The next morning, I rolled out of bed with a bright grin on my face as I remembered the evens of the night before. I had gotten home pretty late last night. Kris and I had spent most of the night catching up with one another and sharing kisses here and there. Nothing particularly risque had taken place, but I had had the time of my life.
Kris and I were to go out to breakfast this morning. We were headed to the place that he had taken me the first time we'd ever gone out together, so I knew that I didn't need to dress too nice, but I still wanted to look good. It was our first technical date, after all.
It took me a while to decide what to wear, but in the end I opted to go with a more casual look. I slipped into a pair of light wash denim boyfriend shorts, a white crop tank, and tied a flannel around my waist. On my feet were a pair of white low-top converse. My eyeshadow was done with the Urban Decay Naked 3 palette, and I had a nude Charlotte Tilbury shade on my lips. I kept my hair simple, throwing in some dry shampoo and using my leftover waves from yesterday's braid. By the time I had finished getting ready, it was just about time for Kris to pick me up.
As if planned, the doorbell to my apartment rang just as I was putting the finishing touches on my lipstick. With one last glance in the mirror, I hurried to the door to let Kris in. Since figuring out how to get into my building a couple of weeks before I had left for Boston, every time Kris and I went somewhere he made a point to come all the way up to the fifth floor just to ring my doorbell. It was adorable, if a tad bit excessive.
I opened the door to my apartment to see Kris dressed in a pair of grey shorts and a black V-neck, a bouquet of lilies in his hands. Shocked and impressed, I let my hands fly up to my mouth to cover where it had fallen open. I let an appalled chuckle fall out as I muttered, "Oh, my. Kris, you really didn't have to."
He leaned forward to press a chaste kiss to my lips muttering, "Of course I did. It's our first real date. I have to treat you right. Now let's get these into a vase."
I nodded, and Kris pressed a hand against the small of my back as the two of us headed further into the apartment, where I retrieved a vase from the kitchen. Kris helped me to get the flowers situated, going so far as to arrange them properly inside the vase. Once we had finished with the lilies, Kris led me out to his car, which was parked up against the sidewalk on the street. I couldn't help but laugh a little, seeing his Range Rover parked alongside the hybrid vehicles and small cars that inhabited the area most of the time.
Like a gentleman, Kris opened the passenger seat door for me and helped me climb in before shutting it and getting in his own seat. I looked over at him as he turned the key to start the car and said, "So, how does it feel being front runner for NL MVP in June?" Last night on the MLB Network, they had done an extensive segment on the Cubs, and had talked for at least five minutes about how likely Kris was to hold the MVP spot come the end of the season. I knew that he had seen it.
Kris let out a chuckle and pulled onto the busy street, saying, "It's too early to tell that stuff. Besides, you know I don't care what they say about me. It could be good or bad, and I wouldn't pay attention either way."
"Mhmm," I hummed, "And if you don't pay attention, Kris, then why do you watch?"
"Oh shut up," Kris muttered, taking my hand in his. The rest of the ride consisted of a comfortable silence between the two of us, the only sound coming from the Taylor Swift that played softly on the radio. Kris didn't let go of my hand, and for some reason, I found a strange comfort in that fact.
We pulled up to the restaurant quite a while later, and Kris helped me out of the car like the true gentleman that he had been the entire morning. It was almost a little odd, to see Kris being so overly polite, but I kind of enjoyed it.
We entered the packed restaurant hand-in-hand, and several of the staff member's heads turned around at the sound of the bell above the door ringing. We were led to the same table that we had eaten at before, almost everyone greeting Kris as we walked by. Some he knew as regulars to the restaurant, others were just Cubs fans who were excited to see him. Either way, he greeted each person with the same bright smile and handshake.
We had barely been at the table for two minutes when the same waitress as our previous visit, Donna, sauntered her way to our table. "Kris," she smiled, "It's fantastic to see you on this fine morning." She turned her attention to me and said, "And you as well, Kennedy. I'm glad Kris' got someone to keep him in line now." With a wink, she took both of our drink orders, though I could barely get mine out as I was stunned that she had remembered my name after just one visit.
After Donna had been gone for a few seconds, I turned to Kris with wide eyes and whispered, "How did she remember my name?"
Kris let out a bright laugh, throwing his head back. When he turned his attention back to me, his eyes were sparkling and the grin on his face was a little bit infectious. He shrugged and told me, "It's Donna. She just has a way of making you feel like family. She was calling me by my name on just my third visit. That's just who she is, I guess."
I nodded, my fingers fiddling with the corner of my napkin as I replied, "I think I like her. We should come here more often."
Kris reached across the table, taking my hands away from my napkin and into his own, saying, "Of course, Ken. We'll come here every day if you want."
I knew we wouldn't be coming here every day; the drive was too long and we were just too busy. But the idea that Kris was willing to drive forty five minutes every day just to eat breakfast at a restaurant I told him I liked was one that made the butterflies in my stomach go crazy and a blush erupt up my cheeks like no other.
Soon enough, Donna was back to take our orders, Kris getting an omelet and myself waffles. The meal was peaceful, the two of us making small talk and joking almost the whole time. Though people had greeted Kris as we were entering the restaurant, they were respectful as we ate and no one approached him throughout the meal, which was quite possibly a first for eating out with Kris within the Chicago area.
When we were done eating, Kris insisted on paying. I probably shouldn't have been surprised, but I still put up a little bit of a fight. In the end, he won. As we left the restaurant after finishing with our breakfast, I found myself growing disappointed that I would have to be leaving Kris. Granted, we had just spent last night and this morning together and we likely would spend tonight or tomorrow morning together as well, but it seemed as though the more time I spent with Kris, the more I missed him when we were apart.
The ride home consisted mostly of Kris and I belting out the lyrics to every song on the Top 40 of the Week playlist that was playing on the radio. We were about ten minutes away from my apartment when Kris reached over to turn the volume dial down. He snuck a glance my way before hastily saying, "So, um, there's going to be a team barbeque at Rossy's on Saturday and I was wondering if you'd want to come? I mean you don't have to. Other girlfriends will be there though, so if you do want to then-"
"Woah," I cut him off, "Girlfriend? Who says I'm your girlfriend?"
Kris' eyes grew wide and I could see the panic cross his features as he tried to stutter out his answer. "Chill," I laughed, "I was just kidding. Of course I'll go with you. I'd love to."
Kris let out a sigh, taking one hand off of the steering wheel and placing it on his heart. "Jesus, Ken," he muttered, "Don't scare me like that. I thought you were going to- to break up with me or something."
I rolled my eyes and placed my hand on top of his one that was resting on the console between the two seats. "I would never."
Kris dropped me off at home, departing with a quick kiss and a tight hug. I wished him good luck on his game for that night before giving him yet another peck and making my way back to the apartment.
When I opened the door to the apartment, Ashley was sitting on the couch in silence with the television off, causing me to let out a slight screech in surprise. She whirled around at the sound, laughing as she stood up from the couch.
"Oh my God," she breathed out. "I've been waiting for you to come home so that I could do that. I mean, honestly Kennedy. You come home from Boston and hang out with Kris for basically two straight days? What am I? Chopped liver?"
Though she was making an ordeal out of the whole situation, I knew that Ashley was joking. She wasn't really upset that I was hanging out with Kris. In fact, she was probably glad that I had gotten a guy.
"Tell you what," I answered, crossing around the couch to stand beside her. "I'll spend the rest of today and all of tonight with you. We'll have a Gilmore Girls marathon. Does that sound okay with you?"
A bright smile crossed Ashley's face as she grabbed my arm to tug me down to the couch. She crossed her leg and turned to face me, leaning in with her elbows resting on her knees. "First," she said, "I have to ask. How's Kris? Have you kissed? Are you dating? Fill me in, Kennedy."
I rolled my eyes, leaning against the back of the couch. "Kris is great. The team's playing great. Yes, we have kissed. Several times, actually. And yes, we are dating."
Ashley let out an excited squeal, her arms flailing rapidly as she screeched, "Oh this is fantastic! In all the years I've known you, you've never even kissed a boy. And now you're dating one! A major hottie, at that. Not only that, but a professional baseball player too! Oh, Kennedy. I'm so proud of you." She threw her arms around my body and buried her head into my shoulder in an extreme exaggeration that made me roll my eyes to the point where I was sure they could roll right out of their sockets.
With a sigh, I pried Ashley off of me and headed to the kitchen to make some popcorn for the two of us. When I returned, Ashley was excitedly typing away on her phone. Not entirely sure that I wanted to know what she was doing, I set the bowl down on the coffee table in front of her and picked up the TV remote. Clicking on the episode of Gilmore Girls that we had left off with, I set the remote back into the table and leaned back on the couch with the bowl of popcorn resting in my lap.
I watched almost two entire season of Gilmore Girls with Ashley that night. As we sat on the couch in our peaceful silence, phones shut off and baseball put away, all I could think about was how content I was with my life. I had a great job that I loved, I lived in a nice building with my best friend, and I now had a great boyfriend that I was sure to be really happy with. Things were looking up in my life both personally and professionally. I was really happy.
A/N:
Unedited.
Oh yeah, two updates in one day. I know I said I would try and get another out before the end of break, but this one was just easy to write. So here it is. Hopefully there will be one more before break ends, but no promises on that one. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this late night update! (Also, peep the new cover)
-Abby