A Friday Night Like This

I was more than ready for my date. I opened the door and Vic was standing there, in an outfit similar to my own.

'Ready?' He asked, gesturing to his car.

'Yeah.' I replied, giving him a hug. I breathed in deeply as I felt his arms wrap around me. His hair smelt burnt, and I asked him about it.

'I straightened it. Speaking of, look at these split ends!' He held up the ends of his hair and studied them carefully. 'I really need a trim...' I laughed at his expression and turned around, locking the house. I started to walk to his car, when I realised he was still looking at his hair.

'Honey, you look lovely. Let's go.' I said, tugging on his arm. He reluctantly stopped fussing and moved to open the passenger door for me.

'I'm definitely not the girl in this relationship sweet-cheeks.' He said, ushering me in. I bit the inside of my cheek to stop myself from laughing. Vic walked around to the other side of the car.

'Where to?' He asked, turning on the ignition. I looked at him doubtfully.

'You're taking me on a date but you don't know where?' He smiled.

'Of course I do. I was just mucking around.' He started driving, tapping his fingers on the wheel.

'How's your job search going?' Vic asked, pulling into the next lane, obviously planning on turning right at the T-intersection.

'Not too good. The only jobs that interest me are an hour's drive each way.' I said, turning to look at him.

'That sucks. But then again, we could move if you did want to take a job further away. Two hours per day is a lot of travel, and since I'm going to tour a lot, I don't really mind where we live.' My heart thudded at a quicker pace. Living together? When did we move in? I decided to make that my next question.

'When did we move back in together?'

Vic blushed. 'I mean, uh...' He took a hand off the wheel and rubbed the back of his neck. 'What I meant was if you wanted to move back in together, all your choice, we could move closer to where you work... Or something.' Vic pulled into a parking lot.

Opposite it was a strip of shops, ranging from dainty fashion boutiques to Parisian-style cafés to authentic Italian restaurants. There was sweet music playing through speakers and outside the stores were hedges, trimmed and styled into different shapes. He got out of the car and opened the door for me.

'Fancy tonight, aren't we?' I said, smiling, taking his offered hand. I gave him a kiss on the cheek, turned and shut the car door.

'Not at all. We're not dressed up enough. We're going there.' Vic pointed behind me.

I heard the faint crash of waves before I saw the sea. I should have known that such beautiful shops like this would have a five star view as well. Vic took my hand and led me around the back of the shops. At the back of one was a fish and chip place. We entered and ordered, leaving a few minutes later with two steaming packages - one containing fish, the other chips. I was carrying the chips, so I decided to poke a hole in the paper to let them cool off a bit and to eat a few right then and there.

'Kells, I know that you're eating them out of the packet. I can hear you.' Vic said, crossing the street.

'You're too smart for me.' I replied, still munching on chips. Vic chuckled. The sun was still high enough in the sky to be giving off light and is to not need any artificial light. We sat down on the sand, and started eating. Halfway through our meal, I decided to bring up the conversation in the car.

'Hey Vic,' I started. He made a non-committal noise and I soldiered on. 'I think it would be nice if we started living together again. As you said, you're going to be touring, which means that there's two mortgages to pay off and such. Plus, I miss sleeping next to you and waking up in your arms. Or you in mine.' I added the last two sentences quietly. Vic picked up another chip and chewed it thoughtfully.

'I miss you too.' Vic finally said, after swallowing his mouthful.

'As for my job, I just had an idea. I could take a university course and qualify for more jobs, which means we don't necessarily have to move. We could stay right where we are.' I said happily. I liked my house, and so did Vic. Vic preferred mine over his so it would be no hassle moving in.

'What course would you take?' Vic asked, smiling. He fed me a chip while I thought about it.

'Political sciences.' I finally decided. I kept a straight face while Vic stared at me, disbelief colouring his eyes.

'What?'

'Oh, come on. You heard me.'

'No way.'

I nodded. 'Yeah, I have this need to become the President of Biology.' I said, saying whatever science popped into my head. Vic rolled his eyes.

'That isn't a real job.'

'So? I could make it up. And then marry it so no one could take it away from me.' (Okay another reference. First one to comment the correct answer gets a dedication)

'How would that be possible?' Vic and I debated for a while over the possibility of marrying a job, among other university courses I could take. Finished our meal, we packed up and threw it in the bin. We drove back to my house, where we went inside and made a hot drink before getting into bed and curling up. My head was resting against his chest and I was counting his heartbeats.

'I enjoyed this. Relaxing, spending time with you. Just having fun.' I said as he traced my tattoos.

'I enjoyed it too, darling.' Vic replied, kissing my forehead. I tilted my head up so we could share a proper kiss, before snuggling back down under the blankets.

'Goodnight.' I said, taking a deep breath and exhaling.

'Goodnight, I love you.'

Did he really say I love you? I wasn't sure, because I was already half-unconscious, slipping into dreamland.

Notes