This bonus chapter is dedicated to Ddude. Thank you for all the support you have given me!
When I showed up for our date, Hugo took my arm like a real gentleman and led me into the back garden. It was a really touching gesture that showed how seriously he was taking this; but it was also a really silly thing to do, and by the time we got their neither of us could keep from laughing.
"Is this like a... first date?" I asked. "I mean, you kind of said you can see us as a couple, even if it's a bit unconventional. And we arranged to meet somewhere to do fun things, with nobody else around. It's probably the first time we've ticked all the boxes to count as a date."
"I guess so," he said. "It's unconventional, but we can call it whatever makes us happy. And I'm still nervous about saying it's a date, because that implies a whole load of etiquette stuff that I have absolutely no idea about. But if we just call it that and spend some time together doing whatever we feel like... Yeah, it feels nice to think this is a date."
I laughed again, this time seeing how awkward we both were. It was so natural to spend that time together, but we knew just how weird we were being, and that probably nobody else had ever had a first date quite like it.
He showed me the routes that he would run around the back garden, improving his fitness at busy times of day when he didn't want to risk a loose ball bouncing out into the road. It had been so long since I'd tried some of these exercises, and it didn't quite come naturally. I guessed that after a year, a couple of weeks break wouldn't be enough to clear my muscle memory; so it was just a reminder I was still new to this. But it meant Hugo could teach me again, and that had to be a good thing. Especially when he was standing right behind me, my whole body pressed against his, and his hands on top of mine as she showed me where and how they should move. The last few times I'd played, I'd just focused on getting the ball where I wanted it. And Hugo saw the inefficiency in my movements; an elbow sticking out to telegraph where I was aiming to my opponents, or a clumsy half-step that left me just marginally off balance. Those were the things that these drills were supposed to fix, drumming the right movements into me until I could do it purely on instinct.
We'd only been playing for two minutes when we heard engine noise, and Hugo looked up. I told him that Mum was taking Lindy to a friend's house, and that she might be out for the evening. I didn't know if Mum was planning to get something while she was out, or coming back for a one-person meal. That seemed a little sad, and I wondered if I should feel guilty. But she'd talked about making something for me until I told her about Hugo's offer, so I guessed that she already had plans for herself. Either this Mrs Green – I couldn't quite remember which of Lindy's friends shared that surname – had offered something, or she was driving far enough that she thought it made more sense to get fast food and hang around in the area until Lindy called for her.
We kept on playing for another twenty minutes, and this time the engine noise was clearly a bike rather than a car. Or, as we saw when we came around to the front of the house, a scooter. Hugo had ordered pizza, like he said. And he hadn't even needed to ask me what I wanted. I couldn't wait to find out; having the choice taken out of my hands made it just a little more exciting.
He took a large pizza box from the delivery man and thanked him. I looked over, and saw that Mum's car still wasn't back. I didn't have to worry about her, but it felt a little weird that I was spending the evening with a boy while both our parents were out of reach. It wasn't a danger; Hugo was sure to be a perfect gentleman. But it felt exciting. Forbidden, in some ill-defined way.
We walked into the house, and Hugo quickly found a pizza cutter. He decanted the pizza from the box onto a large plate, with convenient lines to ensure the slices were all equal. I could see then that it was one of those pizzas where they split it into a bunch of sections with different toppings, so even if he'd somehow misjudged my preferences, I was sure there'd be some part I could enjoy. It was the perfect choice really, and made me feel more confident in my boyfriend's ability to order food for me in the future.
"It's a bit hot in here, isn't it?" he asked, and I nodded. Although summer was coming to an end, sunny days could still lead to stifling evenings. Especially when the sun's rays were being amplified by the conservatory at the back of the house, creating waves of hot air to raise the temperature throughout the building.
"Yeah. Want to eat outside?"
"Exactly what I was thinking," Hugo said with a smile. "Do you want to sort out any sauces you want, and I'll take the pizza out?" Even when we were just having a delivery, he paid attention to the little details. He lifted out a smaller plate, one that looked kind of like a miniature cupcake tray with little pots for a dozen different dipping sauces. He directed me to where the sauces were in the cupboards or in the fridge, and I quickly dispensed a small variety to make sure I had all the options to go with the different slices. Then I followed him out into the front garden again, while he held the pizza plate over his head like the fanciest of pretentious waiters.
There was garden furniture out there; the kind of thing that looked like it was made out of hundreds of slim strips of white-painted metal, but was unexpectedly comfortable when you actually sat down on it. It gave a lovely view over the valley, where there was a gap in the trees across the road letting you look out to see one of the most beautiful views in the area. So we sat together on one of the benches, and held the plates of food between us across our laps. As we finished off the pizza, we could see that the sun was lower now, painting the tops of the clouds in candyfloss pink and gold. And I could say, after trying a little of each, that all the toppings Hugo had chosen were excellent.
"So..." he murmured a minute or two after we had moved the empty plates to the nearest table. "What do you fancy doing now? More exercise after food probably isn't such a good idea. But it looks like Willow and Linda aren't back yet, so I'm sure we can find something to do. Would you like to watch TV while our dinner goes down, and then see what you feel like?"
"Sounds good," I said, with a little smile. Then I glanced up at the sky and wondered just how long we'd been sitting there. The time had flown past, consumed like excellent pizza by a conversation which seemed to come from nowhere and have no need to end. I didn't watch sunsets often, but I was sure this was later than I'd expected to be out. "I wonder what time Mum will be back, though. I don't really know their plans."
"I think that means she really trusts you. I'd say that's a positive thing."
"I'm sure it is. But I might start worrying if they're out much later. I mean... well, what time is it anyway?" I'd just looked at my watch, only to realise that I'd apparently not put it back on after my shower. As I picked up the plates, I thought about saying I'd nip back home to pick it up; but I realised that probably wouldn't be necessary. I didn't really need to know the exact time, after all, and Hugo was already looking at his own watch, and then glancing up and down the empty street.
"It's later than I realised," he said with a shrug. "But not as late as it could be. The night's still young, you know. Plenty of time to watch something, and then get a few more shots in before you head home."
"I guess so," I said, shaking my head and laughing. "I can't believe you actually looked at your watch to give an answer like that."
"Huh? Oh, yeah... I guess it's some kind of instinct. You ask the time, I look at my watch. And then I commented on the answer instead of saying it. Not quite following the right social conventions there, am I? Should we do that again?"
"Okay," I laughed. "So, what time it is?"
"I don't know," Hugo answered, just about managing to contain his giggled, and then theatrically raised his wrist up to his face so he could look at it again. "Oh, will you look at that? I think it's tinkle tinkle time."
"I–" I just about opened my mouth and let a gasp out before I felt a wave of relief, and a hot stream running down my legs and soaking my sweatpants. I couldn't fight it; I'd just started to wet myself, where anybody could have seen me, and there was absolutely nothing I could do to stop it. I was completely helpless, and even after looking around again to confirm that there was nobody else out, I couldn't shake the feeling that a front garden was somehow defined as a 'public space', even when there was nobody there to see.
"Oh dear, did somebody have a little accident?" Hugo asked, emphasising the words as if it was somehow a real surprise to him. "Don't worry, little one. You'll learn to hold it when you get older. But now, your Mommy isn't here, is she? I think we'd best get you cleaned up, and in a nice clean diaper before anybody else sees you like this. Hadn't we?"
"You jerk," I said, finding no other words that were close to appropriate. To be made so helpless like that felt like a practical joke, the kind of prank Lindy had played in past years, when we could laugh at it together. But this time was different; I couldn't resist doing what Hugo wanted. It was like I was giving him complete control over me, and there was nothing that compare to the thrill I felt when I realised how much power he had right now. And as we reached the doorway into the Eisen house, I turned to finish my sentence: "I love you."
In that moment, it seemed like the most natural thing in the world. We didn't need to talk about it, or ask each other if it was what we both wanted. We didn't think about how to indicate what we were thinking of, we could just rely on our instincts for once. I leaned closer, slightly overwhelmed by the realisation of the words I'd just said. And a fraction of a second later I felt Hugo's lips meet mine, and his hand on the small of my back to pull me closer.
I didn't know what we were going to do, or how much of a baby he intended to treat me as. I didn't even know if I was kissing him right; it wasn't something I had a lot of experience of. But one thing I did know for sure was that I had a boy who accepted all my little quirks and loved me anyway; and who was happy to explore new interests and new ideas. And I knew as soon as our lips met that we were going to live happily ever after.
Author's note: It's hard to believe that it's exactly a year since I started writing this story... Thank you everyone who has stuck with me so far, and thank you all for your comments and votes. I hope that you will enjoy some of my other stories just as much... maybe the new story that I'm going to start for April's Camp NaNoWriMo this year.
Thank you all!