Entry tags:

special delivery

Special Delivery - The Dating Game

Plaything

Title: The Dating Game
Author: tumbling_down
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 2200
Genre: Hancest
Notes: On the days that chapters don't get posted, for now at least, I'll be posting "special deliveries" - a little bit of back story for you. Remember that the events in these take place outside the established time line. :)



July 5th, 2002
5:30 PM

Zac

I was nervous. Of course, that was stupid. It wasn't like we hadn't been together for almost four years, hadn't been through hell just months before hand, hadn't gone through most things that normal couples went through. But, no matter how hard we wanted to be, or how we looked at it, we weren't a normal couple. And we'd never gone on a fucking date.

When I had asked him, I'd felt so stupid because it seemed so pointless after the words left my mouth. Dates were things people went on in the beginning of their relationship, not almost four years into it. But his face had lit up and he'd wrapped his arms around me and kissed me and told me it was the best idea he had heard in a long time. So I was pretty determined to make sure that it was perfect. He deserved that, for our first date four years late.

Dad was sitting on my bed watching me tuck in and untuck my button up into my pants. I had chosen gray slacks and a white dress shirt and I couldn't decide if I looked stupid or not. I sighed in frustration and turned to look at my dad with a frown.

"I don't understand why you're making such a big deal about this," he said, standing up and walking towards my closet.

I shrugged and took the few steps to the closet so I was standing behind him, watching as he thumbed through my tie rack. "I dunno...we've always just...I can't explain it," I told him. "We've always been these people who hide in bedrooms, you know? And...and now we don't have to and I just. It's important. And I want to tell him something important, too. And it has to be nice, Dad. It has to be perfect."

He turned to look at me with the tie Taylor had gotten me on a whim almost a year ago in his hand. I felt stupid because I seriously had tears in my eyes. "Zac, he's going to think it's perfect no matter what, because you're taking him, okay?"

I sighed and stuffed my hands into my pockets and leaned against my dresser. "I know."

He handed me the tie. "Tuck your shirt in, put the tie on, and pull your hair back. You'll look fine."

I sighed but nodded my head as he sat back down on the bed. "Okay."

"What do you have to tell him that's important?"

"I...just. Something that he made me promise I wouldn't say until I was sure," I told him, pulling my tie into a knot at my neck.

He was quiet as I tucked my shirt in and pulled my hair into a ponytail. I tried to smooth out the short little strands that stuck up around my forehead, but I couldn't. Taylor said he liked them, anyway. When I turned back around to face Dad, he smiled at me and stood up. "See? You look great."

"Thanks," I mumbled, my hands back in my pockets.

"So, how does this work, now? Should I take you down into the living room and give you the third degree? Becau-"

I laughed, shaking my head and turning towards the door. "Dad, shut up."

"Go on, he's probably down there waiting for you."

I snorted and raised my eyebrows. He corrected himself as I walked down the stairs. "You're right. I'll go see what he and Diana are doing."

It took another fifteen minutes for Taylor to come downstairs followed by our parents. I turned off the TV - I don't even know what I was watching, I was too busy freaking out a little - and stood up, feeling sort of awkward and formal for the situation. I just couldn't help it, though. Maybe it was because it was something new and different for us, maybe it was because of what I was going to tell him, either way I just couldn't get my heart to slow down.

His cheeks were flushed as he walked into the room and I wanted to say fuck dinner and just pull him back upstairs because he looked amazing. His pants were black and fit him a little more than perfectly and they must have been new because I didn't remember him having anything that made his ass look that amazing. His shirt was dark red and when I got closer to him I saw that it was velvet or velour or something soft that I just wanted to run my hands over for hours. But I took a deep breath and smiled at him, taking his hand in mine, because there were more important things that needed to be done that night.

"Just remember curfew," Dad reminded us after Mom had taken an embarrassing picture of us in front of the doorway.

"Midnight," I said. "I know."

"Have fun," Mom told us as we walked out of the house, our hands still held between us. She shut the door and we headed to my car, standing awkwardly outside of it for a moment before he laughed.

"If you open the door for me, I might have to slap you," he warned me with a smile, letting my hand go and opening the door himself.

"I'm sorry," I said, getting into the driver's seat. "I just feel like..."

"I know," he said, still smiling as he tucked a piece of hair behind his ear. "It's weird that we've never done this before."

"Yeah."

"You look really, really cute," he said, leaning over to press his lips quickly to mine. My stomach did that thing it always did when Taylor kissed me and it made me smile against his mouth because no matter how many times we kissed or touched, it never got old or less exciting. "I love it when you dress up."

"You look...honestly, you just look beautiful," I told him, squeezing his knee when he blushed and looked away.

I started the car and headed into Tulsa for our dinner reservations. It had taken me hours and hours pouring over phone books and websites with Isaac before I'd finally found someplace that suited us. I didn't want to take him someplace ridiculously fancy because that just wasn't us, but I wanted it to be really nice and I wanted him to be able to get seafood if he wanted. Elsa's on the Park was really small, hidden in a nice area of downtown Tulsa, but it was one of the most popular places to eat in the city. With only ten tables inside, getting a reservation often required months of notice. I'd called and talked to Elsa, who said that it was no problem getting me a table there Friday night. She also promised not to reveal the fact that I would be there to anybody. I just hoped that she kept her word.

When we pulled up and parked, Taylor furrowed his brows and looked at me. "You've been planning this date for a while?" he asked as we got out of the car.

"No," I said. I was happy that there didn't seem to be anybody around that was paying attention to us. "There's just not too many celebrities living in Tulsa."

"Ah," he laughed, walking next to me into the restaurant. I wanted to hold his hand, or wrap my arm around his waist, but I managed to refrain from touching him inappropriately. "I always wanted to eat here."

"Really?"

He nodded and I opened the door for him even though it made him roll his eyes. It also made him blush and that was more important than him thinking that I'm cheesy. "I didn't exactly have anyone to go with," he laughed. "And I wasn't sure...I mean, I didn't know if-"

"I know," I said. "But now we're here."

I'd calmed down a lot on our drive there. Our conversations had been normal and there was nothing awkward going on between the two of us so I allowed myself to relax as we were seated and handed our menus. "Are we just doing dinner or do you have something else planned?" he asked me as his eyes ran over the food options for the day. Elsa's on the Park was the kind of place that changed their menu every day and, apparently, they'd never had a bad dish.

"I have something else planned," I informed him. "Nothing...special just. Just us."

He smiled at that and then went back to his menu until the waitress came to take our order. He ordered grilled ahi with an espresso glaze, which I thought sounded absolutely disgusting, but did pair two of Taylor's favorite flavors together so it made sense. I decided on the cider-braised chicken, which made Taylor curl his lip, so I guess we were even.

The restaurant was perfect for what I'd wanted and they gave us a bottle of wine without carding us or giving us funny looks. The lights were dim and there were two candles on our table. All of the tables were nicely separated and set in cozy little alcoves so it was almost impossible to see the people near you without staring for quite a while and waiting for your eyes to adjust. It felt like we were alone.

Our food was great and the wine made Taylor's cheeks rosy and made him talk a lot more than usual - which is saying something. I only had one glass because I had to drive and I was only sixteen (our parents probably wouldn't have been too happy if we got home and I was drunk), but it was the nice to see him so relaxed and happy. After everything that had happened in the past months with our family, I was so glad to know that we would be okay, that we could still be happy.

When we were done with dinner, I drove us down to the river front and parked the car, killing the ignition and turning to face him. "What're we doing here?" he asked, resting back in his seat and leaning into my hand as I brushed my fingers across his cheek.

"I thought we could go for a walk," I said.

"That sounds nice," he said with a smile, glancing out the window at the stars that were slowly appearing in the sky.

I'd picked an area of the river where not a lot of people went, but there were still a few other couples walking on the path and watching the last of the sunset as we climbed out of the car. He said, "I'm going to hold your hand," and I wasn't about to argue with him as he did. We hadn't yet had too many experiences with fans following us when we weren't on tour and there were only six or seven other people within thirty feet of us. It wasn't too risky.

We walked for a while in silence, listening to the water and the hum of crickets and cars. It was nice and relaxing and every once in a while he'd squeeze my hand and I'd look at him to find him smiling, eyes unfocused and something about it made my heart feel like it was swelling up inside my chest. "Let's sit," I said when we finally came to a bench. It was dark by then and there were fireflies lighting up in the sky around us. We hadn't seen anybody else for a while.

"I wanted to tell you something," I told him.

My hands felt a little sweaty at that moment, my nerves suddenly coming back, but I still clutched both of his in mine. His eyes searched mine for a moment, his lip caught between his teeth before he asked, "What?"

"Well...I didn't just want to do this because...because we hadn't, you know? I wanted to do this because...I have something really important to tell you and I wanted it to be kind of perfect," I admitted, now refusing to meet his gaze as his confusion showed on his face.

"What is it?"

I rubbed my thumbs over his hands, working up the nerve to say it because it had been so long since he'd made me promise and had stopped saying it himself. "Remember when you made me promise...that um. That I wouldn't say I loved you until I was...absolutely one hundred percent sure?" I did look up at him then. His nodded his head slowly, gripping my fingers a little tighter and I swear his breath got caught in his throat. He opened his mouth once or twice, like he wanted to say something, but no words came out.

I smiled and, despite all the nerves and the feeling in my stomach, I knew that I was sure and it was the time to tell him. "I love you, too."