//------------------------------// // Chapter 17; Awkward Conversation // Story: "Just Kiss Already!" And Other Rumbaloo Tales // by Candy-Sweets_12 //------------------------------// "Are you sure about this?" Rumble asked. "Yeah, how come you're getting second thoughts all of a sudden?" "Because I just realized that we're going to be in a bit of an awkward situation." "How awkward?" "You'll see. But in advance, I apologize for bringing you here." he says. Scootaloo sighed and lowered her head to the frozen ground. 'Great.' she thought. The two walked up the doorstep of Rumble's home a few minutes later, and knocked on the door. "I also forgot to mention that Thunderlane will be here with Blossom." Rumble said. And speak of the devil, Thunderlane answered the door. "Hey little bro," he said, ruffling his brother's hair. "Hey Thunderlane." Rumble said. "Do you think Mom and Dad'll mind if I invited Scootaloo for dinner?" "I doubt it. Come on, bring your girlfriend in." Thunderlane smiled when Scootaloo shot Rumble a look that made him shrug. The two followed him inside. "I thought that we weren't supposed to tell anyone." Scootaloo whispered. "Cut me some slack here, I asked him on advice with asking you out in the first place." Rumble defended. "I can hear you two you know." Thunderlane said. "Are you two sharing secrets or something?" "Thunderlane, you promised." Rumble threatened. "Chillax little bro, It's just harmless teasing. But I can't help you if Mom and Dad start talking." Thunderlane said, holding his hooves up. Rumble sighed and rolled his eyes, bringing Scootaloo into the living room. "Hey Mom, hey Dad." Rumble said. The two adults turned around and smiled. "Hey Rumble," his Dad said. He looked to Scootaloo and smiled. "It's been a while since I've seen you around here." "Yeah...I know." Scootaloo looked down and scratched the back of her head. "You don't mind if I invited her for dinner do you?" "No, of course not." Rumble's father replied. He wrapped an arm around Scootaloo and lead her to the couch. "You can stay as long as you'd like." he promised. "Thank you sir." Scootaloo said. "Dinner will be ready in a few minutes, so go wash up." Rumble's mother said, shooing the two a way to the bathroom. Scootaloo followed and eventually after a few minutes, everyone sat at the kitchen table. Scootaloo sat next to Blossom Forth; who sat to the left of Thunderlane, and smiled warmly at the two. Rumble sat next to his Mom, with his father at her left side. And his Dad sat next to Thunderlane. They all engaged into conversation as they dug in, scooping in salad and pasta on their plates. There was a bunch of muffled chatter, as laughter soon erupted from different family members. Eventually, Rumble's mother, who was wiping a tear from her eye from laughing so hard looked to Scootaloo. "What about you Scootaloo? Do you have anything interesting to say?" Scootaloo looked down to her plate. "No Ma'am." she replied. "Oh there's got to be something you could tell us." Rumble's dad mentioned. "There's not much to tell really. I mean, I enjoy helping Blossom out by being her bridesmare, but other than practicing for the Wonder Bolt's Academy, I don't have much else to say." "But aren't you and Rumble together?" Rumble's mother replied. Scootaloo tensed up, giving Rumble a scorching look from the side. "Um...what makes you think that?" "It's painfully obvious. The way you two kids are always hanging out together. Reminds me of when I was young with my Storm." Rumble's father replied. "Oh, you sweet heart." his mother replied. "Don't you two always go on dates together?" "Oh, well, we went to a restaurant a few times. But that's it." "There's no need to hide it Rumble. We're all family here. It's okay to talk about your girlfriend a little." Thunderlane joined in. Rumble shot Thunderlane a look, which had no effect on him as he kept the same teasing grin on his face. Scootaloo and Rumble both tensed up at the word 'girlfriend'. They may have started dating, but it still felt strange to call each other those names. Or any nicknames. The tips of the two's ears started turning red, and heat was spreading to their cheeks. "You don't have to be embarrassed Rumble," Blossom Forth encouraged. "you can talk about being together. Have you two kissed each other yet?" Scootaloo started covering her face with her hooves and slipping out of her chair as she turned bright red, while Rumble broke into a nervous sweat. "N-no. I haven't." he assured her. "Not even a small peck on the lips?" his mother asked. "Nope." Rumble said quickly. Right now, he and Scootaloo both wished they could just climb in a hole and stay there for the rest of their lives. 'I am so sorry Scootaloo.' Rumble thought. "It's not like that, we just hang out together." "Yes, eating dinner together until ten is totally just hanging out." Thunderlane smirked, folding his arms and looking to Rumble." "Thunderlane! You said you wouldn't tell anyone." "Didn't think you meant family too. Welp, it's a bit late for that now." he said. Rumble put his head on the table and groaned as he continuously turned red. "You two don't have to be embarrassed." Rumble's mom echoed, "You two are exactly like Blossom and Thunderlane here, and I'm sure that within a few years time, you two'll will be- " "Please don't say it Mom, not in front of Scootaloo." Rumble begged. "be happily married, just like these two will." she said. Scootaloo had enough and stood up. "Thanks for the meal, but I should get home." she stood up and walked out of the silent room. "Scootaloo wait," Rumble went after her. "Don't you want any hot chocolate?" Rumble's dad called out. "No Sir," she replied. Everyone at the table went silent as the front door opened. "You think we went a little far this time?" Rumble's mom asked. "Maybe a bit. But hey, we didn't mention grandkids." His father shrugged. "Scootaloo, wait." "What Rumble?" she snapped back, whipping her head around. "I'm sorry." "You don't need to be." "I don't?" "I should've known this would happen. Yet I was hoping it wouldn't, I'm such an idiot for not thinking about it." "It's my fault for inviting you there." Rumble said, walking up next to her as she trudged home. "It was still fun for the first few minutes, and I got dinner out of it, so that wasn't so bad." "I didn't think they'd go that far though." Rumble said. "You don't think about that, do you?" Scootaloo asked, looking to Rumble with curious eyes and the fading blush on her cheeks. "Think about what?" Rumble asked. "What your mother mentioned at the end, you know, about the..." Scootaloo tried to say it but the word caught in her throat. But Rumble understood what she meant, and blushed. "No. I don't." Rumble admitted. "Okay then, I'm not sure how to feel about that." "You don't have to feel anything about it." "Well, since my parents have mentioned in the past about how I'm almost old enough to get married, I can't help but want to consider it." "When did they mention that?" "Around the time I turned seventeen. My dad kept tearing up and saying how I was growing up so fast. He even had this big talk with me about how I could marry somepony once I turned twenty five or something like that." "He's pretty protective." Rumble said. "Yeah, he can be, but I can understand why. He's my Dad, and I'll always love him to death, even if it means he raises the bar a bit with my relationships." "Fair enough. Do you hate my family now or something?" "Why would I do that?" "They did keep teasing us about our relationship." "Yeah, but that's typical family teasing. I just couldn't bear the..." Scootaloo choked on her words as she tried to get the last one out. "It's okay, I understand what you mean." Rumble assured her. "Do you feel anything about it?" she asks. "Not really, like I said, I don't think about it too often. I never really thought about that, between you and me. You know?" The two stopped in the snow, Rumble looking away and scratching the back of his head. "Do you consider me to be your girl-" she tried saying the word as well, but the caught in her throat with the first. "I actually don't know what to consider you as, I don't feel close enough to you to consider you that, but I consider you as more than a friend." "I feel the same way." snow started drifting down between the two, it was one of the last scheduled blizzards before Spring. One snowflake floated in between them, drifting as it slowly fell to the ground. Snow mixed in with the layers in their manes, and warmth spread to Scootaloo's cheeks as she thought back to the one day in the snow. 'I seem to be reminded constantly of it all the time.' she thought. Rumble stared into the black in her eyes, which was reflecting the drifting snowflake between them. For a long time, the two stayed there, waiting for the other to say something, and gradually growing a bit closer every minute. Until the warmth growing between them could no longer compete with the dropping temperature. "I-I'd best get home." Scootaloo said, wishing she hadn't broken their gaze so quickly. The two walked in silence for a while until Scootaloo made it home. "See you in school tomorrow." she said. Before stepping inside. "See ya." Scootaloo's mother stepped up and saw the snow in her daughter's hair. She smiled. "How was it?" "It was nice, despite the awkward conversation." "How awkward?" "I-don't-even-want-to-mention-it-awkward." Scootaloo said. "That bad huh? Well, you survived, though I'm surprised that you didn't beat the snow here." "I got a bit sidetracked on the way home." "Okay then." Scootaloo climbed the stairs and walked down the hallway to the bathroom, where she cleaned herself up before going to bed. She shut the door and flopped onto her bed, sighing all the while as she drifted into sleep. Where her dreams were filled with hot meals and fallen snow. And for the first time in a while, Rumble.