Chapter 35

Derek's POV

"Good morning," Adrian whispers to me

"Ugggghhh," I grumble, being too tired to want to wake up.

"Our flight's in a couple hours, we should get ready."

"Uggghhh," I groan again.

"I'm sorry Derek, I know it's early, but we both agreed that we should get the early flight."

"Can I just sleep for a little longer?"

"Yeah. I'll shower and then I'll come back in here and get you up," he tells me.

"Thank you, babe."

"Of course."

Adrian goes to the bathroom to shower and I fall right back asleep. It's currently 5 AM, and our flight is at 10 AM, but I absolutely respect Adrian for getting up this early and trying to wake me up too. Being early places is always a good thing in my eyes. It makes it so that we don't have to stress about being late, and I'm glad me and Adrian both agree on this.

"I'm done showering, Derek, you need to get up," Adrian says with some real assertiveness in his voice. I'm not worried though, because he can't possibly get seriously mad at me. He loves me too much to be mad at me.

"Can I at least get a kiss?" I ask.

"Only if you get up."

"Fine."

I slowly get up out of bed and stand up in the middle of the room.

Adrian breaks out laughing at me.

"What?" I question.

"Nothing, sorry. You just look hilarious doing nothing in the middle of our room. Don't worry, you still look very cute, but it's just funny."

"Whatever. Where's my kiss?"

"Right."

Adrian kisses my cheek and gives me a hug and I return the hug. Before this relationship, hugging was something that genuinely never occurred for me, but look at me now. I have a super pretty boyfriend who likes hugs. Who could possibly ask for more out of life?

"Now go shower, your hair is crazy," he tells me, reaching a hand up and combing through my hair only to get his hand stuck in my hair.

"Ow," I say in a monotone voice.

"Goddamn it why does your hair have to be so curly?" Adrian says, laughing.

"You love my hair."

"I do."

"You love me."

"I do."

"I love you too."

"I'm aware. I love you more."

"Liar."

"I'm not lying."

Adrian is able to get his hand out of my hair after a second and then gives me another kiss on the cheek before I go in the bathroom and shower.

The last couple days have been spent just shopping for things we would wear only in Hawaii, and we both found some pretty awesome stuff. Plain white pants, plain white button down shirts, sunglasses, and a bunch of shorts and short sleeved shirts. We also bought matching Christmas pajamas for Christmas morning. I'm so excited for this trip. This is the happiest I've ever felt. I've genuinely never been this stable for this long in my life.

My boyfriend is taking me to Hawaii, and I get to meet his parents. I'm still worried about meeting his parents, but as long as I don't make an ass of myself I'll be okay. I'm good at talking to people in my parent's generation that are not my mother. Plus, Adrian has told them on multiple occasions how great I am, and I hope they take that into account.

Once I'm done in the shower, I dry my hair, get dressed and make sure to put a hoodie on over my tank top, and go back into our room.

"Hey, you ready?" I ask and Adrian smiles and stands up.

"Yup."

We grab our suitcases, which are literally filled as much as possible with a hell of a lot of clothes. Opening these suitcases will be like cutting the wrong wire of a bomb. It's gonna be a massive explosion of clothes everywhere.

Adrian called an Uber before I went into the bathroom, so we only had to wait a minute or two before getting into a car and getting on our way to the airport.

We eventually got to the airport around 7:30, leaving us 2 and a half hours before our flight. We got through security quickly and grabbed some McDonald's breakfast to eat.

"Do you think your cousins will like me?" I ask while we walk towards our gate.

"Babe, don't stress about things like this," he tells me. "They'll love you."

"How do you know?"

"You're a D1 football player and one of the best players at your position in the country. You could call them all dumbass bitches and they'd still admire you."

"I guess. Do they look up to you?" I ask.

"Kinda. I'm in the middle of all of the cousins, so people never bothered me that much. They would ask me about things I'm doing and I would tell them about football, but they never really realized how good I actually am until they learned that I'm D1."

"I can't imagine anyone not admiring you. You're so cool."

"Thanks, babe," he smiles.

"Of course."

We sit down at our gate and eat our breakfast before we just listen to some music together. Our already similar tastes have morphed into one taste during the span of our relationship, and I could not be happier. It's just another way that we've shown how picture perfect we are.

"I rented a car by the way," I tell Adrian.

"What? Really? I was just planning on my parents picking us up from the airport."

"Yeah but don't you think we'd like to do our own things with a car?"

"You're right. Thank you. What were you thinking about doing?" he asks.

"I don't know. You can pick. Maybe we can have romantic dinners by a beach somewhere. Maybe we can go see cool things. I don't know the island as well as you, so you're gonna have to do more of the planning."

"I'm down. I'll tell my parents."

"Thanks."

"No, thank you. I should've thought about getting a car for ourselves," he says.

"It's not a big deal."

"Yes it is. Now we can do things by ourselves."

"You're right," I say, kissing his forehead.

After a while of just sitting and talking, we board the plane. Our seats are pretty far in the back of the plane, but I'm not upset about it. We're going to Hawaii, it doesn't matter to me what seats we have. As long as we get there, I'm happy.

Adrian gets the window seat and I get the middle seat. We have an empty seat next to us, which is an absolute miracle. For a seat to be open on a flight from LA to Honolulu during the holidays is insane and we are so lucky.

"Do you wanna just try to sleep the whole flight?" I ask.

"If you want to, I'm fine with that."

"Okay. I'm gonna do that then. I'm so tired."

"Same. But we'll be in Hawaii soon and we'll have a fancy hotel room to sleep in for the next 2 weeks. And I guarantee the bed will be bigger than the bed in our room at home," he says.

"That doesn't matter to me. As long as I'm sleeping next to you."

He leans his head on my shoulder and looks up at me.

"You would look good in glasses," he states.

"You think?"

"Yeah. You'd look good in anything."

"You look good in nothing," I whisper.

"I'm aware."

"You look tired."

"I'm exhausted, babe," he admits, laughing.

"I'm glad we get a break."

"You said it. We can finally focus on ourselves. I can finally just sleep with a clear mind and two strong arms wrapped around me," he grins.

"That second one is every night."

"I know, but I can finally fully enjoy it with no stress."

"I'm not enough of a stress reliever to you?" I ask, joking.

"You know what I meant."

"You're right."

"I'm gonna try to sleep. I don't think I can stay awake for this whole flight," he tells me.

"Okay. I'll try to sleep too."

The plane takes off and Adrian is asleep pretty quickly. I stay awake a little longer. I've never had an easy time sleeping on planes or cars because it's just so loud. What usually works for me if I really want to sleep is to just close my eyes and not open them at all. It should be easier for me today because I'm already tired to an extent.

I am finally able to fall asleep, and by the time I'm awake, we're only about an hour from Honolulu. I look over Adrian and see the beautiful ocean below us. We live in LA and I used to live in Boston, but I've never seen the ocean from this view. It's so blue.

"Adri," I whisper, shaking him lightly.

He groans back and pulls his hoodie over his head and eyes.

"Adri we're almost to Hawaii."

"Let me sleep," he grumbles.

"Sorry."

"It's okay," he says, grabbing my hand without being able to see where it is.

I let Adrian rest for a little longer and then actually fully wake him up when we got within 15 minutes from Honolulu. We do need to move a little fast because we still have another flight from Honolulu to Kauai before we're actually on the right island.

"Do you have everything?" I ask Adrian.

"Yeah. I'm so tired."

"I can tell."

"Your shirt is cool," he mumbles.

"Thanks?"

"No problem. Just thought you should know."

"Well, we should get off of this flight quickly so we can get to the next gate. I don't want to miss this next flight," I say.

"Our next flight isn't for another hour and a half."

"Don't you wanna have lunch?"

"Good point," he nods.

"Do you know if there's good food in this airport?"

"Yeah. Definitely. There's a chicken place that's the best. It's only in Hawaii and it's so good."

"Okay. We'll go there then," I declare and he nods and kisses my cheek.

We get off the plane and go straight to the chicken place. We get our food and go to the gate, where we will be just sitting at for about an hour before our flight.

I can't believe we're here. We're in Hawaii. Our first vacation as a couple is fucking Hawaii. This is crazy. My hair already feels so hydrated and curlier than it did back in LA. I can tell Adrian is pretty unfazed by being here because he's been here plenty of times before. It's kind of crazy that Adrian came from tons of money. He never gave me that kind of vibe. He always wears pretty cheap hoodies and pants. Maybe that's how you can tell someone's rich, because they know how to save their money. I don't know. If I were super rich, I'd spend tons of money on clothes, houses, cars, and food. I would not make smart decisions with my money.

"We're boarding, babe," Adrian tells me.

We stand up and go onto the plane. We're less than an hour from Kauai. I'm so excited and nervous at the same time. I'm meeting the love of my life's parents and I need them to approve of me so badly. I need them to like me and be supportive of me dating their son.

"Do you want the window seat?" Adrian asks me.

"If that's okay with you, sure."

"It's cool with me."

"Thanks, babe," I smile.

The flight flew by remarkably fast and before we knew it, we were getting our car. Neither of us could contain our smiles the whole drive from the airport to the hotel. We're both so happy to be here together and I can't imagine a better way to be spending my winter break.

"Are you ready?" Adrian asks me.

"Yeah," I reply, keeping my eyes on the road.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. I think so. You said you're parents are nice, right?" I ask.

"Yeah. Babe, you have nothing to worry about. We've talked about this for weeks, my parents will adore you. They will love you so much because you love me."

"But what if I mess up?"

"You'll be fine, Derek. Besides, I don't really care what they think about my relationship with you. Their opinion on you will not change my opinion on you. I will still 100% believe that you are the greatest man on the face of this planet," he claims.

"Are you for real?"

"Yes. I love you too much to care what my parents think about you. Besides, it's not like I live with them," he laughs. "I'm an adult, I can make my own decisions."

"You're right."

"You could've figured that out yourself," Adrian giggles.

"Whatever. I don't really know what meeting the parents of someone I love is like. If you remember, I was an awkward loser in high school."

"That's definitely not what I remember."

"Well, yeah, that's what happened," I claim.

"Sure."

After a drive of just the two of us talking to each other the entire time, we arrive at the hotel. It's massive and extremely beautiful. The sunset makes the entire scene just so dramatic and cinematic. We're here.

"I'm gonna text my parents that we're here. I think they already checked us into our room, so we can put our stuff down before we go see them," he says, typing away on his phone.

"Okay."

We get out of the car and just take a moment to take everything in. The fresh air, the sound of the wind and the distant sound of waves in the distance just make everything feel perfect.

I look down at Adrian, who's also just looking around and I hug him.

"I love you," I tell him.

"I love you too."

He wraps his arms around my torso and kisses my cheek. I pull away and cup his face and tenderly kiss him.

"Let's go to our room," he says, his hand rubbing my back softly.

"Okay."

We get all of our stuff out of the trunk and bring it to the room. I've never been in a place like this. I've never seen so many rich looking people.

"Adrian!" I hear a girl call.

"Bella!" Adrian replies, putting his stuff down and hugging the girl.

"It's so great to see you! How are things at UCLA?" she asks.

"Things are so amazing. Here, I need to introduce you to my boyfriend, Derek," he says, waving his arm towards me.

"Hi, nice to meet you," I smile, holding out my hand for Bella to shake.

"This is my cousin Bella. She goes to the University of Wisconsin."

"Nice to meet you, Derek. All of the cousins have heard lots about you," she laughs.

"Really? From who?" Adrian asks inquisitively.

"You're parents. They won't stop talking about how you have a boyfriend now."

"Good lord."

"It's all been positive, by the way. They're happy you found someone," she clarifies.

"Well, we will be talking to them very soon. They have not met Derek, so we're hoping it goes well," Adrian tells her.

"I think your parents don't care how cool Derek is, they're just glad you're happy."

"That's good. I want them to like him too."

"I'm sure they'll like him. Derek, you play football too, right?" Bella asks.

"Yeah. Me and Adrian basically play right next to each other on the field."

"That's cool. Some of the cousins want to play football with you two, so hopefully you guys aren't sick of it."

"We still love football," I assure her.

"That's good. Well, I'll let you guys get situated. Good luck talking to your parents," Bella says, walking away.

"See you later!" Adrian says.

"Talk to you later," I say.

We find our room and look at the amazing bed we will be sharing for the next 2 weeks. I jump onto the bed and Adrian jumps onto it next to me. He barely has time to say anything before I wrap him up in my arms and hug him.

"This is so amazing," I whisper.

"I know. It's so pretty here."

"You're so pretty here."

"You're so bricked up here," he laughs.

"Sorry."

"Don't worry about it. Just try to get rid of it before we meet my parents and before dinner."

"How? You're right here," I whine.

He smiles at me and pecks me on the lips. "We should talk to my parents soon. The whole family is basically waiting for us before they can have dinner."

"I want to stay here all night."

"After dinner we'll be here all night and we can make out all night if you want," he tells me.

"Promise?"

"I promise, Derek. Besides, those lips can't stay away from me for too long."

"Those thighs can't stay away from me for too long," I tell Adrian.

"Okay. We should get going. We'll be back here in a few hours."

"Yeah. Let's go."

The walk down the hall felt like hundreds of miles. Adrian's parents were sitting outside in a canopy near a pool. They look super relaxed and chill but I'm still not going to be sure until I talk to them.

"Mom, dad," Adrian says.

"Adrian!" they both exclaim, getting out of their chairs and hugging their son.

"It's so amazing to see you," his mom says.

"It's great to see you too, mom."

I just kind of stand off to the side for a little, allowing them to talk for a little bit before all the attention is put onto me.

"This must be Derek," Adrian's mom smiles, turning to me.

"Yeah, I'm Derek," I say, shaking her hand.

"Nice to meet you Derek," she says.

I look at Adrian's dad and shake his hand as well.

"Well, it's about time for dinner, so we should go upstairs. The family is excited to meet you, Derek," Adrian's dad states.

"We can wait a few minutes so we can get to know you, they won't be mad," Adrian's mom says.

"You're right."

"So, tell us a little about yourself, Derek. Why do you think you should date our son?" Adrian's mom asks me.

"Well, I think that me and Adrian are a great match. We've known each other for years, we have been extremely comfortable with each other for months, and we love each other."

"That sounds great. That's all we needed to hear. Adrian, do you love Derek?" Adrian's dad asks.

"Yeah. From the bottom of my heart, I love Derek so much."

"Alright. Welcome to the family, Derek. We are very excited to add another member. We're so glad Adrian found someone, and you seem like a great young man," his mom tells me.

"Thank you, Mrs. Sanders," I say.

"Please, call me Diane."

"Okay."

The four of us get going upstairs towards wherever we're gonna have dinner. That went well, right? They seem to like me. I didn't even have to say much about me. I think Adrian was right about the fact that they only care that he found someone and is happy. They don't actually care that much about what I'm like.

Adrian's the only one that cares about that.

A/N: I'm so sorry for taking so long on this chapter. The last couple months have been chaotic for me, and AP Calc is a beast of a class. I can barely handle the amount of studying I need to do for that class, and I've been working on this chapter since chapter 34 was released, I just haven't had time to write. I am back though, and while I can't promise consistent updating, I'll try my best to not take multiple months again. Thank you so much for your patience, and I again apologize for taking so long to update. Thank you for reading!!!