^^ Humphead Wrasse Fish

Two are better than one. ~Ecclesiastes 4:9

                              • • •

On the day of my date with Abel, I enlist the help of Rani, Ana and Evelyn who agree quickly out of excitement. For some reason, Rolo has decided to invite himself even when I specifically told him not to come. All he does is complain about everything when we're getting ready to go out and I do not want a headache before seeing Abel.

"No, not that one." Rolo says.

"You look too desperate and eager in that." He adds.

"Are you sure you're not trying to stop Abel liking you? Because these outfits are terrible." Rolo throws himself onto my bed and crosses his arms behind his head while giving me a pointed look.

My nostrils flare from irritation so I clasp my hands together in an attempt to not storm over him and strangle his fat neck.

"Why are you even here Rolo?" I glare at him from my wardrobe while he starts whistling a random tune, completely ignoring my frustration at him.

"Ouch Kez, that hurt." He places his hand over his heart and feigns a wounded look. "If the clothes you're picking out are anything to go by, then I'd say it's a good thing I'm here."

Not able to control myself any longer, I throw a hanger at his head before launching myself at him.

"Get off me!" Rolo tries to wiggle out of my hold, only for him to elbow me in the ribs. This action spurs me on even more making me hit him repetitively on his chest.

"Stop insulting me all the time!" I yell.

"Never!" Rolo pushes me off him in an attempt to throw me off the bed but before I latch onto his arms dragging him with me. Rolo lands on top of me with a big 'oomph' practically cutting off my oxygen.

"Stand up you stupid oaf!" I put my hands on his chest and try and push him off me but obviously his heavier weight stops anything from happening.

"Not until you apologise for throwing a freaking hanger at my head!"

"Should we intervene now?" Evelyn asks Ana and Rani.

"It's best if you let them continue until they're done." Ana replies.

"Last time I tried to help I was punched in the face so there is absolutely no way I'm going near them." Rani states.

"Me apologise? You should be apologising for your ridiculous comments!" I start to wiggle even more beneath him but he still does not budge.

I finally get tired of this and decide to take matters into my own hands.

Rolo rolls off me, holding his crotch area and groaning in pain. "Was that really necessary Keziah?!" He wheezes out.

I stand up and dust myself off before placing my hands on my hips from satisfaction, "Yes Rolo, it really was. I told you to get off me so you really had that coming."

Ignoring the rest of Rolos groans and incoherent words, I turn to face my nicer and more reliable friends.

"So, which one should I wear?"

In the end, all of us-except Rolo- agree on a long sleeve off the shoulder burgundy sweater dress paired with thick black tights and the boots I got on Christmas.

After Rani begging to do my make up for me, I finally give in simply to shut her up. There's no doubt that she is amazing at it, but sometimes she tends to go overboard and I want it to be a more natural look.

"Rani, don't cake my face in all this stuff." I point to the various products strewn on my table and eye Rani carefully through the mirror.

"I won't! Just relax!" She says.

"Do you know where he's taking you?" Ana questions.

"No." I respond glumly, "He said it's a surprise."

"Well that just makes it nicer." Evelyn smiles slightly at all of us.

"Wait, what was you're first date with Israel like?" I ask.

Evelyn launches into detail about how he took her to his family owned restaurant and had it cleared out for the night meaning it was just them two in the middle of the room with candles all around. Afterwards, he took her hand and led her to the floor where they danced to a song from his Egyptian culture which is pretty cool. Rani, Ana and I end up gushing about it all while Rolo gags in the back. Again, why did he come?

Ana already mentioned a few weeks ago how Raph drove them up to a secluded forest area in his truck with a picnic basket full of all of Ana's favourite foods. When the sun set, they stargazed for most of the night, talking about everything. Thinking about it just makes me smile; they're so different but get on so well.

"I'm done!" Rani exclaims loudly.

"Finally, I thought I'd have to be here forever." Rolo grumbles before standing up.

"No one forced you to come!" Ana, Evelyn, Rani and I shout simultaneously making his eyes widen in shock. Rolo lifts his hands in a surrendering motion before muttering underneath his breath.

I roll my eyes and take a look at myself in the mirror; Rani complied with my wishes and stuck with the most natural look with the addition of some highlight and mascara.

At that point, Omari walks into my room without knocking-not that I'm surprised by that. "Abel is here and mum and dad are telling him embarrassing stories about you so I'd hurry up." He rushes out of my room without waiting for a response causing me to speed around my room gathering everything I need for today. I grab a small cross body bag that matches my outfit and bolt out my room down the stairs to catch the end of a sentence from my mum.

"-and then she fell face first into a pile of dog poo!"

All three of them start laughing at my benefit completely missing that I'm right behind them.

I clear my throat dramatically causing them to spin around quickly with guilty expressions all over their faces.

"Keziah! We were just telling Abel some stories while he waited for you." My dad speaks up.

"Yeah, I can't believe you were clumsy enough to fall into dog poo." Abel snorts at this and throws me a cheeky smirk.

I give my parents a hard glare before facing Abel again, "Keep that up and I'm not going anywhere with you." I cross my arms defiantly while Abels amused expression is wiped clean off his face. Who's smirking now huh?

"Don't be ridiculous Keziah, we all know how excited you were for today." My mum shakes her head at me while Abel smiles at me once again.

Thanks for that mum, as if Abel needs any more boosting to his ego.

I glance at Abel and watch as he removes his hands from behind his back revealing a bouquet of red dahlia flowers- my absolute favourite kind.

"You got me flowers?" I say with a soft smile.

"Of course. What's a date without some flowers for my girl?" He responds with a smirk.

I shake my head with a laugh and quickly head to the kitchen to put them in a vase of water.

"We're leaving now!" I drag Abel out the door after yelling goodbye to my friends and parents.

I have no idea why my friends didn't leave when I did. It's definitely a weird thing to do but oh well.

Being the gentleman that Abel is, he walks me to my side of the car and opens the door for me, "After you milady."

"Why thank you kind sir." We both burst into laughter for a second before he quickly jogs round to his side.

As soon as he gets inside, Abel turns on the heating allowing warm air to circulate around the car. He drives off away from my house before turning left at the end of the road.

"Can you tell me where we're going now?" I turn my head to look at Abel.

"No Brown Eyes. Like I said before, it's a surprise."

"But what if I don't like it? Then what will you do?"

"I'm hoping you will but if you don't, we can always go somewhere else."

"But what-"

"Keziah, relax and just trust me okay? Don't worry your cute little face." He lets out a small chuckle that has me raking my eyes all over his face. I take in his silky, black locks that are partially concealed behind the grey beanie he's wearing. The long eyelashes that create a small shadow just above his cheekbones. I focus my eyes on his full, plump lips that are always pulled into a small smirk or smile and that have the ability to create such an array of feelings from just one simple touch. That thought alone makes my heart flutter slightly and my stomach fill with butterflies. I watch as his strong jawline clenches, emphasising the muscles there that sculpt his entire face.

My eyes move to his hands drumming against the wheel that show his veins running up and down his arms. There's just something so attractive about veiny hands and arms; it just makes a guy look so.. manly. I don't linger too long here as my eyes find their way back to his handsome face. How lucky am I?

"You're staring Keziah." Abel tilts his head slightly in my direction with a smirk.

I quickly turn my head away, "No I wasn't."

"Yeah, you were Brown Eyes but I don't mind. I know my face is beautiful, you just can't help but stare."

I scoff loudly at him, "Conceited much."

"You were the one creeping on me."

"No, I wasn't!" I shout at him.

Abel nods his head before briefly tapping my knee, "Yes you were. Don't bother denying it."

"But I-"

"Nope."

"Abel I'm-"

"Uh uh."

"Ugh! You're so annoying." I cross my arms and turn away from him to look out the window.

"But you can't help but like me."

I ignore him.

"Keziah?"

"Are you really ignoring me?"

"Fine, I'll just turn around and drop you back home if that's how you're going to be."

I narrow my eyes at him until they turn into slits as he smirks mischievously.

"Don't make me hit you." I say with attitude.

"Ooh feisty, I like it." He responds back easily.

I shake my head at him while trying to fight back the smile threatening to take over my face. Unfortunately, my amusement wins over causing a small laugh to erupt out of me.

"She finally laughs." He says with a smile.

"Just drive Abel." I grunted out.

• • •

About 20 minutes later, Abel pulls into a car park that overlooks a large building. I carefully take in the details of the place before realising where I am.

"You brought me to an aquarium?" My eyes widen as my face breaks into a large smile that barely contains the level of excitement that I've reached.

"Going by the expression on your face, I'm guessing that's a good thing?"

Rather than answering him, I step out of the car forcing him to copy my actions and walk around to his side, "It's a great thing." I wrap my arms around his waist before leaning up on my tiptoes to peck him on the lips.

"Is that all I get?" Abel pouts at me, jutting out his bottom lip in a pleading look.

I pat Abels cheek gently with my hand before letting go of him. I take a few steps towards the building and glance at Abel over my shoulder, "Make this a good date and maybe you'll get some more." I let out a small giggle as I continue forward, waiting for Abel to catch up to me.

When he does, he immediately grabs hold of hand and brings it to his mouth for a chaste kiss, "You're such a tease Brown Eyes."

"How?" I question him with a laugh.

"Do you know how beautiful you looked staring at me like that? I barely stopped myself from ravaging you like an animal." Abel tug me closer to him and tucks my body underneath his arm.

"I don't think that would have gone down very well since you know, we're out in public." I shrug my shoulders nonchalantly causing his arm around me to move slightly.

"Does it look like I care?" Abel throws me his signature smirk that oozes confidence and sex appeal almost making me weak at the knees.

I roll my eyes at his words, "Reign in your macho 'nothing bothers me' attitude Abel and let's get this show on the road."

At my demand, Abel ushers me inside the building and away from the biting cold.

We immediately walk to the main desk to get our tickets but while Abel does this, I finally take a look at what he's wearing. My eyes roam all over his long-sleeved navy V-neck buttoned shirt that fittingly hugged his muscles clearly hinting at what lay beneath the coloured material. His black jeans fit snuggly against him, encasing his toned long legs; I'm not ashamed to admit that when he leans forward to rest his elbows on the desk, my eyes fall to his sculpted ass outlined by the tight material. His jeans are loosely tucked into his brown timberland boots that have barely been tied; add his black parka coat and grey beanie that mostly conceals his curly locks and he is one sexy guy.

Snapping out of my daze, I finally focus my eyes on Abels face that is already fixed on me; I watch as his eyes rake over my body slowly, drinking in my appearance as if committing it to memory. His eyes eventually found mine, glazed with approval and filled with such a heated intensity that my breath hitches. Looks like I wasn't the only one doing the checking out.

"Um, so are you just going to stand there and look at me all day or are we going to go in?" My question pulls Abel out of his stupor causing him to flash me a goofy grin.

"Sorry, I was distracted by your beauty." He pecks my cheek briefly before tugging me along with him.

"That was so cheesy Abe." I giggle into my free hand and tilt my head slightly at him.

Abel stares down at me with a soft look on his face and a smile pulling at his lips, "Gosh, you're so cute."

I lean my head against his arm to hide from his intense gaze and take in our surroundings. Abel leads me through a wide door that opens to the start of the aquarium: glass lines the walls from floor to ceiling completely enclosing us in nothing but the transparent material. Behind the glass consists of multiple types of marine animals ranging from the small tropical fish to manta rays to whale sharks. I drag Abel from one section to another, each time reading the small information boards to him before pointing to each animal that looks interesting.

We walk through a tunnel like area and finally reach the end of the aquarium where there's more than just the little fish that occupy every corner and crevice of the water. I walk right up to the glass window and place both hands against it before allowing my eyes to roam all over the space in front of me.

"Abel! Look over here!"

"I'm right next to you Brown Eyes. You really don't need to shout so loud." He smirks and raises his eyebrows at me.

I give him a sheepish look but still point in the direction that I was looking, "It's one of those small clawed otters! Look at it's little whiskers!" I look down at the information board in front of me before using my fingers to follow each word, "It says that they are the worlds smallest otter that originate from southeast Asia and Southern India. And they can seal their nose and ear canals while underwater how cool is that!"

I turn my head away from the glass to see if Abel is even listening to me and find him gazing down at me with an expression I don't fully understand; I see his happiness and contentment but something else too. Shaking away my confusion and intrigue, I throw him a shy smile. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"You're excitement is adorable Brown Eyes. It makes me happy that you're having fun." Abel moves to stand behind me and wraps his arms around my waist before resting his chin on my head.

My heart flutters at our close proximity, filling my body with nothing but elation and joy. "Well you can take full credit for my happiness since it's because of you that I'm having fun. I've always wanted to go to an aquarium and this one is amazing and filled with so many pretty animals, wouldn't you agree?"

"I can definitely think of one thing that's prettier." He states.

"What is it?" I ask.

"You."

"More cheesy lines Abel? Is that all you've got?" I tease.

"I was trying to be romantic."

I remove my head from underneath his and turn it to the side to find him pouting adorably. I peck his delectable lips briefly and let out a giggle, "I'm sure you were sweetie." I say sardonically.

Abel removes his arms from around me and stalks off towards the opposite side and away from me, "No more of my hugs for you then." Abel sniffed.

I roll my eyes at his theatrics and follow after him.

"Hey Keziah, you see that one?" He points to the Humphead Wrasse fish, "It looks exactly like you." Abel smirks at me as if he just told the best joke known to man.

"Ha ha, very funny." I emphasise each word with a hit to his toned chest, "You should become a comedian." I say dryly.

"I should shouldn't I?" Abel purposefully ignores my sarcasm and babbles on about how funny he is. He's ridiculous.

By this point, we've been in here for a couple of hours and it's reached dinner time. My stomach decides to announce this by growling loudly for everyone in the vicinity to hear.

My eyes widen in shock as I peer up at Abel through my lashes to see if he heard; I'd be surprised if he didn't.

"W-was that your stomach?" Abel clamps his lips together in an attempt to stop his laughter.

I cross my arms and look away from him out of embarrassment. "Yes." I mumble.

Abel bursts into laughter and even goes as far as hugging his stomach from how funny he seems to find it.

"Stop laughing at me!" I glare at him as hard as possible, but instead of it shutting him up, it only seems to spur him on even more. Eventually, my mouth starts to twitch out of amusement before joining him in the laughter.

"You should have just told me you were hungry Brown Eyes." Abel wraps his arms around my shoulders and pulls me closer to him.

"I was too preoccupied with the looking at all the different animals." I respond.

"Yeah, I could tell. Don't worry though, I have the perfect place."

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A/N:
I've actually never been on a date before but I'm pretty sure this is just setting high standards for me. Does anyone have any funny stories about their dates? Or even one that was really good? I'd love to know!
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