He had a different approach concerning the thing called silence, sometimes it soothed his very soul but sometimes it was deafening. More so if there was the father of his girlfriend who was gazing at him like a gazelle to a lion.
Eric didn't help much and became another dead weight in this situation. It was either he was amused to watch how his father tortured Al or he couldn't do much when it involved his father.
So he just chuckled every time he saw Al started a conversation while his father disregarded him with a simple grunt.
Luckily it was his sweetheart's beautiful voice that saved him from eternal torture. Expecting it was Gwen to come to pick him up, instead, it was Jill. She then grabbed his arm in enthusiasm, much to Dennis's displeasure.
He was seated next to Eric and engaged in small talk with him. Jill and Gwen seated across him and were busy giggling and chatting while slightly stole a glance in his direction, to which he of course he replied with a wink. He and Gwen reserved their lovey-dovey attitude for a while in front of her parents, afraid to make another mistake like kissing in front of them.
Dennis sat at the end of the table and Todd on the other side. Then came Patti who brought them a roasted turkey with fillings.
It was an ordinary Christmas dish. Besides turkey, there were mashed potatoes, bread, chicken soup, gravy, cranberry sauce, and some vegetables.
Before they eat, they held each other hands and saying graces to their God. Al replicated what they were doing and held Eric and Todd's hand.
"...Lord, make us thankful for our food, Amen."
"Amen."
Patti took a plate, put many foods on the plate, and gave it to him. "Here you go Alphonse, a teenager like you must eat a lot."
"Thank you, Mrs. Stefani."
"What's with the formalities Alphonse. Just call me Patti."
"Sure Mrs. Patti and you can also call me Al, like everyone else." He smiled warmly at her.
In his entire life, both present and previous, he never had this kind of dinner. Where there was a father, mother, and their children dining at the table. The kind of regular family dinner. The perfect picture of middle-class American family life, the classic American Dream.
His mouth stretched upward and held back tears on his eyes he believed were caused by dust. When he looked up, he saw Gwen was looking at him with a worried look on her face. She mouthed, 'You okay?'
He gave her a gentle smile and an okay sign with his finger. Then she raised one of her eyebrows and giving him the look that told him she didn't buy it.
He gave her a helpless look and mouthed 'later?' then she nodded and went on eating her food.
A few moments later, in the middle of their dinner, Dennis who had been silent since that kiss finally speak out.
"So, Alphonse. How many girlfriends do you have besides my daughter?"
"Dad!" Gwen screamed.
"What? Aren't all movie stars supposed to do that? Come on, there's a lot of beautiful girls in Hollywood right-- ouch!" Dennis suddenly stopped asking and he knew why. Al saw Patti was pinching his side belly and glaring at him.
Dennis gulped and knew he made a mistake.
"Honey! You seem fine with him beforehand, why the change of heart? Don't tell me you are mad because he kissed Gwen. Remember you always kissed me when we were dating before." Patti said.
"But, but, that's different. Today's kid had no responsibility! I bet they will have sex in few years!" Dennis argued, half whining.
At that moment Al and Gwen sputtered. Fortunately, Dennis was busy arguing with Patti. Only Eric, Jill, and Todd saw their awkward stance.
"You did!? You were having sex!" Jill whispered but enough to be heard by him and not her parents.
"Jill! You are too young to hear this. Shut up." Gwen spat.
"Dude, you move fast!" Eric also whispered.
Al decided to keep his mouth shut and laid his eyes over Gwen, asking for help. Gwen was also helpless with this and signaled him not to worry.
He turned his attention to Eric, but before he said anything Eric cut him, "Relax, I won't tell dad or mom. Just take care of her okay, don't break her heart. Although as her older brother I should kick your ass instead. But I'll take a leap of faith for you."
Al smiled and whispered, "Thank you. Don't worry, she's safe with me."
The argument between their parents escalated until Eric decided to intervene, "Dad, Mom, cut it off! we have a guest here."
Both of them stopped and stared at their eldest son, then at each other again. Patti nudged Dennis with her eyes and he sighed.
He looked in Al's direction and said, "Alphonse, I'm sorry for my unfair treatment of you. Actually, I like you kid, you are polite and have manners... and also like folk music! What kind of bad person who likes folk songs?" He boasted, "I thought you would be like those movie stars, an entitled man-child and I admit, I was a bit pissed when you kiss my daughter."
He sighed again, "But it didn't mean that justify what I did and it was childish of me."
The room became silent as everyone was too surprised at what just happened.
"Who are you and what did you do to our dad!" It was Todd's voice that broke the silence.
"Are you thinking that low on me, son?" His father laughed, "I blamed it on your mother." He pointed her, "She got a way to convince me. So, do you accept my apology, Alphonse?"
"Of course, Mr. Stefani. I do apologize too because I did something to discomfort you. I'm sure you are as a father really care about Gwen. Besides, if I am a father as well, the last thing I like is to let my sweet daughter introduce her boyfriend to me." He joked.
"Oh, you can't imagine that dad. You know everyone in his orphanage always treats him like a father rather than a big brother. One time there's this Laura started to date his friend and he was like dynamite ready to blow!" Gwen added.
"Oh, it is? Yeah, I heard you are from the orphanage itself. I can't believe it was true or not."
"It's true Mr. Stefani. But I can relate to it, Hollywood loves to make a simple thing enormous. But, it is true, I grew up in the orphanage with my foster siblings."
"I read that in the magazine. Is it true that
"Yes, it's also true. My agent's family is well connected and he got himself an invitation to Mr. Spielberg's audition. But I guess it was my good luck that they accepted me."
"Whoa! Al, can I also be an actress?" Jill asked.
"Of course you can. Maybe join some acting class or drama club in your school. If you want to get some role in a film, I can help you of course."
"Really? I don't want to bother you."
"You are not a bother at all. Hollywood is a bit tricky place. Without connection, it was a bit hard for you to land in any role, even how talented you are."
"So I can't do it on my own strength If I want to be a movie star? Is that what they call casting couch?"
Everybody in the room sputtered, even Dennis lost his composure. "Where did you learn that word, sweetie!"
"Oh, my friend said that her sister who was also an actress did it before she get a role. She overheard her sister speaking casting couch when she was on the telephone but we don't understand what it meant."
"Good, don't bother to search what it meant or say that word again, understand," Dennis warned her.
"Is that a bad word like the f-word?" Jill asked.
"It was worse than that, and you can fill the swear jar with the whole of your weekly allowance," Eric added.
"Oh, okay. I won't mention it anymore." Jill said and they were all got along on their meal. The conversation has just vanished to thin air like there was no conversation at all.
Then they got to talk about their Christmas last year or any other family trip they did last winter break.
Al also told them about the kids and their quirks. Everyone laughed at his story about them and a few stories about his experience in shooting locations.
"Then, she lights up the firework and it landed to one of the cars on the set, and boom! I didn't even know how we did that but we are sure that fireworks exploded in their gas tank."
Laughter erupted in a second the moment he finished the story.
"Jesus, that's hilarious. I wish I was there. Robin is such a troublemaker." Gwen said.
"That's why I love being friends with her. When we are together, the screw in our head seems to lose for a while."
"So how about your next work, Al?" Dennis asked.
"Nothing much, Mr. Stefani. This year, I planned to direct a film and maybe check out some scripts my agent brought me, see if there's something good or caught my attention."
"Damn, it looks easy for you to land in any jobs worth million dollars per film," Dennis said.
"Yeah, but I also need to audition for the role. Maybe it looks easy if we already have a name but for newcomers, it's a bit hard."
"Like an insect attracted to a venus trap," Eric said.
"Speak to yourself. How about you Eric? Have you decided yet?" His father asked Eric.
"Jeez dad, spare me some room to breathe. I can't decide if you keep sticking your nose behind my neck!" He sighed.
"What happened?" Al asked curiously.
"You can keep writing songs for us, Eric." Gwen interjected, "You are a talented songwriter. Remember, Al OWN that music record. We can be successful together!" Her parent and little siblings were surprised to hear he owned a music record.
"Gwen is right, Eric." Al supported Gwen, "I know you quit because you want to be an animator or something. But I saw the music you wrote and it was really good."
"I know that but, I plan to apply to the animation department in California Institue of Arts." He smiled.
"Really!!" His parents said.
"Yep, I really wanted to become an animator since I was a child and I think this time I want to fulfill my dream."
"So, you won't write a song anymore?" Gwen asked with a sad tone.
"Of course I will still write songs for No Doubt but it won't be as often as used to. Besides, I saw you are also a talented songwriter, Gwen. You also have your band members, and Sylvia, your music producer, and of course, this boyfriend of yours. This guy writes number one Billboard music!" He elbowed Al.
"You praise me too much, Eric." He said, a bit embarrassed by Eric's sudden praise. "If you need help, don't be embarrassed to ask my help, Eric. My animation studio needs some talent like you."
Eric tried to remember what it was and said, "Is this the 3D animation studio you told me about?"
Al nodded. "Yes, I believe 3D animation is the future of the box office animation movies and we think we should be the first one to strike the iron while it still hot."
Eric pondered for a moment and said, "Well, maybe it's a good opportunity but I will observe it first before I make a decision."
Al nodded at him. He decided not to push him to accept it but if in the future he was interested, he would gladly accept him in an open arm. But he was sure the 3D animation will take over the movie theatres.
Eric then coughed, "Speaking about No Doubt, Gwen, do you need something to tell us about?"
Gwen sputtered the moment Eric asked her. Al was confused at why Gwen suddenly became nervous.
"Well, don't be surprised." She cleared her throat. "Sylvie had fought tooth and nail so that No Doubt have a chance to perform in Times Square Ball Drop in the coming New Year's Eve!!"
"What!?" Everyone screamed while Al dropped the spoon he held.
"Yeah, I know it's amazing, right? I thought we couldn't get that chance! Thanks to Sylvie."
"How, what, why, I didn't know about this!?" Al said.
"We want to keep the surprise for you. Uhm, are you upset with us, Al?"
"Why would I upset? I'm so happy for you! It's such an honor to perform at Times Square Ball drop!"
"I know! We are just a small band who aren't that famous and the performance time is only enough for two songs. But it's a miracle that they let us perform there."
'Hmm, sounds fishy. I need to ask Sylvie about this.' Al thought.
As the evening turned into night and they finally finished their dinner. Gwen collected the plates and brought them to the sink. Al offered himself to wash the dishes. Patti instantly knew that this was his plot so he can be alone with Gwen so she just let the two lovebirds together.
He brought the rest of the dishes to the sink.
"Hello, girlfriend." He called.
"Hello, boyfriend." She replied.
He kissed her softly before they split their duty with Al cleaned the dishes while she washed and dried them.
"So, congratulation. I can't believe my girlfriend will perform in New York City."
"Believe it or not, I can't just let my boyfriend perform for the whole of America alone. I think my boyfriend needs a company."
"Oh, babe, you already are such a great company." He leaned his face and kissed her lip. "Oh, by the way. I have an acquaintance in New York, I can give her a call and provide you with some arrangements there. Is a penthouse enough for you?" He grinned.
Gwen rolled her eyes and knew he did the rich boy act again. "No need, daddy." She teased. "Sylvie had some arrangement and provide us a 4 room apartment for us."
"Wait, you are living together with the boys?" He asked.
"Of course. Tony said that we need to live closer so we can increase our band chemistry."
"Did your parents know this?"
"No, of course not. If they knew I lived with a room full of boys, they will flip."
"Then how do you think your BOYFRIEND would feel about that?" He asked with full of sarcasm.
"What do you mean Al?" Gwen said, offended by the tone of his voice.
"Well, if your parents would be mad if they know this. How do you think your boyfriend would feel? Gwen, you are in the room with 3 guys and they are at the end of their puberty!"
"Are you jealous, Al?" She asked ridiculously.
"Although I hate to admit it, yes I am jealous AND worried about you."
"Don't worry, Al. They are my friends."
"I was your friend before! And don't forget, you are after this Tony guys before."
"But I'm your girlfriend. Do you trust me?"
"Of course, why wouldn't I?"
"Then it's okay then. I trusted you won't be naughty with other girls!"
"But I didn't do anything to anyone since we are dating, Gwen!"
"How about kissing?"
"It's just a kiss, Gwen. Maybe in the future, there will be some scenes where I have to kiss."
"I bet you enjoyed it, right?"
"Y-yeah, I mean, it's just a job."
"Then how about if I kissed another man?"
"That's different, you don't have any excuses to kiss another person. besides, you know that's the consequences of dating an actor right?"
"Then you should be okay if I and my band member are in the same apartment right? It's also my job to maintain the harmony between band members. Besides, we have each our room to ourselves."
Al couldn't deny that logic Gwen gave him but she didn't understand how men were possessive creatures, especially him who won't let his girl close to another person.
"I may not be able to convince you or this Tony but I can put pressure on Sylvie." He said coldly. "I beg you to consider this Gwen, get another apartment, or I will tell Sylvie to cancel your trip, your choice."
"You won't! Gosh, Al! It's just for a living arrangement for a week! no need to complicate this thing!" Gwen hissed.
Al took a deep breath. She didn't understand the problem at all. Well technically, she was still a teenager. He was too, and she was supposed to know that high school boys tend to get jealous easily.
"Gwendolyn, I really care about you. And which man who are not worry if their girlfriend will be in the same room with a few guys. And I admit I am a possessive guy and I am uncomfortable that if you are too close with some guy I don't know. It's just for living arrangement, you can still hang around with them on the day, please?" In his mind, he also decided to ask Sylvie or anyone to spy on them.
Gwen saw the pitiful and begging look her boyfriend gave her and she lost her will to argue with him. She still had a little resentment at how he didn't trust her even though she trusted him completely by hanging around with a lot of beautiful girls.
"Okay fine, I'll follow your arrangement. Are you happy now?" She spoke with the edge on her tone.
Al knew he had made her angry and he felt he became a manipulative person. "Perfect, I will tell Sylvie. I'm sorry Gwendolyn."
She sighed again, "It's... it's fine, I guess."
Silence draped around the two of them and they kept washing the dishes, although a bit constrained.
Al broke the silence and said, "Though I am at loss here since Sylvie didn't tell me a damn about your band perform in Time Square Ball."
"I told you it's a surprise. We agreed that I'm the one who is going to tell you."
"Hey you two, are you done yet? You two look like a married couple if you spent another second there." Eric suddenly screamed.
"Nah, we are done here," Gwen said and escaped without looking at him or her brother.
"What happened?" Eric asked.
"We got a little disagreement but it's all done. But I think Gwen might a bit upset with the outcome." Al explained.
"Dude, one thing I learn from my parents when they argued was that the man will always lose the argument, even if he won. Don't worry, Gwen will be fine in a few hours."
A few moments passed and he still didn't see Gwen. It was like she was avoiding him and he felt like want to punch himself for it. Jill suddenly came to him and told him that Gwen was in her room, and she said she needed a room for herself.
He felt like a jerk suddenly and decided to apologize to Gwen once again. Fortunately, Dennis and Patti we out for a second and did not see him and Gwen argue. Al asked Jill if she could tell him where her room was and she was gladly showing it to him.
Jill escorted him to the front of her room and then he knocked on the door.
"Who is it?" Gwen's voice came out from inside the room.
"It's me Gwen, Al."
The room was quiet for a moment before she said, "Come in."
"Hey, beautiful." He saw her laying on her bed. Then she lifted her body and sit on her bed the moment she saw him.
She chuckled at his half-assed effort to flirt/cheer with her. "Hey, handsome."
"You okay?"
"Yep, just a bit upset."
"I'm sorry Gwen, I'm being a jerk there. I can't just order you around."
"No, it's okay. I know you care for me. It's just, I'm a bit mad that you don't trust me. And I just realized that it was a stupid idea I did there. Gosh, how embarrassing it is for a Catholic girl to do cohabitation with some guys who are not her boyfriend."
"Well, aren't we supposed to do the deed AFTER we married?"
"Well, I may be a Catholic girl but I'm also a Californian girl remember?" She joked and both of them laughed.
"What brought this on?" Al asked again.
She coughed, "It started with this, all of my band members already have a girlfriend but they still brought some other girl to their bedroom. I asked them and they said it's a men's thing to do, especially if they were in a band or famous or rich. Every people like that can't keep their pants off from any hot girls."
"So you are worried that I will go to find some holes to fuck?"
"No, I trust you won't do anything like that. It's just I'm upset that you don't give me the same trust that I gave to you but I see the reason now after I saw your pitiful look."
"Am I really giving you that pitiful impression?"
"Yes, it's like you are going to cry."
"Hey, that hurt my pride you know." He paused, "You see, Gwen, it's not that I don't trust you. It's just like, how I can explain this, aha. I'm like a dragon you know, I am possessive of my mate, or every male who loves their partners was like that. It's like flipping a coin, if your man is possessive, it was either he loves you so much or he is a psychopath."
"Yeah, yeah, say what you like Mr. Smaug." Then both of them laughed at her jokes.
"Can you forgive me, Gwen?"
"You are forgiven. How about me? Can you also forgive me, Al? It seems for most of the time I always brought this issue to the table."
"Of course Gwen, you are forgiven because I love you."
"Me too, I love you, Al."
(Lime Begin)
They stared at each other eyes and felt that their souls were connected through their eye contact. As they used to say, the eye was a window to someone's soul.
Al leaned his head to her and kissed her full lips gently. There was a sweet strawberry taste linger on her lip and he really liked it.
She threw both of her hands around his neck and deepened their kiss. As time goes, they pulled back for a moment to take their breath.
"You are so beautiful, Gwen." He said before he captured those sexy lips of her again.
This time he licked her lower lip and Gwen knew it was his invitation to use their tongue. She opened her mouth and like a broken dam, his tongue immediately attacked her inner mouth.
Gwen tried to fight for dominance and after a few moments passed, she was losing her place and decided to enjoy the attention his tongue give to her.
They pulled back again for a moment, stared at each other eyes before repeated their making-out performance but with more passion than before.
His right hand traveled down to her neck, lightly touch the skin under the thin cloth she wore. Her body shivered from the attention his hand gave and it kept traveling lower and lower until it reached her left breast. Al could feel that Gwen did not wear a bra at all!
Gwen's tits maybe were only an A cup but he didn't care about size. What mattered was where were those tits stuck on. Fuck, he even loved her gorgeous sexy perky tits.
His hand was searching her nipple under the cloth and finally, he found it. Her body shivered and her breath quicken when his thumb and forefinger played with her nipple. Her small perky tits were always so sensitive every time he touched it.
She suddenly pulled back and said, "The other one, Al, please, play with them! Both of them!" And silenced him again with her passionate kiss.
And he did with her right nipple. He played with areolas, circled it slightly, then lightly pinched her nipples until she screamed in his mouth.
Her body jerked forward, tighten her hold on his neck, and she was trembled magnitude 9 in ecstasy, bringing her through the seventh heaven. She was just orgasmed in their make-out session.
(Lime Ended)
She released her hold on him, fell on her bed, and her mouth gasping for air.
"Jesus, Al. I really miss that. thank you, thank you!" She whispered, still had her eyes closed.
He laid on her bed and took her on his arm. His chin rested on top of her head and whispered, "Me too, Gwendolyn, me too."
Both of them shut their eyes and let the silence enveloped their body.
"I think we should stop right now," Al said.
"Agreed. We promised to back down from any intercourse for a while, right?" She confirmed. "And what did you do to my body, Al? I can't believe I could cum by just kissing and playing with my tits. You broke me there, Mr. Brandt! Look how wet I got!" Both of them laughed.
"I think I should go. I promised mom to be back earlier. Do you want to come with me?"
"Of course! I missed little Alice, I haven't seen her since months ago. Let me change my pants first."
"Don't! Let them see your wet stains." He joked.
"Jerk!" She giggled.
Once she has changed her pants, Al reached into his pocket and gave her a present. "This is for you, Gwendolyn. Merry Christmas."
Gwen happily accept it and opened the present he gave her. It was a beautiful silver braided bracelet with tiny diamonds as ornaments.
Yes, it was expensive jewelry and yes, he was simp if that's what they are going to be called in the future.
"It's beautiful! I can't accept this, Al. It looks so expensive!"
"You are worth it, Gwendolyn. And you better get used to it." He teased, "Let's go to the orphanage!!" He took her arm and took off before she could deny his gift anymore.
To Be Continued...
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