As soon as Ben had mentioned his family was visiting, everyone scattered, leaving Ben and Sammie to clear up. At half eleven, the doorbell rang. Ben started sorting out his shirt and checking his hair in the middle of the large mirror hanging over his mantelpiece. Sammie automatically started fretting-did his parents judge his girlfriends by appearances?
“Babe, how do I look?”

“Fantastic, as always. What about me?” Ben’s eyes flicked down, and up again.
“Perfect. Are you sure I look neat?”
Sammie nodded, and Ben opened the door. His brother and sister ran in, talking in excited voices. His mum kissed his face over and over, asking how he was and just generally being motherly, and Jeremy looked around the front room casually until his eyes stopped on Sammie. He smiled kindly.
“Hello, you must be Sammie”
Rupert and Lucy stopped in their tracks and gaped at her, and Mrs. Adams stopped kissing Ben to get a good look at her.
“Yes I am. It’s nice to meet you” Sammie responded, a little self-consciously. Jeremy insisted on shaking her hand and introducing the whole family. Ben was grinning like a Cheshire cat, and gave her a discrete thumbs up, before escaping to the kitchen with Rupert and Lucy, warning Sammie and his parents not to move.
Sammie exchanged a nervous smile with Mrs. Adams, and sat down on the sofa opposite them, feeling incredibly tense. It must have shown on her face, as Mrs. Adams leaned over and said:

“It’s okay dear, we don’t bite. It’s nice to finally meet one of Ben’s girlfriends, so we’ll be extra nice to you. I think he’s been ashamed about them until he met you”

Sammie blushed.
“Thank you . . . so, what do you think they’re doing now?” Sammie asked, nodding towards the kitchen. There was no way she wanted to continue discussing Ben’s history, especially not with his mother.
“Whenever those three are together these days, they make ‘special lunches’, and we’re not allowed to know any ingredients. The only people that ever will know are Ben, Rupert and Lucy”
“Except we worked out they use bread on the sandwiches” Jeremy added, making Sammie giggle.
“Well, then I know the sandwiches are safe”
Mrs. Adams then started asking Sammie about what she did. Awkwardly, she admitted that she was in sixth form, wondering if they had a problem with a three year age gap. Luckily, they just asked about her courses and how she was getting on with them, with no mention of her age. They had just started asking about Sheffield, and Sammie’s family when Lucy opened the door, and all three brought in huge trays covered in . . . Sammie had no idea what they had made. She looked up at Mrs. Adams, who winked, and then to Ben, Rupert and Lucy, who were looking proudly back.
“Okay Sammie, ‘coz you’re our guest, you get to try first”
Sammie looked apprehensive, she was dying to know what they were making her eat.
“Umm, is it safe to eat?”
Everyone else giggled. Ben picked something up and handed it to her.
“Try this hun, and don’t worry, we wouldn’t poison you” He sat next to her, and put an arm around her. She looked at it carefully. Still unsure what she’d been handed. She saw what she thought looked like melted cheese, with red and green bits poking out. She glanced at Ben again. He took it off her and fed it to her, as she wouldn’t herself. As she chewed (and continued trying to work out what the heck she was eating), Ben’s family tucked in. It wasn’t long before they were all swapping and sharing and giggling, and having the weirdest conversation Sammie had heard. Rupert showed them his award, and the match cup, while Lucy went on about David, and Ben was talking over her about the music industry, dropping names in an attempt to wind her up. Eventually, Lucy picked up Sammie’s hand and covered Ben’s mouth with it.
“Keep it there, okay? No matter what he does, keep it there” She insisted, and held Ben’s hands still as she carried on talking about her boyfriend. Sammie giggled, and sneaked a few of the odd looking sandwiches behind her hand. Lucy eventually realised and let go of Ben in an attempt to punish Sammie. Ben stopped Lucy before she reached Sammie and started tickling her, with Rupert and Jeremy joining in. Sammie and Mrs. Adams fell about laughing, before going to Lucy’s rescue. Ben quickly stopped, and sat back on the sofa, pulling Sammie back into a hug, and giving her a small kiss.
“Awww” Mrs.Adams sighed, before Lucy and Rupert pretended to throw up. Ben smiled, a wicked glint in his eye, and winked at Sammie, before pulling her closer and kissing her deeper, square on the mouth, his hands moving rapidly.

“BENJAMIN!” His mother exclaimed, and he stopped kissing her, smiling. Sammie pulled away slightly, embarrassed, as Rupert and Lucy burst into laughter. “That poor, defenceless girl!”
“What do you mean, ‘poor’? She’s with me, isn’t she?”
“I’m so sorry dear,” Mrs. Adams whispered to Sammie. “Why you put up with him I don’t know. You deserve one of Rupert’s medals for it!”
Ben pretended to get stroppy, and Sammie laughed.
“Hey, I’m keeping my medals, I have to put up with him too!” Rupert argued.
“Yeah, but Sammie had a whole week with him” Lucy argued back grinning.
“Hey, I’m wonderful, stop acting like I’m a burden” Ben moaned, then hid his head behind his hands and pretended to cry. Sammie hugged him as she and the rest of his family laughed.
“Ben, you aren’t a complete burden, how’s that?” Lucy asked, smiling angelically. He threw a pillow at her, and she threw it back, sticking her tongue out.
“I can do things for myself you know, Luce”
“Yeah, you can do your hair!” Everyone started laughing again, and Ben hugged Sammie back.
“I could do Sammie too!” Ben added, and Sammie slapped him playfully. “ Okay, okay, sorry! It’s Paul’s influence, I swear! Don’t hit me again, you bully!”
Ben looked at his parents, who were watching them carefully. He smiled, and they smiled back briefly before straightening their faces again. He detached himself from Sammie, took a (now empty) tray and went into the kitchen. His parents followed him, and shut the door behind them.
“Okay, what’s up?” he asked, unsure he wanted to know.
“Nothing’s up sweetie” his mum answered.
“Then why were you watching us like that?”
“We were making sure Sammie was right for you. You seem awfully serious”
“I am serious”
“We meant her too. Are you sure it’s only been a week?”
“Yes, but it’s also been just her and me for a week. Is that a problem?”
“No!” They smiled, and Mrs. Adams carried on. “It’s great you’re together, she seems like a very sweet girl. Rupert and Lucy haven’t stopped talking about her either, not many girls you go out with would give them the time of day. Especially not after a couple of days of seeing you”
“So why did you look so annoyed?”
“Well, I don’t think Sammie was pleased by your comment, I think you’re lucky she only slapped you”
“She knows I was mucking around, we’ve been doing it to each other all week”
Ben looked at his parents, who smiled unsurely.
“If she’s okay with it, then fine”
Ben grinned back, and they made their way to the front room, where Lucy, Rupert, and Sammie were squeezed onto the sofa bed, watching Ben’s ‘spiderman’ DVD. Ben pulled Sammie off the sofa bed, and sat down where she had been before pulling her onto his lap, while his parents sat down on the opposite sofa, watching them again. Ben noticed after a while, and looked at their facial expressions closely. They had different smiles now, more genuine than before. Sammie noticed Ben wasn’t watching the film, and followed where he was looking. She smiled back at them, then snuggled into Ben as Spiderman and Mary Jane performed the upside-down kiss, and felt Ben kiss the top of her head again.