This imagine will be with John Munch from Law and Order: SVU. Though it will be set with John and the reader being in college. Not sure if he did go, but for the sake of this imagine lets pretend he did. The reader whose name will be Allison Long, has a crush on John and asks him over for dinner. Enjoy! This was not requested just an idea I had!
Saturday mornings were meant to be peaceful. Especially for overworked and stressed college students. No classes, can sleep in. But I was feeling less than peaceful. I climbed out of bed with knots in my stomach and wobbly knees. I had asked out my long time crush of my last few years at school, John Munch, over for dinner. He had said yes, which was wonderful, but now came the trouble of actually going on a date. For the first time. More terrifying than any senior thesis.
Lucky for me, I had a lot to do. Cleaning my entire apartment, not far off campus, had done wonders for my nerves. Though, there was a lot to do. There came a point after spending all day on my hands and knees scrubbing that I was glad I had a small cozy apartment, rather than a fancy penthouse.
Everything had to be spotless. But after cleaning everything up and riding the apartment of every speck of dust I could find, I remembered I actually had to cook. Which would mess up the kitchen.
I sighed and rolled up my sleeves which had slipped down a bit throughout the purge of my apartment and got to work. I would sear some steaks that I would put over some broccoli and garlic cheese pasta. And chocolate chip cookies. Yeah, a basic dessert but a good one. My mother had always made them for me and it was kind of a comfort at this point.
The kitchen was hot and stuffy from all of the oven use. My hair was frayed and sweat beaded on my face. My limbs ached and I struggled through forming some dough for the cookies. Somehow I always made it too crumbly.
I had also strung a few twinkling lights and lit scented candles.
The struggle was getting real and then there was a curt knock at my door.
Oh crap, I had spent so much time prepping the dinner that I forgot about my appearance. My stomach dropped and my nerves hit me full force again.
My hands were coated in white flour and so were my clothes. It was too late though. I had taken too long and now John was going to see me as a hot mess.
I reluctantly went to open the door. John was standing behind it in a sharp suit and holding a large bouquet of red roses. He had been smiling, until he saw me. His face fell and he looked crushed.
"You forgot." He lamented, the flowers falling to his side as he lowered his arm in disappointment. John turned and started to leave.
"Wait, no, no I didn't forget!" I pleaded.
John turned back to me with a cold look, "either that or you asked me as a joke." He says crudely.
That had hurt. I felt the blow of his words in my chest a bit. "No," I insisted, "I would never do that. I'm so sorry that I look like this right now. But just let me get cleaned up. Dinner just took a little longer than expected. I swear I have been looking forward to this all week. Please just don't leave."
I must had sounded manic. I was pleading with him. John regarded me with a raised eyebrow.
"Please, John. Why would I cook an entire meal just to blow you off?" My voice cracked a bit.
John pondered this a moment. He looked surprised, "you cooked?"
Now I was confused, "I did ask you over for dinner."
"I guess I thought it would just be takeout." John says.
"You dressed up for takeout?" I joked.
John smiled, "when am I not wearing a suit?"
He was right, he rarely was under dressed. With the mood lightened I felt a little more bold.
"So, you believe me right? This date is happening." I tried to make the last half a statement.
"I do smell something burning." John said.
I sniffed the air. The sweet smell of chocolate chips melting into soft cookies had been tainted with a bit of a burnt element.
"Oh no!" I cried before rushing inside and fetching the batch out of the oven. I didn't properly grab the tray with a mitt and burnt myself a bit. I threw the dray down on the counter and yelped.
John softly closed the door and swiftly followed me inside. With quick thinking he grabbed a towel and ran it under some cold water. He then approached me.
"May I have your hand?" He asked feigning formality.
I extended my hand to him. John took my hand and gently pressed the towel on it. Our eyes met and we smiled candidly at each other. But John was soon looking over my shoulder. He must have seen the candles and lights.
"Wow, you really went out of your way." He sounded genuinely amazed.
I blushed, "it was nothing, uh here wait-"
I gently pulled away from him and flicked on the string of lights. The room had dimmed a bit but the golden lights illuminated things nicely and gave a mystical glow to things.
"Tada!" I exclaimed throwing my hands up as I stood in front of the table.
"Looks nice." John complimented while grinning.
I put the flowers in a vase and proudly displayed them on my counter. Not on the table because they would have blocked our view of each other. I then set the table which John insisted on helping me with.
When that was done John came over and pulled my chair out for me. When I had sat down he lightly pushed the chair in for me. He then sat down himself.
"Wait-should I clean up? It will only take a second, I could at least fix my hair-maybe get rid of the flour?" I said worried my appearance was ruining things.
John was studying me, only this time with something, maybe admiration? Instead of betrayal from when he arrived. "No, this is definitely unconventional. But I like it actually. You clearly put in a lot of effort but to make things enjoyable for us and to make me comfortable, which,-" He voice faltered, "no one has ever done for me. I'm not used to people caring. Usually people are just trying to sell themselves and not even through intellect or character. Just through looks. And here you are doing it through actions. Thank you."
I blushed madly and tried to hide it by staring into my plate. "What can I say? I'm a bit of a perfectionist." I say finally.
John smiled and raised his glass, "nothing wrong with that."
"So, this is really okay?" I asked to confirm.
John lowered his glass, "it is really okay. In fact it's so okay, I'm going to do this."
He pulled off his tie and dramatically threw it behind him. He then unbuttoned the first few buttons on his dress shirt and he ruffled his previously perfect hair.
"Ta-da!" John exclaimed mimicking my previous exclamation. We laughed, at least now both of us looked awful. John less so. But I appreciated the gesture.
We dug into the meal, John complimented it repeatedly and insisted it was the best thing he'd ever had. He was amused about the chocolate chip cookies and then said they were the best things he'd ever tasted. They were a bit burnt, but he said in good humor that it added flavor.
We talked about lots of things. School, what we hoped to do afterward, John enlightened me on a few conspiracies I had missed out on. We laughed a lot and joked.
We sat on the couch, after having cleared the table. Maybe having playfully throwing some foamy dish soap at each other while cleaning up. Our faces were illuminated by candlelight. Bellies full feeling very content. My face was warm but it was a pleasant safe feeling that I welcomed.
John looked over at a small side table, where my record player sat.
"Are you a connoisseur of music mon cheri?" He asked playfully.
I blushed at his French pet name. I had forgotten he was fluent as well. "Well, I do enjoy music yes. How do you feel about Harry James?" I asked starting to get up from the plush couch.
"Well, I am more of a hippie rock enthusiast but sure go ahead." John replies.
I flipped through my records before pulling out the right one. I dropped the needle down and the sweet serenade of Harry James' 'Its been a long long time' spilled through the speakers.
"Puis-je avoir cette danse?" I asked hoping to impress him. I had taken some French in high school though I was rusty and had not continued moving instead to Spanish.
It seemed to have worked, John looked impressed, "Bien s^ur" he replied.
He got up and surprised me by wrapping his arms around my waist. He tipped me back in the classic dip and smiled down at me.
When he pulled me back up again he hand one arm around my waist and was holding my other hand. We swayed together gracefully and he even twirled me a few times.
As the last verse of the song played I stopped him from swaying with me and I pulled him closer and placed my lips onto his. John readjusted his hold on me to deepen the kiss.
We pulled away after some time smiling like crazy at each other.
We continued to hold on to each other after the kiss.
"That was merveilleux, cheri, but were listening to Hendrix next." John joked while coming back to English.
I nodded and obliged going back to digging through my records. The rest of the night was still romantic but a lot less refined. My nerves completely diminished, being with John felt natural. I felt overcome with glee.