"So, where's the restaurant?"

"It's... over there," I point to a one story building, where the restaurant is placed between a bank and a pharmacy. That's probably why people don't notice it much.

"Oh, it... looks nice." Leanne smiles and in lack of words, I slowly put and arm around her as we walk. She continues staring ahead of herself, at the building, but I can feel her shifting closer to me as we walk. Good, that's good. Good... good.

"Ladies first," I mumble, more to myself as I look at my shoes and hold the door open for Leanne. I hear her breathe out a laugh at what I'd said; that wasn't very Niall of me, and I'm guessing she's noticed it too.

"Did you call for a table, or... do we not have a reservation?" She asks, still looking around, and I can't help but sigh as I watch her back.

"No, it's alright though. This place isn't fancy enough for that." I mutter the last part to myself as I put a hand on her back, and lead her to a table near the window. I figured, if we fall into an awkward silence at some point, at least I can look outside.

I sit across from Leanne, and immediately pull my phone out to check the time; is 9 in the evening too late for dinner? "What do... what would you like?" I ask as I take my jacket off.

She shrugs, "It's getting pretty late, so I guess we should order now." What the hell, that wasn't even my question. "I'll have whatever you want."

"I just..." I glance out the window for a second, "I kinda just want to have a drink. But like, not coffee or anything. We can order wine."

A smile spreads across her face, "Great. I hate eating when it's too late, unless I get up in the middle of the night."

Yeah, I do that too, I think to myself. Except I'm fine with eating at any time of the day.

"So," I begin as I take one of the menus that are neatly laid in front of us, "Red or white?"

"Red, definitely." Good answer. "At least one of us here is old enough to drink it."

I smile as I open the menu, but as soon as I scan the 'red' category, my smile disappears and my eyes widen a little; I did know that everything would be in French and Italian, but most of the names are impossible to pronounce. Why isn't everything short and simple like dom pérignon? Why did I think everything would short and simple like dom pérignon?

"Niall?" I look up at Leanne, subconsciously keeping the freaked out expression on my face. "Everything alright? We can share the bill, you know."

I shake my head, "No, it's not... it's nothing," I smile and continue scanning the seemingly endless list in a desperate attempt to find a bottle of wine with a short name; but nothing I see has a short name, or even a simple one to pronounce. This is gonna be fun when the waiter comes to our table.

I notice Leanne sit up and smile at something from the corner of my eye, and yeah, the waiter came and now they're about to laugh like they haven't in a long time.

"Good evening, my name is-"

Just as I'd opened my mouth to speak, I let out a sigh and close my eyes; I can't even look up. I can't look at the person with the tragically familiar voice that standing right next to our table. This doesn't even happen in movies. This fuckery doesn't happen in fucking movies, Jesus fucking Christ.

I gulp and decide to look up; I wouldn't want Leanne to suspect anything. There's nothing to suspect anyway. Our waiter just happened to be the person I always, always want to see.

Except tonight. I didn't want to see her tonight. Why tonight? Is the universe playing some sick game with me? Or is it just that I'm-

"-my name is Angel, and I'm your waitress for tonight. Can I take your orders?"

I can't help but let out a low chuckle; nor can I help but shake my head. If I was to talk about this with someone, they'd probably slap me halfway through the conversation and leave.

"Niall?" Leanne mumbles, but I can barely even hear her. I must look like a fool, just sitting here and watching our waitress, who doesn't seem to have seen anything more interesting than the little pad in her hand. "Did you pick anything?"

I sit up and breathe out a small sigh, once again concentrating on the small book in my hands. "A bottle of... Château Coutelin Merville," I grimace at my own accent; Leanne doesn't bother to hold her giggle in. Even Angel – not even she can bite back a smile, even though I'm pretty sure we're feeling the same amount of horror upon seeing each other.

"Alright, anything to eat, perhaps?" Her eyes are fixated on Leanne most of the time – I can't blame her though; I can't look at her either. How ironic.

"No, just the-"

"Lobster," I blurt out all of a sudden, staring right ahead of myself. "I mean, a little later. Like in twenty minutes, I'd like to order a lobster."

I look up at Angel, and ignore the way she's finally looking at me. "You should come back later so I can order my lobster."

She blinks at me several times, and I can't see whether she's just confused, or if she thinks that I'm a weirdo now. "Okay then," She says after a few seconds, and turns back to Leanne. "And for you?"

"We'll share," I cut in, and they both look at me. "We'll share the lobster."

For a few seconds both of them are staring at me as if I'd just fallen from Mars; but I can tell Angel is a little less clueless than Leanne. "Right," She says, breaking the silence, with an impossibly genuine smile. "I will get you your wine and  come back later for the..."

She trails off and licks her lips as she looks at me, while I'm already looking at her. "Lobster. In case you change your mind," She finishes and starts walking away slowly, but then speeds up. If I've managed to creep her out, I can only imagine how Leanne is feeling.

"So..." I unglue my eyes from Angel as Leanne starts speaking, "Who is she?"

I can't help but raise my brows at her; the first thing that crosses my mind is was it really that obvious?, but then the second one is yeah, it was definitely that obvious. "Um, I don't know," I say stupidly, and glance one last time at Angel before she disappears in the kitchen.

"It seems like you do," She continues in a flat tone, but her expression is a little less than unconcerned. "I mean, your reaction when she came here. Her reaction when she saw you."

Is it getting a little hot in here or is it just me? "Ex-girlfriend?" Leanne suggests after a short silence, and even though she seems dead serious about it, I start laughing.

"What?" I say, a little too loud; to be fair, her assumption is ridiculous. "No, she's not my ex. Nothing like that, even. Just-just a girl that I know."

When I think that she isn't going to ask more questions, "Why did you look like you've seen a ghost then?" Leanne speaks again.

Is this how Angel feels when I can't stop asking questions?

"Well, we... aren't exactly on friendly terms." That's not even a lie; the way I made it sound might make Leanne think that we're in a fight of some sort, or something. Which doesn't have a down side, at all.

"Ah," She says, and continues looking at me. I don't know if she's trying to figure out whether I'm lying or not, or if she's just annoyed by my hair. "Did you fight on the parking lot?"

I blink several times, "Sorry?"

"On Monday," She says, her expression still unreadable. "When I got in my cab, I saw you talking to her. Did you have a fight?"

"I, um... no," I finally stutter out, "We just talked. Because we know each other." If I'd known she would ask this, I would have prepared something. This way, I only sound like a baboon.

Leanne nods, and picks one of the menus from the table. "Okay then."

Even though we've ordered – I've ordered – she starts flipping through pages of the small book. She obviously doesn't want to talk to me, or even make eye-contact. Stupid lobster.

"Leanne?" I call after about a minute, but she only glances at me, and then keeps looking at the menu. I'd really hate to screw up my relationship with her, because of someone I could never have. "I'm being honest," I say as the thought crosses my mind.

She lets out a small sigh and leaves the menu on the table, still opened. "Okay," She says and gives me the smallest of smiles. No, that's not enough.

"I am." I sit up and lean onto the table, not looking away from her. Instead of doing the same, Leanne sits back in her chair, tapping her fingers against the table. This might be a bit more difficult than I thought it'd be.

"I really am, like..." I don't really know what to say; it's not something I can prove to her. "I wouldn't just go out and-and... hook up with someone, or..."

I don't know why I'm explaining this to her. I don't even know why she got bothered by it in the first place; it's not like we're a couple, this is out first actual date. But then again, if I saw her with someone else, I wouldn't be indifferent about it either. For God's sake, I got anxious over the four names on her phone case.

She gives me a small smile – that actually surprises me, and leans toward me. "Then stop looking at her like you're ready to kiss the ground she walks on."

As horrified as I am, I can't help but laugh; yet again. "Are you kidding me? Is that how I look at her?" However, I stop laughing when Leanne nods, not nearly as entertained as I am. "Well trust me, it's not how I feel about her." Damn, not even I believed that.

"Okay," Is all she says, and I almost want to rip that stupid book out of her hands so she'd just look at me.

"Leanne," I sigh, "What-what- why do you not believe me?" Now I can't believe I'm getting so worked up about it.

"I do, I said okay like sixteen times," She frowns, "Is there a reason why you don't think I do?"

I blink before finally understanding what she means; this is how dating a Psychology student is, I can feel it. "No, you just... didn't seem convinced."

"Well, I..." She raises her eyebrows, "I am. It's okay."

Even though I decide to drop it, I can feel my leg shaking under the table. I don't even know why I'm so eager to convince her that there's nothing between Angel and I; is it so I can bump into her again and have Leanne not suspect anything? Maybe so that we could come here again? Or am I just convincing myself?

No, I'm definitely not convincing myself; nothing isn't even strong enough to describe what's between us.

I subconsciously stop shaking my leg when Angel appears in my sight again; this time she's holding a bottle of wine, and looking right back at me. Leanne looks over her shoulder, and in that moment Angel looks at the ground too. Does this mean we're caught? Because if yes, then fuck my life.

"Here you go." The bottle is already opened, now she's just pouring the wine in our glasses. "Enjoy."

"You know what, actually?" Leanne gives me a tight smile, and then Angel too. "I better get going, I... haven't finished my Sociology thing."

"What?" I mutter, but she's already standing up. Nah, she can't be serious, she can't just- she's walking out. She's actually walking toward the exit and- well, fuck my life for real.

I sigh and groan before standing up; this is definitely not how I thought the night would turn out to be. The last thing on my mind was that Angel – fucking Angel would be out waitress, and that I would be running after Leanne before we even got our drinks. No, this is not how it's supposed to be. This doesn't even happen in fucking movies.

"Leanne?" I call before I've even walked out, causing a few people to look at me. I don't even care about that; she's already standing on the sidewalk, not taking her eyes off the road while looking for a taxi. I could save the night, yes.

"Wait," I jog toward her, and stand right in front of her to get her attention. "Are you kidding me? Come on, don't leave because of something dumb."

"Studying for Sociology is dumb?" She frowns at me, but I can hear the sarcasm in her voice. God fucking dammit.

"No, that's not what I meant." I run a hand through my hair, "You know what I mean. Come on, just-just stay."

"I can't, I really..." She trails off, and by now I'm becoming a little desperate. "Sociology."

"Leanne, you're being ridiculous," I chuckle, hoping it would ease the tension. "You said you have Sociology for next week."

"I... haven't covered much. Another time, Niall." My smile fades as a yellow vehicle stops in front of us. I'm still not believing this; I still can't believe she's leaving because I was looking at Angel. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Right," I mutter, and she looks at me as she opens the door. I can see the look in her eyes has softened; could it be that she's rethinking leaving?

No, she just places a kiss on my cheek and walks into the cab, not even looking at me. I'm not even aware that I'm shaking my head as I watch the car leave; it all happened too sudden. I swear just a minute ago we were sitting in the restaurant and... arguing.

Now I'm watching her leave in a taxi. Is this even real?

"You know, I was wrong." Correction; is this real?

I slowly turn around and give Angel a bit of a murderous look; her hands are in the pockets of her apron as she walks toward me, seemingly not giving a damn about the way I'm looking at her now. Nor the fact that my date just ran away because of her. She actually doesn't look like she gives a damn about anything.

"When I said that your girl is lovely." She doesn't continue until she's standing in front of me, and looks over her shoulder, "She isn't really that lovely."

I blink at her a couple times, "Excuse me?"

"No offense, but he's a little less than lovely," Angel shrugs, "Far from it, actually. When I first saw her, I thought she'd be more casual. You know, like... more like someone that a person would want to go on a date with."

"Why is it," I begin, mostly so she'd stop, "That you're okay with talking about anything but yourself?"

She shrugs again, "I like talking about interesting things."

"And you aren't interesting?" I turn my body fully toward her, since apparently she's willing to stay on the street and talk to me.

"I wouldn't use interesting to describe what I am." A smile- smirk spreads across her face when I blink at her again; I'm starting to feel like every girl I talk to tonight is going to confuse me.

"Yeah, me neither," I mutter the last part to myself as I look at the restaurant again. "What are you even doing here? You don't work here."

Angel looks at the building too, and then at her apron. "Well, as a matter of fact..." She pulls at the red fabric, where the name of the restaurant is written in fancy letters – the same font as on the building. "I kind of do."

"No, I mean..." I shake my head, "You can't work here. This isn't something you would do."

"How do you know what I'd do?" She cocks an eyebrow at me.

"I don't. But serving people in the smallest diner in a metropolis is too plain for you."

She leans onto her right leg, and gives me another smile. "You're right. It is."

I shrug at that, "So why, then?"

"This is what I do on weekdays."

I throw my head back, nodding as I do; how come that didn't cross my mind at all? "Of course it is," I mumble to myself, and look down at her again, my head leaned to the side. "What do you do on weekends?" Hopefully she'll give me a broad answer if I play dumb.

"Not this." Or maybe not.

I slowly take a few steps toward her, until our faces are just a few inches apart. She seems completely okay with it; she actually doesn't even care that I'm this close to her. "Where is my lobster?"

"It's waiting for you," She replies, voice just as low.

"Well then," I lick my lips, and put effort into not grinning when she glances at my lips for a split second. "Can you get it for me? I'd like to go home and drown myself."

"Aw, why?" Angel furrows her brows, "Aren't you gonna go all detective on me?"

"Do you want me to?" I ask before I can think of the words that are leaving my mouth.

"Not really, no." Her voice is completely flat as she starts walking backwards, but grins at me nevertheless. "Get your money out," She tells me and turns around to enter the diner.

Before I can start over-thinking things, she comes back out with a large paper bag, the name of the restaurant printed there too. "That'll be exactly fifty dollars," She says as she hands me the bag, "I packed the wine too, so you can drown yourself in that."

"That's..." I pause as I take the bag from her and reach in my pocket, not taking my eyes off hers the whole time. "Very thoughtful of you."

"Yeah," She says as she takes the money from my hand, "Anything for my detective."

I smile and shake my head, "Bye, Angel." This is the first time I'm willingly leaving her, but to be fair, I feel like entirely leaving this universe too.

"See you around, Niall."

But as I start walking away, I can't help but notice she'd said something else now. "How come?" I ask loudly as I stop, and turn around to face her. She's still standing in the street, looking at me, as if she'd expected me to ask that.

"I'm not stupid, you know," She grins at me, "I know you're gonna find a way to find me."

And even though the date with Leanne was over before it began – at it was partially Angel's fault – I ended up going home with a smile on my face.

*******

Dedicated to @leavemetoread, because your comment said everything that I was thinking :)) and the lovely trailer on the side is made by @cold_heartx!

There's gonna be another update this week, so comment for a dedication! x