Kelly's father had changed his normal clothes and into a formal outfit that was more fitting to match his wife. He wore an all black stylish suit and a white shirt, fully buttoned, and a solid black tie. Kelly was surprised by the change, considering both her and Arnold were still dressed in their school clothing and her mother hadn't told her that it was a dress up dinner.

Unbothered by the change in the atmosphere, Arnold dropped his backpack by the door, since the backs of the chairs were round and he couldn't hang it up. The places were already set, so there were only two spots left for Arnold and Kelly to sit. Kelly's mom tried to get her daughter's attention and pointed to the spot beside her, that way they were on the same side of the table and Arnold would have to sit by her father.

That was also a change from how they normally ate, because Kelly's father usually sat at the head of the table. Kelly gave them a bit of a glare at messing everything up from the simple dinner she had expected, so to annoy her mother, she brought Arnold over and had him sit beside her mother instead and walked around the table and sat beside her father.

Her mother looked like she was going to tell her to switch, then she changed her mind. Kelly's father reached a hand out to her mother and they held hands, then he did the same to Kelly.

“What are you doing?” Kelly asked, confused.

“We're giving thanks before the meal.” Her father said.

“What? Why?” Kelly asked, still confused.

He glanced across the table at Arnold and didn't say anything.

Kelly pulled her hand out of her fathers. “Okay, what's going on here?” She asked and looked from her father to her mother. “You both are acting weird, even for you.”

“We are showing your boyfriend that we are a proper family with traditional values.” Her mother said.

Kelly let out a laugh. “Are you kidding?” She asked and they didn't respond. “You're not kidding.”

“Just take your father's hand and we can say Grace, then we can eat.” Her mother said.

“We've never said it before our meals for all of the other times I've eaten at this table.” Kelly said and crossed her arms. “I'm not going to fake it, just because you want to give Arnold a false impression of our family.”

“Kelly...” Her father started to say.

“No.” Kelly shook her head. “Whatever it is the two of you are doing, I won't be a part of it.”

Her father sighed. “We just want what's best for you.”

Kelly barked a laugh. “Giving Arnold the completely wrong ideas about our family is not doing the best for me.” She said. “In fact, it's doing just the opposite.” She looked at Arnold. “He's going to think you act like this all the time and that is the biggest lie you could ever tell him, especially since I already told him all about the both of you and this is not how you're supposed to act. Right, Arnold?”

Arnold nodded. “You're supposed to be nice and honest people.” He looked at Kelly's mother. “I've seen some of the nice.” He said and she blushed as she remembered what happened, then he looked at the father. “I'm still waiting for the honest part.”

Kelly's father sighed again and sat up straight, which let everyone see that a lot of his height was in his torso. “I guess the jig is up.” He said and nodded to his wife, who stood up and slid her husband's place setting to the head of the table and he slid Kelly's to where he sat. He stood up and went to the side of the room and grabbed his normal chair and put it back at the head of the table and sat down.

“We were trying to show that we had close family ties and ate in a more intimate setting.” He said and looked down at the plate of food that had cooled off some.

“Let me reheat that.” Kelly's mother said and went to pick the plate up.

“No, it's our own fault for carrying on like we did.” He said and started eating.

Kelly's mother took a shallow breath and let it out, then she started eating, too. Kelly looked at Arnold and they both started eating as well. The food had been hot when they sat down and was now only slightly warm. Arnold didn't care about that and ate mechanically, like he always did. No one spoke during the meal and when everyone was done, Arnold shocked Kelly's parents as he gathered up the plates and silverware and took them to the kitchen. He gave them a quick rinse and washed his hands, then he came back to the table and sat down.

“Thank you, Arnold.” Kelly said with a smile, happy that her parents weren't prepared for that.

“D-dessert.” Her mother said and stood, then went to the kitchen and came back with a tray and four small strawberry shortcakes. She gave one to each of them and sat down with her own, then they ate that in silence as well. As soon as she put her fork down, she sat back and waited to see if Arnold would clear the table again. She wasn't disappointed as he gathered them up and took them to the sink to rinse them.

“Kelly, what...” She started to ask and stopped when Arnold came back.

“That was delicious.” Kelly's father said to his wife, gave a brief glance to Kelly that unnerved her slightly, then he looked at Arnold. “So, what are your intentions towards my daughter?”

“DAD!” Kelly yelled and he held a hand up to quiet her.

“It's a valid question for a father to ask his daughter's boyfriend, and you know that.” He said and hadn't looked away from Arnold. “Please answer the question.”

“I plan on learning everything I can from her.” Arnold said. “She's smart and knows a lot more about things than I do, because my parents kept a lot of information hidden from me.”

“Why did they do that?” Her father asked, curious.

“Because each piece of new information changes my behavior and how I see things.” Arnold said.

Kelly's parents sat there and thought about that for a few moments.

“I also want to make love to her.” Arnold said.

Both Kelly and her mother gasped at his statement.

“Excuse me?” Her father said with a scowl. “What did you just say about my daughter?”

“I want to have sex with her.” Arnold said, completely unaffected by the larger man's apparent anger.

“Why?” Her mother asked before she could stop herself.

“She's smart, she's pretty, she's my girlfriend, and she is the only one who believed me.” Arnold said and looked at Kelly. “I want her to have fun and enjoy herself.”

Kelly's father started to stand to yell at the impudent boy and his wife touched his arm to stop him.

“When do you plan on... doing it?” Kelly's mother asked hesitantly and her husband winced a little.

“As soon as she's ready and asks me.” Arnold said.

Kelly took in a sharp breath, because her thoughts about him not pushing her for sex were confirmed.

“You... you're letting her decide?” Her mother asked, completely surprised.

Arnold nodded.

Kelly's mother looked at her husband and gave him several different looks to convey her thoughts, and he couldn't ignore the fact that not only was Arnold being completely honest, he was also leaving the decision for such an important thing in the hands of his daughter. She really was smart and she didn't do things without seriously considering them first, so he calmed down slightly and tamped down on his anger.

“What if she never asks you?” Kelly's father asked, which was what he sincerely hoped would happen.

“DAD!” Kelly yelled. This first dinner together was not going how she thought it would. Not at all.

“Then we won't have sex.” Arnold said.

Both parents were quiet for a moment and Kelly relaxed. She shouldn't have.

“Will you break up with her if she never gives you sex?” Kelly's mother asked.

“MOM!” Kelly yelled, shocked that her mother would ask such a thing.

“No.” Arnold said. “My mother told me the reasons people break up. Sometimes they argue and break up. One of them makes a mistake and they break up. Sometimes they meet someone else and break up. Sometimes they come to hate each other and break up.”

Kelly's mother reached over and put a hand on Arnold's. “Did she tell you why they stay together even when most of that happens?”

Arnold nodded. “They love them enough to forgive them.”

“Heather didn't do that for you.” Kelly's mother said and Kelly caught her breath.

“No.” Arnold said.

“I'm sorry she didn't believe you.” Kelly's mother said, which let Kelly know that her parents knew a lot more about the things that were going on than she assumed they did. “But, that's in the past. You're dating our daughter now and things are going to be different.”

“They already are.” Arnold said and looked at Kelly, and her heart went pitter-patter.

“Yes, they are.” Kelly's father said. “I know the two of you are eighteen and technically consenting adults; but, I absolutely forbid you from having sex in my house.”

“DAD!” Kelly exclaimed in embarrassment and then used her hands to cover her face. “Oh, my god.” She whispered and shook her head. “This dinner didn't happen. It's just a dream. No, it's a joke. A bad joke. A horrible, horrible joke!”

“Kelly, there's no need to overreact.” Her father said.

“I wish I was overreacting!” Kelly said and uncovered her red face. “You just met Arnold! We just started dating!” She said in exasperation. “All the things you're saying shouldn't be said this soon! Your questions aren't fair!”

“What do you mean fair?” Her father asked, a little confused.

“Arnold and I haven't even talked about it with each other yet.” Kelly said. “Now you and mom have already ruined what we might have talked about... if... or when... we were ready to talk about it.” She said and her voice lowered to barely above a whisper. “You didn't even ask me if I wanted anything to happen and you've already forbidden it.”

Her father opened his mouth to respond, then realized he didn't want to know if she did or didn't want anything to happen. He didn't want to think about his daughter having sex with anyone, let alone Heather's old boyfriend. He also didn't want to think about who else Heather slept with and if they passed something on to Arnold.

“This is my house.” Kelly's father said instead of what he was thinking.

“Arnold!” Kelly said and stood. “Tell my father why refusing to let us have sex in this house is stupid.”

“People can have sex pretty much anywhere, as long as they can get a little privacy.” Arnold said, much to their surprise and horror.

“That's right.” Kelly said and glared at her father. “All you succeed in doing was pushing me away and alienating Arnold. You also made sure that you will never know if... or when... it will happen.” She said and saw her father's sad expression. “Arnold, let's go to my room and I'll show you another VR game for a while, then you can call your mother for a drive.”

“Okay.” Arnold said and stood up. Kelly came around the table and took his hand, then he picked up his backpack when they reached the doorway.

“By the way, I'm shutting my door.” Kelly said without turning around. “Since I've been forbidden from doing anything, you don't need to worry anymore, right?” She asked and led Arnold out of the dining room and to her room at the back of the house. Kelly's parents sat there and stared at the doorway where for the first time, their daughter spoke to them in a tone of voice they hadn't heard from her before. It was full of anger and dismissal.

All they had wanted to do was to clear up the situation and to set up the proper boundaries, to make things easier for their daughter to have an actual relationship, and to ensure that she wasn't being used for her body. All they managed to do however, was make it harder for Kelly to have any kind of serious relationship, which was the exact opposite of what Kelly wanted.

“I can't believe that just happened.” Kelly said as she closed her bedroom door. “Arnold, I'm sorry about all of that.” She said and took him into a hug. “All I wanted was for us to have a nice dinner together and it turned out to be the Spanish Inquisition!”

Arnold thought about what they learned in History class. “Did they burn your other boyfriends in the streets before asking us to leave?”

Kelly opened her mouth to say no, then laughed. “They might as well have, metaphorically speaking.” She said. “They used my experiences of the very few guys I've dated to judge you, and not only was that not fair, it's completely inaccurate.” She leaned her forehead against his. “I told you before that you were unique. How could they compare you to other guys?”

“It's their only point of reference.” Arnold said. “If you told them...”

“I don't think I should tell them how special you are. After how they just treated you, they don't deserve to have that knowledge and I would rather keep you all to myself.” Kelly said, and surprised herself at the thought. “I think I... for the first time in my life, I... I'm going to be greedy, Arnold.” She leaned in close and gave him a slow and tender kiss. “I want to hold you and kiss you for half an hour, then show you a new game. Is that all right?”

Arnold nodded and Kelly took off her jean jacket and hung it up in the closet, then pulled off her slightly racy top. It left her in just the tank top and then she turned around and unzipped the skirt and pulled it off, to leave herself in just the leggings. Both remaining clothing items hugged her body tightly and she turned around to see if he was leering at her to try and see anything, and he only looked at her face and waited.

Kelly smiled and told him to put his backpack down, then she climbed onto the bed and pat it beside where she lay. Arnold climbed on and she propped a pillow up for him, then she cuddled in and hugged him. He turned his head to face her and she kissed him, once again softly and tenderly, and Arnold took the hint. He put his arms around her to hold her back and repeated her kisses.

They stayed like that for half an hour, occasionally making out and staring at each other, and neither of them tried to make things go further than that. Kelly gave him one last kiss and sat up, gave Arnold a look of appreciation, then she set up the VR game for him.

“This game is similar to Harley's Adventures, except it's more detailed and there are a lot more enemies, both monster and human.” Kelly said and handed him the controls.

“Is it multiplayer?” Arnold asked as she strapped the headset to his head.

“No, you're not ready for that yet.” Kelly said. “Believe me, you're going to need a bit of practical experience before playing an online game.”

“Why?”

“Mostly because the people you'll talk to can be real jerks.” Kelly said. “Especially if you're new. It's a difficult community to become a part of.” She loaded the new game and stepped out of the way. “Of course, once you do become a part of it, you're greeted like family and everyone will want to play games with you.”

“Even if I'm no good?”

Kelly chuckled. “Even bad players are welcome, as long as you enjoy playing the game.” She said and the screen changed as the game finished loading. “Okay, you start this one with only a knife and a baseball bat. You'll have to find different weapons along the way.”

“Okay.” Arnold said and checked everything in the small room he stood in. He pushed, grabbed, opened, hit, and stabbed literally everything in the room and found all of the hidden items and clues. He opened the door and peered out into the slightly wrecked house, then did the same thing, only faster.

Kelly stood there and watched as Arnold meticulously gathered everything possible and found all the hidden clues, which told him where to get one of the best weapons in the game. He didn't go right to the spot and get it, though. He fought and cleared out all of the monsters in the area, then he followed the directions and picked up the small pistol that had unlimited ammo. It's only drawback was that it took a second to reload.

Before Kelly could tell him that, he emptied the clip and his character reloaded the gun automatically. After that, with gun in hand, Arnold went through the first level of the game and used the small pistol like it was a machine gun. Some of the monsters could take a lot of shots before going down, and he circled them and tried shooting each and every part of them.

I didn't think of doing that. Kelly thought as Arnold quickly found the weakness in each monster and exploited it. The pistol could take down the larger monsters eventually and when he fought the boss of the first stage, he once again found the weakness and took it down. Easily.

“Okay, save up.” Kelly said and Arnold did. She took the headset from him and the controllers. “That was great, Arnold. I'm impressed.”

“It was easy.” Arnold said.

“Not all games are going to have a weapon like that... at the first of the game.” Kelly corrected. “Almost all of them have some kind of unlimited ammo weapon of some kind.” She shut everything down and turned to him. “They are notoriously difficult to get sometimes, too.”

“How did you learn all of this?” Arnold asked.

“Mostly personal experience, with reading some of it online, and word of mouth from gaming friends.”

“Now you're telling me.” Arnold said.

Kelly nodded, and then she gave him a wicked smile. “By the time you and I are done, Brad and his friends are going to be very surprised by what you can do.” She said. “You'll be able to accept their invitation and actually have a chance to play, rather than be their kill target.”

Arnold stood up and took her into a hug. “Thank you.” He said and gave her a quick kiss.

“You're welcome.” Kelly said hugged him back. “I think we made my parents suffer with worry long enough, so you better call your mom to come and get you.”

“Okay.” Arnold let her go and called. “She'll be here in fifteen minutes.”

Kelly looked down at what she was wearing, just leggings and a tank top, and smiled. “Do you want to sit on the couch in the living room while we wait?”