Chapter 20

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When the day came, he wasn't sure if it had taken too long or not long enough. It was as if time lost all sense of meaning in those few short days, with some hours dragging out to be impossibly long while others seemed to have passed in the blink of an eye. There were too many things he needed to plan, too many things he needed to do. He was starting to think that maybe matters like this weren't supposed to be left to the last minute, but oh well. He already started, he couldn't just quit now.

Luckily, his trip to that shop had gone pretty smoothly. Sure, he'd stayed there for at least an hour, which earned a couple of complaints from Signora, but she seemed to be in a surprisingly good mood for someone who was dragged out for shopping when the shopping wasn't even for her. Childe liked to think that she stuck around for his entire shopping trip because she just really liked spending time with him rather than because she'd feel guilty to just leave him in the middle of the busiest part of the city without a ride, and honestly, the light teasing that came from her direction was enough to say that maybe, for once, he was right.

When they'd left almost two hours after entering the shop, Signora didn't even grumble about it - she understood just as well as Childe that things like these took time, and from the looks of it, she almost seemed touched to have been there as Childe was making his decisions. Granted, he'd paid a small fortune in that store and his credit card was crying in his wallet, but he reassured himself that he'd make all that money back as soon as he was out of college, and that the purchase was, by all means, worth it. Already, he'd been imagining how Zhongli would react to it, which had led to him being very zoned out for the entire journey back, along with Signora shaking her head at him in mock disappointment. For some reason, it strangely reminded Childe of how his older sister would act around him before the whole Abyss thing happened.

After that store, he'd dragged Kaeya to several more, even stopping by a shoe store to buy high heels in his size. (He was going out in a ball gown, after all. He couldn't just wear his usual sneakers with that.) That was yet another store that they'd spent entirely too long in, though they eventually managed to leave with a pair of pastel ocean blue heels that seemed like they could very well be a safety hazard not only to Childe but to everyone around him, too. On the plus side, both he and Kaeya agreed that he looked hot as fuck wearing them, so the purchase was one that he didn't regret. (He'd spent the next several days learning to walk in them, and was proud to say that on the fourth day, he'd mastered the art of not tripping over his own feet. With determination, he just might learn how to run in them, too.)

He'd spent hours preparing for this. This was fine. He could do this. Still, as the clock ticked on and it was almost four on the Friday, he could feel his heart rate skyrocketing. Holy shit, he really was going to do this. There was no backing out of it now. All that was left was for Signora to get here so that she could help with the corset, and in just over two hours, he and Zhongli would be on their merry way to Liuli Pavilion. Childe was practically thrumming with nervous energy, his thumb tapping against his thigh in an attempt to get some of those nerves out, and he kept glancing at his phone for the time.

"Jeez, man, relax," Kaeya said from beside him. "She'll be here any second, and if you want, I can help you into the dress right now."

That made Childe freeze for a second. "What, no sex joke today? No attempt to get in my pants?"

"Childe, you're literally about to wear a fucking ball gown to Liuli Pavilion with you boyfriend. Even I'm not that bold." Kaeya gave him a reassuring pat on the back, which did absolutely nothing to calm him down.

He was ready to call the whole thing off when Signora finally arrived, with, surprisingly, Scaramouche in tow. The two brought in a huge backpack and were arguing over god knows what when they stepped in, only stopping when they saw the panicked state Childe was in. He'd been lying before. He absolutely could not do this. He was absolutely not prepared. He'd just go on this date and not follow through with any of his plans. Luckily, it was as if Signora could read his mind, because she glared at him before he could even open his mouth.

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