When it was the time that Amell was going to take Mariana out, the moon shone extra bright than any other night, like it was Mariana's happiness returning as she prepared herself with Elena, who came over to help out.

Mariana sat in front of her vanity table, with its golden borders glinting into her eyes, like a ray sparkling from the sun. Elena fussed all around her, filling in her eyebrows and contouring her face. Although, she felt like she was getting too much powder onto her.

"Elena, don't you think that is too much?" Mariana coughed out some foundation as Elena blended it in.

"Hush!" Elena shushed her so she could perfect her work. She started dabbing blush aggressively on her cheeks. She accidentally dabbed some near Mariana's mouth which made her spit out some bristles.

"Why do you have to be so hard for?" Mariana said, rubbing her eyes.

"Because I want you to look perfecto!" Elena exclaimed, doing a chef's kiss.

Mariana shrugged, she was doing a good job so far, so she just decided to let her be and work her magic, she just hoped it won't take any much longer.

Once she was done with her face, Elena glued on false eyelashes, accentuating the deep brown in her eyes, making them pop out like they have been hidden away by her tears.

Mariana stared at the mirror of herself, she was like a new woman, like the goddess Athena, as Elena applied lipstick that was like a cerise flower, with a bit of clear lip gloss to make it shine.

"Ooh, you look gorgeous," Elena commented, lightly lining her lips. Mariana sucked her lips in and tried to smile at herself. She did admit that she did look nice, but she thought the colors were a bit too strong for tonight's occasion.

"You sure I should have all this on?" Mariana tugged the edge of her ear, while she gazed in wonder and amazement. Her curly hair had honey blonde highlights near the ends to spice things up.

"No, it's perfect, and you look so sexy, he would not be able to resist you!" Elena bent down and squeezed her face. They both made duck faces like teenage girls. Elena grabbed her phone from her pocket and took some selfies of them.

Suddenly, they heard the tires of an approaching car, and a flash of light passed through the windows, which she saw in the folds of her curtains.

"I think that's him," Mariana said, whipping her head around.

"Let me check." Elena hurried towards the window and brushed away the fabric. She poked her head out to see, and there was a car parked in front of the house, with Amell sat clear in sight.

"Yeah, I think he's here."

"Well, here goes nothing..." Mariana gently got up, careful not to crease her red, glitter dress. The ribbon near her chest crossed over her breasts, the flowery ends rolled near to the ground, and she wore sleek black heels. She grabbed her rose gold purse and wore it over her shoulder. She looked over at Elena who stared back at her like she was her daughter going to their first prom. She felt so proud of the makeup she did.

"Your gonna have a great night Mariana," she cheered her on, giving her an audience, and started clapping.

"Thanks." Mariana smiled nervously, not feeling as confident as her.

Elena led her friend downstairs like she was giving her away. They had their arms linked as they marched out the door. Amell waved at them from his car which was Mariana's cue to leave.

"Thanks for everything Elena, do you want us to drop you home first?" Mariana asked.

"Oh, don't worry, I came by car." Elena got her car keys out and twirled them around her finger. She pressed the 'unlock' button and they heard her car beep not too far away.

"Okay, well, see you tomorrow!" Mariana said and then got in the car. Amell turned the engine on and the car roared away and was gone in less than a second.

Mariana felt at peace while being in the open car. Her collarbone was partly exposed, and she felt the cold spikes of the wind prickled at it. The night was dark like it was a black diamond, like a fracture of the milky way was placed into the sky.

She couldn't see Amell's face properly like there was a screen covering it, but from what she could gather, he looked calm and collected She couldn't help but smile over at him, the ruby colors of her lips sparkled among the stars. They made her lips look like she gave the best kisses. He kept side glancing at them, he wanted to stop on the side quickly and kiss her but feared that that will be too fast, and will scare her off.

"So, anywhere nice we going to?" Mariana asked to make conversation.

"Well, how about sushi?"

"Sushi restaurant?" Mariana guessed.

"Yeah, we are going to a sushi restaurant."

"Oh, okay! Nice!" She loved that idea.

Once they arrived, he parked in the parking lot just outside the restaurant and got out. He opened the door for Mariana, and she stepped out with her lovely heels.

"You look so beautiful tonight," Amell complimented.

"Thank you." She blushed and then looked down towards her dress.

He took her arm, tenderly wrapping his fingers around hers like she was a rose petal. They entered the building and got a table. Amell pulled out the chair for Mariana as she sat down and pushed the frilly bit of her dress in front of her.

There were screens of gold, separating some tables from one another, tables of beige were lighted by a candle around brown chairs. There were some chopsticks and a long spoon that was waiting for them.

When they opened the menu, Mariana also had her eyes roaming around the hall as well as what was on offer. It felt different and not the same, as she never thought that she would be going on a restaurant date with anyone other than Micah, but she guessed that's was just part of moving on. A fresh start.

"So, have you ever tried sushi before?" Amell asked.

"Er, not really, the last time I had the chance I was quite young and the smell of seaweed put me off. What about you?" Mariana answered without breaking focus from the menu.

"Yeah, I've had it a couple of times, and I actually like it. So this is your first time trying?"

"Yep, now that I'm more mature, I wanna give sushi another go," Mariana said, with a smile of optimism on her face.

"I'm sure now you will actually like it," Amell said as he closed his menu, ready to order.

They ordered several sushi dishes, including Maki which was traditional sushi rolls, nigiri which was slices of raw fish over rice with a dip of soy sauce, and Inari which was pouches of seasoned tofu, stuffed with seasoned rice.

Mariana licked her lips, this all looked so delicious, she quickly picked up the chopsticks. She wanted to try using them for a change but couldn't quite hold them properly. So she held one chopstick in each hand and tried picking up the sushi.

"Mariana, that's not how you use chopsticks," Amell said.

"Well... it works, sorta." Mariana did manage to pick up the sushi, but every time she brought it towards her mouth, it would drop back onto the plate.

"Oh," she muttered in a tiny voice and tried to pick it up again. It kept dropping which made her pout sadly.

"Here, let me help you out." He took both of them away from her and then settled them into one hand of hers. He tucked one between her thumb and index finger and then put the other at her fingertips.

Mariana then tried picking up the sushi, and it stayed in place this time. She sighed with relief and bit off the edge for taste. It was alright, and the nori part (seaweed) didn't taste so bad. She popped all of it into her mouth, letting it rest on her tongue. She squirmed around in her seat, not used to eating it, but she did enjoy it to an extent.

She picked up some of the nigiri which she liked better. She dipped the fish part in soy sauce and sucked it in.

Amell watched her picked them up with her chopsticks or at least trying to. It was amusing watching her try to eat with them. And she had on the most cutest face.

"Mariana, can I tell you something?"

"Sure."

"I don't know if you have noticed this, but I've kind of had a thing for you..."

"It was pretty noticeable, to be honest." She smirked.

"Really?"

"Yeah, you did pay a lot of attention to me, and your not really good at hiding it." She tapped her nose, twinkling it a little while laughing at him.

"That is true, I was pretty bad at hiding it," he chuckled nervously.

"Yeah, but it's okay, I don't mind now," she said but couldn't stop snickering.

"I really do care about you, Mariana, and I'm glad that I got this chance with you, not saying I'm happy about your breakup."

"Yeah, I know what you mean, don't worry," she said, poking her food with the chopstick. She took his words well but she didn't fully believe it just yet.

"I can't wait for us to get closer and to take you out to places," Amell said as he started planning it all out in his head.

"Really? Like where?" She raised her eyebrow as her mind was full of curiosity.

"I don't know yet, but I hope to if you will let me," Amell said hopefully.

"We'll see..." Mariana said. She didn't want to plan that far ahead yet and just wanted to keep things at a slow pace.

"Would you ever consider coming here again?" Amell asked as his eyes panned around the restaurant.

"Maybe, it is quite nice here," Mariana said. She did like where he took her, and she wouldn't mind coming again.

Amell grinned at her and suddenly got an idea. "Hey, watch this."

He got his napkin and started folding it. Mariana watched his fingers weave around the corners, like a spider making its web like he was crafting something.

When he was done, he held it up and it was a fox. Mariana was very impressed as she looked at the pointy ears.

"Is that origami?"

"Yeah."

"Oh, I used to do that, I don't know if I still can though."

"Why don't you try it with your napkin?" He pointed to it which was laid lonely beside her arm.

"Hm, alright, I'm gonna see if I still can." She picked it up and started folding it. She had in mind a bird but because it has been such a long time, she failed.

"What are you trying to make?" He asked.

"A bird."

"Oh, the one where you can pull the wings and make it fly?"

"Yeah, that one."

"Should I try and do it?"

"No, I got it." She said, but she did not have it. She kept folding the paper, hoping for it to fold to form at least something, but she just ended up with lots of creases.

"Urgh, I give up!" She groaned and slammed it down. She crossed her arms and growled at the food like it was its fault.

"It's okay, Mariana. You'll get it next time."

"Yeah, I hope so," she mumbled and finished her plate.

After they had dessert, Amell dropped her home. It was dead in the night, but Mariana felt like they were still in the dusk of it. She had a wonderful time and wished to have some time like that again.

"Thanks, Amell for a wonderful night," Mariana said as she got on her doorstep.

"It's okay, Mariana, see you on the weekend."

"Bye." Mariana waved farewell and went inside. She took out off her heels, feeling relief as she was now level with the ground. She was now extremely and just wanted to go to sleep.

She trudged up the stairs, her body started to weigh her down but she made it to her bedroom. She collapsed onto the bed, pulling her pillow under her head, ready to fall into her sweet dreams.

A/N: Hey I hope you enjoyed the chapter!

I found this so sweet and the kind of thing Mariana needs right now🥰🥰