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Louise and Rudy were sitting in front of the whole Belcher family, both nervously looking around. The pair had been dating for awhile now, and both had agreed it was better to try and keep it a secret as Louise didn’t want to put up with the constant teasing and other comments that would inevitably come from her family and Rudy knew that as soon as his mom found out he was dating Louise, she would be in for an extremely long winded shovel talk.
But together the couple decided that it was time to let their relationship be known to all their family, a decision which they came to after their cover was blown in a certain incident the day prior.
It was a brisk Saturday evening, and Louise and Rudy had been spending the whole day “hanging out”, or at least that's what they told people their dates were. They had gone to the cinema together to watch the new Burobu movie, as long time fans of the card game they were both surprised to see it receive its own movie, so they just had to see it.
After the movie the couple decided to spend the rest of the day at the wharf, enjoying all the different rides and carnival games, at the end of the day the two even went and had a meal together. Granted it was a cheap meal, but they still enjoyed each other's company.
When the time had come to take Rudy home, the two had become quite flirtatious with one another, they didn’t think anyone was around so they figured hey, why not hang out just a little longer.
“Shh! Close the door!” Louise said, worried about someone finding them.
“There’s no one here Lou.” Rudy reassured his girlfriend. His dad had recently got a new job and usually worked quite late, he figured he wouldn’t be home for another couple hours.
“I know, but still.” Louise said
Rudy chuckled playfully whilst bringing his girlfriend in close, “You’re so weird.” He teased.
“Says you Stieblitz.” Louise retorted, placing her finger on his chest.
The two lovebirds looked at each other longingly, before going in for a kiss, Louise unconsciously grabbing onto Rudy’s shirt amidst the passion. But just as the two locked lips, someone who just so happened to get home early from work that day walked into the room.
Sylvester Stieblitz had been home for a while now, there was an IT problem at his job and almost everyone got to leave early, upon hearing his son come through the door he figured he would go greet him, not expecting to catch him and his long time friend Louise deep in a moment of passion.
“Oh!” He said out loud, cursing himself in his mind for blowing his cover.
The pair of teens broke apart at lightning speed, deep blushes painting their faces and they stared at him in horror. Sylvester knew that the pair were close, and had honestly suspected that they had been dating for quite some time. But to discover it first hand like this? Yeah, he wasn’t expecting that.
“Dad! Your home!” Rudy shouted louder than he expected.
“Oh my god…” Louise mumbled, mimicking her dad’s catchphrase.
“I DIDN’T SEE ANYTHING!” Sylvester assured the couple whilst covering his eyes with his hand. “S-sorry Louise, uh, I’ll go.”
“This is getting way too awkward…” Sylvester thought to himself as he turned to leave the room, “Maybe I should try to cut the tension a bit?”
“But uh, yeah, well done… good job?!?” He said, failing his task miserably, “Oh lord…”
“I think I’m gonna throw up…” Louise said to herself, a mortified look adorned on her face.
Rudy simply hid his face in embarrassment, mumbling “Oh my god…”
A few minutes later when things had gotten slightly less awkward, Louise, Rudy and Sylvester were all sitting at the dining table, planning to talk about what just happened, but nobody had the guts to start the conversation.
Sylvester decided to be brave and start, “So umm… you two are… together?” He said, “That’s great! When did you start dating?”
“Almost two years ago…” Louise mumbled, her face still feeling hot enough to torch a crème brûlêe with its presence alone, “Around the time of Rudy’s sixteenth birthday.”
“We were hoping to keep it a secret.” Rudy said, “But uhh… guess that’s not possible now.”
Sylvester was confused, “Why would you want to keep it a secret? I know I wouldn’t have any problems with your relationship.” he asked.
Rudy chuckled, “Yeah, it’s not so much about being accepted and more the reactions.” Rudy explained, “Almost all of Louise’s family are diehard romantics, and she didn’t want to deal with their antics. Her words not mine. As for me, well, you know how protective Mom can be.”
Sylvester smirked, “Yeah, your Mom can be pretty protective of you.” He agreed, “But you do know she loves Louise right? If anything I’d imagine she’d be happy that you got a girlfriend that cares for you so much.
Louise smiled at Sylvester’s comment. It was nice to know that both of her boyfriend’s parents liked her.
“I thought you were at work dad, why are you back so soon?” Rudy asked.
“Oh, there were just some technical issues at work, we weren’t able to get anything done so we were allowed to leave early.” Sylvester explained.
Both Louise and Rudy had finally calmed down, maybe this situation wasn’t as awkward as she had expected it to be. But then Sylvester cleared his throat.
“Now, I didn’t want to have to bring this up, but you two seemed pretty… ‘In the zone’ so to speak. Which is perfectly okay! It’s normal for kids your age to have urges like that.” Sylvester said whilst awkwardly fiddling with his collar. “So what I’m trying to say is uh… just make sure that your… safe… if you get me.”
And everything was awkward once again. Louise wanted nothing more than to just dig a hole and hide in it until the world ended. Rudy’s eyes widened as he scrambled to reassure his dad that he didn’t have to worry.
“WE WEREN’T- WE WEREN’T GONNA…” Rudy spluttered out, unable to finish the sentence, “AND YOU DONT NEED TO WORRY ABOUT THAT, WE’RE ALWAYS SAFE! WAIT I MEAN-“
Louise’s hand slapped against Rudy’s mouth hard, sealing it from spilling anymore words. At this point Louise’s whole body had turned a shade of red that nobody in the house had thought were possible for a human.
“WHY DID YOU WORD IT LIKE THAT DUMBASS!” She exclaimed.
After that disastrous situation, Louise and Rudy had both agreed it would be best to just tell the rest of her family the truth about their relationship. So here they were, same awkward situation, different family.
“So… there’s a secret we’ve been keeping from you guys…” Louise began to explain, “And I think it would be best if we uh, told you guys.”
Louise looked down whilst awkwardly twiddling with her own hands, Rudy was next to her giving her comfort.
“It’s ok sweetie.” Linda reassured, “Whatever it is you have to tell us, we’ll all support you no matter what.”
Louise felt that was strangely sincere, but regardless, it gave her the confidence boost she needed to give out her confession.
“Me and Rudy aren’t just friends!” She said quickly, “We’ve been dating for almost two years now!”
There was a moment of dead silence within the Belcher apartment, before Bob finally spoke up.
“Uhh, is that it?” He asked
“…Yeah?” Rudy replied, confused.
“Oh thank god!” Linda suddenly shouted out, startling both Louise and Rudy, “With how serious you were about this I thought you were gonna tell us you were pregnant or something, haha. But yeah, we know you two are dating.”
Both Louise and Rudy were shocked. So much for keeping things from being awkward.
“Why would you think I was- nevermind, you guys KNEW?!?!” Louise exclaimed.
“Louise, I’m pretty sure everybody knows.” Bob said, “I mean just the other day Teddy was asking me how you two were doing.”
“But we tried so hard to hide it!” Rudy replied, “We took every measure to make sure we weren’t seen.”
“Yeahhh I don’t think you did a very good job at that.” Gene said.
“When have we ever slipped up other than yesterday?” Louise asked
Tina pulled an awkward face, “Well…”
Tina was hanging out with her boyfriend Zeke along with her friends Jimmy Jr. Tammy and Jocelyn. They were on their way to get Boba when Tina noticed something strange in the store.
“Woah, is that Louise and Rudy?” She said.
Sure enough, right there in the store was her sister along with her best friend, but they weren’t just queued up, they were holding hands and, oh my god were they about to?
“Woah, looks like Louise has got the love bug!” Zeke’s southern voice belted out.
“She’s dating Rudy?” Tammy said with a hint of disgust, “Do low standards run in your family or something Tina?”
Tina shot Tammy a dirty look, which quickly shut her up.
“I think they’re great together!” Tina exclaimed, “It’s like a childhood friends to lovers story come true!”
“Okay it’s kinda cute I guess.” Tammy admitted, “But can we just go get our Boba now?”
Tina looked at her sister through the window, she looked so happy, going in there would undoubtedly spoil their moment.
“Actually, I’ve thought of a better place to go, follow me!” Tina said, walking off in the opposite direction.
“But the discount coupon expires today Tina!” Tammy cried.
“Okay, maybe I should’ve been on higher alert for my stalkerish sister.” Louise grumbled, “But how do the rest of you know?”
“Well me and mom saw your search history when we were looking online for DJ equipment for my birthday.” Gene said
“We knew the last person to use the laptop was you, and all the recent searches were things like ‘Best presents for valentines day’.” Linda explained, “From there we put two and two together.”
“I even wrote you a love song!” Gene said.
“Great, I’ve got my sister spying on me at the store, my mom and brother snooping through my internet history that I swear I had deleted by the way!” Louise said, “What about you dad? What invasion of my privacy did you perform?”
“I just knew.” Bob said bluntly.
“You just… knew?” Rudy replied in confusion.
“Yeah dad, what do you mean?” Louise said.
“It’s just your mannerisms around Rudy, you're always so much calmer and gentle around him. You’re always talking about him around the house and restaurant, you spend time with him almost daily, you always want to include him in everything you do.” Bob explained, “But I think what tipped me off most was your eyes, the way you look at Rudy, the love in your eyes is clear. It almost reminds me of how your mom looks at me sometimes.”
Louise blushed, but didn’t interrupt.
“Honestly the most surprising thing to me was finding out that you had only been dating for two years.” Bob continued, “I honestly thought you’d been together for much longer than that. You’re not exactly the best at expressing your emotions Louise, but they way you act with Rudy? I’ve never seen you act like that with anyone outside our family, it’s like your own unique form of love, and I’ve seen you act like it since elementary school. And I think Rudy is a great guy for you. He makes you happier than I’ve ever seen you, so I guess I’m glad you two are finally official, your relationship is beautiful, and I’m sure it’s the kind that will last for a lifetime.”
“Geez, way to go all philosophical dad…” Louise said, trying to hide the smile on her face.
“Wow…” Rudy thought out loud, “I didn’t realise you thought that highly of me.”
“We couldn’t imagine a better boyfriend for our daughter!” Linda cried out, “You treat her so nicely, and you’re able to cool her down whenever she gets in over her head. I’ve always known you two would get together someday!”
“I’ve already been calling you my brother-in-law!” Gene said.
Everyone in the room chuckled at Gene’s comment.
“Well, I think that’s enough sappy romantic crap for one day.” Louise said, “Hey Rudes, wanna go get lunch?”
Rudy smiled, “Sure Louise.” He said, taking her hand in his.
Bob and Tina smiled at the sight, whilst Gene yelled out at them to enjoy their date, much to Louise’s annoyance.
Louise and Rudy were just about to open the door when suddenly.
“Oh just one last thing before you go!” Linda shouted out.
Louise turned around, “Hmm? What is it mom?”
“I just wanna remind you that if you plan on doing anything… intimate, just be safe!” She instructed, “I know I said we would support you no matter what, and we will! But I’m not ready to be a grandma just yet!”
Louise and Rudy went bright red once more.
“M-MOM!” Louise cried.