L A Y L A ' S   P O V

I smile in thanks when JJ passes me the last sheet of paperwork I need to do today. I'm not normally smiling at the thought of paper work, but this sheet is the last thing standing between me and the weekend.

Emily looks up from her desk and swivels in her chair to face us. "What's everyone's plans for tonight?"

I listen as JJ explains the jam packed Friday night she has planned with Henry and then Derek spills out a complete lie about how he's planning to renovate another room in his house.

I know he's lying because he scheduled our first official date for tonight, and I am scheduling him to do me the rest of the weekend so there won't be much time for anything else.

Then JJ, Emily and Derek's attention turns to me when I've yet to answer. "Oh," I shrug nonchalantly. "I'm not doing much."

"Your hair is freshly blown out," JJ says suspiciously, levelling me with a pointed stare. "You one hundred percent have plans."

Profilers. Okay, so maybe I can tell the truth without telling the truth. "I may or may not be getting wined, dined and sixty nined tonight."

Across the desk Derek whistles, leaning back in his chair. He tucks his hands behind his head, pumping his eyebrows. "Lucky man."

"Yeah, now we're talking," Emily grins, leaning over her desk to get closer. "Who are you going out with?"

I tap my finger against my nose twice. "That's a secret I'll never tell."

Emily snorts. "Okay Gossip Girl."

"Come on Layla," JJ grins, tapping her fingers against her desk. "Cure our curiosity."

"I'll think about it if it goes well," I lie, signing my signature at the bottom of the last document before I slide my stack of paperwork into my desk drawer.

"We want all the details next week," JJ says, grinning. Her brows crease, like she only realised what she said. "About the date. Not the sex."

"Speak for yourself," Emily cuts in, a teasing tone in her voice. "I want to hear everything."

I laugh, picking up my bag. "I'll see you all on Monday."

They call out their goodbyes while I walk out of the office and before I reach the doors, I look back at Derek to find him already watching me. His eyes are on me, his lips quirked up into a subtle smirk even through he's still talking to Emily and JJ.

Every time he looks at me, it gives me butterflies in my stomach and butterflies somewhere else too. Does it get better than that?

-

I've been sifting through my overfilling closet for the last ten minutes, looking for one dress in particular.

I sigh in relief when I finally find the black calf length ruched dress hanging behind all of the sweatshirts I've stole from Derek.

My vision for my outfit tonight is this black dress, black strappy heels and a red lip. My vision also accounted for the fact that everything will still look good when Derek does that cute thing later and gives me his jacket because it's cold out. Priorities.

Now with my outfit layed out, I return to the bathroom to finish my makeup. I quickly check the time on my phone and realise I still have twenty minutes before Derek gets here...except I hear my apartment door slam closed and him call out to me.

"You're early," I whine, closing over the bathroom door before he can see me. "Why would you show up early?"

"Correction, I'm punctual." Derek says teasingly, trying the door handle. "Hey! Why are you locking me out?"

"It's our first date," I say, focusing back on my makeup in the mirror. "You can't see me until I'm fully ready. Dressed, makeup, the whole nine yards."

Derek pauses. "I woke up to you drooling on my chest this morning and now I can't see you until you put on some lipgloss?"

"It will ruin the whole big reveal illusion." Do guys seriously not get these things? "Idiot."

"I heard that!"

"That's why I said it!"

Even through the closed door I can hear the amusement in the sigh Derek heaves followed by the sound of my bed sinking beneath his weight.

"How are you feeling today?" I ask, sweeping some red lipstick across my lips.

Derek has been complaining of a dull consistent stomach ache the past two days. He hasn't got sick but he hasn't had an appetite and is nauseous most of the time. I suggested he might be pregnant and he laughed so hard his stomach cramp got worse.

"I'll be fine," Derek says. "But it hurts most when I laugh so try not to make me laugh."

"That can't be normal." I set the tube of lipstick down and I pull open the door to see him sitting on the edge of my bed. "Are you sure you're okay? We can do this another night."

Derek is looking at me, but I can tell he didn't hear a word that just came out of my mouth. My concern for him overtook and I forgot I've yet to put on my dress and now he's staring at the red lingerie I'm wearing that he wasn't supposed to see for a couple more hours.

His heated gaze drags up my bare legs, over the red lace triangle that's covering between my thighs, up to the light fabric barely covering my tits, held together with a red silk bow.

"You look—fuck—wow."

I walk over to him and perch myself sideways on his lap and Derek's hands land on my waist and thigh to hold me against him. "And you look as handsome as ever," I smile, lightly kissing his lips.

I use my thumb to wipe away the hint of red that transferred to Derek's lips, drinking in the sight of him in a crisp white shirt and black suit jacket, the top button of his shirt undone to expose a small sliver of his chest.

"Now seriously," I say, trying not to let the delicious smell of his cologne distract me. "Are you sure you want to go out tonight?"

If he's still not feeling good I'll gladly stay in tonight and we can relax and I'll make him soup and pray my cooking doesn't poison him.

"And miss taking you out?" Derek says like it would be the worst thing in the world to stay in. "Not gonna happen."

I can tell Derek still feels bad for what he said last week in the car and I know he wants to make it up to me and considering the past two days have been a battle of me telling him to go to the doctor and him insisting it will pass, there's no chance he's going to change his mind about tonight.

"Now get going," Derek smirks, slapping his hand to my ass. "Our reservation is at seven."

Since the lingerie is no longer a secret I grab my dress and step into it, shimmying it up my body in front of Derek.

"Reverse strip tease," He tilts his head to the side, nodding in approval when he leans back on his palms. "I'm into it."

"You're into me, that's why."

"Also true."

I laugh, turning around and sitting on his lap. "Zip me up?"

Derek gently gathers and moves my hair over one shoulder, pressing a kiss between my shoulder blades before he starts zipping me up. "Putting you in clothes feels illegal though."

"Lingerie might be a little too informal for a restaurant."

Once my dress is secure I grab my heels and when I lean down to put them on, Derek clears his throat and pats his hand to his lap. I rest my foot on his thigh while he slips the heel onto my foot, criss crossing the ties over my leg.

"The heels stay on when I'm fucking you later," He says, pressing a soft kiss to my ankle before he places my foot back down.

Anticipation goosebumps spread across my body and before I make the decision to forgo dinner altogether, I grab Derek's hand and lead him out of the bedroom.

I pause when I see the biggest bouquet of flowers I've ever layed eyes on resting on my kitchen table. Warmth blooms in my chest as I examine all the different colors, shapes and sizes of all the various type of flowers. "Derek.."

He smiles at me. "I didn't know which flowers were your favorite so I just sorta—"

"Bought the whole store?"

Derek's hand snakes around my body and he lifts his shoulders in a shrug. "Kinda."

I lean up and press my lips to his, showing him all my gratitude in a kiss. I laugh when I pull back, seeing his lips now matching mine.

"What?" Derek asks, confused.

"Red is definitely your shade."

-

Derek and I's first date is a success so far. It's a first date without all the awkwardness of an actual first date.

There's no fumbling for conversation and we can actually enjoy our time instead of worrying about what to say next. The atmosphere in the restaurant he picked is amazing, the food is delicious and my company is even better.

The restaurant is downtown and the ambiance is relaxed, intimate and cosy. The lighting is dim and there's a single candle on each table, stylish decor and elegant furniture.

I lean over our table slightly, wrapping my lips around the spoon Derek holds out for me, filled with our shared chocolate cake dessert.

"Mhm," I hum in approval, nodding. "It's so good."

Derek brings the cake to his lips and he couldn't make it look like it's the last thing he wants to do more if he tried. His lips fold into a thin line when he swallows harshly, trying to distract me by bringing the spoon to my lips again. He's trying not to let it show, but he's been struggling to eat all night because of his stomach pain.

I've seen him get minor injuries in the field and he doesn't even blink so considering the fact he's physically wincing, he must be in immense pain.

I don't know if it's some ego thing that he doesn't want to admit he's in pain but quite frankly, I couldn't care less anymore. He's been like this for almost three days and I'm getting him to the hospital right now if he likes it or not.

Another positive thing about this not being an actual real first date means I don't feel bad ending it abruptly.

"Okay, we're going," I say, having enough of Derek pretending he's okay. I politely try to get our waiters attention and he comes walking straight over. "Could we get the bill please?"

"Why did you do that?" Derek asks, frowning at me when the waiter walks away. "You haven't even finished your cake."

This is probably the only instance I'll ever say this, but I couldn't care less about cake right now. "Derek you're clearly in pain. We need to get you to a doctor or the hospital."

"But it's our first date," Derek says, reaching across the table and squeezing my hand. "And I'm taking you to the Georgetown Waterfront Park after here."

I resist the urge to awe at the fact that he remembers me causally mentioning that I wanted to go there sometime because they put on movies underneath the night sky.

"Thank you for planning that," I smile, squeezing his hand back. "But there will be plenty of more date nights we can do that."

Derek slumps in his seat but he doesn't protest any further while we clear our bill and thank the waiter. On our walk out of the restaurant we pass the rustic photo booth we saw on our way in and said we'd do after dinner.

"Another time," I say, tugging on Derek's arm when he stops. "We have a hospital to get to."

"Come on," He frowns, pulling me back. "It will take two minutes and then we can go."

"Derek—"

"Too late," He grins, slotting a bill into the machine. "It's already paid for."

Derek pulls me into the little booth with him and sits me down on his knee while the screen in front of us shows a count down from ten.

Derek chuckles half heartedly. "Smile like you believe this was the best date you've ever been on."

I frown at the defeated tone in his voice and I turn to him to find his eyes filled with a sheepish look.

"Derek, don't feel bad," I say. "If this situation was the other way around you would have thrown me over your shoulder and forced me to see a doctor by now." I shrug, ignoring the flash of light as the first picture is snapped. "I would do that to you but you're a little too heavy for me to carry."

Derek's face brightens with a gentle smile at my weird way of saying I care about him. His eyes soften and he cups my chin in his hand and kisses me as the second flash of light goes off.

"Ew," My nose scrunches up when I pull back. "Now there's a picture of us kissing in it."

Derek gasps in offence. "Ew?"

"It's like PDA," I say, shaking my head. "I'm not a fan."

Before the timer goes off again Derek squishes my cheeks together, him laughing into the camera at how puffy my lips look. I kiss his cheek in the next photo and for the last, we're both smiling brightly.

Derek grabs the strip of photos when it prints, grinning when he taps his fingers to the one of us looking at each other and the one of him squeezing my face. "I want these two."

I take it from him as we walk out of the restaurant and across the parking lot and I smile warmly at the strip of six photos in my hand.

The first one is of us talking, looking into each other's eyes, the next one we're kissing then a couple of them laughing and smiling in the last. This looks like something we would show our kids one day.

Did I really just think that?

"Did you really just think what?"

Shit. "That your head is huge."

Derek's chest rises with a laugh before he groans, hunching over in pain while his hand is clutching his stomach. "Okay, something is definitely wrong," He finally admits, taking a couple deep breaths.

If he's finally admitting it, it must be bad. I quickly shove the photos into my purse and pull out my phone, getting the directions to the nearest hospital.

I feel like I'm on autopilot as I practically carry him the last few feet to his truck, patting his pockets for his keys.

"You're not—"

I pull the keys from his back pocket. "I'm driving and don't you argue with me."

That shuts him up.

It takes some struggle but I get Derek into the passenger seat and do up his seatbelt. I wince when I accidentally press too hard on the buckle and he groans, clutching his right side.

"It's your right side?" I ask, my heart rate picking up. "Your right side is your appendix!"

Derek grunts in pain, his head thrown back against the headrest as he breathes heavily. "I didn't know there was sides to your stomach."

I resist the urge to punch him right now for letting it get to this point. It has to be his appendix and my only hope is that it hasn't bursted already.

"I'm sorry I ruined our date," Derek says quietly, pulling me out of concentrating on driving as fast as I can to the ER.

"Don't be stupid," I sigh, turning down the last street to the hospital. I reach over and squeeze his hand. "You didn't ruin anything."

Derek rolls his head to the side when he smiles at me, trying to bring some amusement to the tense situation. "I made our first date memorable, huh?"

You can say that again.

-

A/N why have a normal first date when it can end up in the ER? 🫠 I'm excited for Derek on general anaesthetic in the next chapter🤣 I hope you enjoyed this! :)