"Why are you..." I trailed off, looking for the right words, but all I could feel was speechless and caught off guard—and my mom's unamused expression was definitely not helping. "How did you know I was here?"

My parents walked past me, disapproval displayed clearly on their faces. Cayden didn't waste time standing by my side while her parents remained put, except now their attention was reflected onto my parents.

"We knew you were somewhere with a supposed friend in Florida for winter break, but later we heard from Sebastian about you going off with his best friend, Cayden—the one we met at Thanksgiving—so we decided to ask the Meleri's for their details to come down here and fix this ourselves," my mom's cold voice explained.

Fix this? Anxiousness tripled around me, now that Cayden's parents knew about me being Sebastian's ex-girlfriend, how would they feel? Even if they didn't hate me before, they definitely hate me now. And if they didn't hate me, then they probably look down on me in some way now.

"Our apologies, I'm Lincoln and this is my wife Valeria," my dad spoke up, introducing himself to Cayden's parents.

I could feel my body growing tense and shakey by the minute. Being in my parents' presence felt absolutely terrible knowing that they knew about me and Cayden. Not only that... but what are they about to say to me? Are they actually going to do this in front of Cayden's parents?

Cayden's parents smiled, but I could tell they were forced now that I knew them and I knew that their jobs basically consisted of that. Smiling and being cordial.

"I'm Robert—this is my wife Carmela," Robert said, his tone neutral.

My mom reflected her attention back to me, her eyes darting toward Cayden who was standing beside me. "This is so low of you Avina. We didn't raise you to do something like this. What did Sebastian do to make you go and do this to him?" she asked, and I felt my breathing grow shallow at her bluntness and condescending tone. This is bad. This is really bad. "I'm assuming you just wanted attention right? I mean Avina, you aren't... into women," she said, her voice lacing with disgust.

I cleared my throat, trying to push away the dreadful feelings spiraling around me, but if I'm being honest, I could pass out right now. There's no way this was really happening. I mean, first, my friends yell at me, then Sebastian, and now my parents? How much more could I take?

Finally, I said, "Trust me, I don't want attention, I'm very much into women."

My dad shook his head. "Avina, just drop this, please. Your mother and I are already embarrassed enough."

I looked at my dad, sadness growing in my chest. He feels the same too? He would always take my side, but now he's taking hers? I looked to Cayden, her familiar and comforting eyes holding mine. She slid her arm around my waist, letting me know she was here if I needed her.

My mom looked between Cayden and me, "Seriously Avina, we can still fix all of this. Sebastian could possibly still forgive you along with the Meleri's and your friends who I heard don't associate with you now," my mom bargained. I felt my stomach drop even deeper as my heart pumped harshly and quickly in my chest. "Cayden is probably just using you. I'm sure she'll leave when she's bored."

I froze. Taking in her extremely disrespectful sentence, especially one that involved my girlfriend. I needed to take a stand—it was now or never. "I don't want to fix any of this. If anything everything is fixed. It's how it should be. I'm into women and I have been from the jump—I was only with Sebastian to please you guys," my tone grew stronger and much more irritated, finally spilling the truth. "And I love Cayden and she loves me, so don't think to speak on our relationship—or even her for that matter."

My mom's face grew more displeased by the minute, while my dad ran his hand up and down the side of her arm to help calm her down.

My dad's eyes met mine, "Avina just stop—"

"Stop what? Stop being me? God, what do you actually expect me to do right now? Did you really think I would come back with you guys and get back with my abusive ex-boyfriend? Were you guys really condoning and encouraging that? What parents even do this?" I said, my body trembling as my face grew hot from anger. "I... I just can't with you guys. I'm an adult. I get to decide what I do with my life."

"Sebastian didn't abuse you," My mom pointed her manicured finger at me, ignoring everything else I had previously said. My body shook with anger, irritated that my parents couldn't just take my side for once.

"He definitely did. I witnessed it," Cayden interjected, picking up on my tone and body language.

My mom's dark eyes diverted to Cayden, "Oh you did? Was this just to get into Avina's pants? To brainwash her?"

Robert suddenly took a few steps toward my parents with Carmela following his lead. "I was trying not to interfere, but you will not talk about our daughter like this. And I also won't condone you talking about your own daughter like this either. You should leave," he said, raising his posture to stand even taller. Either he's being respectful or he actually doesn't care about me dating his daughter after being with her best friend.

"You guys can't agree with this. What if we work out something?" My dad bargained.

"They are adults, we will not be working anything out. Let them live their own lives," Carmela said, her eyebrows knitting together in irritation. If it wasn't for her parents' confessions prior to this, I would've judged them as hypocrites, but it honestly just seemed like Cayden bringing me home to meet them was a lot for them. At least they could admit that, especially since they always seemed to be guarded and reserved. Meanwhile, my parents are just homophobic and want to force a life I don't want on me.

I truly felt like Cayden's parents did like me, and I surprisingly felt grateful that they were here and taking our side.

Cayden took a step forward, partially shielding me from my parents. I knew this wouldn't end well, and I also knew my parents wouldn't leave without a fight.

I shook my head, deciding that arguing back and forth with them just isn't worth it. "We'll just...leave. We have a flight to catch anyways."

Cayden's parent's attention diverted to me, and for once I saw regret on their usual cold faces.

"You can stay. We're... really sorry about everything that unfolded previously," Carmela said, and I could see Cayden's body relax slightly at her mother's unusually warm tone.

Robert nodded, "Yeah you guys should stay. I admit our behavior wasn't acceptable, but we can try to make up for it."

"No, Avina is not staying. I'm serious, you need to come back with us," my mom insisted.

I looked toward my parents—then toward Cayden's—and lastly toward Cayden who took a step back to look at me, waiting for my next move.

"We're being incredibly firm on this. What you do next will affect our family for good," My dad warned. My heart instantly grew heavy along with my glossy eyes, knowing what decision had to be made. This was the cherry on top of everything. This was it, I felt like if I started crying, I wouldn't stop.

"Thank you for letting me stay here Robert and Carmela. I hope to see you two again," I said, grabbing my luggage and nodding at Cayden to follow suit. Cayden picked up on my actions, grabbing her suitcase as well while her parents sent us apologetic smiles.

"We'll be in touch Cayden," Robert said, while Carmela gave a simple wave. Cayden and I both waved back, walking past my parents.

My mom shook her head. "Avina Cabassi, I'm serious—"

"And I am too. When you can finally accept me and how I live my life, then we can talk, but as of right now—the last place I want to be is near you guys," I said, rolling my luggage toward the door with Cayden trailing behind me, exiting the cold house into the hot Florida air. I felt free from the burden that my parents placed upon me, proud that I stood up for myself. But I also felt sad that it had to come to this when it could all be so simple.

I had never been happier to see an Uber in my entire life. The driver was incredibly nice which contrasted against Cayden and I's rattled tone and body language. The driver put our suitcases and duffle bag into the trunk while we slid into the quiet back seat.

The car ride to the airport was silent, except for the one time Cayden asked me if I was okay, but after the short yes I said, Cayden reluctantly let me be. This was different from J&J or Sebastian. This was about my own parents, who also openly disapproved and confronted me in the process. The silence continued up until we made it to our terminal and I excused myself to go to the bathroom.

I don't know what I expected to do but I just needed a moment with myself. A moment to breathe and process everything that just happened. I can't believe my parents said those things to me—my mom specifically. It made me want to crawl into a hole and cry myself into oblivion. I hated that what she said hurt me to that extent. I hated that her words actually sliced through me so drastically, but they did and now I'm a growing mess in the airport bathroom.

Hi guys:) How did you guys feel about Vina's parents? Or about Cayden's parents apologizing and sticking up for them? Did you think Vina should've said more to her parents? What do you think about Vina and Cayden leaving Florida instead of staying?

Let me know your thoughts,

Weekendlustt