Venus had been panicking. That was all she had been doing since she left The Target's house the night before. With The Target still alive.

She felt like she would implode in herself. Surely, she would implode in on herself. But even that would be a lot better than what The Boss would do to her once he found out she hadn't completed the job. Venus had a half mind to stand up, go back to The Target's house right then and there and just kill her.

Put a bullet in her head, live to see another day. But that wasn't the case, Venus knew she couldn't do it. It was too late now.

Venus had begun cleaning her apartment. She couldn't remember the last time she had cleaned her apartment, but that was what she did now. It was better than doing nothing. She was cleaning her apartment and simultaneously panicking. She was making it work.

Venus eyed her phone resting on the counter. She expected that at any moment it would start ringing. She expected that it would be The Boss, informing her he had found out what she did. Informing her she was going to be killed, she was going to die a slow and agonizing death. Venus swallowed aggressively. She knew firsthand how dire the punishment for disobeying The Boss was.

There was suddenly a knock on the door and Venus froze in her tracks. The Boss had come for her. She was sure of it. He had found out what had happened and had come straight for her.

Venus was still frozen, just staring at the door unmoving.

There was another knock.

She braced herself. She knew there was no point in trying to run; she was as good as dead.

Venus walked over to the door, taking a deep breath before yanking it open.

"I was beginning to think you were out."

It wasn't The Boss, neither was it any of his Assassins. It was Xena.

The taller woman was standing casually leaning against the doorframe with a small box in one hand and flowers in the other.

"Xena." Venus said, whispering the short-haired woman's name. Instant relief washed through her, she was filled with a calm.

"Hey Venus. I missed you." Xena said, smiling softly, and Venus felt her breath hitch in her throat. Suddenly, everything else felt secondary. After all, she was standing here with Xena. Nothing else mattered, not even the fact that the world's deadliest Gang leader was probably after her.

Venus realized that Xena was still at the door.

"Do you want to come in?" Venus asked, already stepping aside for the taller woman to enter.

"Actually," Xena responded, "I was wondering if you wanted to come out with me, and I um, I got you flowers and a chocolate cupcake."

Smiling bashfully, Venus  took the flowers and cupcake from Xena. She couldn't stop the smile that was increasingly spreading across her face. She loved how Xena always showed up bringing her little gifts. It made her heart feel warm. It made her feel amazing, cared about. These were feelings that Venus had never really experienced before.

"Thank you." Venus breathed out, looking at the woman before her. "And where do you want me to go out to?"

Xena chuckled softly then. "No Venus, I think you've misunderstood. I mean, do you want to go out with me? Like on a date?"

Venus' mind was spinning then, Xena had just asked her on a date. Venus didn't know much, but in the very few romance movies she had watched in her life, this signified that Xena was interested in getting to know her further.

The smile on Venus' face grew even wider as she nodded her head, bopping it up and down.

"Great. Let's go." Xena responded as an enormous smile crossed over her face.

Venus told Xena to give her a moment during which she ran back inside, dropping the cupcake and flowers on the kitchen counter before heading to her room. She looked through her clothes, trying to find something she could wear. The women in the movies she had watched always wore pretty dresses on dates, so Venus changed into a dress.

Luckily for her, she had quite a wide array of clothes which she used for various jobs. For a brief moment Venus' panic returned as she remembered the situation she was in.

"Venus, are you doing okay?" She heard Xena yell from the front door.

Just like that, a fresh wave of calm washed over Venus. She got ready quickly and headed back to Xena.

"Woah.." Xena said once she saw her, "you look beautiful."

Instantly, Venus felt the back of her neck heat up. "Thank you."

Xena smiled and leaned over, dropping a lingering kiss on Venus' lips before entwining their fingers together.

Venus was feeling so many emotions in that moment. Her head felt cloudy and seemed to fog over as she began walking with Xena out of her apartment.

They ended up driving to the date location. It was further into The City, so they couldn't walk all the way  there. Throughout the car trip, Venus snuck glances at Xena, taking in just how the taller woman's hair fell into her eyes, and the way her lips were curled into a slight smile. Venus found herself imitating this smile. She was filled with excitement as they drove in comfortable silence.

"Here we are." Xena announced after driving for thirty minutes, putting the car in park.

Venus didn't know where exactly it was they were. They were next to a street filled with various restaurants.

"Where are we going?" Venus voiced her thoughts as both women got out of the car.

"I'm taking you to my favorite outside restaurant in The City." Xena announced, sending a smile in Venus' direction. They began walking down the street, side by side. Ever so slightly, Venus slipped her hands into Xena's, glancing up at the older woman in time to see her break into a smile. This made Venus smile too, and her breath caught in her throat as she felt Xena squeeze her hand slightly.

"Here we are." Xena said as they came to a stop.

They were standing in an outside restaurant, but it wasn't just any regular restaurant. The furniture looked extremely luxurious. Just from that alone, Venus could tell it was a high-class, posh restaurant.

"Come on." Xena whispered as she led Venus to the balcony area, pulling her down into a chair. Venus simply could not stop staring at the view before them. It overlooked The City. Below them people were moving around, chattering. It was beautiful...

After a few moments, a waitress appeared to take their order.

"Can I order your food for you?" Xena asked, leaning forward slightly, "I promise you'd love it."

Venus couldn't take her mind off the feel of Xena's legs rubbing against her thigh underneath the small table. She swallowed hard and nodded her head.

"We'd both have the fries and club sandwiches." Venus said to the waitress.

The blonde woman nodded her head as she scribbled something down in her notepad. "And drinks?"

Xena turned and looked at Venus the same time the waitress did. Venus immediately felt herself grow nervous from having both of their attention on her at the same time.

"Um, I'd take an iced-tea." She said, her voice shaking slightly.

Xena picked up on this and slowly reached her hand across the table, taking Venus' hand in hers. Venus immediately felt a still come over her, she felt like she could melt.

"And you?" The waitress asked, turning back to Xena.

"I'd just have a coke. With ice, please."

This instantly reminded Venus of the first ever time she met Xena. This had been her order at the Bar. A small smile crept over her face as she remembered how rude she had been to the taller woman.

Honestly, Venus couldn't understand why Xena had even bothered with her after that. She had been such an asshole, but now here they were. So much had changed. Not even between them, but within Venus. And she was aware of this. Venus was no longer cold. She had begun letting Xena in. She had begun to let herself feel.

The food arrived fairly quickly, and both women dug into it. Venus found herself thinking that Xena had been right, the food was absolutely delicious, and she was enjoying every moment of it.

"Jasmine?"

Venus heard a voice call out close to her, but she didn't pay any regards to it.

"What are you doing here?"

It was Xena that had spoken this time, and Venus looked up. Xena seemed to be glaring at someone behind her and Venus spun around, coming face to face with a guy with a silly haircut. Venus got the feeling that she knew the guy from somewhere.

"Jasmine?" The guy said again, looking straight at her.

It was then that it dawned upon her. He was the obnoxious guy that she had danced with the night at La belle nuit.

But that wasn't even the thing that shocked her the most. Rather, it was the fact that Xena seemed to know him. From the look spread across her face, it was clear that she didn't like him very much.