Not Today | ??

"So show me where my armor ends
Show me where my skin begins..."

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"Thanksgiving is pretty dumb when you think about it."

"It's not dumb," Evelyn said, a frown making its way to her face.

"Yeah, it is."

Evelyn crossed her arms. "I think it's sweet."

"What's sweet about basically celebrating the way Native Americans helped pilgrims only for them to betray their hospitality and cause mass genocide to their people?" Tristan said, furrowing his eyebrows.

"Well, that's a negative outlook," Evelyn replied.

"Is it? I think it's just the truth."

"I never said it was untrue, just negative. Holidays, really, are what you make of them, and instead of celebrating that original feast, most people use the holiday to celebrate the people they care about, who and what they're grateful for," Evelyn explained.

A slow smile spread across Tristan's face and he walked closer to her, so she had to crane her neck slightly, in order to look up at him. He took both her hands in his, interlocking their fingers.

"If that's the case, then you should know that I'm very grateful for this one girl. You see, I was minding my business in the library a few months ago and she just would not leave me alone," he started, looking to the left and right before he dropped his voice to a whisper, as if he was telling a secret. "I think she's obsessed with me."

A begrudging smile made its way to Evelyn's face. "Oh yeah? Says the one who remembered her favorite movie was The Mask of Zorro, over a decade after she'd told him."

"Hey, a good memory and obsession are not the same thing."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night, Curly," she said with a playful wink. "Your secret's safe with me."

"You think you're funny, huh?" he said, letting go of her hands and placing his hands on the curve of her waist instead, a small smile on his face.

"Funnier than you," she said, placing her arms around his neck, playing with the hair at the nape of his neck and pretending to think before she spoke again. "Then again, you're not hard to beat."

"I take offense to that," he said, narrowing his eyes playfully, using his hands on her waist to pull her closer to him, so their bodies were flush against each other.

Tristan had been leaning downward, presumably to kiss Evelyn when her dad walked past her door.

"Montgomery, you better get your hands off my daughter or you better accept a future with no kids, if you catch my drift," Evelyn's dad said pointedly, glancing down at Tristan's lower half, to make his point known.

Tristan jumped away from Evelyn like he'd been burned, but the only thing that seemed to be burning were his cheeks in a blush. "Yes, sir."

"Good," he said, giving Tristan the 'I've got my eyes on you' gesture.

"Dad!" Evelyn exclaimed.

"What? He's 18. I can threaten him, don't worry," he said with a shrug.

Evelyn's jaw dropped. "That's not how that works, dad."

"Eh, he's an adult," her dad, Matthew, said with a hand motion, as if brushing it off.

"So, when I'm 18, I'm an adult, too, right?" Evelyn said, crossing her arms.