Magnetic North

Okay. I may need to explain something here.

Dating in a small town? It’s weird.

Like, I’m married. I dated several people over the years before I wound up with CM, some of them long term enough that we lived together. I was engaged at 19. I’ve never been on a second date.

Small towns? You don’t date. You go to the movies with a person that you’re attracted to, and if it’s obvious enough that you’re mutually attracted to each other, even if it was just going to see a Disney movie with a group of friends because someone was babysitting and that person invited everyone, if you shared popcorn you’re a couple now. Congratulations, invite us to the wedding.

I’m not exaggerating this. Most of the guys that became boyfriends? They were guys I’d been friends with for years. My first boyfriend? Our friends threatened us into holding hands at a football game. The next morning I got the sex talk from my mother and his was insisting he take me out on a proper date. They weren’t even at the football game. We were boyfriend/girlfriend for a year.

So Steve does not have an unrealistic view of their relationship. And Rissa doesn’t have one either. She grew up and started dating somewhere without a small town vacuum, so she doesn’t know that if you hold hands (and gods forbid you like, kiss or something), you’re official. Steve grew up in that vacuum, and so every experience he has says that holding hands in public and then going home and gettin’ naked makes you exclusive. Is Rissa right calling him a possessive prick? Yeah. But Steve’s just never learned to think differently.

Outside of that explanation, there’s a new vote incentive up, and I’ve been posting a lot of stuff over at my patreon. See you next week for the end of the flashback.

-Kat