I put the car in park, exhaling as I look at you with a reassuring smile. “You ready, love?” I ask gently as I reach my hand across the console and interlace our fingers.

Tonight is your 5 year high school reunion and since we’ve been dating for around 8 months now, you asked me to come with you. I know you’re nervous for a multitude of reasons so all day while we’ve been getting ready for tonight, I’ve been periodically checking on you. When you invited me to come with you to the reunion, you’d mentioned that in high school you didn’t have many friends and got bullied by some of the more popular people, so it makes sense that you’re anxious about coming back. I also wouldn’t be surprised if another contributing factor is our relationship, since I’m 30 and you’re only 23.

“Looks like people are starting to walk in,” I observe, looking out the window of my black range rover.