----- At the Son Residence: Night of Dec. 28 -----

"What if this all goes very badly?" Irene clasps her more-sweaty-than-necessary hands as she and Wendy stand in front of the other girl's house.

After hearing about Wendy's life pre-Hogwarts, Irene is without a doubt freaking out. She feels like she can't seem to catch a break because there was always something she had to worry about one after the other.

"Everything will work out," Wendy tries to reassure as she wraps an arm around her shoulder and leans in to kiss the side of her temple.

"But your dad-"

"Don't care about what my dad thinks," Wendy now makes them face each other and meets her eyes. "At first, I wanted to do this whole thing because I wanted to make a point and maybe piss my dad off. Like, 'Screw you! I have a girlfriend so deal with it!' But now, all I care about is letting him know that I'm with someone that makes me so happy and if he doesn't care to get to know this person, then that's his loss."

"And honestly, the only person you should actually be scared of is Taeyeon. I mean, I've told her about you, but only that you were just a crush," Wendy rubs the back of her neck with her hand. "She doesn't know that that crush ended up becoming my girlfriend yet, so yeah...she's probably going to be overly excited."

"So, to recap, your parents know you're in a relationship, but not that it's with a girl. Then, Taeyeon knows about me, but doesn't know that we pretended to date at first and are now actually dating."

"Pretty much."

"I'm screwed!" Irene wails and her panic grows. "What if Taeyeon hates me? What if.. what if your dad hates us so much that he kicks us out?! Where are we going to stay?!"

"Irene, baby, calm down," Wendy tries to shush her before either of her parents realize they are outside. "Taeyeon won't hate you. I don't even think she has a hateful bone in her body. And if he doesn't want us there, Taeyeon will definitely have our back. She moved out after she graduated and she's got an apartment not too far from here. So, if worse comes to worse, I've got a back-up plan. I've thought this all through. Now, breathe."

Irene takes a deep breath.

"Okay, are you ready?"

After a moment, Irene nods before intertwining her hand with Wendy's. Her grip tightens once the Ravenclaw rings the doorbell. She braces herself while wondering which parent she'll see first. Then, the door opens and before she even has the chance to react, she's engulfed in a hug.

What the-

"Taeyeon?!? What are you doing here?!" Wendy exclaims and Irene can't tell if she should relax or remain tense in the girl's embrace.

"Oh! I'm so so sorry," Taeyeon releases her and looks to her sister. "It's just.. I got so excited when I looked through the peephole and saw you two cuties holding hands. Now, is this who I think it is, little one?"

"Taeyeon!" Wendy whines at the nickname. Cute, Irene thinks. "And yes, she is."

Irene takes that as a cue to introduce herself, "Hi! I'm Irene Bae, Wendy's girlfriend."

Wendy's girlfriend... doesn't sound that bad. 

Taeyeon squeals so loud as soon as the words leave . "Hello, Irene! My name is Taeyeon Son, as you may already know, and I'm the better sibling. Now, come in, come in! Wendy get your and your girlfriend's luggage," then, Taeyeon moves to the side to lead Irene into the house, leaving her sister behind. "Well, hello to you too, my lovely sister," she hears Wendy mutter sarcastically to herself as she follows them inside and Irene has to keep herself from laughing.

Wendy moves fast to bring their luggage to her room upstairs as Irene and Taeyeon settle in the living room. Before the two could have a proper conversation between themselves, Wendy was heard making her way down the stairs swiftly and even needed a moment to take a few breaths as she hunches over with her hands on her knees in front of them both.

"What's the rush, sis? Scared I'm going to tell her something embarrassing?" Taeyeon smirks. 

"Yes," Wendy pants out as she gathers herself. She straightens up and moves to sit next to Irene, her voice still a bit frantic. "But also, what the hell are you doing here? I thought you weren't coming until New Year's Eve. And more importantly, where's mom and dad?"

"Oh shoot! When you called me on Christmas night, I was supposed to tell you that mom and dad decided to take a last-minute trip to see some relatives and asked me to house sit until they come back for New Year's. So, I've just been staying here and subleasing the apartment since it'll save me some money," Taeyeon answers.

"Crap," Irene hears Wendy say under her breath. "You were our back-up plan."

"Back-up plan?"

"We needed a place to stay just in case dad and maybe mom didn't want Irene and I-"

"OH MY GOODNESS!" Taeyeon stands up hastily from her seat, realization evident on her face. "Does mom and dad know about Irene?!?"

The Slytherin just sits frozen as she watches the sisters go back and forth as they try to figure out what to do now that Wendy's plan b has gone out the window.

"Mom and dad knew you were in a relationship before me?!" Taeyeon puts her hand to her chest in offense.

"That is not the point right now, Taeyeon! Your apartment was the place we were supposed to go to in case dad didn't want us here."

"Fine, we'll discuss that later. As for the matter at hand, I don't think he'd ever go that far," Taeyeon admits. "But in case dad tries something, mom and I will have your back. That way, it'll be three-on-one."

And just like that, the atmosphere changes as Wendy's mood shifts from panic to resent. It shocks Irene for a moment since she's never seen the girl act this way, but she understands it at the same time as Wendy's tone turns bitter, "That hasn't really worked out in the past though, has it?"

Taeyeon pouts at the comment and so does Irene as they both knew exactly what Wendy was referring to.

"It's not going to be like that-" Taeyeon tries.

"And how exactly do you know he'll act differently than how he's been ever since I was 11?" Wendy sarcastically laughs.

"Well umm... how do I say this," the older sister rubs her hands awkwardly. "Mom and I... we've been working on him."

"What?" 

"Mom had actually accepted the fact that you like girls for a while now and we've been easing dad into accepting it as well these past couple of months since the start of your school year. And I think with the help of mom, it might actually be working," Taeyeon explains.

The room becomes quiet as Wendy processes what was just said. 

"I... I guess I'll have to talk to mom later, but there's no way dad would have changed his mind so quickly," the Ravenclaw refuses to believe in her sister's hopeful words as she starts to pace back and forth in the living room. "He knows I'm bringing someone home," Wendy gestures towards Irene. "And I'm pretty sure he thinks it's a dude."

"Well, did he ever mention anything about the gender of your person?" Taeyeon questions.

Wendy stops moving and looks to her sister, "He hasn't... and now that I think about it, mom had never used male pronouns when referring to my person either. They would always just call them my 'special person.'"

Irene can't help but feel tingles across her body as she hears both sisters refer to her as 'Wendy's person.' It makes her feel giddy and pressured all at once considering the situation that they were in.

"See?" Taeyeon perks up. "Now, even though I'm sure he may still be a bit tense about you and Irene dating, I don't think he'll shoot you both down once he finds out."

Wendy sits back down next to Irene and let's out a deep breath.

"Look, I'm sure it's been a long day for you two," Taeyeon now stands. "How about we get some rest and talk more about this tomorrow, okay? Mom and dad aren't coming home until the 30th, so you have time to think things through," Taeyeon makes her way over to the couch, causing both Irene and Wendy to stand as well.

"It was lovely to finally meet the girl that has my sister all flustered," Taeyeon hugs her, which she gladly returns. "Hopefully we can get to know each other a bit better these next couple of days."

"Me too," Irene says back.

The older girl gives her a warm smile before turning to Wendy, "I'm happy you're here too, little one," and the siblings hug as well. They exchange good nights and all who remained in the living room was the couple. The pair sit on the couch and Wendy lets out a sigh, "I'm sorry."

"Sorry?" Irene's eyebrows knit together as she looks at the Ravenclaw.

"For bringing you into this whole mess. My big, huge family mess. I... I don't know what I was thinking by springing this all on to you so late. I feel like I should've just told you all of this in the beginning so you knew what you were signing up for. Now, I feel like this must already be so overwhelming even though you haven't even met my parents yet. So, I'm sorry."

After watching the exchange between both sisters, Irene had never felt so helpless. It was one thing to hear about Wendy's family, but now it was an entirely other thing as she starts to see the girl's words come into action. It made it all feel more real. This type of situation was new to her and it was clearly a family matter, so even if she wanted to say something about it, it didn't feel like it was her place just yet. Not to mention the fact that her and Wendy's experience with coming out to their families were complete opposites of each other, so she felt like she wouldn't even be able to give any useful advice to her girlfriend too.

So, she feels powerless, but she still does what she thinks is the next best thing she can do.

"Wendy," she reaches out to take hold of one of her girlfriend's hands. "Don't get me wrong, I am a bit scared, but!" She stresses the last word once she sees Wendy's worried expression, "I'm still here, aren't I? Whatever happens these next couple of days we'll get through together."

Wendy finally meets her eyes and Irene can't help but notice how vulnerable the girl looks, "Like you said, it's his loss if he doesn't give me, give us a chance."

"You're right," Wendy rubs her thumb across Irene's hand. "It's just...," she takes a long pause as she breaks eye contact and Irene felt like she could hear the cogs turning in the girl's head. Suddenly, Wendy sits up a bit straighter and her tone brightens slightly as if to get rid of the darkened mood. "You know what, like Taeyeon said, I'm sure you're tired, right baby? Let's just go to bed, yeah?"

Before any words could come out of Irene's mouth, Wendy guides her up and away from the couch and towards the stairs. The pair eventually find themselves cuddled up in bed and as they try to sleep, Irene thinks about how it was obvious that there was more on Wendy's mind, but she didn't want to push the girl. If anything, she knew that when Wendy was ready to tell her more, she'll be there to listen.

----- Dec. 29th -----

Irene was the first to wake up this time around. As her eyes slowly opened, she was confused as to where she was for a moment. It wasn't until she tried to get up when felt the arms wrapped around her waist give her a light squeeze as if not wanting her to leave.

She turns and sees that Wendy was still fast asleep and even though Irene wanted to wake her up, she decides against it due to how peaceful the girl looks. She slowly and carefully removes Wendy's arms and makes her way off of the bed. As soon as she stands, her stomach growls and so she heads downstairs in hopes to find something to make.

Once downstairs, she immediately hears the sound of something sizzling on a pan and smells something delicious. She enters the kitchen and sees Taeyeon standing in front of the stovetop making eggs and bacon. Just before Irene could say anything, Taeyeon turns arounds and perks up at the sight of the Slytherin.

"Good morning, Irene!" the older girl says cheerfully. "I'm just about done making some breakfast, so go ahead, take a seat and help yourself," she gestures to the center island in the kitchen where some eggs, bacon and toast had already been placed. "Wendy awake yet?"

"She's still knocked out," Irene replies as she takes a seat. "It really was a long day yesterday. We had a train delay that was supposed to be an hour or so, but turned into many hours hence the reason why we got here so late... and I don't think the little shock last night had really helped, ya know? Of course, not that I'm blaming you!" Irene adds the last sentence quickly, she didn't want Taeyeon to feel bad as it was truly just a miscommunication error. At that moment, the older girl puts the last of the food on the table before taking a seat next to Irene.

"No, no, it's okay. It's really both Wendy's and I's fault anyways as we had held crucial information from the other," Taeyeon points out sorrowly at Irene's implication of the previous night. Taeyeon appears to be in thought before speaking again. "This might be odd to say, but I'm glad you're well aware of the whole family fiasco. Although, I'm sure she probably wouldn't have brought you here if you weren't," she lightly jokes. "Anyways, I'm saying this because I want you to know how reassuring it is knowing that even after learning about my family's history, Wendy has at least one person over there at Hogwarts that she can still lean on and is in her corner besides Sehun and I," Taeyeon gives her a gracious smile.

"But hey!" Taeyeon tries to turn the somber mood around with high spirits. "Let's not start the morning off so sadly sappy! Don't you want to know any embarrassing stories about Wendy? I'm sure she tries to act all cool around you, but secretly she's an idiot," she jokes.

Irene nods enthusiastically at the suggestion, ready to follow through with Taeyeon and lighten the morning atmosphere. She's about to tell Taeyeon to just tell her anything, but then a thought flashes through her mind, "Oh my goodness! I'm not sure if this was really embarrassing to you, but it kinda seemed like it might've been for Wendy. Can you tell me more about H₂O?"

"She told you about that?!?" Taeyeon squeals in delightment. "Are you curious about why our band was called H₂O?"

Irene nods excitedly, "Wen explained it and I think it's brilliant if you ask me! I don't know why she didn't like it."

"Thank you! Between you and me, I think she's just jealous that I came up with it and not her," Taeyeon nudges her playfully before finally putting food on her own plate.

"I'm jealous of what now?" a voice comes, causing the two seated girls to turn their heads. Wendy enters the kitchen and kisses Irene on the forehead, mumbling good morning before sitting down. A smile creeps onto Irene's face and Taeyeon coos.

"You two are seriously the cutest! And I was just telling Irene a bit about H₂O," Taeyeon takes a bite into her eggs.

"Oh, wonderful," Wendy deadpans as she too starts to grab food. "Let's move on, shall we?" 

The trio go back and forth on whether or not to change topics, but after Irene sends Wendy some puppy dog eyes, the Ravenclaw caves and even tells Irene some H₂O memories herself. The Slytherin had to keep herself from laughing when she hears Taeyeon fake a cough and raggedly say 'whipped' within it, making Wendy scowl and telling her sister to shut up.

For the next couple of hours, the sisters and Irene spend the time catching up. As Irene got to know Taeyeon more, she started to understand why Wendy had warned her about the girl. It wasn't that she was scary, but rather she was indeed very excited about their relationship and couldn't keep herself from asking so many questions. In a way, it was almost like her aunt Tiffany, but it didn't seem as intense or judgemental. Now that Irene thinks about it, she was also Wendy's first, real relationship as well, so of course there was no doubt that Taeyeon would be giddy about it.

"You really thought Wendy had been in relationships before? I mean, not counting Sehun obviously," Taeyeon says as they talk about Irene and Wendy's assumptions of one another before and while they were dating.

"Her confidence really made it seem so and even though she was cringey at times, her flirting was actually quite cute," Irene blushes in an embarrassed state as Wendy puffs her chest proudly at the comment. It was almost weird for Irene to think back on their relationship these days considering that they were really dating now. As she looks at Wendy, it started to hit her that everytime Wendy flirted with her, it wasn't just for the act, but that her words may have been genuine the entire time. 

"I'm sure she got tips from the guys at Durm because I doubt Wendy had any experience in the past," Taeyeon laughs.

"Hey! I've had my fair share of interactions with other girls! Remember when Sehun and I went to his step brother's Christmas party during my fifth year? There was one girl who-"

"Wen-" Taeyeon tries as Wendy fails to notice Irene's expression. Her eyebrow was perked and had leaned her head on her fisted hand.

"-was all over me! So, I totally got game with...other... girls...," Wendy speaks slower as she finally looks at Irene after Taeyeon would constantly motion at her with her eyes. "I-uh.. nothing happened of course! I-I don't even remember her name or what she looked like and even if I did, no one compares to you my love!" Wendy says frantically.

After a couple of seconds, both Irene and Taeyeon share a look and burst into laughter after seeing Wendy's panic, "I'm just teasing you, but you're damn right no one does!" Irene gives Wendy a quick peck to turn the girl's frown around which easily worked. Then, the Ravenclaw pulls out her phone to check the time and her eyes widen.

"Oh shoot, we've got to get ready now before it's too late," Wendy looks to Irene quickly.

"Late for what?" Irene asks.

"There's this place I've been wanting to take you ever since we arrived in the city. It'll be our first proper date!" Her girlfriend says excitedly and Irene can't help but react the same way.

"Hold on, you two have been together for months and you're only now having your first date?" Taeyeon says in disbelief and it breaks their trance, her words alarming them both. They both realized that Wendy had slipped up considering that they hadn't told Taeyeon about the truth of how their relationship had started. It was clear to her that Wendy had meant that it would be their first date as an official couple, but obviously Taeyeon didn't know that. Irene was at a loss for words on how to respond, but thankfully Wendy recovered quickly.

"I meant like our first date outside of Hogwarts and Hogsmeade. I feel like there was only so much we could do there, you know?"

The answer made sense to Irene and she could only hope that it made sense to the older sibling as well. And to their relief, it did.

"Ohh, I get it," she nods understandably. "Where are y'all going to go?"

"That's a secret for us to know, loser," Wendy pokes her tongue out then heads towards the stairs.

"You're the loser!" Taeyeon yells back as they watch Wendy disappear upstairs. Before Irene follows, she looks back to her and whispers, "I'll tell you when we get back."

Taeyeon breaks out into a huge smile, let's out a small, victorious 'yes' and then whispers back, "I knew I had a good feeling about you for a reason!" The two high five then Irene goes up to get ready.

--

"Wen, are we there yet? I feel like you've been driving for hours and it doesn't even look like we're in the city anymore," Irene says as she takes in the scenery of snow-covered trees. Despite Wendy telling her sister that where they we're going was a secret between them, it was still currently just Wendy's secret because she had yet to tell her anything about where she was taking her.

"Baby, it hasn't even been a whole hour yet," Wendy chuckles. "We're almost there, I promise. It should only be a few more minutes."

Wendy ended up being true with her words because before she knows it, the Ravenclaw shifts the car into park. As they get out, Irene's eyebrows knit together when she realizes that Wendy seemed to have literally led them to the middle of nowhere. Besides the road, the two were surrounded by trees.

"Uhh... Babe?" she asks skeptically.

Wendy intertwines their hands together once next to her and starts to lead her inside the woods, "Don't worry. There's a path, but the snow is covering it up. I know where to go by heart. Trust me when I say that it'll be worth it. You do trust me, don't you?"

"I do," Irene says. The answer was so simple, yet it held so much weight.

They walk in comfortable silence as they stroll in the snow. It was so peaceful, it made Irene forget about all of her worries for a while. After a few minutes, they arrive at a clearing and Irene's jaw drops as they are met with a small, picturesque, frozen lake. It was near sunset so the scene was lit beautifully with the sky colors being a mix of blue, purple and orange reflecting on the lake.

"The open field where I used to practice for quidditch when I was younger is just a bit further on the other side," Wendy points across the lake. "My dad and I had found this place one day when we were flying around on our brooms for training. The snitch we were chasing had led us here during the winter time so the lake was frozen solid. My dad ended up showing me this cool spell where we could turn our boots into ice skates and we ended up skating the whole day with both of us falling on asses and laughing to our hearts content."

In the corner of her eye, she sees a small smile form on Wendy's face at the memory, but it didn't last long. To be honest, it surprised Irene that Wendy had even brought her dad up so soon. She thought Wendy wouldn't have wanted to talk or even mention him until the day her parents arrived back, but she's happy to know that Wendy still feels comfortable enough around her to talk more about him.

"We-uh never found the time to come back together again after that day and of course, our falling out didn't really help that either, but still, I always came here whenever I needed time for myself. I like coming here during the winter the most though. I never expected how relaxing it was to hear the blade glide against the ice and feel the cool breeze against my face. It's just, every time I came here, it felt like I was in my own little world where nothing could reach me. So, this place is kind of a sacred spot for me now. I like to think that besides my dad, I am the only person who knows about it and I loved that. But, I think I'm going to love it even more if you were to join me this time around."

When Wendy meets her eyes, Irene's taken back at the way she was looking at her. She knows the girl had looked at her that way in the past, but it still feels like a new experience every time. Her gaze was soft and endearing, making Irene wonder if she even deserved to be looked at like that. To add to that, Wendy words never fail to make her feel so many emotions all at once. How was she going to make her so nervous about where they were going only to make it have one huge sentimental outcome. This girl was truly something else.

Of course, one could say that everything Wendy does will always feel surreal for Irene because she is her first girlfriend, but Irene knows it isn't that simple. People had done and said so much for and to her in the past, but the fact that it was coming from not just her girlfriend, but Wendy had made it all much more meaningful for her. It's knowing that they've mutually reached a point where they want to share things like this with one another, whether it be big or small, significant or light. It makes her heart swell.

Before giving a verbal answer, Irene caresses Wendy's face and pulls her into a gentle kiss which the other girl gratefully returns, her hands landing delicately on Irene's hips. When the kiss breaks, their foreheads lean against one another and their small pants for air can be seen in the cold weather. "I don't think I want to join you here just this time around though," Irene says suggestively and Wendy immediately cracks a grin.

"I like the way you think, Bae," the Ravenclaw agrees contentedly, then they pull apart. "Now, I didn't just bring you here to stand around, let's skate!"

With a quick incantation said by the taller girl, their winter boots instantly turn into ice skates and the shift of balancing on flat feet to two thin blades catches Irene off guard. Just before she's about to lean too far and fall, Wendy's there to catch her. "Sorry babe, probably should've given you a heads-up, huh?" Wendy laughs and she just joins in as she stands upright, regaining her balance.

They waddle their way to the ice and Irene hesitates before stepping onto it. She had to take a moment to hype herself up because, as it turns out, Irene can't ice skate for her life. She's talented in many things, but she learned the hard way that this just isn't one of them. She looks out onto the ice and sees Wendy already a few feet away from her and was facing her, "Everything okay?"

"Yeah!" she tries to sound convincing. "Just gimme a second!" After hearing about how important this place and skating had been to Wendy, she didn't want to let the girl down by not joining her on the ice. It looks like she was just going to have to it up. So, she starts to countdown in her head, telling herself to just go for it once she hits zero.

At last, she cautiously places one foot after the other and soon enough she's officially on the ice as both are planted onto it solidly. But that's all she did. She stood there, having yet to move.

"Uh, babe? You're looking like a sim right now," Wendy stifles a laugh. "Do you need-"

"No, no, I got it," she says proudly, then she starts to move. However, instead of gliding on the frozen water, her eyes are glued to her feet as she takes tiny baby steps towards the other girl, "Here I-whoa-here I come!"

When she looks up, she was surprised to see how close she was to Wendy already, "Omo! See? I didn't need any help! I got to you so quickly!"

"I'm sorry to tell you baby girl, but you were too focused on your steps, you failed to see me come over to you," Wendy couldn't hold her laughter any longer when she saw how red Irene's face turned. "Don't worry, I know you can skate, but how about we just stay jointed as we go around?"

"That's right! I can skate," Irene lies confidently through her lips. Even though the two were dating, Irene still didn't want to admit that Wendy just so happened to be better than her with certain things. She holds too much pride. "And just because you asked, we can hold onto each other."

Wendy offers her hand, but instead, Irene latches herself onto her arm. I hope that didn't look desperate, Irene thinks and the taller girl starts to lead them around the lake slowly to Irene's relief. Despite being a bit terrified of falling, she does find it comforting having Wendy next to her. She nearly loses her footing at times causing her to tighten her grip around Wendy's arm and thankfully, the other girl doesn't say anything about it.

"You know," Wendy starts after skating around for a while. "I was kind of hoping that you wouldn't know how to skate so we could do that cliché teaching moment where I get to hold your hands and guide you throughout the lake. Then, maybe you'd trip, but I'd be there to break your fall."

"You are a lot cheesier than I thought. But I mean, if you really want to, you could pretend to teach me," Irene suggests, although the 'pretend' bit wouldn't really be pretending since she could really use the help.

"Oh, so only if I want to?" Wendy smirks. "Because, of course, you're already so good?"

"That's right!"

"Okay, okay," Wendy concedes with a smile, then moves in front of her to join their hands. "Let's start slow, shall we?"

As they begin to go in circles, Wendy tells her stories about the previous times she had come to lake whether it be spotting animals or nearly falling into the lake due to thin ice while Irene would tell her about how her mom and dad would take her to a local skating rink when she was younger, but had lost interest in it as she got older (which was partially true. It was also because she at it, but Wendy didn't need to know that.) And as they talk, their conversations feel so natural and easy to Irene. It was times like this when it was just the two of them where Irene starts to appreciate the little things in their relationship. Even when there are no words to say, their silence is comfortable. She just finds joy being in the girl's presence.

They're on their fourth lap when the daylight starts to fade. Wendy suggests letting each other go and skate freely for a bit before heading back to the car. At first, Irene refuses, saying that she liked holding hands with the girl and didn't want to let go. She did love holding her hands, but she also knew that if Wendy were to break free, Irene would become, as Wendy had called her, a sim yet again. But then, Wendy just had to suggest they race.

"Why not? Scared you're going to lose, Bae?" Wendy teases.

"I am not! Where are we racing to?" Irene's demeanor changes from hesitant to competitive in an instant.

"One lap around and then to the place where we entered," the Ravenclaw answers. Irene just nods and Wendy moves to her side, one hand still connected to Irene's.

"Ready," Wendy begins and they let go of each other. As soon as they break contact, Irene wobbles but catches herself as she gets into a starting position.

"Set," Irene feels her heart rate picking up as she anticipates Wendy's next word. Her nervousness starts eating at her, making her more and more scared to move no matter how badly she wants to. You're Irene Bae. You can ing do it! You should be use to the ice by now!

"Go!"

Irene's legs start to move for her and to her surprise, she glides smoothly on the ice. She doesn't get to go that far though as she stops when she hears a sudden thud behind her.

"Aw ," Wendy mutters. Irene turns and there, lying on the frozen ice, was her girlfriend who had clearly slipped. She knows she should go and help her, but Irene starts laughing so hard that she had to bend over and hold her knees to keep herself steady.

"Are you okay, baby?" Irene giggles, finally making her way towards the now seated girl.

"I'm alright, babe. To think I would be the one to fall and not you," Wendy giggles as well as she brushes herself off. As Irene helps her up, Wendy beams her eye-crinkling smile at her. "But I'm so proud of you!"

"What?" Irene says confused.

"You were full on skating all by yourself!"

"I-I w-what do you mean?" Irene tries to play off awkwardly.

"I hate to break it to you, but I knew as soon as you stepped on the ice that you couldn't skate. It looks like my pretend teaching paid off, huh?" Wendy grins.

"Oh shut it," Irene playfully smacks the other girl's arm, but wraps her arms around it right after. "Let's get back to the car before it gets too dark."

"Your wish is my command, m'lady!" Wendy responds dramatically, making Irene laugh lightly.

With their regular winter boots back to normal and the heat on high in Wendy's car, Irene let's out a content sigh. The date was better than what she had imagined. She thought it was going to be a complete disaster as soon as Wendy suggested ice skating, but now here she is with a shy smile forming as she thinks about their time there. The car radio plays music softly as Wendy drives, making the scene all the more soothing.

"So, did you think it was worth the trip, now?" Wendy asks as she drives back towards the city.

"I should've never doubted you," Irene looks at her. "Next time, though, we will have a proper race now that I'm much more experienced in the art of ice skating." Wendy bursts into laughter in response.

"Oh, there will definitely be a next time." As they reach an intersection that they had been to on the way to the woods, Wendy takes an unexpected turn heading away from the Son residence.

"Um... Baby, you missed the turn," Irene points out, a bit worried.

"There's actually one more place we've got to go to. Our night isn't over yet, Bae," Wendy steals a glance at her and Irene instantly becomes excited for what's next. After a few more minutes, they eventually arrive at what looks like a small café. They get out of the now parked car and once they're both inside, Irene is hit with the smell of baked goods and coffee and Wendy leads them to a table near the storefront window with Irene taking the seat facing the entrance.

"I'll be right back and order something real quick," Wendy tells her and Irene nods. As she waits, she shoots some texts to her group chat with Joy and Jennie to give them her daily life updates and also read theirs, then next thing she knows, Wendy places a styrofoam cup in front of her.

"What's this?" Irene asks as she notices that Wendy had the same cup as well.

"Our tradition or at least, I'm officially declaring this as our tradition now," Wendy beams excitedly. "I've noticed that hot chocolate has been our go to drink whenever we go on dates. We had it on our actual first date in the Room of Requirement and it just so happened that we kept getting it each time afterwards. Hell, even on the date that you planned, we got hot chocolate. So yeah, this is definitely our tradition now. Although maybe during the spring and summer we can substitute it with something else," she laughs.

"Our tradition," Irene repeats as she takes the girl's words in. "I love it," she smiles back.

As they wait for their hot chocolate to cool down, Irene can't help but feel like she doesn't deserve Wendy. It was obvious now that Wendy had always paid attention to the small details since the moment they had met whereas Irene never even noticed their habit of getting hot chocolate all the time. Wendy constantly reminds her of how much she cares for her through her words and actions, but Irene can't say she's been doing the same for Wendy despite knowing that she cares just as much. She also feels like she knows so much more about Wendy's life whereas Irene hasn't really shared much about any big events in her past either. Wendy gives so much and Irene knows that she deserves to feel just as loved as Wendy does for her. If Wendy doesn't know it now, Irene decides to tell her right then and there. To her, there was really one word in particular that seemed to have summed up her feelings perfectly.

"Thank you, by the way," Irene starts as she fiddles with her cup. "Not just for today, but for everything you've done for me. For trusting and caring for me and making sure I know it too. I know our history has been kind of crazy and the journey to where we are now wasn't easy. For a long time, I was a mess trying to figure out my feelings for you. I wanted to hate you so badly for absolutely no logical reason. But you made it so hard, Wen. Before you came along, I almost lost hope that I'd ever find someone for me. Like yeah, we're still young, but I at least thought I'd meet at least one person to keep my interest. I started to think that it'd be quite some time for it to happen. But then suddenly you came waltzing in with your stupidly charming grin and your annoyingly perfect words."

"Are you insulting me or complimenting me?" Wendy teases.

"You know what I mean," Irene laughs and she reaches out to intertwine their hands. Once linked, Wendy begins to rub her thumb along Irene's hand. Another thing that just so happens to be on the list of why she likes the Ravenclaw.

"I'm saying all of this because I want you to know that, no. I need you to know that...," Irene pauses as she thinks carefully about her next words. She can feel Wendy's eyes watching her patiently and after one more run-over in her head, Irene says what has been on her mind for the past of couple of weeks, "I think I’m falling in l-"

"Wendy? Is that you?"

Irene's eyes whip towards the entrance of the café at the mention of her girlfriend's name and sees a girl and boy standing there. Right after, the Ravenclaw turns around away from Irene and towards the unrecognizable voice too. And although Irene couldn't see her face anymore, she could hear Wendy's panic in the first few words she said and she could only question why Wendy would speak that way for milliseconds, before Wendy's last word made it clear.

"Oh my god," Wendy says as soon as she sees the person who had called her name. "Rosie?"

A/N: Y'all saw this coming didn't you? 

Looks like their first two days at the Son residence was not at all what our favorite couple expected, but hey! We've finally met Wendy's sister :)

And after their very cute date, can you blame Irene for wanting to say... oh wait! We don't know what Irene was going to say because look who made it! Let's see how the two will handle this unexpected visitor in the next chapter.

Just a reminder, I'm not sure how often updates will be due to the fact that I'm starting my final year at college so please be patient with me. This may also mean that the chapters may be a bit shorter in comparison to recent chapters, but I hope that you all will still continue to enjoy the story as much as I've had while writing it.

As always, comments are welcome here and on twitter (you can either tag me in posts are just reply on my fic update tweets!) Stay healthy everyone!

- S (@rv_twice5 on twitter)