From Mine to Ours

27: Date Number Eight

Worries of messing up or making a fool out of myself are definitely there, but I've known them for a while now. If anything, now questions of possibly losing a valuable friendship creep on my mind. Perhaps, the idea of watching them walk out of my life after leaving such significant markings on me scares me more than I let on.

As lovers or not, they mean a lot to me. If it's really worth trying this out is yet to be determined. But by the time we figure that out, it might be too late...

My attention is drawn to the sheer, floral crop top hanging off my shoulders. Thankfully, we decided to go easy on the first date. A picnic in a field of flowers at dusk. They have a bench in the middle of a small clearing in the vast wave of tulips and we plan on stealing the place for us and only us tonight.

Julian will be handling the food. I wanted to help out, but he insisted that I help out with decor. Which is why I arrived at the spot an hour early to handle the set up. It's a task that was dutifully and confidently given to me, so I can't let them down.

I also don't want to over-do it though.

So, I came up with something rather simple. Maybe too simple?

"It looks perfect..." Jas' voice rings out from somewhere behind the phone. Her and Lucy are having their own date night, but there's no way I'm going to go through this by myself. I have absolutely no qualms on bothering them a bit before the guys get here.

"Are you sure?" I turn the vase of hand-picked flowers one more time, "maybe the tablecloth is too much..." It's pastel pink colored to match some of the budding flowers and the sky above us.

The tips of my fingers run along the fake vinery I wrapped around the edges of the bench. I would've splayed out some flower petals on the surface of the table, but that would require ripping apart a very pretty and very much alive flower, which I will not be doing...

"Babes, calm down, it looks amazing!" Lucy's bright smile faces the camera now and I nearly start crying when I see a familiar car pull up in the parking lot.

"Guys..." I whine, "they're here, what do I do?!"

It feels like a boulder just fell into my stomach. "Hey hey... you got this, it'll be fine,"

"Don't think of this as a date, you know these guys, Noah, they're your friends and you're all simply going to hang out and have some fun, okay?"

But I want to think of this as a date. Because it is one...

One I've been waiting for. We've all been waiting for this for a while.

Right. That's right. We've been waiting. Not just me.

They have been wanting to do this for as long as I have, if not a bit longer. We're all trying this out together.

"Noah..."

My body turns in the direction of the spring breeze brushing against my back. It seems even the wind is pushing me to do this.

There they stand with one of those cliché picnic baskets in hand. The thumping of my heart gets overwritten by the brushing sounds of the flowers surrounding us. Their feets skid along the dirt path and all I can do is watch them walk to me completely starstruck.

The sunset really does seem to have a certain power. The power to enhance. Watching them stroll through the large splashes of pink, white, red and orange flowers sends my mind through the wringer. The beautiful color pallet hits them at full force and surrounds them in this irresistible glow.

I try my hardest not to drop the singular tulip still grasped in my hand. It's not their fitted clothes or sparkling watches that catch my eyes, no, it's the way they look at me with the small reflection of the falling sun in their eyes. Or maybe I'm imagining things now...