I'd like to point out that the picture^^^ has nothing to do with the first paragraph. Okay? Great. Proceed.

Sebastian spent the entire meal making sure Bethany was okay. Every time he asked her she said she was fine, but she kept picking at her lips and bouncing her knee. At one point Stephanie asked her a question and Sebastian could tell she was struggling more than she had been. She was talking fast and going on longer than she normally would have. He grabbed her hand under the table and rubbed the back of it with his thumb. She glanced at him and smiled. She gave his hand a squeeze. When she was free of the conversation she excused herself from the table.
"So?" Sebastian asked, making eye contact with his mom.
"She's an interesting little thing. Quiet, but very sweet." Stephanie said, "And she obviously cares about you a lot."
"I care about her a lot. It's funny how those two go hand in hand. Or at least they should." He smiled at Bethany when he saw her walking back to the table.
"Sorry." Bethany said as she took her seat again. Sebastian could smell the cloves from her cigarette. He leaned over and whispered,
"Are you okay?"
"Mmhm." Soft grey eyes met sharp blue ones and he knew she was telling the truth. He grabbed her hand again and kept his gaze on her, smiling softly. "What?"
"Nothing." He picked up his glass and took a drink.
"Liar liar, pantalones del feugo." He laughed into his cup and spit water onto his lap and plate. Bethany hid a giggle behind her hand as he used his napkin to clean up the water.
"What are you two doing?" Remington asked, eyebrow raised. Bethany giggled harder.
"Nothing. Sorry." She composed herself and smiled at Sebastian.

———

"Well aside from the mild panic attack before we left I'd say that went pretty well. Wouldn't you?" Bethany asked as they pulled up in front of the house.
"I would. Mom likes you."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah. She said you're interesting and sweet. And she's right."
"That's a relief."
"What time do you get off tomorrow?"
"Five. Why?"
"Let's get dinner." He suggested.
"Sure." She nodded and smiled at him.
"I'll pick you up at six."
"Where are we going?"
"It's a surprise. It's a pretty high end place though. Like the place we went tonight."
"Ok. See you tomorrow. Goodnight."
"Goodnight." She leaned over and gave him a kiss before getting out. She waved as he drove off then went inside.

———

The next day she couldn't contain her excitement. Even though she'd just seen him she couldn't wait to see him again. And this time it would be just the two of them. Her excitement enabled her to put up with a lot more bullshit than normal and she was hardly even phased when Janine snapped at her. Twice. However all of the anticipation made the day stretch on forever.
"Why are you so antsy?" April asked at lunch time. Bethany smiled and her face went pink.
"My boyfriend and I are going out dinner tonight and even though I did just see him yesterday I can't wait to see him again."
"Aha. So tell me about your guy. What's he like?"
"He's a massive dork. But he's so sweet. I've got a lot of mental health issues which has caused occasional physical health issues and he knows and he's just so good with it all. And he knows about my last relationship and he's willing to work with me on this, y'know. Like that relationship hurt a lot and it's kind of made me more . . . careful, but he's okay with that. And, oh my gosh, he's a guitar player in a band with his brothers and I love watching him perform. It's so obvious how much he loves what he does. And he's putting just as much effort into this relationship as I am and that is such a comfort to me. Like he does actually care about me, y'know?" Bethany sighed happily and rested her elbow on the table before putting her chin in her hand and taking a bite of her lunch.
"Well I'm glad you're happy, honey. Sweet little thing like you deserves it." She smiled at Bethany.
"Doesn't always feel like I deserve it, but I guess that's just how life is."
The rest of the day passed just as slowly. No one called, no one came in. And it was agonizingly quiet. The soft clack keys being pressed on keyboards and the hum of the A/C were the only noise. Bethany tried to distract herself with menial work, but there wasn't much to do. No files to sort, no paperwork to fill out, nothing. Finally after what felt like years five o'clock came and Bethany was the first one out the door. Once at home, after a short and weird, but pleasant conversation with Andy she went to get ready. The dress she'd chosen that morning was laying on her bed. The top of it was plain black with lace at the very top and the skirt was black as well with large white and pink flowers on it. It fell to just above her knees and swished gently when she walked. She knew she would be ready way too early, but she couldn't help it. She went to the bathroom and fixed her make up. She applied a light pink lipstick. And then, because she had plenty of time, she decided to curl her hair. It wasn't something she did often because of how long her hair was.

———

Sebastian took a deep breath and knocked on the door. Andy opened it.
"Hey."
"Hi. I'm here to get Bethany."
"I figured. Come on in." He stepped back to let Sebastian into the house. "Peanut, Sebastian's here!" He called up the stairs.
"Just a minute!" Bethany called back. She came down the stairs with her heels in her hand. She smiled when she saw Sebastian. He was wearing a blue suit and holding a bouquet of white and yellow tulips.
"Hi!" She stopped at the foot of the stairs to put her shoes on.
"For you, Bumblebee." He offered her the tulips.
"Thank you! They're beautiful." She took them and looked at them for a minute before looking back at Sebastian.
"I'll put those in water for you." Andy said. Bethany gave him the tulips.
"Thank you."
"Any idea what time you'll be back?" He asked. Bethany looked at Sebastian, who made a face that said 'I don't know', then looked back at Andy and shrugged.
"No idea."
"Do you have your keys?"
"Yeah."
"Do you actually have them?" She rolled her eyes.
"Shut up. That was one time." He smiled and she did too.
"We should go." Sebastian said.
"Right. Yes. Let's go. Night, Panda." Sebastian opened the door and waited for Bethany to walk out first.
"Night, Peanut." Andy said as Sebastian followed Bethany out and closed the door behind them.
"You look beautiful, baby girl." Bethany blushed and smiled.
"Thank you. You do too." She paused and then giggled, "I didn't even think before I said that. Not that it's wrong. You are beautiful."
"Damn right I am." She stuck her tongue out at him and he smiled. He opened her door for her and closed it after she was in before getting in himself.
"But seriously, you do look nice."
"Thank you."
"Kiss?" She asked and he leaned over to give her a gentle kiss before starting the car.
The restaurant he'd chosen was called The Little Door. It was a beautiful French restaurant that had a very warm feeling to it. They were seated and given menus. The waiter poured water into their glasses before leaving.
"Can I be honest?" Bethany said after looking at her menu.
"I don't think you should ever have to ask if you can be honest. By all means, be honest."
"This is all gibberish to me." She gestured at the menu. Each dish had a French name and brief description in English beneath it, "even the English." He smiled.
"Most of it is gibberish to me too. At least the French. But I've been here before so I know what's what." So the next few minutes were spent with him explaining to her what the dishes were. The waiter came and took their orders and their menus before leaving again.
"So what's this all about? I mean, I'm not complaining. There's nowhere I'd rather be. I'm just curious."
"We didn't get to celebrate Valentine's Day. This is kind of making up for it, but I also just wanted to take you out to dinner. Just us."
"You didn't have to do that. Honestly, I don't need extravagance. Heck, I don't even need Valentine's day. I've never celebrated Valentine's Day. Luke said he wasn't into the mushy stuff, although that probably means he was spending the day with Claire, but whatever. It's not important."
"You've never-"
"Never celebrated Valentine's. And the only person who's ever given me flowers is Dad. But I don't care. I don't need that." She smiled and took a sip of her water.
"Well whether or not you need it tonight is our Valentine's." Bethany gasped and her eyes lit up.
"What if we skip Valentine's every year and make February 22 our Valentine's Day?" Bethany was never afraid to think about the future. She sincerely hoped that Sebastian was in it.
"Breaking away from the stereotype. I like it." He cleared his throat. "So since this is our valentine's I got you something."
"Now I feel bad because I don't have anything for you."
"You don't need to get me anything. Besides I didn't get you much." He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled a small box out. "Here." He slid the box toward her. She lifted the lid off the box and furrowed her brows. Inside we're two whales. One rose gold and the other dark grey. She didn't what they were made of, but they were heavy. Each had a little handle thing that went from their head to their tail.

"I don't understand."
"Their keychains. You keep one and I keep the other. And then you'll know that I whale always be here for you." Bethany couldn't help the laugh that escaped. They received strange looks from the people at other tables. Bethany put her hand over her mouth to hide her giggles.
"That's sweet." She finally got out, "Super cheesy, but sweet."
"You don't think they're stupid?"
"Not at all. I love it. Thank you, Sebster."
You're welcome, Bumblebee." She placed the cover back on the box. "So how was work?"
"I swear I found the most boring office in the world to work in." The conversation didn't stop even when their food came. They talked and laughed. They received a lot of dirty looks from the other people in the restaurant, but they didn't care.
"Did you ever put anymore thought into what you'd ask a genie for?" Bethany asked.
"I did actually."
"Really? What would you wish for?"
"Nothing."
"Nothing?" He smiled at her confusion.
"Nothing. Life is the way it is for a reason. You shouldn't wish for everything to be easy because then nothing exciting would ever happen. You can't wish for love because real love takes a lot of work and any love you'd get from a wish would be shallow and weak. You can't wish for money because with the world at your fingertips you'd never appreciate anything. Life would become meaningless and depressing if you had everything you wanted." Bethany stared at him with wonder in her eyes.
"What?" Sebastian asked before taking a drink of water.
"Never have I met anyone who said nothing when I asked the genie question. Everyone else has always wished for something." She smiled, "but I guess that makes sense. You're not everyone else. You're you. And I still haven't figured how I got lucky enough to have you."
"I'm the lucky one." He replied, "I've got a beautiful, insanely talented, incredible, intelligent woman as my girlfriend. You've dorky asshole for a boyfriend."
"Well I like my dorky asshole of a boyfriend. He's sweet and kind and funny. Not to mention attractive. You got stuck with a weirdo."
"But you're my weirdo. And I like you. Weirdness and all."
"Well that's a relief. I'm pretty sure it's too late to pretend I'm normal."

———

When dinner and dessert were gone they went to Sebastian's place. With very little persuasion she agreed to spend the night. She sent Andy a quick text to let him know she wouldn't be home until the next morning. Sebastian gave her a t-shirt to change into and since she didn't plan to leave until the next morning she didn't really need pants. They sat in his bed and read The first two chapters of The Hobbit before getting caught up in a heated make out session. Her arms were around his neck, fingers tangling in his hair. His hands were up her shirt, thumbs rubbing gentle circles on her sides. Bethany constantly found herself realizing how much better her relationship with Sebastian was than her relationship with Luke had been. Although it was messy and heated Sebastian was still gentle and sweet. By the time they fell asleep they were both polka dotted with hickeys. They didn't go all the way, Bethany wasn't quite ready for that yet, which she felt bad about, but Sebastian assured her was fine. He would wait as long as she wanted to. And as she drifted off Bethany wondered if this was what love felt like. Real love, like the kind her parents had. She wondered if it was too soon to be in love. There many ifs and ands, but one thing she knew was that she wanted to spend every night with him beside her and wake every morning to blue eyes and an arm across her stomach.

So this is like ten years too late. My bad. There's no editing in this chapter so please disregard all typos, errors and misplaced punctuation.

Avery L.