Otis was anxious.

No, anxious wasn't the right word for it...he was a downright nervous wreck. Yeah, that sounded better. He clenched and unclenched his sweaty hands. In desperation, he attempted to dry them by wiping them on his pants. This didn't help much. The sweat from his hands left faint streaks on his pants. Thankfully it wasn't too noticeable. Otis wiped more sweat from his forehead and took a shaky breath.

His feet sounded ten times louder than usual as they echoed on the deserted, concrete sidewalk. Spaced evenly along the sidewalk were bright streetlamps that glowed unnaturally in the setting sun. Storm clouds had blown in overhead and a chill wind had picked up. Otis desperately hoped it wouldn't rain. In his mind, this evening was already going to be a disaster and having it rain would, in no way, help his confidence.

He glanced up the street and saw her house. It was small, gray, and plain, nothing at all like the person who occupied it. Otis wondered vaguely why Olympia hadn't bothered to decorate it. This thought didn't last long, however, as the feeling of nervousness forced its way back. With agonizingly slow steps Otis continued along the sidewalk; trying to make each step last just a little bit longer. Postponing the moment when he would have to knock on her door was his only concern.

He was so focused on taking slower steps, that he did not notice where he was until he bumped his head against the front-porch railing. How had his feet moved so quickly? There he was, facing Olympia's front door.

It was a plain door that had once been covered in white paint but was now peeling dreadfully. The door seemed to reflect his mood; exposed, nervous, and desperately in need paint job confidence booster.

He raised his hand to knock but then stopped. Maybe he should just turn around. Maybe this evening would be less of a disaster if he simply ran for it now.

No, Otis shook his head. He had already made plenty of mistakes and did not intend to make another one. He was going through with this.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Inside the house Olympia was just as nervous, but it was a different kind of nervousness. Every inch of her was filled with nervous excitement and the thrill of anticipation.

She had replayed the scene in her head at least a million times and was now plugging in for a million and one. A few days ago Otis had asked her to go out to dinner with him. Neither of them had ever mentioned "the word", but Olympia had immediately bestowed the title of "date" upon the outing the minute Otis had asked her.

She glanced at herself in the hall mirror. A girl with bright red glass, bright red hair, and a bright red dress smiled back at her. A golden chain hung around her neck on which hung a broken, golden something. She didn't exactly know what it was but she liked to think had been a heart, or a star, or a butterfly; something along those lines, back long ago when it had been new and whole.

It had been her mothers, or at least that's what the people at the orphanage had told her, and it was all she had to connect herself with the family she had never known.

She shook her head. Now was not the time to be dwelling on these things. She could do that later. Now was the time to be waiting for Otis. Her stomach nearly exploded with joy at the mere thought of his name.

Then, she heard it. A knock at the door. The sound of knuckles against wood echoed throughout the empty house and Olympia practically flew to the door and flung it open. There stood Otis, looking as if he had swallowed some particularly nasty medicine. The expression on his face changed drastically as he viewed Olympia. Her red dress was knee-length and flowed smoothly around her when she moved. Her hair was back in it's usually ponytail but a few loose pieces stuck out, framing her face perfectly. Otis opened his mouth but the words seemed caught in his throat. He coughed a few times and finally forced out a raspy complement, "Olympia, you look great."

Olympia blushed, "Thanks. So do you. I mean, not that you don't always look great, because you do, but you look especially great tonight, which is great!" She smiled broadly at him.

It was Otis's turn to blush and he stared down at the blue-plaid shirt and denim jeans he was wearing as if he had forgotten what they looked like. He mumbled a quiet "Thanks."

Olympia smiled and seeing as Otis seemed incapable of speech at the moment, she spoke instead. "So if you're ready and I'm ready we can go I suppose. Or, if you want to keep standing here that's cool too I guess."

"What? Oh, no we can leave." Otis seemed to snap back to reality and, looking completely embarrassed, fell in step beside Olympia as they set off down the abandoned sidewalk.

A low rumble of thunder sounded overhead and Olympia glanced worriedly at the sky. "I hope we get to the restaurant before it rains. I knew I should have brought an umbrella. Oh well, I little rain never hurt anybody. Unless it's more then a little rain, then it could possibly hurt. And if it starts hailing then we definitely need to get inside for safety reasons, unless you have a super strong skull or something then that's cool, you can just walk around in the hail. Everyone might think you're crazy but they won't be the cool ones walking in the hail so who cares what they think."

"Olympia, it's not going to hail." Otis held up two hands to halt her tirade of words. "And even if it did the restaurant is just over there, we could run inside in thirty seconds."

"Oh yeah." Olympia grinned and walked forward at a brisker pace than before as if worried that hail might pour out of the sky at any second.

Otis sped up to keep pace with her.

The restaurant in question was an Italian one, very similar to Gino and Sabatino's only slightly smaller. They had recently had such good business that they had decided to expand and had added another restaurant. Neither Otis nor Olympia had been to this new restaurant yet and so they did not know what to expect.

They reached a classy looking door with large brass handles and Otis held open one of them to let Olympia walk in ahead of him. It was a gentleman-like act and Otis wasn't quite sure what made him do it. For a moment he felt embarrassed, thinking she might laugh at him. Instead she gave him and huge smile and a "thank you" convincing him that he had made the right move.

Inside, the restaurant was filled with dim lights. Red glass lanterns hung over each table and small candles flickered underneath them. It appeared to be very busy and the low murmur of conversation floated through the air. The entire place glowed with a warm, comfortable, spaghetti-smelling feel.

"May I help you?" An older gentleman with a red vest glanced politely at them from behind his stand.

"Um, yes. We'd like a table please." Olympia piped up, stepping forward.

"Only for the two of you?" The man raised his eyebrows slightly.

"Yes. Just the two of us." Olympia felt warmth bubble inside her at the sound of those words.

"Very well." The man did not press the issue and glanced down at a screen behind his stand. "Ah, yes. There is a table open. If you'll follow me."

The man lead them through the crowded restaurant to a small table near the back. It was near one of the windows and a clear view of the steadily darkening sky could be seen through it. "Someone will be with you shortly. Have a pleasant evening." With a parting smile and a curious look in his eyes, the red-vested man left them.

"Um, Otis?" Olympia looked suddenly concerned.

"Yeah?"

"Well, it's just, this a really nice place, and I don't want to be rude, but how much is this going to cost?"

The corner of Otis's mouth lifted in a half-smile. "Don't worry. It's covered."

"But where did you get enough money?" Olympia was unconvinced.

"You know the time we helped the Confalones and fought of the spaghetti monster thing?" Olympia nodded, listening intently.

"As a thank you, the Confalones gave Ms. O a gift-card for any of their restaurants to pass on to us. Ms. O gave it to me but I've been keeping it a secret until now. So yeah, everything's covered."

"Wow! Thanks!" Olympia looked thrilled that Otis had wanted to surprise her.

"Hello there, I'm Justin and I'll be your waiter this evening."

Otis glanced up to see a blonde-haired smiling man standing over them. He was young, probably no more than three years older than them. His eyes were an insanely stunning blue and every strand of his golden hair seemed to fall perfectly into place. If they had been in a fairytale at the moment this guy would most certainly be playing the prince. Otis didn't know whether to laugh or be disgusted by how unbelievably perfect the waiter's looks were. Then he caught sight of Olympia. A large smile had spread across her face and she was gazing dazedly up at the waiter.

Otis felt heat rush into his cheeks. This was bad.

Hey, everyone! So this ending is kinda strange because I wrote this two-parter as one long story. The second part is being revised and will be posted soon. Also, this story has been a long time in the making so let me know what you think of it. Thanks for everything! Y'all rock! --Sara S.