hometown glory - wroetoshaw [✓]

TWENTY NINE

[eighth of february 2020]

APOLLO HADN'T BEEN EXPECTING ANY COMPANY TODAY, which is why she was surprised when the doorbell rang in the middle of a heated moment with harry. she apologised and quickly jumped off of him to try and send whoever was at the door away as quickly as she could. it was a shock for her to see her mum and dad staring back at her, bright smiles on their faces as they greeted their daughter. 

"mum, dad? what are you doing here?" she was shocked and tried to make her voice as loud as possible, in an attempt to alert harry that her parents - who they'd not even discussed meeting - had turned up out of the blue. they chuckled at her surprise, not realising they'd arrived at an impractical time. "can't an old couple come and see their daughter these days?" her dad laughed.

she nodded and stepped aside, allowing them in. "no of course you can, i'm just surprised you're in london. what are you doing here?" they made themselves comfortable on the sofa, looking around the room before replying. 
"we won a raffle and got tickets to see les mis later on, thought we'd stop by as it's been a while. we weren't interrupting anything were we?" her mum raised her eyebrows and apollo felt like she'd realised harrys shoes were by the door. 

apollo debated mentioning her boyfriend, they'd not been together for long enough that she felt would be appropriate to spring a meeting with her parents on him; yet at the same time she didn't want to leave him alone in the bedroom until they left. "well actually, let me go grab somebody." they both appeared confused, her father more-so than her mother, but let her go happily while they chatted to each other. 

once she arrived back in the room harry looked slightly relieved, "you'd been gone so long i thought you'd been kidnapped, who was it? jehovahs witnesses? or was it the mormons?" she chuckled slightly but shook her head, grimacing when she thought about what she had to tell him. "no actually, my parents."
his face dropped, nervous to meet them already. she nodded in agreement, "tell me about it, apparently they've won tickets to see les mis? but now i don't know what to do." 

he laughed at her confused face, "well i mean i guess i'll have to brave it and say hi to them, they're not mean are they?" 
she shook her head, "they're lovely, they'll probably really like you too. it's just an inconvenience."  he nodded, "yeah a little bit."
they both stood in each others company for a second, preparing for what was about to happen. "so do we just go and do it?" she questioned. 

a nod from harry was the signal to go ahead, she took his hand and pulled him up; leaning in for a short and sweet kiss before they left the room. 

when apollo reappeared with an unknown man holding her hand, her parents were thoroughly confused. "mum, dad, this is harry. my boyfriend." she grinned, gesturing to him. he smiled awkwardly, looking from apollo to her parents and back. "hello." he nodded.
they looked between each other and then smiled back at the pair. "why didn't you tell us?" her mother grinned, getting up to hug apollo and then harry. 

apollo laughed, "i mean we would've eventually, you two just showed up here today while we were watching tv." she had to think of a cover for what they were really doing before she ended her sentence, harry noticed and sent a sly smile in her direction while stifling a laugh. 
"nice to meet you both, mr and mrs atkins." after they finished their introductions he nodded at them politely. 
not a beat was missed before apollo's dad had shook his head, "no way, nuh-huh." he said in a stern voice, making both harry and apollo panic. "you're not calling us that, brian and kate will do just fine."

they both let out breaths they hadn't realised they were holding, harry's anxious face melting into laughter. "dad i think you almost stopped the poor mans heart." apollo laughed, putting a hand on harry's chest so she could feel his beating pulse. kate apologised on her husbands behalf, ushering them to sit down and go through the standard meeting the parents chat. 

after a few questions brian asked, "so harry, do you work with apollo? what do you do?" the couple looked at each other, apollo knew her parents would be fine with harry's career being a youtuber; but harry was unsure how they'd take it. 
apollo took the lead on the question, "it's quite interesting - you'll like it, he's a youtuber." her mother turned to grin at her father who looked confused, "oh you know, like what blake was watching on his tablet all over christmas." she referred to her grandchild who spent all his time on the app.

his face turned to one of clarity, realising what the word actually meant. "it started as a hobby when i was younger and now me and my friends run a channel together and we do it for a living, oh and i've got my own individual channel too and stuff - it's all fun." he was rambling a bit and apollo noticed, placing a comforting hand on his knee. she was going to change the subject but her dad did it for her, "that sounds interesting, you'll have to show me sometime. anyway apollo, sorry to be annoying but can you make us a cuppa or something?" 

she accepted and took harry out of the room with her, they walked into the kitchen and harry let out a breath he hadn't realised he was holding. "told you they'd like you." she grinned up at him, leaning up to place a sweet kiss on his lips. he smiled down at her, letting out a light laugh through his nose. "yeah, you did." he grinned and rested their foreheads together, bracing themselves before going out and continuing the conversation.