Ever since I met Henry I'd never had a reason to be nervous around him. Being with him was as easy as breathing but at the moment I couldn't catch a breath. I had said yes to going out with him and after two weeks of him recuperating from the fight with his brother the day had finally arrived for our first date. Saying I was nervous would be an understatement, I couldn't think straight, my thoughts were all jumbled up and even the simplest tasks seems trivial like getting dressed.

I was seated on the floor of my closet with only a towel wrapped around me trying to decide if going out with Henry was a good idea. Saying yes had been so easy but I blamed that on my frozen brain cells after being in the lake for too long. Our kiss as we ushered in the new year had been great and I wanted more of that but was kissing a good enough reason to go out with someone. Henry was hot, no doubt about that but it wouldn't be just physical between us. There would be feelings involved and that was new territory for me. Was I ready to invest my feelings into a relationship that I knew would come to mean the world to me only to risk leaving him behind when Charlie and I left in a few months? Maybe I could talk Henry into coming with us but that would also be a huge step. The whole thing was confusing and I was making it a bigger deal than it was meant to be but I couldn't help it.

I liked Henry and he liked me. That had to be enough to try and see if we had a future between us. I could also get some good sex out of it and if not then it wasn't meant to be, though I really wanted us to work out. I liked him enough to give us a try so with that thought I got off the floor and started getting ready.

I had no idea what Henry had planned for our first date but my normal outfit of ripped jeans or booty shorts would not cut it. I wanted to remember our first date as a special one so I was going to dress to impress.

After doing my make up and styling my hair that I'd dyed maroon to start off the new year with I finally settled on an outfit. I rarely wore dresses or skirts but I wanted Henry to appreciate that I tried to look nice for him. I chose a short pink skirt with a matching cropped top and lace trimmed combat boots. I was not going to give up my whole sense of comfort so there's no way I was wearing heels.

After I was happy with my look, I gathered all my stuff and put it in a small cross body handbag. Henry texted me that he would be over in five minutes so I decided to check up on Charlie before I left. Robert had offered to watch him because Alex was sick and Jack had to work. I had been skeptical at first but I was trying to be more trusting since Robert had proven to be a straight up guy so far.

I found them in the living room watching Spiderman Far From Home. That definitely had to be Charlie's choice since Robert seemed more of a Peeky Blinders movie type of guy.

"You look pretty."Charlie complimented as soon as he saw me.

"Thanks bud. I'm about to leave do you need anything before I go?"I asked.

"Nope. I'm good."He replied.

"We're okay. I promise to take good care of him and make sure he doesn't stay up too late."Robert assured me.

I'd already fed Charlie and showered him so Robert had the easy part of putting him to bed.

"Okay but call me incase of anything."I requested still fearful of the whole thing.

"I hope it doesn't come to that but I will call you if anything happens. Now go have fun and take care of yourself. If you need a way out call me and I'll be there."Robert answered.

It was weird hearing him say all that but I let it pass. It was good to know that he had my back even if I didn't want to rely on him much.

There was a knock on the door that alerted me of Henry's arrival. I kissed Charlie's forehead hoping I wasn't making a mistake leaving him behind with Robert before I grabbed my jacket and waved goodbye. I was just glad Robert didn't try to play the threatening dad role, that would have been too much.

I opened the door to reveal Henry dressed in black jeans, white t-shirt, black jacket and white sneakers. He had tried taming his hair but a few loose curls managed to fall over his face. I realized that in my checking him out he was doing the same to me. Our eyes met and we both smiled at the same time. His bruises had faded so his skin was back to being flawless.

"You look beautiful."He complimented.

"Thank you, you look nice too." I replied.

"I wanted to get you flowers but then I second guessed myself because you don't seem like the kind of girl who likes flowers. Then I thought what if you really like flowers and I didn't get any."Henry ranted out twisting himself into a bundle nerves.

Looks like I wasn't the only one nervous but the date would go horribly if we were both out of our wits.

"Hey Henry."I cut him short placing my arm over his.

"Mmh."He replied taking a deep breath.

"Calm down, it's just me."I assured him giving him a small smile.

He took a deep breath that seemed to help him relax as he wasn't shaking anymore.

"So I finally settled for a single white rose. They signify new beginnings since this is our first date."He explained holding out a single white rose for me.

"Thank you and you're right I'm not really a flower loving kind of girl but this is beautiful and I appreciate the gesture."I replied taking it from him.

Henry looked pleased with my answer because he smiled his eyes shining with happiness.

"Shall we go?"He asked holding out his hand for me.

"We shall."I replied taking his hand as I closed the door behind me.

Henry unlocked his car and opened the door for me. He might not have had any good male example while growing up but Henry had turned out perfect and was quite the gentleman. He closed the door behind me then rounded the car to get on the passengers side.

I'd never been in his car before and I was quite impressed with how clean it was. It smelled of his cologne so that definitely didn't help cool my lady bits.

"What are your plans for the evening?"I asked as soon as we were on the road.

"Well normal first date ideas according to Google are dinner, visiting an arcade or an amusement park but you work at the arcade so that would be a redundant and there's no amusement park in town so that leaves plain ol dinner."Henry replied.

I had been expecting much more than dinner for our first date but it was him who asked me out so I'd let him run it as he pleased.

"Umh, dinner. Wow."I exclaimed trying my best to sound enthusiastic.

"You could have done a better job at hiding your disappointment."Henry pointed out.

"I'm not disappointed."I lied.

"Yes you are and its okay because that's not really our date. Give me some credit to actually plan something more exciting than dinner."Henry said making me sigh in relief.

"Sorry but you had me there. So what are we really going to do?"I asked.

"Just be patient. A few more minutes and you'll find out."Henry replied.

I wasn't one for surprises, that was Charlie's thing but I was going to give Henry the benefit of the doubt.

The rose in my hand was proof enough that Henry was different. He knew me well enough but there was still some mystery left between us. I had no idea what would come of us dating but I was hopeful that it would be something meaningful. Henry already meant so much to me and I never wanted to loose him so I hoped that what we were starting to build would last.

Fifteen minutes later Henry pulled up at the Go Kart racing track in town. I'd always wanted to go but never found the time.

"I've always wanted to come here but I never told you that so how did you know?"I asked unbuckling my seat belt.

"I used my spidey senses."Henry grinned before getting out of the car.

I didn't wait for him to open my door for me as I got out myself very excited about what we were about to do. Henry locked the car before we walked towards the entrance. I could already hear the sound of wheels and crashing that made me all the more excited. The air smelled of burnt rubber and grease the closer we got to the tracks. There weren't that many people around which was perfect as it wasn't overcrowded.

I let Henry deal with signing us in and paying while I stood and watched anticipating all the excitement to come.

"I definitely should have told you what I had planned so you could dress accordingly."Henry said pointing at my outfit.

"What's wrong with my clothes?"I asked.

"Nothing, you look great, amazing but will you be comfortable racing dressed like that?"He explained.

"You let me worry about that, now give me my helmet."I demanded holding out my arm.

"Are you sure? We can go do something else. They also rent out overalls maybe you can change into one of those. "Henry offered.

I didn't bother replying just grabbed one of the helmets in his hands and sashayed towards where the karts were parked. I took the gloves out of the helmet, put them on and zipped up my jacket.

"Are we going to do this or will you stand there all night gawking?"I asked Henry who seemed frozen in place staring at me.

"Coming."He mumbled jerking into action.

After putting my helmet on I got onto one of the karts and waited for Henry to do the same.

"You good?"He asked.

"Yeah and this was a great idea, don't ruin it with your doubt."I requested.

"I'm sorry, let's have fun."He smiled.

The place was pretty loose with its rules so as soon as Henry was ready we were off. The track was long with two floors and we had loads of fun. It was so great, the adrenaline rush I got driving the kart had me in an all time high.

Henry literally had to drag me away since he had other plans for the night.

"That was so much fun."I exclaimed as we walked outside into the cold air.

"Yes it was, except for when you kept hitting me."Henry scolded.

"It's not my fault you drive like a grandma."I teased.

"You're the one who drives like a maniac. We almost got kicked out because of your driving."Henry insisted making me laugh.

"They'd never kick out the mayors son."I chided making him groan.

"Don't remind me please. Just get in, we have dinner reservations in twenty minutes."Henry replied unlocking the car.

We both got in and I shrugged off my jacket before using the compact mirror in my bag to fix my hair and make up.

"I'd like to do that again someday."I requested.

It was a hidden insinuation that I hoped we would have more dates in future.

"We will."Henry replied sparing me a glance.

Henry pulled up at a four star restaurant in town that had me getting a little uncomfortable.

"Why this place?"I asked before we got out of the car.

"I know it looks a little extravagant and high end but the food here is really good plus they have great service. We share take out all the time so I didn't want us going to a fast food. I also don't know how to cook so I couldn't have made you a meal. I chose this because I really want you to like me and see that I made an effort."Henry replied.

"Henry that's really sweet but I seriously don't care what or where we eat but just this once I'll let you wine and dine me."I replied making him smile.

"We're underage so they can't serve us wine but I can definitely do the dine part."He grinned making me laugh.

"Okay, let's do this."I declared getting out of the car.

Henry did the same before locking the car and holding his arm out for me. I took it as we walked towards the maitre d'.

"Reservation under Brown."Henry informed him.

"Right this way please."He replied after confirming our reservation.

The place looked very classy with a glass chandelier, soft lighting and fancy dressed people. We were led to a corner table and Henry made sure I was comfortably seated before he took a seat himself.

The maitre d' handed us our menus before leaving us to decide.

"This is definitely fancier than I thought."I exclaimed looking at the price of the food.

It was all so expensive.

"I used my dad's name to get in. The one thing the Brown name is good for is actually getting into great places. And please don't look at the prices, order what you want."Henry replied.

"So a salad won't cut it?"I teased.

"Do you even like salads?"He retorted.

"Ewh, no. If I wanted to eat leaves I'd move to the jungle like a cave woman."I replied with a laugh.

"Great, then order anything."Henry replied.

I nodded as I went through the whole menu torn between a stake or the chicken.

"Good evening, I'm Daniel and will be your waiter for the night. Can I start you up with any drinks or are you ready to order?"The young waiter asked.

We had already decided what to eat so I settled for the well done stake and a side of mashed potatoes while Henry had garlic butter shrimp with asparagus. We made sure to inform him of our nut allergies so we didn't ruin the night with a run to the emergency room. For drinks we simply ordered strawberry mohito mocktails.

"Since today is our first date and we're not supposed to talk about anything negative, tell me about you growing up, the good parts."Henry suggested.

"Those aren't that many and they mostly have Charlie in them."I replied.

"I'm all ears."He grinned.

"Okay then."I chuckled.

As I narrated my fond memories of childhood with Charlie, Henry listened carefully. He chipped in and asked questions where needed. Our drinks arrived so we talked more as we drunk and waited for our food which didn't take long to be served.

Henry allowed me to taste his shrimp while he was only allowed one bite of my stake. For dessert we ordered raspberry brownie cheesecake trifles that were amazing. Conversation with Henry was easy and we didn't have a single awkward moment between us.

"We definitely should not have ordered dessert. I'm so full it's hard to breath."I whined as we left the restaurant.

"It's your fault for finishing off half of my dessert."Henry replied.

"You were just looking at it without eating. It's wrong to waste food you know."I retorted.

"I was going to eat it."He insisted making me scoff.

"Okay so what's next?"I asked hoping the night wasn't over quite yet.

"To wind down I thought we could go to a bar two blocks over, not to drink but they have a pool table and I really want to test those skills you keep bragging about."Henry informed me.

"Haven't you lost enough games to me already?"I teased.

"I beat you at more games than you beat me."He argued.

"Wanna test that theory?"I challenged.

"Bring it on."He retorted holding his arm out for me.

The bar wasn't that far so we walked leaving the car behind. At the door we were tagged to show that we were underage. Getting in I immediately loved the place. It looked rustic with wooden tables and chairs spread out over a large space. There was a bar with stools aligned in front of it. At the far corner were a few pool tables and darts.

Henry ordered drinks for us before we found a free pool table. He really should have not challenged me because in the good mood I was in, I ended up whooping his ass. He was really terrible at pool which was okay since he was pretty good at other games. We stayed there for about an hour just having fun until we had to leave when the place started getting too crowded.

"Never challenge me to pool again."I warned Henry as he drove me home.

"I think I just might, your eyes sparkle whenever you win."Henry complimented making me blush.

"You weren't so bad, just need to polish your game a little bit."I encouraged.

"Thank you for saying that."

The date had gone better than I had expected. I hadn't felt nervous at all the whole time we were together which was great because it showed we had real potential.

Henry unlocked my door when we got back home and walked me up to the door.

"Thank you for saying yes. I had fun and would like to do it again some other time."Henry said with a sweet smile.

"I had fun too, thanks for taking me out. We'll definitely plan for a second date."I replied.

We locked eyes and in that moment I knew we were supposed to kiss but I held back. Our kiss on new years was unplanned and I didn't want us rushing into anything. What we had was special and would be best enjoyed if we took things slowly and carefully.

"Goodnight Henry."I whispered leaning up on my tiptoes to kiss his cheek.

I let my lips linger for a few seconds before I pulled back and opened the door.

"Goodnight Willow."I heard Henry reply before I shut the door on his face.

I checked on Charlie to make sure he was asleep before retiring to my room. After going through my night routine I settled in bed as I replayed the events of the night. Henry was great and if things went accordingly and we built something meaningful I would consider asking him to tag along when we left.

Our first official date had been perfect and I couldn't wait for more great days with Henry.