You and Steven hadn't seen each other for a whole day and you were missing him. After the first attempt at dinner (the spaghetti burned and you ended up ordering pizza) you and Steven got to know each other a little bit more. He was a lot sweeter that night than he was the night before, you blamed it on the alcohol but it truly seemed like he was another person. Even the way he spoke and his expressions were different.
You didn't stay the night, due to having to wake up way too early the next morning because of bloody revision. You definitely stayed at his apartment way later than you should've, although you didn't go any more further than making out and maybe a little more dry humping from you.
"You alright, love?" Meredith asked you, walking passed you with a stack of plates balanced on one hand and a half drunk of coffee on the other.
You watched her put the last of the morning rush hour plates away and then make her way to the entrance to flip the sign to CLOSED, just so that you had a break between the breakfast and dinner period—even if it was only a short amount of time "Yeah, I'm good."
Meredith seated herself across from one of the circular tables and you heard Irene shout from the kitchens, "She's nervous about her date!"
"Shut up," you jokingly shouted back, although judging by Meredith's face you were half serious.
"What's she talking about?"
You rolled your eyes just as Irene walked through doorway from the kitchen, three plates of cake and a pot of tea resting on a tray in her hands. "It's nothing. I just... might... have a little... date."
"A date?" she exclaimed, hands comically slamming down in shock.
You didn't expect that sort of physical reaction from her, then again you hadn't had a proper date in years and that had ended up with you feeling like complete shit. You nodded, a smile making its way onto your lips despite your attempts at stopping it. "He's really sweet."
Meredith raised her brow at that, humming. "Is he now?"
You rolled your eyes, as Irene placed the tray of cakes and tea in the middle of the table. "What's with the attitude?" You began pouring yourself some tea and grabbed a plate of cake for yourself. However, this conversation was making your lose your appetite.
"No attitude," Meredith promised you, beginning to work her way through her massive piece of cake. Irene's eyes were always bigger than her stomach. "I just think that you need to be careful. It's been awhile since you've last dated."
"I've dated!" you defended yourself, but you couldn't seem to remember a date in the past year. Maybe you were in over your head? "Look, this guy is different."
Irene and Meredith exchanged glances, then simultaneously raised their brow at your in question. You groaned, shoving your hands onto your face and breathing in and out. Why was this so hard for you to explain to them? Although, what could you possibly say; that you had a drunken one night stand with a man you met at a bar; then the next morning he woke up and forgot who you were so you sucked him off to remind him what your name was; and then that very same day he invited you back to his apartment to 'get to know each other better' and you ended up using his thigh as your own person sex toy and jerked him off which ended with you covered in each other's cum?
Yeah, no.
Definitely not going to happen, especially with it being Meredith.
"I know every woman who says 'he's different' always has her heart broken, but I swear to you that I've never met anyone like him," you tried to explain, getting your head out of your hands.
Irene sighed, shaking her head and muttering in her native language. "It's just... it's not that we don't believe you. It's that we don't believe him! You know, like, we just don't want you to get hurt and when we hear that this guy who you've only known for two days is amazing or whatever, I don't know, we're just worried."
"I'm not in love," you reassure them, "I swear to you that I'm not in love or anywhere near that because that would be crazy. But, I like him, I actually like this guy. So, I figure: why not give this guy a shot? Please, just don't say anymore bad shit about him because then you'll start making me doubt my own instincts."
Meredith smiled at you sweetly, turning to Irene she gave the Asian woman a nod as if to encourage her. "Okay," Meredith breathed out, "I'm very happy to hear that you've still got a good head on your shoulders, Y/N."
"And we won't say anything bad about this man. At least, just for today. Any more immunity and we'll have to see actual proof that he's a decent guy," Irene informed you, shoving a massive spoonful of cake into her mouth which you could see she regretted almost instantly.
You sighed in relief, feeling your anxiety of talking about Steven leave your body. You had a few uni friends and such, but Meredith and Irene were extremely close with you. Meredith had actually hired you on the spot when you first moved to London, which was about five years ago (maybe just a little under) and Irene ended up becoming your roommate after being coworkers for sixth months. Ever since then, the three of you have been fairly close, especially since Meredith was a single parent and yourself and Irene were both great with kids.
The three of you sat in silence, the only sounds that could be heard were the scrapes of your utensils and the continuous hustle and bustle of London streets. You felt bad and even a little guilty for shutting your two friends up. They were only just looking out for you, righteously so but you'd never tell them that. Maybe you should cut them some slack and trust that they'll do what they promised, which was not judge... which meant you should give them the benefit of the doubt and tell them the truth.
"Okay," you said, finally breaking the silence that wasn't awkward, more full of tension than anything. "I'm gonna tell you something, but you have to promise not to make a big deal out of it."
Irene looked up at you, excitement evident in her eyes and in the way she dropped the spoon onto her plate. "I can't promise you shit, but I'll try."
You opened your mouth, but paused and turned to Meredith who had a thoughtful look on her face. After a moment of thinking she sighed and nodded, "I promise I'll keep my mouth shut."
You smiled gratefully at the two of them, thanking whoever was up there and praying that they won't hate Steven. "Okay, so Irene knows that I saw him the night before last to, and I quote 'get to know each other better' but I haven't exactly told anyone what happened."
Meredith narrowed her eyes at you suspiciously, her body already tensing up. She was probably only ten years older than Steven, but you somehow saw her as a second mother (which you would never admit to neither her nor Steven since he already confined in you about his worry about your age gap and that would not make things better) and so her opinion mattered a lot to you. Even if you said otherwise.
Irene let out a nervous sound, sensing Meredith's preemptive disdain and your hesitance. "So," she said, a small nervous smile on her lips, "what happened?"
You took a deep breath in, crossing your legs tightly as you already felt yourself get a little turned on at what had happened that night. "Well, I went over there and you know, he answered and he really liked my dress but didn't want to show it."
"He didn't wanna show that he liked your dress?" Irene cut in, eyebrows furrowing.
You nodded, "Yeah, he kept avoiding my body and just kept looking at my face."
"Didn't you say you already had sex?"
Meredith raised her eyebrows at the new information, but didn't say a thing. You winced, smiling awkwardly at her, "Did I forgot to mention to you that Steven and I met at a bar and that it was meant to be a one night stand?"
***
Steven paced up and down the gift shop. It was lunch time, meaning everyone was at the food court or had left the museum to get edible food and so the shop was empty. Of course, there'd be a customer every five minutes or so, but Steven had been working at the gift shop long enough to know when peak hour was—and it wouldn't be here for another hour or two.
Steven's hand was clenched tightly around his phone, his knuckles turning white and his breath erratic. Donna had just been around to tell him what a shite job he'd done at getting here on time this morning and so he'd be the one to work through lunch (again, might he add). It was fine by him, since he actually had something proper to think about: you.
Steven had just made reservations at a real nice place for tonight, quite pricey but worth it since he knew you'd like it. The plus side of him not having any friends meant he didn't go out much or do many activities, so all the money from his job went to bills and the rest was saved (he also didn't have to pay for rent since his mum let him stay at her apartment).
Now, all he had to do was call you... yeah, right, he'd been psyching himself up for the last ten minutes to call you and nothing. He was such a loon and he hated himself for it.
"C'mon, Steven," he murmured to himself, gripping his wrist with his other hand as he planted himself to the one spot. Once again, it felt like someone else was controlling his hand because before he knew it, his thumb pressed the call button. This time though, he was ready.
Steven waited with the phone to his ear, biting on his lip while he begged you would pick up. He sighed in disappointment, about to hang up right after he heard it go to voicemail.
Leave a message, you sod.
"Oh, alright," Steven whispered back to himself, rolling his eyes. He waited for the beep and took a deep breath in. "Uh, hiya Y/N! How's it going? Hopefully good 'cause it would suck if it didn't. I was just calling to let you know that I've got a place booked for six, figured you know, why not make it six? Unless... you work until six. If you work until six or later just let me know and I'll cancel. Not that I'm trying to cancel on you! I would never, I really would never I swear! I honestly think you deserve better than me so why would I try to avoid this date? God, I'm an awful idiot aren't I? I'm so—"
Steven was stopped by another beep, indicating that the message had been recorded and that it had stopped, "Oh, shitting hell, mate!"
Steven groaned, recalling you once again to clarify what the plans were. It went to voicemail again. "Hiya, Y/N! It's me, Steven, don't think I clarified that to you on my last voicemail. Sorry, went on a bit of a tangent there, didn't I? I'm just nervous to be frank, I promise I'll be better on our date tonight. Not that you should try to be better tonight as well. Uh, that sounded bad. You can't be better, but I can. No! I'm sorry, I mean I can be better for you but you could never be better for me because you're already perfect? I'm really bad at this, I'm sorry!"
He hung up, cursing under his breath and breathing in deeply. "You can do this, Steven," he whispered to himself. "Be better."
"Hiya, it's Steven again. I'm sorry about the two previous voicemails, I struggle a bit talking to you. Well, to anyone for a matter of fact. Although, you are easier to talk to than others," he paused for a moment, thinking about his next move. He was already doing awful. "I wish someone made clones of you so that I could talk to more people."
Steven shook his head, hanging up. "Nope."
"Hiya, it's Steven..."
***
"This guy is insane," Irene stated, watching the screen with intent.
The three of you stopped eating and drinking to listen to your phone that was on the centre of the table. During your talk with Meredith and Irene, you hadn't noticed the calls that Steven was making your way since it was on silent. So, imagine your surprise when you check your phone for messages when you find not one, not two, not three, but five voicemails.
"He's not instance!" you rejected her comment, slapping her shoulders jokingly which made her laugh. "He's very sweet."
"'I'll make clones of you' if some other one night stand ever said those words to anyone in the world, they would runaway," Irene told you, her pointed at you as if she were making a point.
You waved her off, "Yeah, well... he's not a one night stand technically, he's a..."
"One night stand, plus an oral sex morning and dry humping night."
"Eloquent as always, Irene," Meredith commented, shockingly her face held a smile. She turned to you, "I can't believe I'm saying this, but he does seem nice."
"Seriously?" Irene yelled, laughing.
"See? Thank you."
"You have to be careful, Y/N," Meredith added, a stern look on her face. "Take it from me, people who seem nice are always either hiding something or are putting up a front for who they truly are."
You sighed, nodding your head. You didn't want to, but you had to listen to her. You just had to, she was basically your work mum and you trusted her with your life. You just hoped you would remember what she told you and not forget once you looked into Steven's puppy dog eyes.
***
"You're a right twat, you know that, don't you?" Steven told himself, looking at his reflection with his hands stuffed into his pockets.
The suit he was wearing was probably two decades too old, the last time he wore it he couldn't even remember. And now he'd be wearing it in front of you. It wasn't too late to change. Checking his watch, he sighed, yes it was. The restaurant was about thirty minutes from his place, and he was meant to pick you up from your apartment which was only ten minutes from the restaurant.
Steven decided that he'd take a taxi, there was better chance that he'd actually make it on time then. You had sent him your address over message, adding on that my roommate's visiting her parents tonight and tomorrow so we'll have the place to ourselves (closer to the restaurant) ;).
Steven would be lying if he said that he didn't feel his slacks tightening and his dick harden. God, it was embarrassing how easily you turned him on. Even just thinking about the way you pulled on his hair made him hard. "Now's not the time," he hissed at himself, adjusting his pants and hoping that his erection would go down soon. The taxi had just pulled up to the curb and was waiting for him now.
Steven rushed through his apartment, saying a farewell to Gus who was happily fed and swimming around his fish tank. Steven grabbed the box of chocolates that were in the shape of a heart, being careful not to tussle them too much as they were quite delicate before grabbing the bunch of flowers and departing his apartment. He was quite proud of the choices he made, since they were your favourite flowers and chocolates. He just hoped the rest of the date would go well and that he didn't ruin it. Who was he kidding? He always ruined everything.