Sophia took a deep breath as she dabbed at her pale pink lipstick in her rearview mirror. On a chance of luck, she had found a parking space close to the front of the lot for the Original Farmers Market.

It had almost felt like fate when Dean had suggested the spot. As one of Sophia's favorite places in the city, in some ways, it felt like the perfect place for a first date.

A first date. Sophia's insides squirmed as she tried to calm herself before getting out of the car. Her mind flashed back to the few first dates she had been on in the years since college. The guy who spent the entire time talking about his ex. The one who spilled wine on her. The one who was almost okay but then got a call from his girlfriend right at the end of the night.

Sophia took a deep breath. This wasn't going to be anything like those. She had to believe that.

She got out of the car and headed toward the main entrance to the market, where Dean said he would meet her.

You sure he's even going to show up?

Sophia didn't even have time to chastise the doubts in her head before she saw Dean standing, waiting for her. A smile appeared on her face before she could even think about it.

"Hi," she said shyly once she approached him.

Dean's eyes skated over her. "You look beautiful," he said.

Sophia blushed as he leaned down to brush a light kiss on her cheek, his breath warm on her skin, his closeness causing all of her hairs to stand up on end. When she had been getting ready, the realization that Dean had only ever seen her sopping wet, sweating like a pig, or sleep-deprived from work had hit her like a truck. So she had put in a bit of effort, letting her long blonde hair fall loose around her shoulders in soft curls, keeping makeup natural, and putting on her favorite fit and flare dress. Her three-inch heels evened out their height difference a bit, but he was still probably about half a foot taller than her.

"Thanks," she breathed, taking him in. "So do you." Sophia had never seen Dean dressed up, either, and while his hair was still in a state of half-styled, half-disheveled, he cleaned up nicely in a button-down that fit his broad chest wonderfully, sleeves rolled up displaying muscled forearms.

Dean did a small spin and his face lit up. "Thank you, I tried," he chuckled. He held out his hand. "Shall we?"

Sophia stared down at his hand. Then she clasped it with her own, feeling his warm, calloused fingers close around hers, sending electricity up her arm at the contact. "Yeah, let's go."

They wandered the market together, not really chatting about much other than food. There were so many options to choose from, and while Sophia had her own favorites, she still wanted to see everything. She wanted to see everything with Dean. Her stomach lurched every time his face lit up when they came across something unexpected.

They wove through the crowds, hand in hand, stopping to buy whatever they thought looked good. Plates and containers piled high in their hands, threatening to teeter over every time they got something new. It was almost half an hour later when they finally found a table to deposit their eclectic dinner. The scent of everything wafted up and Sophia's mouth watered.

Kebabs and falafel, macaroni and cheese and burgers, cheesecake and brownies sat in front of them, and Sophia had never seen anything so wonderful.

"If I had known that there was so much great stuff here, I would have made a point to come sooner."

Sophia had been halfway through scooping so mac and cheese onto her plate when she paused at Dean's words. "You've never been here before?" she asked in disbelief.

He shook his head.

"You from L.A.?"

He shook his head, again. "Orange County. But I moved here when I was eighteen."
"So you've been here, what? Ten years or so and you've never come here?"

Dean shrugged. "Just never got around to it. But you know it well?"

Sophia nodded. "Yeah, I come here a fair amount."

Dean had begun eating, but he continued to look at Sophia with his dark eyes. He seemed to want her to continue.

"I'm from the Bay," Sophia ventured, a little cautious, hoping she wouldn't bore him. "My roommate from freshman year knew about this place, though, so we went about two days after we moved into the dorms." What Sophia didn't mention was that when they got back, Graham had been distant and sulky for two days because he hadn't been invited. But she pushed the memory back. "It was my first time in L.A., coming to school down here, and this was one of the first fun things I did. So it always feels like quintessential Los Angeles to me."

Sophia fell quiet and couldn't help the warmth in her chest at how Dean looked at her. It was though, despite the crowds around them, she was the only one in the market.

"Are you still friends with her? Your roommate?" Dean asked.

Sophia nodded. "Raina, yeah," she said. "She's basically my best friend. Like family, really."

"That's good."

"Yeah, it really is. Do you still have family in Orange County?" She was just as curious about him as he seemed to be about her.

"It was always just me and my mom," Dean explained. "And she's still there, yeah."

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Oh, nothing," Sophia said hurriedly, hoping she hadn't come off as judgmental. "It's just, it was always just me and my dad."

Dean gave her half a smile, the right side of his mouth lifting. "Really? He still in the Bay?"

Sophia felt her chest constrict slightly. "He passed away, actually," she said. "During the last quarter of my freshman year."

Dean put down his fork and reached across the table to grab her hand, squeezing it. "That's rough.

Sophia nodded, appreciating that he hadn't said he was sorry. "Yeah, it was," she said. But then she let out a small laugh. "You know, everyone said that it was such a shame that I didn't have a female figure to look up to, but I never felt like I was missing anything. My dad learned how to braid my hair and how tampons work and everything, encouraged me to do dance and sports. And my mom left just a few months after I was born, so I couldn't really miss her, you know?"

Dean nodded. "I get that. Trust me, the number of times my mom heard that it was detrimental for me to grow up without a 'strong, male figure' was ridiculous. She was basically a superhero to me."

The way he talked about his mom made Sophia's heart constrict. He didn't mention his dad, but she didn't push.

"How long have you worked at Ronald Reagan?" Dean asked, steering the conversation away from their families.

Sophia was happy to change the subject. "Well, I went to UCLA, so that's the hospital I did my training," she said. "And when I graduated, there were open positions in the Emergency Room, and I always wanted to go into emergency medicine, so it just made sense. So, not including my training, about five years or so."

They spent the next few hours together at that table, until long after they finished all of their food, just talking. Dean told her about how he joined LAFD when he was twenty, after a couple of years bouncing around from job to job. How he had found his lifelong friends there and his actual purpose in life, and that he couldn't see himself ever doing anything different.

Dean's firehouse was close to the UCLA campus, so he responded to a fair number of calls to the school. The pair swapped stories of the dumbest things they had seen college students, mostly frat boys, do that ended up getting them injured.

"Holy shit, the guy who jumped off the roof wearing nothing but boxers with a bottle of tequila in each hand?" Sophia asked in disbelief.

Dean grinned at her. "You were working that night?" he asked.

She nodded. "And you brought him in?"

"Yeah. He was still clutching the tequila bottles when we got there. I really shouldn't have been holding back a laugh, but..."

Sophia snorted. "But it was fucking hilarious. And hey, he made a full recovery, no lasting damage, so no harm done."

They had a few more overlaps in patients, and every time they figured out that their paths crossed in that way, it was like a jolt to Sophia's system. She wasn't particularly superstitious, but in some ways, it felt like they were destined to meet at some point or another.

"Well, that was the best meal I've had in a long time." Dean wove his fingers through hers again as they headed out of the market, and he looked at her as he spoke, making Sophia wonder if he was only talking about the food.

"I mean, that cheesecake was bomb," Sophia pointed out.

Dean laughed. "It was fucking fantastic."

As they approached the parking lot, Sophia had the sudden urge to be anywhere but heading back toward her car. "Want to sit?" she asked, gesturing to a bench underneath a palm tree.

Dean didn't reply, only tugged on her hand as he sat down.

Sophia was intensely aware of both his body and hers. The way her fingers fit into his, where their shoulders and thighs brushed together. He radiated a warmth that made Sophia want him to wrap his arm around her shoulders and pull her into his chest.

She stayed where she was.

"Sophia, I—"

"Listen, Dean—"

They both broke off at the same time and after a moment to pause, broke into grins. "You first," Dean said.

"No, you go." Sophia still couldn't say how Dean would react when she told him that she wanted to take things slowly, and if he wasn't going to say what she wanted to hear, she wanted to live in this moment of ignorance a little while longer.

Dean looked at her for a second and then shrugged. "I just, I really enjoyed spending tonight with you." His eyes shone as he looked at her in earnest. "I could listen to you talk for hours."
Sophia felt herself blush. It was going to take a while for her to get used to how open Dean was with expressing himself.

It was then that she realized that once again, she had taken too long to respond, and she saw some of the light falter in Dean's eyes. The sight made her feel almost sick to her stomach. She never wanted to see that light fade from his eyes.

"Sophia?" Dean whispered.

She didn't bother with words. In a move that was more brazen than she usually would have dared, she leaned forward and pressed her lips to his.

Dean stiffened for a moment, and panic threatened as the realization that she might have made a mistake almost overwhelmed her. But a second later, Dean relaxed and wrapped his arm around Sophia's waist, pulling her closer to him and wiping any doubts from her mind.

The night air was cool, but every contact point with Dean felt like fire. He moved his soft lips slowly across hers, taking his time, savoring the moment. One of Sophia's hands gripped his bicep, anchoring herself to him. The other stayed clasped with his, wedged between them.

Sophia didn't think she had ever been kissed like this before. She knew for certain she had never kissed someone like this, either.

When they finally broke apart, Sophia sucked in cool air that flooded her system, clashing with the heat from the kiss and Dean. She felt lightheaded, but also light as a feather as Dean's dark eyes stared into hers.

"You have brown eyes," she breathed. She was finally close enough to see the actual color, and they reminded her of the deepest, darkest, smoothest chocolate.

"What?" Dean sounded out of breath, as well.

"I couldn't tell what color your eyes were before, they're so dark. But they're brown."

"And yours are beautiful."

Sophia felt herself blush, which only elicited a chuckle from Dean. "I guess I don't have to wonder if you had a good time tonight, or not," he said.

Sophia didn't answer; she didn't need to.

"Will you get a drink with me?"

Sophia leaned back in surprise. "Right now?" she asked.

"I meant what I said," Dean continued, "I could listen to you talk for hours. And I haven't had my fill of those hours, yet."

Sophia felt the air rush out of her. And then she realized that she had no good reason to say no. She didn't want the night to end, either. "Okay."