{55}✔️

Dahlia's POV

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"Why can't I hang out with the boys?" Caden whined once again before sending a small smile to Claudia and Julia as they continued talking about makeup. I felt sorry for Claudia because she clearly didn't like Julia either and wasn't interested in the conversation, but at least they were busy.

"For the last time, Caden, they need to be alone."

"But Denver keeps snacks in his room!"

"I do too! I told you you could have some of my trail mix—"

"I don't want that fucking squirrel food, I'm a man!" He hissed. "And stop fucking messing up my nails I told you I wanted lilac, not pastel purple."

"Well, I don't see why it fucking matters! Neither goes with your outfit anyway!" I huffed before handing the nail polish over to Cadence. "You deal with him, I can't."

"We agreed that if I had to be trapped in here with Julia, I wouldn't have to do anything else that I didn't wanna do for the rest of the night. I do not want to do his nails. He fidgets too much and then gets mad when they get messed up."

I sighed and took the nail polish back, but he shook his head. "Just wipe it off. Maybe we'll start eating in a few minutes anyway."

I nodded and got the nail polish remover. I smacked Billie's hand away from my thigh and then began rubbing his nail polish off.

"Stop being bad, I have company." I chuckled. She let out a long sigh. "This skirt looks bomb on you. It'd look so much better thrown across the room, though."

"Bitch, wait a minute!" Cadence exclaimed, making a disgusted face. "Not in my presence, please!"

I rolled my eyes at her dramatic ass and Billie snorted. "You're just mad that Italian guy isn't here for you to flirt with."

"Who do you think I'm sext—texting!" She smirked. We all 'ooh'd at her, except for Caden who sent her a harsh glare.

"Oh calm down, I'm kidding. We're just talking." She told him. "Besides, you're the one who likes dirty talk. I've had to hear way too many disgusting midnight convos between you and Ken." She smirked.

Caden blushed as we all ooh'd him. "Shut up, dumbass."

Cora slammed my door open and crossed her arms over her chest as she glared at me, stopping the conversation. "Well, not that anyone cares about me since I wasn't invited to this little party you guys are having in here, but dad told me to tell you that the food is ready."

Caden was off the floor before she could finish. He lifted her up and moved her to the side before running out, and I could hear his booming footsteps as he ran down the stairs once again.

Hmph. At least he picked her up instead of shoulder checking her into a fucking wall.

"I'll hang with you after we eat, Coral reef." Billie grinned as she stood up and patted her shoulder. "I've gotta show you some pictures of these new chains I got anyway. I know you said you thought the ones I had were ugly, but—"

"The new ones are probably ugly too."

Cora and Billie bickered over their tastes in fashion as they walked out of the room, and the rest of us followed after them. When we got to the kitchen, Billie's parents and my dad were laughing loudly, Caden was already sitting at the table, impatiently waiting for everyone else to do the same, and Finneas and Denny were playfully shoving each other as they argued about bands once again. I grinned as I watched them interact with one another, but that quickly stopped once they saw their girlfriends. Finneas smiled as he came over to hug Claudia and give her a kiss on the lips. Denver wrapped his arm around Julia's waist and looked down at her as she leaned against him. He tried to look excited to see her, but he wasn't fooling me for a second.

Finneas pulled a chair out for Claudia to sit in and pushed it up to the table when she was seated. I quickly grabbed his arm as I noticed him about to sit next to her. "Hey, wanna help me cut the turkey? My dad always lets me do it, but I'm not really good at it." I smiled.

He nodded and ruffled my hair before walking over to the counter with me. I kept glancing at my brother and Julia, making sure they weren't sitting down as me and Fin cut the turkey. We finished just in time. After making the final cut in it, Julia sat down near the end of the table. I called Denver over when it looked as if he was about to sit down. "Hey, do you mind carrying the turkey over to the table?" I asked quickly. He shot Fin a look and my cheeks reddened as I realized that Finneas could've done that, and they both knew it too.

I walked away before they could question me about it and tapped Julia on the shoulder. "Mind sitting next to Claudia?" I tilted my head. She shrugged and slowly nodded before standing up and moving over toward Claudia. I quickly took a seat next to Julia and pulled Billie down next to me. Cora sat next to Billie. Caden was sitting in front of Claudia and Cadence sat down in front of Julia. Dad sat in front of me and Billie's parents sat at the heads of the table. That left only two spots next to my dad and on the other side of the table. Denver sat next to my dad and of course, Fin sat next to him.

I smiled in triumph and tried to hide it by looking down and letting some of my hair fall over my face. Billie gripped my thigh under the table and leaned in to whisper in my ear.

"You're being ridiculous, Dahlia. They won't end up together."

"You keep talking like that and I won't let you put your hand up my skirt during dinner." I whispered back. She sucked in a sharp breath.

"I take it back, mama."

Her hand slid further up my thigh and I quickly grabbed her wrist. "Nothing besides my thigh gets touched."

She groaned.

***

Everyone was absolutely stuffed after dinner, and we all sat around the table talking for a good hour after we'd finished before us young folks decided to go out to my back yard and our parents decided to stay in and talk.

The fairy lights hanging from the white fence that surrounds my backyard made it look so beautiful. They lit up the whole yard as the sky darkened.

Billie and I were on the bench swing I have on my porch, her head lying in my lap as we swung slowly. I ran my fingers through her hair, and I could tell by the lack of responses that I was getting from her that she was already half asleep. I didn't mind, I was just enjoying her presence.

Cadence was keeping Julia and Claudia occupied by gossiping with them about the latest celebrity drama and they both seemed pretty interested. Caden and Cora were having a push-up competition near the corner of the yard, and I'm pretty sure Cora's actually winning.

Denver and Finneas were sitting on the ground somewhat close to the porch. They were talking softly and I couldn't hear their conversation, but they seemed to be talking about sports now.

I sighed, content with the way things had been going so far. It's been an amazing day and I'm really happy I got to spend Thanksgiving with my best friends, my girlfriend, and her family. I'm really glad they're so nice too. They seem to like me and I'm really thankful for that because I love them.

"Sorry, baby. I dozed off." Billie mumbled as she buried her head into my thighs. I giggled and pushed her away as I felt her warm breath on my...area.

She grumbled something before turning her head to the side and resting it on top of my thigh. "That was really fucking good. Your dad should've been a chef." She mumbled some more gibberish before I heard her snoring and I giggled at her before pulling out my phone and taking a few pictures of her.

We were all out there for about an hour before everyone decided to head inside. I woke Billie up and told her she could go up to my room. She dragged herself into the house and probably walked like a zombie all the way up the stairs.

I noticed Julia talking to Denver who'd walked away from Fin, and I gasped as I quickly scrambled to get up and run to them.

"Hey, Julia!" I squeaked. "Ugh—I was wondering if you wanted to come back to my room, maybe?" I panicked as I noticed Finneas and Claudia walking back inside, hand in hand.

"But Denny and I—"

"I've got some of those—ugh, what're they called? Those chocolate covered—"

"Oh my gosh, yes!" She screamed as she ran into the house. I was about to go find Claudia when Denver stopped me by grabbing my wrist. He glared at me as I stared up at him, trying to seem innocent. "What's up, bro?" I asked casually.

"Stop fucking doing this shit, Dahlia, seriously."

"Stop d-doing what?" My voice got higher and I cleared my throat before shrugging my shoulders a little and then swinging my arms back and forth.

"Why have you been holding my girlfriend hostage all night?" He questioned knowingly. I coughed and shrugged again before scratching my head. "I don't know what you—"

"Finneas and I are not going to happen, I don't give a damn how hard you try to get us together. Keeping him from sitting with his girlfriend for one fucking night isn't going to change the fact that he's with her and not me. So, if you'll excuse me, I need to go fuck my girlfriend and try to—"

"So you admit that you do want him to be with you?" I asked eagerly. He rolled his eyes and shook his head at me.

"You're unbelievable, Dahlia. You just don't know how to leave well enough alone."

"But It's not well enough!" I spat. "You're fucking gay and you like Finneas, there, I said it! The cats out of the fucking bag now why don't you—"

"Why don't I what, Dahlia?!" He huffed. "Tell Finneas I wanna be with him so he can start avoiding me and I can ruin our friendship?! What do you fucking think, he's gonna dump his girlfriend, who happens to be his age and not some 'kid' so he can be with me? He doesn't even fucking like guys! Even if he did he wouldn't like me."

"You don't know—"

"Yes, I fucking do." He spat. "I'm gay, alright? There are you fucking happy? I'm gay and I'm fucking making out with guys at parties and dating a whole fucking guy, trying to get over the guy I actually wanna fucking be with because he doesn't want me and dating a fucking girl that I can't stand because I'm trying to get over this fucking gay shit. I'm gay as shit and I keep trying to fucking deny it because I don't want mom to...I—"

"Mom? What the fuck does mom have to do with anything? She's out of our lives, she doesn't even matter." I shook my head.

"No, she's out of your life." He chuckled bitterly. "I know you don't get along with her but I've been talking to her for a while now and I—"

"Don't get along with her? She fucking abused us! Just a few months ago she was in our house throwing a shit fit because I'm gay! How could you still talk to her?!"

"She's my mom, Dahlia. I can't cut her out of my life forever." He shook his head. "I want us to get along. I want to have a relationship with her. That's not gonna happen if she knows I'm gay."

"So, let me get this straight. You're hiding who you are because you wanna please an abusive bitch who chose to walk out of our lives and start a new one with a whole new family. You're trying to please a homophobic bitch who hates me because of what I am—"

"Dahlia, I'm sorry about how things are between you and her, but I still have a chance at having a normal relat—" I crossed my arms over my chest as I glared at Denver, waiting for him to continue, but he didn't. I furrowed my brows and looked over toward the door, where he was looking. "How long have you been there?" He whispered.

My eyes widened as I noticed Fin standing there.

"I—ugh...A while," he laughed nervously. "Denny I—"

"I fucking hate you. You ruin everything, Dahlia." He spat as he pushed past me and then Fin. I sniffled as I sent Finneas an apologetic look.

"I am so sorry. I—I don't even know what to say. I'm sorry—"

"Hey, kid, don't sweat it!" He grinned. "If I had a dime for every time I had a crush on someone older than me I'd be rich! Well...I guess I am rich, but...Look, don't feel bad. He'll get over it eventually and I'm not gonna shun him or anything. We can still be friends if he wants! It'll be okay."

He came over to hug me as he spoke and I sighed. "I wish you were my brother," I grumbled. He chuckled. "Well, if it helps any, I think of you as a little sister."

"Thanks." I smiled.

We stayed outside for a few more minutes before we decided to head inside. I walked upstairs, heading to my room, and let out a loud groan of annoyance as I heard Julia's loud moans coming from Denny's room.

Fuck that asshole. If he wants to pretend to be straight just so he can have some stupid relationship with our evil ass mother I guess I'll just have to let him. I don't give a fuck about him anymore.