english love affair. | l.h

five

"do we have to go?" emilia whined almost childishly to her friend who stood in the door way of her bedroom with her arms crossed over her chest.

"yes emilia, you need to go see your family. you promised them we'd be there for dinner." avery made her way over to sit on the edge of the bed besides the dark haired girl. "plus, i'll be there to save you from any awkwardness so how bad can it be?"

"very bad, trust me ave." this time the blonde rolled her eyes, tugging her friend up with her.

"we are leaving in ten minutes." avery left no room for negotiation as she turned and walked out of the room. emilia remained staring at the door her friend left out of a few seconds longer before building up enough energy to check her appearance before they left. surely if she didn't look a certain way, her family would be quick to judge and she didn't want to deal with that tonight. thankfully for avery, she appeared put together, even if she felt that she wasn't mentally.

when the short girl left her room, avery was already waiting by the front door, purse in hand. emilia quickly grabbed her own purse before following her blonde friend out the door and into the car, already dreading the end of their short twenty minute car ride.

emilia didn't necessarily have a bad childhood, but it wasn't great either. her and her parents just didn't get along. no matter what she did, it never seemed to be good enough to her parents who always seemed to compare her to her older brother. he was now some big lawyer in los angeles at only twenty six years old and they never seemed to understand how she could want to major in journalism and writing. to them, writing wasn't a stable career path. she knew deep down her parents really wanted the best for her, but their way of showing it was not very typical.

the dark haired girl's attention was pulled away from her thoughts as the car came to a stop in front of her childhood home. for some reason she was expecting it to look different, but nothing seemed to have changed at all. the girls quickly made their way out of the car and to the front door together where emilia paused to prepare herself. noticing her friend's worry, avery grabbed hold of her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze.  emilia sent back a grateful smile before pushing open the door. the two girls stepped inside and were instantly greeted by willow, the family's boston terrier.

"who's here willow?" the voice of her mother rang throughout the room as she rounded the corner and caught a glimpse of the girls. "oh emmy you're home!" she cheered quickly pulling the girl into a short hug before doing the same with avery. "how are you avery? how was the flight?" she continued on not letting either girl get a word in as she continued to ramble on.

it wasn't long before her dad followed in doing the same. "good to see you emmy." he smiled shortly and patted my shoulder twice before doing the same to avery. "glad you girls could come."

"just in time too," her mom added in. "dinner is almost ready, you girls can take your seats." avery gave emilia an encouraging smile noticing the look of pure dread already etched on the girl's face. together they sat side by side across the table from where her parents would sit, patiently waiting for everything to be done.

it didn't take long once everyone had a plate and was situated at the table before the topic of school came up.

"so," her dad started, clearing his throat. "how did your last semester go emmy? i hope there wasn't any slacking while you were abroad."

putting on the best fake smile she could muster, emilia shook her head. as she went to speak though she was cut off by avery. "you know i would never let emilia slack off mr. w." she laughed causing the older man to join in. again, she sent the blonde a grateful smile for not only saving her from a potential lecture, but also for subtly correcting her father on his child's own name. emilia had made it very clear for years now that she hated being called 'emmy' yet her parents continued to call her that anyways.

the rest of dinner continued this way, where her parents' main focus was college and her future. they could not seem to wrap their head around how emilia could be successful with a career in writing unless she somehow became a famous author. despite emilia's attempts to explain her next steps to her parents, they still didn't like the idea. they even seemed to be more proud of avery than they were of her as they looked at her almost disappointedly.

after dinner, ended the girl managed their way through another hour of conversation with the two before making an excuse to leave.

"well, we should head out, what do you think avery?" emilia asked her friend with a secret pleading look in her eyes to which the blonde nodded in agreement.

"you're right, i still have some unpacking to do." her friend lied, but her parents didn't need to know that.

"so soon?" emilia's mother asked. "well, promise you'll come by soon? we miss you emmy."

she nodded her head as she quickly hugged both of her parents goodbye. the two girls waved as they walked themselves to the door and said one last goodbye. it wasn't until they were back in the car that emilia let out a deep sigh.

"am i terrible for wanting to leave so soon?" she asked her friend who gave her a quick glance out of the corner of her eye before shaking her head.

"not at all em, i'm sure deep down they mean well, but it comes across as disrespectful. it's your life and you don't have to be a snobby ass lawyer to be successful." she laughed which in turn caused the dark haired girl to laugh. avery was right. she turned her attention back toward the window after she turned the volume up on the radio and thought to herself as she hummed quietly to the popular song.

"and that was youngblood by one of our favorite bands, 5 seconds of summer! up next, we've got a little harry styles coming your way."

{author's note}
okay it's been so long since i've updated this story and i forgot how much i love it!
thank you all for the love and support that you've given me on both of my stories. things are a bit stressful right now with school, but i'll try to keep writing.
let me know what you guys think! i love to hear feedback.
sorry for no luke this chapter, soon though i promise!
love you all :)