Choosing 2

Chapter 5 - Talia

"Am I supposed to knock?" I ask Darren, trying to hide my nerves as much as possible. Darren has a large family, and I don't want to mess anything up with a single one of them. I need this to go perfectly.

"Edel told me that's not necessary anymore, but..."

I knock, ignoring the rest of his explanation. This was my first introduction, after all. I wanted it to go well, so I stuck with the formalities.

I hear the sound of barking before the door actually opens. When it finally does, I don't even get to see who answers it because two large dogs pounce on me.

I laugh, soaking up all of their kisses.

"Bonnie. Cupcake. Down!" I hear a male voice yell before I feel the dogs being grabbed off of me before I am completely covered in their slobber.

"Sorry about that," I hear the voice say again. I look up and am met with an extremely tall, muscular man with unruly brown hair. I would bet money that he's the rugby star: Johnny Kavanagh. I don't watch the sport, but there can only be so many reasons why a teenager would like... well that. "They still don't seem to be properly trained."

Johnny smiles down at me. "Talia, right?" He asks, extending his hand out to me.

I accept his hand, hoping he doesn't notice that it's shaking. "Yes, hello. It's nice to meet you."

"Likewise," He tells me, shifting his gaze over to Alex and shaking his hand. "Alex, it's always nice to see you."

I watch Alex smile back before Johnny locks over to the last one of us. "Darren," he clips, before walking away through the entryway into what I assume is the kitchen. Holy shit. This house is huge.

I look over at Darren, trying to gauge his reaction to whatever just happened. He must have struck a nerve with Johnny at some point. "What did you do to piss him off so bad?"

Darren just shakes his head, putting his head in his hands before regaining his composure and walking into the house, Alex trailing behind him.

I make a mental note of Johnny's displeasure with Darren. I'm sure I'll find out everything that happened eventually. Right now, I can just add a tally to the list of people Darren is going to have to try extra hard to win over.

And he isn't even a Lynch. Fuck. This is going to be harder than I thought.

When we finally enter what looks like the largest and nicest kitchen I have ever seen, I'm met with a brunette a few inches shorter than me running up to hug Darren.

"Hey, Dar," she says quietly, blushing as she smiles.

"Hey, Shan," Darren smiles. "It's so good to see you."

She lets go of him, and goes over to Johnny, where I see the man wrapping a protective arm around her. They're so adorable it hurts.

"Shan," Darren prompts, walking over to me. "This is Alex's sister, Talia."

"Oh my gosh," Shannon exclaims, running over to me. "I'm so stupid, I didn't even realize tonight was the night you were coming!"

I gasp as she pulls me into the tightest hug I've ever experienced. "It's alright," I croak out as she pulls me even tighter.

"It feels like I have another sister! You'll have to meet Aoife, she'll love you too."

I try to stop the tears that are threatening to escape my eyes. Darren has told me that Shannon has always been on the shy side, but right now, she's taking the initiative to make sure I'm welcome. I can be extroverted, but it takes me a while to get to that point. I freak out before everything falls into place. Things just take time for me. That's just another reason to add to the list of why I hate change, but Shannon is making it so much more easier than if I were doing it alone.