Mine To Kiss (Southern Wedding 0.50)

one

Harlow

"This is it," I announce, looking out the window and pointing at what is my new apartment. The butterflies in my stomach are starting already, and I can’t help but smile.

"It’s so pretty," my mother says from the front seat, and it just makes me beam. "You did good, Harlow." She looks over the passenger seat and smiles at me. Her eyes start to fill with tears. "I can’t believe you are leaving us again."

"Darlin’," my father says softly. I roll my eyes as my mother looks at him; he leans over and kisses her lips, and I shake my head. My parents' love affair was what you see in movies and read about in love stories. It got annoying when I was growing up, but now that I’m older, I know I want a man who will love me like that. "It’s a couple of months, and she’ll be back for Thanksgiving."

"Maybe," I mumble under my breath, getting the stink eye from my father and a glare from my mother. Laughing, I open the door and step out of the car, the heat from the sun hitting me right away.

I put my hand over my eyes and look up at the red and white building. The minute I saw the online ad, I knew this would be amazing. I hear my parents behind me and turn to see my father taking out my three pieces of luggage from the trunk. "I’m going to go ahead and meet the girls before you guys come up and scare them off." I turn to walk up the concrete stairs, stopping at the red front door.

A little sitting area is on each side of the door under the covered porch, so you can sit out here and either work or just relax. I push open the door, my stomach fluttering as I see the picture in my head come to life. Just inside, two white doors with the number one and two are located on each side. Walking up the staircase in the middle of the room, I head to the second floor and see the same doors with the numbers three and four.

Another reason I chose this apartment is that there are only four units in the whole place. I hold up my hand to knock, and I see it’s shaking with nerves. I laugh at myself right before I knock. "Coming." I hear from the other side of the door as I shake out my hand, the thumping of my heart making my stomach feel like it's on a roller coaster.

The door opens, and the girl who stands there smiles at me big. Her blonde hair is piled on top of her head, and she wears short white overalls with a peach T-shirt. "Harlow," she says, and her blue eyes light up. "Rachel." She points at herself, and then I step forward, and we go in for a hug. The two of us have been chatting over text for the past two months, preparing for me to come down. "It’s so good to finally meet you," she says, letting me go and taking a step back into the apartment. "Welcome home." She opens her arms wide.

I can’t even contain my excitement as I walk in. "It’s perfect," I say, looking around and seeing that the living room is attached to the kitchen. It's smaller than it looked in the pictures, but that’s okay. The only thing I was really set on was having my own bedroom and bathroom. The rest wasn’t important to me.

"The movers just left," she says. "They just put everything in there." She stops talking when we hear footsteps coming from the hallway and look over to see my parents walking in.

"These are my parents," I state, and I wait for it.

"Is that…?" she asks, and I glance over at her as she looks at me and then back at my mother.

"That’s my mom, Olivia," I confirm, and she just smiles in shock. My mother was a big-time model before she even met my dad. My mother looks around the apartment, and I can already tell that she is planning to decorate it. She turns and looks back at Rachel, smiling at her. "And that’s my dad, Casey." I point at my father, who just nods to her, and he does his own sweep of the apartment. "This is Rachel."

"Hi," she says, waving her hand awkwardly. "Nice to meet you guys. Let me show you your room." She turns and walks down the long white hallway. "Every room is the same size." She opens the first door we come to, and I see my stuff there filling up the room. "And of course your bathroom is in the corner."

"Oh my," my mother says. "We have our work cut out for us."