"Where is he?" You mumbled, checking your watch for the time.

Currently, you were sitting at a table at a fancy restaurant, with a white tablecloth that covered it, and a candle sat in the middle of it, along with the wine that you had already ordered, and silverware in nice cloth napkins sat next to the white plate that held bread crumbs from you eating the appetizer that they served you.

15 minutes, you thought, sighing. You really wish it hadn't been. Apparently, it looks like you had been stood up.

"Ma'am?" You look up from your plate and see the waiter for the second time. "Are you ready to order?"

You sigh. "Yeah, I may as well." You open your menu, already having decided what you want.

"Oh my gosh I am so sorry that I'm late," says a man rushing to your table wearing a black suit jacket with a white button-up shirt, black pants, and nice black socks and black shoes.

About time, you thought, rather relieved that your date had shown up.

The waiter smiled and nodded. "I'll be back shortly, then." He dismissed himself then left.

"I am so sorry about that," he says in a very rushed voice.

You chuckle at him, waving it off. "Don't worry about it, it's fine. I wouldn't have minded eating by myself anyway," you tell him light-heartedly but that only seemed to make him feel more guilty.

He smiled nervously, running his fingers through his hair. You could tell he was very anxious, just by the way he was sitting. He sat upright, not looking very comfortable at all.

"So uh, what kind of wine is that?" He asked, trying to break the ice. He nodded to the red glass of wine that sat in front of you.

"Dolcetto," you said, holding it up, admiring the look of it. "It's got sort of a raspberry taste to it. It's very good." You take a sip of it and set it down, letting the savory flavor seep into your taste buds.

He nods, giving you a 'hmm', before looking down at his menu. For a moment, there's a long awkward pause, and you couldn't help but tap your fingers on your glass to lift the tension off of your shoulders.

"So, Joe, is it?" You ask, which makes him look up from his menu. At that second, you get a chance to look into his eyes, and for once, not seeming in panic. His eyes are dark, soft, brown and are warm and inviting.

He smiles at you and nods. "Yes, and you're (Y/N), correct?"

You nod. "Yes, that's me. If I may ask, why were you late?" You didn't want to really ask that question, but he was fifteen minutes late. Usually after fifteen you would just get up and leave.

He huffed. "Traffic was awful. There was a crash and the police weren't even there to direct people. It was ridiculous."

"Oh wow," you muttered, placing your chin on to the palm of your hand. "That must've been rough."

He nodded, looking back down at his menu. "It sure was."

You almost didn't believe him, simply because it was an easy excuse to make up, but however, he did seem like a genuine guy and you didn't want to ruin his chances then and there.

You looked down at your menu to see what other wines they offered here, but before you could do so, you heard Joe clear his throat, which made you lift your head.

"So uh, what do you do for a living?" He asked, setting down his menu before looking at you.

You returned your gaze, smiling at him. "Oh, I'm a secretary at the moment," you tell him, not really satisfied with your answer. You wished you did something different. "What about you?"

He laughed, fumbling with his sleeve. "Oh, I'm an actor."

You raised your eyebrows in surprise, not really expecting that answer. "Wow really? Have I seen you in anything?"

He shrugged. "Only if you've seen Jurassic Park, Undrafted... To name a few."

You gasped, now realizing who he was. "Oh my gosh, you played that kid in Jurassic!" You giggled excitedly. "That's so cool. It must be so fun being an actor. "

He nodded, his eyes lighting up at your excitement. "Yeah, it is. Is being a secretary fun?" He chuckled, a bright smile upon his face.

You sighed, now realizing that you couldn't really tell him any fun stories from work. "I mean... Sometimes people bring donuts to work."

He laughed. "Wow, hey, that's very exciting. I don't know what you're being so glum about," he paused, then a smirk of amusement came upon his face. "Or should I say, I donut know what you're talking about."

You laughed, taking a sip of your wine. This date was already so much better. "Haha, so funny. I appreciate that pun. "

He shrugged. "There's plenty more where that came from."

You raised an eyebrow, smirking. "Oh really?"

He opened his mouth to answer, but before he could reply, the waiter came up to you both, taking out his notepad and his pen. "What can I get you both tonight?"

You looked down at your menu, trying to remember what you wanted. "Uh, ill take some fettuccine alfredo and a Caesar salad to go with it, per favore, " you say, closing your menu, before finishing off your sentence with an Italian accent.

Joe chuckled at that and looked at his menu. "I'll have a glass of water with some spaghetti and a house salad, per favore, " he says, copying you while handing the waiter his menu. You shook your head, handing off yours as well.

The waiter didn't seem amused at both of you but nodded before he took off.

You shrugged. "Rude service, but whatever. "

He nodded, agreeing with you. "Yeah. Sorry about that."

You shrug. "It's fine. Not your fault. I'm actually glad you picked this place, " you paused looking at Joe as he reached for his drink, but quickly stood up as you realized he had clumsily knocked it over with his elbow, spilling all of its contents all over the table, soaking the tablecloth, and turned the bread rolls soggy.

"Oh my god, I am so sorry," he mumbled, in a panic, grabbing several napkins from the napkin dispenser and started blotting up his mess.

You huffed, brilliantly annoyed now. But you couldn't lose your temper with him, because you had several bad first dates that ended up awful.it just happened to be happening to him.

"It's okay Joe, ill flag down a waiter and see if they can get this mess up," you reply calmly, trying to keep your cool.

You flag down a waiter and tell him what's going on and he quickly rushes away to get a mop and a rag. You continued to help Joe clean up as much as possible, but as you did, you felt something wet trickle down on to your dress. It was the water.

Just as this night couldn't get any worse, you thought. This wasn't your dress. It was your friend's, and you promised you wouldn't get anything on it since it cost her so much. But yet, you did.

"Oh my gosh, it got on your dress. I am so, so so, sorry, " he apologized again, his face ridden with worry and panic.

You sighed again, now cleaning up your dress. "Yeah its um... It's fine. " you could feel all sorts of angry feelings bottling up inside of you. If your friend made you pay for a new dress, you would definitely make him do it. He was the one who ruined it.

"Hey Joe, I'm going to go outside and wait until they're done cleaning the table up, okay?" You told him, getting up from the table.

"Oh okay," was all he said. You could tell he felt really bad, but you need a breath of fresh air, away from all the commotion.

You got up and weaved your way around the restaurant to the exit and stepped outside. You turned to sit down on a bench that sat outside next to the building and rested your head in your hands, thinking about the events that happened all in one date night. You really wanted to cry.

"Mind if I join you?"

You looked up and saw a guilty-looking Joe standing next to you with his hands in his pockets.

You nodded and scooted over so he could sit next to you.

You continued to hang your head, wondering if they were finished cleaning the table off now. You didn't want this date to last any longer than it already has.

"Hey, I am sincerely sorry about everything. I'm sorry that I was late, for spilling water--everything that made you feel uncomfortable and that you hated..." He continued to empty his mouth like a gasoline leak. You looked up and smiled, truly appreciating his apologies. He was a nice guy, and you really did feel bad for him. He continued,"I was just really trying hard tonight, and I saw you were a really pretty girl, and when we texted I knew you were going to be really cool, and I'm just trying--"

You smiled, looking at his hands as they were nervously flying all over the place as he tried to explain himself, but you grabbed his hands and looked at him into his eyes, offering him a reassuring smile. "Hey, it's fine. I understand bad dates. Just... I think you should stop trying so hard and be yourself, okay?" You asked him, giving his hands a gentle, reassuring squeeze.

He looked up at you and smiled back, nodding. "Yeah, okay. And thanks for understanding (Y/N). That helped a lot."

You nodded. "Yeah sure. Hey, how about we get this food to-go and meet back up at my place and ditch this fancy restaurant, so that way you won't feel so pressured to try hard, okay?" You tell him, letting go of his hands, feeling the chill of the night air run down your arms, giving you goosebumps.

"Yeah, yes, actually. That would be amazing," he said in relief, his eyes widening when he realized you were cold. "Hey, take my jacket, I don't need it."

"Oh no, it's fine actually--"

"No, take it, I insist. It's the least I could do, especially after what happened all tonight," he insisted politely, slipping off his jacket, handing it to you.

You smiled, taking the jacket and put it on. "Thank you, Joe."

Just as you were about to get up, your waiter came to the door and opened it, with an annoyed look on his face. "Your table is ready."

You grimaced, glancing at Joe, not wanting to annoy the waiter again. "Actually, I think we'd like our food to-go, please."
••••••

Hope you enjoyed this GalaxyXGold! Sorry this literally took forever. 💕💕