"Will you guys just calm down?" I sighed as we pulled up to the restaurant that same night. "It's just Top. Don't think of him as T-O-P. Think of him as my boyfriend."

"Yeah, your perfect boyfriend." Jen snorted as Angelina parked her car.

"Incredibly y boyfriend." Ceci added.

"My boyfriend." I eyed Ceci, putting the emphasis on the my. I knew she was saying this all in good fun, but she had been the girl all the guys wanted in high school. What would be so different now?

"Everyone should be here." Angelina said as we all got out. "Let's go in."

We walked into the fancy restaurant and immediatlely saw our huge family in the back room that was reserved for large parties of people. everyone else was ahead of us, CL next to Madeline as Ceci, Jen, and I stayed behind.

"You guys will be fine." I continued. "Vinny had Matt and Drake tag along." Matt and Drake had been our friends in high school, too (Ceci dated Matt).

"There's the finishing touch to the birthday equation!" My dad smiled when he saw me.

"Hi." I smiled, taking a step ahead Ceci and Jen since they both walked a little slower.

They saw him. They both so saw him.

There was an empty spot next to my brother, but on the other side of the empty spot was TOP. Of course, he stood and walked over to me.

I snorted when I heard Ceci squeak behind me.

TOP didn't even notice them. Instead, he hugged me and gave me a quick peck on the lips. "Happy birthday." He smiled. He looked really good in a light blue button up shirt rolled up to his elbows and a pair of khakis, his black hair styled up.

"Thanks." I smiled back up at him. I grabbed his hand and turned to my friends. "Seunghyun, these are my best friends I was tell you about this morning," I smirked at the two dumbstruck in-awe girls in front of me. "Jen and Ceci, this is Top. Seunghyun, these are my best friends Jenifer and Cecilia."

TOP smiled and held out his free hand. "I've heard a lot about you both. It's nice to finally meet you."

The girls both slowly took his hand.

"Hi..." Jen said slowly, a small smile on her face.

"I hope Nat's told you the good stuff." Ceci smiled.

"Don't worry. I would never embarrass you in front of your Nobu." I joked with Ceci, causing us both to laugh.

"I still don't get that nickname ever since you told me." TOP chuckled, shaking his head.

I was about to turn around, but heard a bright and cheery. "Surprise! Happy birthday, Vincent and sweetheart!"

My eyes widened, and I gasped and spun around. Coming in through the back entrance, the door being held open by my dad, were the rest of BIGBANG and 2NE1.

I squealed, and Vinny and I both ran to our new friends. I hugged Seungri first. "Oh my God!" I exclaimed as I hugged Daesung, then Taeyang. "I thought YG said it would be a waste of plane tickets for you guys to come!"

"And miss VINAT's twenty-first birthday? Come on, baby!" Jiyong clicked his tongue, shook his head, and hugged me. "We were surprising you both. Our plan was to have TOP distract you from that door and have your mom and nephew distract Vincent as we snuck in. It worked."

"Sure did." Vinny admitted. He had been holding Kyoki while all this was happening.

I spun around, and then realized TOP had been knowing of this the whole time. I hit his chest with my fist. "You knew this the whole time!"

TOP chuckled and enveloped my hand with his on his chest. "Why do you think I've been so busy?"

I looked over at my parents. "Is this why you texted us and said they didn't have our favorite bagels at Panera this morning?"

My dad chuckled and nodded. "We never went. We were headed to Chicago to pick them all up from the airport."

I finally realized Jen and Ceci were still standing at the doorway, awestruck. Jen's mouth was even hanging open. I had to laugh, and I walked over to my friends. "Ceci, Jen, I want you to meet some people."

---

Things had finally settled down, and we were all seated at the long table for dinner. We were waiting for our orders, chatting with each other. I was sitting in between Vinny and TOP, while my brother had Minzy on his other side (that had to be planned). Since Vinny was still completely shy around Minzy, he talked to me a lot more, which was fine with me. I wanted my brother to feel more comfortable.

Elisabetta, who was sitting next to Ceci, who was across from TOP, looked at TOP after taking a drink of her lemonade. "Top, can I ask you something?"

TOP nodded after setting down his own wine glass. "Of course, Lizzy."

"You really like Natalia, right?" Lizzy asked.

I looked at my cousin, confused. TOP smiled, confused, and nodded. "Um, yes? Why?"

"Well when you date someone, you're supposed to have fun, right?"

Oh, God.

"Well, yes." TOP answered my cousin.

"Lizzy-" I warned.

Lizzy ignored me and looked at my boyfriend. "So why haven't you two done it yet?"

That was the wrong time to take a drink.

TOP and I both coughed on our wine, everyone growing silent when they heard Lizzy's question.

"Elisabetta." Uncle Massimo said sternly to his daughter.

"What?" Elisabetta asked innocently. "Ceci and Jen were teasing Natalia because she and TOP haven't done it yet. Natalia said doing it means having fun. If someone is dating, shouldn't they have fun all the time?"

"Natalia Nicoletta!" My mom gasped.

"What?" I hissed. "Shouldn't you be happy I told her it was that and not what it really means?"

"It was my fault." Ceci interjected. "We were just messing with her. We know how Natalia is."

Jen nodded in agreement.

"Well?" Elisabetta asked TOP, then looked at me.

I cleared my throat and ignored my mom's glare. "Lizzy... it's more complicated than that. You'll understand when you're older."

"So when I'm in high school? Because that's when you dated Elliot. And one time I heard Madeline and Isabella talking about how you and Elliot had fun a lot. I want a boyfriend I can have fun with in high school."

"oh my God." I winced, putting my head in my hands.

"Lizzy, shut up!" Isabella hissed, reaching across their father and pushing her little sister.

"You what?" Mom growled.

"Just make everyone be quiet." I muttered.

"Natalia Nicoletta Alessandra, I don't know about Elliot, but I swear to God if you ever get in the same bed as-"

"Just because we're in the same bed doesn't mean we're doing anything, Mom!" I snapped, looking at my mother. "You act like a bed is only used for one thing. Sorry for using it to sleep in."

"Are you saying you've slept with him already?" The look of disappointment on my mom's face was astounding.

"Natalia..." TOP muttered next to me, warning me to keep my mouth shut. My mom wasn't a fan of him already.

I shook my head anyway. "No. If she wants to know, I'll tell her." I looked at my mom. "Yes, me and Seunghyun have slept in the same bed before. Yes, we're alone in a separate room. No, we do not do anything but sleep! We are too exhausted to do anything! I swear as soon as my head hits the pillow I'm gone, Mom. But you know what, I don't find anything wrong with it. You don't even realize it was Madeline you were talking on the phone to that time you called and TOP said we were dating."

My mom looked at Vinny. "But you said it was your sister I was talking to..." She looked at Madeline. "It was really you?"

Madeline stayed quiet, but nodded. Vinny shrugged. "I'm not about to sell out my twin, Mom."

I sighed. "I'm twenty-one now. If I can drink, I'm sure I can make other choices too."

My mom scoffed. "Natalia, you're Catholic! It is a sin to-"

"I'm not a , Mom!" Vinny exclaimed to save my .

We all stared at him.

Vinny glanced at me, then kept going. "Here you are ragging on Natalia about Catholic values and you haven't even assumed I'd done anything. But I have. More than once. I don't think that's going to make me go to Hell. God seems like  a pretty cool dude. He knows times have changed."

TOP muttered something in Korean and bowed his head. He had to be so embarrassed.

My mom opened , but my Dad spoke over her, holding up his hands. "Enough! Enough... we are here to celebrate the lives of Natalia and Vincent, not to criticize their choices." My dad clapped his hands together. "Now, who wants more wine?"

TOP and I both rose our hands.

Things had settled down, but TOP hadn't said a word.

I looked at Jen and Ceci in front of me. "Oh my God..." I mouthed to my best friends.

"Awkward." Ceci murmered, Jen nodding.

I looked at TOP and groaned when he didn't even looked at me. He just moved his wine glass in small circles on the table, swirling the wine inside.

I took my phone out and texted him:

im sorry, okay? she was getting on my nerves....

I watched TOP grab his phone from his pants pocket. Without even a glance at me, he texted back:

well now i have some questions. we need to talk 2

I gulped as soon as I saw those dreaded words: we need to talk. This litle arguement at the table couldn't have been break-up worthy, could it?

Even the thought of TOP wanting to break up with me locked up my throat and clouded my eyes with tears. "Excuse me." I squeaked, scooting my chair back and hurrying out of the room and outside.

I discretely wiped my eyes as I paced the sidewalk. TOP couldn't break up with me. We had been through so much already. One little arguement between my mom and I coudln't embarrass him to the point of disliking me.

"Natalia." I heard TOP say behind me.

I turned around. "I'm sorry, okay? I'm just sick of my mom. She thinks my brother and I are perfect and we are far from it. I'm no where near perfect."

TOP immediately hugged me, pulling me against him tightly. "Don't apolgize to me, okay? You are perfect to me, and that's all I care about. I just got a little bit uncomfortable in there and I felt that if I would've tried to help you I would've said the wrong words since English isn't my first language. I'm already on your mom's bad side enough."

I looked up at him. "So you don't hate me?"

TOP chuckled. "Are you kidding me? Of course I don't! I luh-like you too much to hate you, Natalia." TOP stuttered.

He stuttered when he said like.

Luh... Luh....

Love?

No, he couldn't. TOP wasn't one to be in love.

But, I was.

It freaked me out when I realized it.

I looked up at TOP, and it was like it all made sense. The reason we had felt shocks when we first touched at the music video shoot months ago. Why I was so nervous moments before seeing him, even to this day. How being close to him like this was still even too much for me to handle, yet I wanted to be closer.

I wasn't just dating my K-Pop bias, T.O.P.

I fell in love with Choi Seunghyun.

And, man, did I fall hard.