faces to the names.”

The music from within the kitchen changed and it caught Kenzie’s attention as she turned to glance behind her momentarily. “You all definitely must be having a more enjoyable day than I. I’m helping our House Mother clean up a little.” She pointed lightly to the pledge and rag on the now empty shelves. “Is Samuel giving you a tour?” She looked from the Harris’ to Samuel and back again.

manips-r-us

↳ INSTAGRAM: @kenzieisadork uploaded a new photo

What a nice piece of arm candy to have on a whim #latenightsatlefeuvre

❤ 10 LIKES ✐ 2 COMMENTS

#instastarter #insta

“Hot chocolate helps me sleep at night, funnily enough,” Mickey stated, picking at her nails. “Wait, you don’t even have that one thing you’ve always wanted to do on a date?”

“I don’t believe you. Dating never really has been at the front of my mind. I’ve had other things on my mind.”

“Dude, I’m not tense. I’m…sitting up straight for once, my posture is throwing you off. See, now was that so hard to clarify? Do you have an idea of what you’d do or just decide that day?”

“Whatever helps you sleep at night....” She smirked and wiggled her eyebrows. “I have no idea. I’m always more of an in the moment thinker or really if something pops into my head I’ll do it.”

“Shut up. You’re the one who didn’t make it clear. That’s not my fault. And I have no tension.”

“You’re lookin’ pretty tense right now, I don’t know what you’re saying. And I highly doubt we’ll be having sex anytime soon. It’s not something I’m going to push on him. When he’s ready, I’m ready. But I was referring to the asking out part.”

“You’ll ask him out or you’ll jump him?”

“What a dirty mind you have. Are you going through withdrawal? If so, I’d advise you find Asher to alleviate your tension.”

“So you’re perfectly fine jumping his bones but you can’t ask him out? That’s a bit weeeiiirrrddd.”

“I’m not saying I can’t ask him out its just that whenever I want to he beats me to it! Plus we’ve both been super busy lately. Maybe over Spring Break if he’s staying here I’ll do it. Plus he surprises me a lot.”

“You’re being annoying.” Mickey snorted. “You realize that if he’s shy and you’re passive when you want to get it on nothing’s going too happen for forever.”

“Oh no. When it comes to getting it on, I’m more than willing to be active in that situation. But only when he’s ready to.”