Happy Thanksgiving

*TRIGGER WARNING* contains suggestive cannibalism, foreshadowed torture and death

"You sure they're gonna like the gift? I mean, this IS your parents we're talking about.. and I do wanna impress them." A deep voice echoes in the bathroom, slightly unclear as well as the sound of a toothbrush's bristles being scraped are heard.

A soft giggle and sigh sounds out from the other side of the room, preoccupied with the the sounds of bangles clashing together, as well as the sound of a perfume bottle being sprayed.

"Yes, Mike. They're gonna love the gift, and they're gonna love you." A soft padding sounds out from behind the other figure, two hands coming to rest on their hips, Mike lifting a hand and moving the long brown hair that cascades down their back, tilting his head forwards and giving the side of their neck a soft kiss, peppering their neck in little butterfly kisses.

A breathy laugh is heard, as two hands slide down and land on top of Mike's, eyes finding a familiar name situated in black ink across Mike's forearm, the ink saying; 'Nicole' with the smallest of hearts next to the name, the tattooed name of the girl in question runs her fingers over her tattooed name, her lips lifting into a glowing grin , her head turns towards Mikes, a smile lit on her face.

"And you know this how, Miss Jackson?" A playful remark made by Mike earns him a slight scoff and laugh from Nicole.

"They're my parents. If anything, they should be more happy than me about meeting you. I hope.." Her tone turns slightly hesitant, but Mike knows she is kidding around.

"Stop it, Nic. You're gonna give me a heart attack." Mike shakes his head at an attempt to make her feel sorry for Mike, it works successfully.

"Hey.. come on. Look at me, babe." A smaller and slender hand slides onto Mike's cheek, making his dark brown eyes look up into forest green orbs. 'She's so beautiful.' Mike muses to himself, as she smiles at him, opening her soft lips and says; "You're gonna do great, they're gonna love you, I swear it. Stop stressing your handsome head about it, okay?" Mike unable to help himself, his hear skips a beat at her words and intense eye contact, he then leans his head forwards, both their foreheads resting to touch each other, their noses nuzzling in for an eskimo kiss.

"It's just you and me, always, yeah?" Nicole says gently, nothing but love in her eyes as she stares into Mike's dark brown eyes. Mike nods back, leaning in and giving her a deep and passionate kiss.

"You and me, always." Mike replies with a soft smile, breaking from the kiss and touching foreheads with Nicole as they both share a deep connection that they could feel, not needing to say any words.

---

Although the car ride was mostly silent, both Mike and Nicole kept sharing loving looks towards each other, just simply being complacent in each others company, there were some laughs and of course, some playful banter, but they knew that right in that moment, things were good, life was good. As Mike has one hand on the steering wheel, and the other resting on Nicole's thigh, with her hand placed on top of his, their fingers find each others and lock, as they look at each other and smile lovingly again. In the rear-view mirror, in the back seat, there is a bottle with a bow- Mike's gift. A bottle of Château Margaux, one of the most expensive bottles of red wine, worldwide, topped with a large red bow wrapped around the top. Mike had scored with this bottle, an old friend of his actually owning a vineyard with this top seller red wine being his most prized possession.

---

Mike's blue Toyota Camry pulls up to Nicole's parents house, her childhood home. The nerves come to Mike like a freighter train, fast and hard. He can feel his heart beat picking up inside his chest, his fingers lightly drumming against the steering wheel, lost in thought. Mike's thoughts are interrupted as a warm hand comes to rest on his drumming fingers, giving a tender squeeze. Mike turns his head to look at Nicole, already seeing her beautiful features pulled into an affection smile.

"Baby, I promise you. It's going to be fine. C'mon." Mike gives Nicole a slight nod and then his lips shift into a smile. The couple both unbuckle their seatbelts, gathering all their things, and opening the door, stepping out of the car and closing the door again. Mike steps over to the passenger door, opening it, his eyes catch the sight of the bright red ribbon attached to his gift. He reaches out to grab the bottle of red wine, taking care not to drop it. He reads the title, his thumb tracing over the brand name, a slither of a smile coming to rest on his lips. He closes the car door, making sure to lock it afterwards, and walks over to where Nicole is waiting for him just three feet away, she sends a cute smile his way, holding her hand out for him to take, which he gratefully does with no hesitation. As both Nicole and Mike take the two steps up towards where the front door was, Mike could feel his heart accelerating with more nerves, giving Nicole's hand a squeeze for some comfort, earning him a squeeze in return. They reach the front door, Nicole reaching her hand out to ring the doorbell, giving Mike one last smile before the door opens after a short second. As the door opens, it reveals and older man, giving the vast resemblance of Nicole. He greets us with a wide smile, his hands raised up in a welcoming manner.

"Ah my Nikki! So good to see you, my little flower." His smile is affectionate as he greets his daughter, Nicole steeping forwards to envelop her father in a big bear hug.

"Hey dad, good to see you too. God, I've missed you, old man." Mike witnessing their affectionate hug, his heart warms at the sight, a smile lit on his face. Nicole and her father step back from the hug, Nicole coming to stand next to Mike, her hand resting on his forearm as she begins to formerly introduce the two.

"Uh dad, this is my boyfriend Mike, Mike this is my dad, Richard. Be nice, you two." Nicole states, Richard's eyes darting to mine with a smile gracing his face, an arm reaching out towards me.

"Nice to meet you, son." His friendly greeting shakes away the nerves that Mike had built up, his hand coming up to shake Richards, giving it a firm shake. A pair of footsteps sound out behind Richard, as another head pops out into the doorway, an older woman this time. Her face lit up with a smile, she goes to greet Nicole.

"My doll, you look beautiful. And is this 'the famous Mike'?" The woman's voice sounds cheery as her eyes dart to Mike's, offering a smile.

"I guess that's me, yeah. It's nice to meet you, ma'am." Mike give a polite smile and nod towards the woman.

"Oh please, hun. Call me Dinah! Now, I hope you two are hungry, because supper is ready." Dinah says, Mike all of a sudden, remembering his gift for the older couple.

"I uh, brought this for you two. I hope a Château Margaux is right for thanksgiving." Mike lets out a nervous chuckle, his hand offering the bottle towards Dinah.

"How kind of you, this one's a keeper, Nic." Dinah replies, her hand taking the bottle out of Mike's hand, and Nicole letting out a laugh, with a shy smile. Richard and Dinah both invite the younger couple inside, showing them the dining table for their evening. The tune of a song coming from an old record player, sounding out the song 'Unchained Melody' by the Righteous Brothers. Placemats already set out as well as cutlery, candles- everything fit for a family dinner. Dinah disappears into the kitchen, occasionally brining out dishes of food, with the help of Nicole. Mike and Richard have settled into their seat and seem to be in a lively conversation.

"So son, tell me, you like turkey?" Richard suddenly asks, after their joke about the latest hockey game. Mike clears his throat, thinking on the question a little before slowly nodding.

"Yeah, Uh I do. I'm a huge meat guy so, definitely gonna bulk up." Mike replies, taking a sip of his glass of red wine that had been poured before.

"That's good. Mhm, good. You're in for a real treat tonight." Richard replies, his tone somewhat coming off as.. odd. There was an eerie silence, until it was broken by Dinah and Nicole interrupting, the main course of the night settled in Dinah's hands, the turkey. Mike's stomach couldn't help but grumble as the turkey was placed on the table.

"Alright you two, time for supper. Keep your jokes down." Dinah playfully jokes, setting the dish of turkey into the centre of the table, Nicole following afterwards and taking a seat next to Mike.

"Right. So, let's all join hands, say grace and what we're all thankful for. Don't be shy now." Dinah jokes, taking her seat next to Richard, and joining hands with him as well as Nicole's hand. I look at Nicole and smile, my hand reaching over to grab hers, my other hand grabbing onto Richards other hand.

"Do the honours, honey." Dinah gleefully says to her husband. At this, each head tilts down, their eyes closed as Richard starts to speak.

"Dear Lord, thank you for this food we are about to eat. I am most thankful for being where I am today. To have been blessed with a beautiful wife and daughter, and to also be able to meet new people." Richard finishes up his speech, Dinah starting next.

"I'm most thankful for the love and care I have been shown, my loving husband and my little dove have made wonders in life. And to also meet her handsome new partner." Mike smiles at Dinah's words, Nicole starting her speech.

"I am most grateful for being given the life from mom and dad, I wouldn't be here without them. And that I have found my other piece of my heart along the way." Mikes heart thumps in his chest at Nicole's words, his hand squeezing hers tighter, Mike clears his throat as he realises he is up next.

"Uh.. I am most thankful for meeting the love of my life, and being able to share life with her. And to also meet those who mean the world to her." Mike finishes his speech, everyone's head raises up, their hands sliding away from each other. as they all look at each other and smile.

"That was lovely everyone. Now.. dig in! There's more than enough for everyone, you especially Mike." Dinah breaks the silence, starting to pass around the dishes of food, making sure to stock Mike's plate full of turkey first, than anyone else's. Mike takes the plate as Dinah hands it to him, a wide smile on her face. Mike notices her bright smile and sends a slight smile back, placing his plate down in front of him first, picking up his cutlery, before digging into his portion of the meal, he notices it has suddenly gone silent, his eyes raise up, his heart thrumming slowly as he catches the almost frantic eyed stares from both Richard, Dinah, and also Nicole. Mike lets out a nervous laugh, deciding to wait for one of the to say something.

"Oh no! Don't stop on our account darlin', we're just waiting to see what you think about the turkey. We really, hope you like it. It was prepared for you, after all." Dinah says, offering reassurance to Mike, although, her attempt doesn't work that well, giving little to no reassurance to Mike whatsoever. With an unsettled smile, Mike nods and starts to cut into the turkey with his knife and fork. Although being a little tender, it slices through like butter, and raising the fork towards his mouth, the turkey is sheathed into his mouth, chewing and then swallowing most of it. Mike smiles and the taste, looking back up towards the stares of the family.

"Ahem.. wow. I'm honestly speechless. It's amazing." Mike nods, already cutting into another piece without looking, still chewing on the other part of turkey in his mouth. Mike goes to raise the fork to his mouth again, his eyes shifting downwards, and stopping suddenly. Seeing some kind of splotches on the piece of turkey on his fork, he leans forwards and inspects the piece of meat, his eyebrows furrowing. As Mike looks closely at the piece of meat, he can make out the letters 'C', 'O', 'L', 'E'- making the word 'Cole.' Mike's forehead starts to sweat nervous bullets, his hand trembling, and moving to his mouth to spit out the remnants of the meat in his mouth. His heart plummeting to the ground as he makes out another two letters- 'N', 'I'. Putting the letters together, the word makes- 'Nicole'. Mike's hand starts to shake even more as he realises that there are darker bits of hairs coming from the meat. His eyes slowly dart up, meeting the rancid eyes of the family, their smiles even wider than before.

As the final chords of Unchained Melody echoes out in Mike's ears, so does the next words from the family.

"Happy Thanksgiving, Mike."