At about six o'clock that night, I headed downstairs dressed in a pair of cream colored leggings with a maroon sweater tunic over them. I stopped by the door to slide on a pair of brown leather ankle booties. I ran my hand through my loose hair nervously. There was a whole flock of butterflies dancing around my stomach, making my nerves even more prominent to me. Paul and I haven't been on an actual date in quite a while, so I was beyond nervous, even though I knew there was no reason to be.

“Ready?” Paul asked me. I looked him up and down to take in his appearance. He was wearing a black v-neck shirt, a light blue flannel, and jeans with a pair of black sneakers.

“Of course,” I said, taking his hand that he offered me and revelling in the comfort it brought me.

“We shall return,” Paul said, using a ridiculous excuse for a posh voice as he spoke to Emily.

“Perhaps not too late,” she responded.

“No, we won't be out all night,” Paul said. I laughed at him slightly as he opened the door and led me outside.

“Our first stop is a little place down by the beach,” Paul said, opening the door of his truck for me dramatically.

“Thanks,” I said, sitting down in the truck that he had definitely cleaned out for me.

“Anything for you babe,” he said before shutting the door and running over to his side of the truck.

“Where are we going?” I asked.

“You'll see,” he said. “It's right by the beach. I told you this already.”

“Yes, but what is it?” I asked.

“A donut shop. Seasonal,” he said. “They serve donuts and cider. It's part of my favorite part of fall.”

“Sounds good,” I said as he pulled up in front of the shop. “Okay, we really didn't need to drive here.”

“Yes, we did, because we're going somewhere after this,” he said.

“Fine,” I said, rolling my eyes and getting out of the truck.

“A cider slushie and a small hot apple cider,” Paul said, ordering for the both of us as I took in the quaint little building.

“Thanks,” I said softly while we waited.

“For?” He asked.

“Everything,” I said, smiling up at him.

“You're welcome, I guess,” he said, shrugging a little. The woman working gave us our drinks and we headed back to the car. Paul once again opened the door and smirked at me as I carefully got into the car.

“Why're you smirking at me?” I asked softly, becoming self conscious easily.

“Because I love you,” he said, kissing me gently before pulling away to shut the door.

He drove us south, out of town, so we could be alone or something like that.

“So, baby girl. I feel like we haven't talked in forever. What's been going on?” Paul asked, breaking the comfortable silence.

“Um, well my senior project is probably going to be the death of me. I didn't realize that writing a whole play would be so much work,” I said. Paul smiled at me. The kind of smile that showed off his dazzling white teeth. The kind of smile that made his eyes sparkle in the light of the setting sun. The kind of smile that made my heart whole and made me smile too.

“Yeah, um, isn't that why you were working with your brother?” He asked. His right hand found its way onto my left knee and his thumb stroked the outside of my thigh gently.

“It's supposed to be,” I said.

“Destiny, I love you,” Paul said.

“I love you too Paul,” I said. A happy sort of silence fell over us until Paul pulled up into a field and parked the truck.

“C'mon,” he said, motioning for me to get out with him and follow him. I got out and headed to the back of the truck.

“Hop in beautiful,” Paul said, motioning to the mass of blankets in the recently cleaned bed of his truck. I climbed into the back of his truck as he stepped in beside me and sat with me. I cuddled up into his side as we watched the sun fade out and the stars come up. The silence was perfect for the time that it lasted. Being there in his arms was all the reassurance I needed to know that everything would be okay .