"Bye, Cassidy," Grayson said, smiling shyly. "See you soon?"

Grayson fumbled with something in his jacket pocket and pulled out his phone. He handed it to me.

I stared at it. He had "add new contact" selected. "You want my phone number?" I asked him.

He blushed. "Well, yes, but if you don't want to give it to me then I guess-" he cut himself off abruptly and bit his lip nervously. "I mean, it would be convenient, but, no-"

"Actually," Melissa jumped in matter-of-factly. "What he's trying to say is yes. He wants your number."

Before Grayson could do anything else, my best friend snatched the phone away from him and entered my number. "You're welcome, dude," she told Grayson.

"Hey!" I exclaimed. "What if I don't want to give it to him?"

"Sis, even a blind man could see that you have the hots for G-" she started.

I blushed furiously. "Be quiet!" I interjected, fuming. "And don't you dare try to say anymore."

Melissa grinned. "Ok, I'll stop talking after I finish telling him about-"

"Mel!" I said, my voice threatening. "Say one more word."

She shrugged, smiling. "Alright. One more word."

I studied her, my brow furrowed in confusion.

"You told me to say 'one more word,'" Mel told me.

Ethan chuckled and I groaned. Melissa took a bow.

"Ok, that's not even funny," I told Melissa.

"Ethan laughed," she said.

"Ethan laughs at everything," Grayson piped up.

Ethan laughed again.

__

The day was almost here and I still couldn't believe it. It was all thanks to Melissa; she had convinced- actually, more like forced- Grayson to ask me out. She made me thank her, and I did so grudgingly but sincerely.

I was afraid that he didn't really like me and it was all Mel, but, I was excited nonetheless.

After a second round of shopping—a record considering my busy schedule—Mel and I chose a cute teal dress (shown above).

I heard knocking on the door of my apartment and hurried to open it, heart fluttering to see Grayson. Sure enough, he was standing outside in a fitting tuxedo and holding a bouquet of tulips. I remembered one of my texts to him saying that my mother was a florist and grew flowers, tulips especially. My lips twitched in admiration.

"You're beautiful," he murmured, his voice sending shivers down my neck.

"I know I am, thank you," I teased, and he held the flowers out for me. The warmth of his touch made my heart explode into millions of butterflies, our hands brushing. I had been hoping for the cliche spark of electricity when we touched, but the way his dark eyes illuminated when he looked at me was enough.

After a few comfortable moments looking into each other's eyes, Grayson cleared his throat and let out a heart-wrenchingly sweet smile. "Well, now. What are we waiting for?"

__

Quiet conversations mingled together to create a low hum in the fancy restaurant outside the private room Grayson reserved for us, as I scanned the menu.

"Cassidy?" Grayson's voice floated towards me.

"Mm-hm?" I responded.

"The waiter's here," he whispered.

"Okay," I whispered back. "Give me a second."

I scanned the menu again and decided my order.

"Miss, what would you like to eat?" asked a voice I didn't recognize.

I glanced up at the waiter. He looked around 16, with piercing grey eyes and blonde hair. He swept it aside and smiled at me politely.

I smiled back. "Can I have the spaghetti and meatballs, please?"

"Of course," he said, scribbling it down on a notepad. "Do you want a side of salad or fruit?"

"Fruit, thank you," I said. 

Then, after a moment of hesitation, I spilled out the rest of my order. "Can I also have the roasted pork ribs, and a bowl of mushroom soup? And can you add cheese lasagna to my order too? With 2 bowls of macaroni? Thank you."

He nodded and moved on to Grayson. "What for you, mister?"

Grayson cleared his throat. "Can I have some carrot sticks with apple dip?"

"Is that it for you?" asked the waiter.

"Yes, thank you," replied Grayson.

When the waiter had left, I whispered to Grayson, "Is that seriously all you're eating?"

He smiled at me and my heart started beating a thousand times a second.

"I thought we were sharing the food you ordered," he said, grinning cheekily.

"Oh," I blushed. "Um, okay, that sounds great."

We waited awkwardly until the waiter came back with our food.

"Here you go, miss," he said to me, lifting a plate filled with food from his waiter tray and placing it on the table.

When he finished setting the plates down, I started shoveling down food, unaware that Grayson was watching me, amused. When I had my fill, I pushed the plates to Grayson for him to finish. He raised his eyebrows.

"That's not my idea of sharing, but okay," he said, his eyes twinkling with laughter.

I turned a rosy pink. "Oops," I managed to squeak.

He laughed, a deep, soft sound that I loved, and planted a sloppy kiss on my forehead.

__

A/N: what do you guys think of the story so far? please drop a comment! I think it's a bit fast paced so I'm going to try and slow it down a bit. btw, the date will be continued in the next chapter -e <3