Harley anxiously pace his room as it got closer and closer to his date with Maya. He didn't know what to do.
Elizabeth and Lexi tried to calm him down, but there's nothing they could do to so.
Outside of Harley's room, the living room, Elizabeth opened the door to let James in.
"James," Elizabeth said, relieved.
"Everything alright?" James asked.
"Yes," Elizabeth said, "no."
James looked at Elizabeth, concerned.
"What's wrong?" James asked, entering the apartment.
"It's Harley," Elizabeth explained, "he's stressed and nothing is working to calm him down."
"He's got his first date tonight," Lexi added.
"Oh," James said.
"Please talk to him," Elizabeth said. "It might help if you talked to him."
"You think?" James hesitated.
"Yes!" Elizabeth and Lexi exclaimed.
"He really likes you, James," Elizabeth said. "I think if he got advise, specifically from you, it'll help him a lot."
James nodded.
James headed over to Harley's bedroom.
He knocked on the door and entered.
"Hey, Harley," James greeted him.
"Hey," Harley said, anxiously.
"Your mother told me you're having your first date tonight," James said, sitting at Harley's desk.
"Yeah," he said, nervously.
"How are you feeling?"
"I'm pretty sure you know," Harley said.
"Yeah, well, it'll be fine," James assured him.
"You think?" Harley said, uncertainly.
"As cliche as they may be, but just be yourself," James said. "She likes you so don't try to pretend to be something you're not."
Harley nodded. "Okay."
"And don't stress yourself too much," James added.
Harley nodded again.
James looked at his watch.
"Oh," James said.
"What?" Harley asked beginning to panic.
"Hey, hey, hey, calm down," James said. "It's okay. It's nearly time for your date."
"Oh," Harley said. "Oh. Right it's almost time."
"Don't you want me to drop you off?" James offered.
"No, Lexi said she'll take me," Harley said.
James gave Harley a look.
"Alright, I asked her to take me," Harley admitted. "Mom would be embarrassing about it and you..."
"You don't want to be seen with me?" James asked.
"No!" Harley quickly said. "I'm pretty sure Mom would make you take like pictures or something. She won't ask Lexi to do it."
James chuckled.
Lexi dropped Harley off at Topanaga's Bakery.
Maya was already there when Harley got there.
His face turned slightly red when he saw Maya.
Riley was sitting next to Maya, waiting for Harley to show up.
"There he is," Riley said in a low voice to Maya.
She looked behind her to see Harley there.
"Hey," he said, nervously.
"Hey," she smiled.
"I'll see you later," Riley said, standing up. "Later, Harley.
"Bye," Harley said, moving out of the way for Riley to pass through.
Harley sat next to Maya.
"No camera today, Dinosaur Boy?" she smiled.
"I didn't think it was a good idea to bring it," Harley shrugged.
"You should've," Maya said.
Harley tilted his head, confused.
"To remember this," Maya said.
"Oh," Harley said, smiling. "Right. I can take the picture on my phone and I can edit it to make it look better if needed."
Maya nodded.
Harley took a picture of him and Maya on his phone.
Maya took the phone out of Harley's hands and went through the pictures he took of the two of them.
She handed his phone back to him after going through the pictures.
The two began to talk.
"I didn't know you liked art," Harley said, adjusting how he sat.
"I do," she smiled.
"Dang, I should've noticed the signs more," Harley shook his head.
Maya looked at him.
"I've seen you in art class," Harley said, "and you're good."
Her face turned a little red.
"Thanks," she smiled.
"Hey, there's this art museum not to far from here," Harley remembered. "I think my parents there once a couple of years ago when they came here."
"Your parents?" Maya repeated.
Harley nodded.
"Hey, um, I hope you don't mind me asking," Maya said, "what happened to your dad?"
Harley's smile faltered.
Maya noticed.
"I'm sorry," she said. "I didn't -"
"It's fine," Harley shook his head. "I, uh, I just don't like talking about it."
"Did your dad abandon you?" Maya said.
Harley could tell the mention of being abandoned bothered it.
"No," Harley said. "Did your dad..."
"Yeah, he did," Maya nodded. "He left my mom and I and never came back. He has another family."
Harley's smile fell.
"Oh," he said.
"Yeah," she said.
"Have you met them?" Harley asked.
"No," Maya shook her head. "I want nothing to do with him. Or his family. I've got my own family."
Harley nodded.
"What happened..."
So many memories of that time came flooding back to Harley. He remembered how terrible he felt when it happened. He remembered Peter crying He remembered his mom being a complete mess when it happened. It was horrible.
They moved in with Harley's grandparents, Elizabeth's parents, after...
"When I was... when I was eight, my dad got sick, really sick," Harley began. "He tried his best to get better, but... every day, he got worse and worse and..."
Harley's voice faltered.
Maya knew where this was going.
"And after my tenth birthday, he..." Harley said.
"You don't have to," Maya said.
Harley looked away.
Maya knew what happened. Harley didn't need to finish to know what happened.
"We kept this private," Harley said. "My mom didn't want anyone to know what happened. People have theories, but..."
Maya nodded.
"For a year, I hoped it was a dream, but it's not," Harley said. "That camera is all I have left of him before he died and a baseball."
A small smile appeared on Harley's face remembering the baseball. His dad had taken him and Peter to a baseball game and the baseball hit his dad really hard in the stomach.
He and Peter had it ever since.
"I'm sorry, Harley," Maya said.
"It's fine," Harley shook his head. "It was nearly five years ago, so..."
Maya changed the subject, knowing that Harley didn't want to talk about his father anymore.
The date went on and Harley told Maya about the art museum that his parents went and he promised that he'd take her once he saved enough money for the admission tickets.
Here's another reason to get a job, make money to take Maya to the museum.
The date ended and the two said goodbye.
Maya went back home with her mother and Lexi picked Harley up from the bakery.