Dear Intruder | (Completed)

CHAPTER 27: First date

"You're ready to go?" He asked, and she nodded.

"Just, let me put this in a vase..." Ella said and walked inside to find a vase, turns out college students don't have vases laying around so she just filled up a glass with water and left the sweet-smelling tulip in there.

She returned, and smiled at him, "Let's go..." she closed the door, letting it lock as she walked out of the apartment, they exited the building side-by-side.

"Are you nervous too, or is it just me?" He asked unsurely.

Ella laughed at how honest and adorable he was, "I'm really nervous, to tell you the truth I haven't really been on a date before." she confessed.

He turned to look at her on the sidewalk, they both stopped "Wait! So, this is your first date ever?"

When he puts it that way... her ears felt red as she looked down at her shoes, feeling embarrassed. She nodded but tried to make light of the situation with a sarcastic joke "Yeah, don't worry though, it's not like this would be my first real experience of dating or anything, no pressure."

He looked a little pale, but a smile still slowly formed on his face, "I was nervous before, but now I'm full-on anxious, so if you find my hands sweaty throughout this night, it's just my physical reaction to anxiety."

"Why would I find your hands sweaty...?" She asked.

His eyes widened, "Are you saying you wouldn't want to hold my hand?" Before she could answer, he held his hand up, palm facing her, "I'll have you know I have really strong, safe hands and you're gonna want to hold it."

Ella bit her lower lip, trying not to laugh as her hands tightened around her bag strap, "You sound quite certain about that."

He sighed and dropped his hand, as he kicked a pebble. They began walking again, "You're wrecking my confidence Ella, which is bad news because I don't have a tonne of it like some other guys out there..." He admitted.

"Could have fooled me, when you asked me out that day I thought you knew what you were doing," she said, it felt nice to be so open and truthful instead of worrying over things like if she looked okay, or if she was boring him to death or any other silly conundrum.

"Are you kidding, I was so shocked after you said yes, I could barely focus in class." He admitted and she chuckled, her laughter ringing merrily in the silent night.

"You're not drunk are you, you're being way too honest." Ella joked.

He took a deep breath and said, "It probably would have been easier that way..., but I wouldn't dare drink and drive." He mumbled loud enough for her to hear "It's this way..." He gestured to his Honda CR-V that was parked right across the street and soon they were on the road, driving towards the movies.

The window was half open and a nice breeze circulated as she looked out at the blurring lights, he didn't switch on the music system so that made room for conversation.

"What movie are we watching?" Ella asked as she turned to look at him, while he drove effortlessly.

"The theatre next to the central art gallery is re-releasing Night at the museum." Neo said, "I thought you'd like that...since you like art history." Then doubt seeped into his voice, "Unless you want to watch something else."

"No, it's perfect," Ella reassured, "I'd say it feels like we're doing an assignment together if I didn't know that movie is a fantasy-comedy," she told him, but her insides fluttered at how much thought he put into it.

"They would never assign something so fun." Neo agreed as they both laughed. The drive was short, she could see the art gallery building at a distance and soon they were parking the car and walking to the entrance. Neo went ahead to get the tickets while she decided to get some popcorn.