The door creaked open, and there she was.
Mahiru stood in the doorway, frozen. Her golden-brown eyes, wide with disbelief, locked onto him, her lips parting slightly as if she couldn't trust what she was seeing. The warm glow of the evening sun framed her like a painting, but to Sam, she was already the most beautiful sight in the world.
For a moment, neither of them moved.
Then—
"Sam…?" Her voice was barely a whisper, shaky, filled with emotions he could almost reach out and touch.
Before he could respond, she was in his arms.
She crashed into him, wrapping herself around him so tightly it was as if she feared he might disappear. Sam stumbled back slightly, his arms instinctively circling her waist, holding her just as fiercely.
"You idiot!" she scolded, her voice muffled against his shoulder, trembling slightly. "You didn't even tell me you were coming!"
Sam let out a breathy chuckle, resting his chin atop her head as he held her closer, as if he could make up for all the days they had spent apart in this single embrace.
"I wanted to surprise you," he murmured, closing his eyes, letting himself drown in the familiar warmth of her scent—vanilla and a hint of summer air.
Mahiru pulled back slightly, just enough for their eyes to meet. Her cheeks were flushed, her lips pressed together as if she was trying to keep her emotions in check. But her trembling fingers, still gripping his shirt, told him everything.
"I missed you so much," she confessed, her voice barely above a breath.
Sam reached up, brushing a strand of hair from her face, his touch lingering against her cheek.
"Me too."
Their foreheads touched, the heat of summer melting into the warmth between them. Their breaths mingled, their hearts beat in sync, and for that moment—
The world faded away.
And just as everything was going well a realization hit him, i have to meet her parents.
He had faced plenty of stressful situations before.
Exams? He studied hard.
Anna's teasing? He learned to ignore it.
Confessing to Mahiru? He somehow survived.
But this?
This was a different battlefield.
Because today—he was meeting Mahiru's father.
And there was a very real possibility that he would be thrown out of the house before he even stepped inside.
As Sam stood at the doorstep of Mahiru's house, he was practically sweating bullets.
His grip tightened around the handle of his suitcase.
"This is it," he thought grimly. "The final boss."
He imagined the worst-case scenario.
—The door swings open.
—Mahiru's dad takes one look at him.
—"You? Dating my daughter? Get out."
—Sam, suitcase in hand, gets yeeted off the front porch before he even gets to say hello.
He gulped. "Maybe I should run while I still can—"
But before he could chicken out, Mahiru grabbed his wrist and dragged him inside.
----