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I could tell he was nervous by the way he would grip my hand or my knee, or by the way he would fidget in his seat with his foot tapping quietly against the bus floor. He was scared and nervous, so I didn't blame him. He wasn't the strong, confident boy he was that day over the phone, but now instead he was the nervous boy that stole my heart, but I was still okay with it.

"Aust, calm down." I said softly. Austin sucked in a deep breath and held it for a few seconds before letting it out.

"I'm trying, but I'm still so...scared." He said, his hand finding mine and lacing our fingers today.

"You don't have to be scared, Aust. They're going to love you, okay?" Just like I do.

"But what if they don't?" He whispered, though it was loud enough to hear over the loud, roaring bus engine. "What if they don't want you seeing me again?"

"Babe, they're not my real parents. And besides, I think they know- well, Samantha knows- just how important you are in my life. They know I need you here with me and I don't think that they'll take that from me." I told him and brushed a few fallen strands of hair from his face.

Austin stared at me, a small smile forming on his lips. He leaned in and pressed a long kiss to my forehead. He seemed to have calmed down a bit, but I could tell he was still nervous. I tried to comfort him throughout the rest of the ride, it worked for the most part, but when we came to my stop, he squeezed my hand so tight I thought it might break.

I tugged Austin down the street and we walked the short walk back to my house. It was weird calling it my house, but I got used to it after the couple of weeks of being here. It was a nice feeling honestly.

We arrived to my house and I tugged Austin inside. He was breathing almost heavily beside me as we walked in. Samantha was in the kitchen, the twins and Bradley were sitting on the couch, watching cartoons, and Tyler was more than likely in his room.

"Alan? Is that you?" Samantha called from the kitchen.

"Yeah, and I brought someone." I said, tugging Austin with me as I walked into the kitchen. Samantha spun around and smiled widely as her sights landed on Austin.

"This is him?" She asked, coming over.

"Yeah, this is Austin," I told her. "And Austin, this is Samantha."

"Hi, it's nice to meet you." Austin said, mustering up a smile. Samantha smiled widely and pulled him into a hug, which I guessed calmed his nerves ever further.

"Dinner should be ready within a couple of hours, and John should be back too. He had to run to the store to get the kids some more juice," Samantha said once her and Austin had pulled apart. "We're having lasagna, I hope that's okay."

"Sounds good," I said, smiling. Samantha smiled again too and I was pulling Austin out of the kitchen and back into the living room. Ava and Abigail sat up on the couch, looking at my boyfriend with wide and curious eyes.

"Is this your boyfriend?" Ava asked, I nodded and grinned.

"Yes, and his name is Austin," I told her.

"He's really tall!" Abigail said, giggling. "Almost like a giant." She added thoughtfully.

I grinned and leaned up, kissing Austin's cheek. "This is Ava and Abigail," I introduced, the twins smiled and waved excitedly. Bradley scooted off the couch and ran over, hugging Austin's leg tightly. For the weeks that I've been here, I noticed that that was his way of greeting people. He didn't talk, so this was the next best thing.

"Hey little buddy," Austin greeted, bending down and patting him on the back. "What's your name?" Bradley didn't reply, only hugged tighter to Austin's leg.

"His name is Bradley and he doesn't talk," Abigail said knowingly. Bradley just grinned widely up at Austin before letting go of his leg to grab his hand. Austin looked at me questionably and all I could do was shrug. Bradley made a grunting sound and tugged Austin him towards the stairs.

"Where we going little buddy?" Austin questioned and followed Bradley up the stairs. I couldn't help but smile. Though I wanted to know the reason behind why the little boy wasn't talking, he still was the cutest thing ever.

Curiosity got the best of me as I wondered where Bradley took my boyfriend. I headed down the hallway, going to Bradley's room where I figured they would be, and they were. Austin was sat down on the ground and Bradley was rummaging through his toy box until he found a Lego spaceship. He ran over to Austin and placed it in his lap before running back to the toy box and finding some more stuff. It went on for a few minutes until Austin looked up at me where I was still stood in the doorway. He smiled and shrugged, beckoning me over. I smiled and walked over, sitting down beside him.

After a few minutes, Bradley had pulled out basically a bunch of Lego toys and was now sat in front of us, pulling all the things he have to Austin from him and laying them out of on the floor.

"Is this all your Lego toys?" Austin asked, Bradley nodded. "There's a lot of spaceships in here. Do you like Star Wars and Star Trek?"

Bradley nodded his head quickly, smiling widely. I think I felt my heart swell as I watched the two of them encounter with each other. Austin told Bradley all of his favourite things about Star Wars and of course Bradley just nodded in agreement, still smiling as bright as ever. It was the cutest thing ever.

For a while all three of us sat on the floor. Bradley and Austin played with the toys, smiling at one another. It was the best thing ever and I could feel myself falling even more in love with him.

Soon Samantha was calling everyone down for dinner. Austin began to become a little nervous again when we entered the dining room and he saw John helping Bradley into a chair.

"Are you the boy that Alan's dating?" John asked, watching as we both took a seat beside each other. Austin nodded and his hand reached for mine under the table, squeezing it.

"What's your intentions with him?" John asked, never breaking eye contact as he took a seat.

"I-I um, I'll..." Austin was a blubbering mess and John ended up breaking his intimidating façade as he chuckled, shaking his head.

"I'm just joking with you kid, you seem nice. I'm sure you care about Alan." He said, Austin nodded quickly.

"I do. I do, he's- he's amazing." Austin told him, I chuckled and rolled my eyes.

Samantha came in, carrying a dish of lasagna and placed it in the center of the table, pushing a serving spoon in it. She also placed a bowl of green beans and a bowl of mashed potatoes near it.

"Alright, everyone dig in!" Samantha said happily, and everyone did. All of our plates were full of the delicious food that she cooked, and for once, the dining room wasn't quiet. Everyone was chatting and having a good time, just like a family should.

After dinner Austin and I went upstairs to my room. I was sitting on the bed and he was up and looking around at everything, the pictures on my walls, the things lining the top of my dresser and the few books I had gotten over the last few days that were sat on the desk across from my bed.

"I see you kept some of our pictures," he said, walking over to my bed, plopping himself down and laying back

"Of course I did, why wouldn't I?" I questioned, laying down beside me. He gave a shrug and wrapped an arm around my shoulder, pulling me closer.

"I don't know, it's just...sometimes I question why you're with me. It's a silly thought really, but I just can't help but think it." Austin told me softly.

"Well you shouldn't think it," I told him as I shifted so my head was laying on his chest and I was looking at him. "I think... I think I love you too much to second guess myself to be with someone else."

Austin stared at me and I think my heart was going to start to beat out of my chest the longer he stared. For a second I thought he would laugh in my face, or tell me something heart breaking, but all he did was smile and push some hair out of my face as he spoke.

"I think I love you too much to second guess myself also."

I smiled, feeling my stomach flip over and over again as I leaned forward and kissed him. Austin grinned and kissed me back, wrapping his arms around my waist. We kissed until we grew out of breath and had to pull away. I rested my head against his chest and closed my eyes.

"It's getting late, I should probably get going." Austin said, rubbing his hand up and down my back. I didn't make an attempt to move from where I was rested. I didn't want him to leave.

"But it's dark outside and you'll have to ride several buses to the other side of town." I said, Austin chuckled and kissed the top of my head.

"It'll be fine, baby. I'll text you when I arrive." He said, but I shook my head and buried my face in his neck, pressing little kisses there.

"Please stay. I really don't want you to go." I pleaded softly. I sounded clingy and whiny, but I'd been so long since we had been together like this. I missed being in his arms at night.

"Do you think Samantha and John would be okay with that?" He asked, I gave a shrug, and as if on cue, Samantha came walking down the hallway with a sleeping Bradley resting on her hip. I stopped her before she could get any further.

"Something you need sweetie?" She asked, I pushed myself away from Austin and sat at the edge of the bed.

"Can Austin stay over? It's getting late and the orphanage is on the other side of town." I asked. She looked a little hesitant, almost like she was about to say no.

"Just... just don't let John see that you two are in the same bed. He might like Austin, but you two sleeping together might not be the best, so close your door." She said, I smiled widely and thanked her as I walked over to my door. Samantha smiled and said good night as he took Bradley to bed. I closed my door and faced my smiling boyfriend.

"Easy as pie." I said, grinning. Austin chuckled and rolled his eyes as he stood and stripped off his shirt and jeans. I changed out of my clothes, pulling on a pair of shorts and one of Austin's sweatshirts I usually slept in. Afterwards I turned off the lights and we both crawled under the sheets, facing each other.

"Dinner didn't go as bad as I thought it would." Austin said, tossing an arm over my waist and pulling me closer.

"I told you they'd like you." I said, kissing his chin. He chuckled and kissed the top of my head before letting out a little yawn.

"I love you," Austin mumbled softly, letting his chin rest atop of my head. It felt weird hearing him say that, but it was a good kind of weird.

"I love you, too," I mumbled back, pulling away and kissing his bottom lip before burying myself against his chest. I felt happy and in love, and it was the best feeling ever.

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