Even though Martin had wanted Mirjana to take her time after her father's death, she hadn't. Three days after she'd hijacked him and his father's motorcycle, she'd already invited herself over to his place and was hugging his mother goodbye when he trotted down the stairs to see who'd knocked. His hair was tousled. He hadn't expected guests—especially not the girl he'd taken a liking for but didn't feel able to pursue for several obvious reasons. But she beamed up at him from the living room, red curtain bangs flowing effortlessly into her layered hair which cascaded over her shoulders to right over the swell of her breasts. She looked stunning, a lot better than he'd last seen her. His mother was enchanted by her.
"Martin invited me over," she lied casually, "we met at the playground a few nights ago."
"What was he doing out at night?"
"Dealing drugs, " she joked. Her joke made everyone laugh except for Martin. It wasn't fair—she'd barged in and managed to make everyone giggle at her joke, but whenever he cracked a joke about something illegal, his mother would lecture him for ages.
"I'm going to go shower, I'll be right back," Martin said. If any of the German genes had been passed down to him, it was the sweaty one. He always sweat like crazy at night, and during sports class, nobody else's shirt got as drenched as his. At least he wasn't scrawny though, he could build his muscles much faster. Not that he actively tried. He fled before somebody could hold him back and quickly locked the door behind him. He suspected that Mirjana - Mia - might try and sneak into the shower with him, and although she was awful pretty, he wasn't ready to lose his dignity to her three days after their first kiss.
He could hear the faint laughter curling up from the kitchen below and then the sound of their coffee machine being put to use. Oh well. It wasn't as if Mia was wound up enough already. He dashed back out of the shower, smeared on some deodorant, and streaked into his room to throw on some clean sweats and a Pickle Rick hoodie. If she was comfortable enough to pop by unannounced he was going to cut himself some slack.
He strode toward the dining room table. "Why didn't you tell us you had a girlfriend, Martin?" His Mom asked with her eyebrows drawn high. He sighed - his mother Deborah took it for exasperation at having to explain why he'd kept it a secret but it was directed to Mirjana. Was she always going to have the first say in everything?
"I...I thought you'd be angry at me or something." He said and slid down in the chair next to Mia. "Because of 'school is more important' and stuff."
"No, not if she's such a charming young lady like Mia!"
"Don't make me blush!" Mia said and laughed. She was self-confident but modest at the same time, and playful. Martin was just angry. He was starting to harbor a grudge against her. "But we haven't been together very long, maybe he just didn't find the right time yet."
"Yeah," Martin mumbled along.
The second they were alone in his room he shut the door and advanced on Mia, snarling like a wild animal. "What the hell do you think you're doing? I was only nice to you that night because your Dad died - that's the only reason I went along with your little charade out there as well. Can't you see that what you're doing is fucking immature? You can't just latch onto me like some leech just because you're lonely," he'd reached her by then, but she just plopped onto her bed and smiled up at him," I don't want to see you again. I'm not going to be responsible for you."
"I was going to teach you how to ride that bike you've got in your garage, Martin," Mia said, which startled Martin. "And saying we're dating is a great excuse for leaving the house late at night to do that. I realize I was wrong to kiss you, it was just automatic. I get clingy when I'm upset. And I apologize for that. But we could be friends and I could teach you a thing or two. Plus that bike is amazing and I'll get a nice kick out of it riding it. It'll take my mind off my Dad."
Martin suddenly felt very bad about what he'd said to the girl.
"I'm sorry for-"
"Don't apologize. That's why I like you. You're honest."
"How about we take a walk? And talk about things? It should get dark in an hour, we could maybe take the bike for a spin?"
"Sounds good to me," Mia replied with a grin.
It only took a few weeks until the two realized that they really did like each other and that the bike was simply an excuse to sit close together. In a month, she'd met not only his Mother but also Tony and he'd met her family as well.