I was a shy awkward kid growing up and not much had changed by the time I entered adulthood. At 21 I was still living with my parents, my older sister had moved out years prior. By this point most of my friends had moved out of home or were at least progressing towards it, I however was no closer than when I left school. They also had girlfriends which I too was incapable of, thanks to my failure to ever get past the friend's zone. Life as an adult was grim and depressing, that was until my Aunty came to stay.
Aunt Sarah was almost ten years younger than my mother and had always been the more cheerful outgoing of the two. Due to this it was upsetting to see her so low when she moved into my parent's house after a messy divorce. She had lost most of their assets and was unemployed at the time so needed support. My parents gave her my sister's old room until she was able to get back on her feet.
It took a couple of months after she moved in before she started to return to her positive self and find a job. Even though she was almost double my age we had formed a bit of a sibling relationship, we got along better than I ever did with my real sister. In a way we were supporting each other in what was a hard time for us both.
As we grew more comfortable Aunt Sarah started asking me more about my love life and why I didn't have a girlfriend yet. I was not overly comfortable discussing the subject, but she kept pushing. She claimed not to understand how a stud like me couldn't get a girl and tried to convince me I was a catch. As much as she tried on many occasions, she did not get much out of me as I didn't want to admit that I was so insecure about myself.
One night my parents took my Aunty and I out for dinner to celebrate her birthday. We had a good time and afterwards Aunt Sarah asked if we would all like to continue celebrating at a nearby bar. My parents declined but suggested the two of us go out to celebrate together instead. It was a great night out and we could chat more freely with my parents not around. After a few rounds I had loosened up and was a bit more willing to talk about my life to her. She took advantage of this and returned to the subject of my love life. She is a gifted talker and finally managed to breakthrough my barrier and get me talking.