The Camgirl

Part LVII: First Date

LVII: Liam and Blake

Liam

Liam looked up from his phone toward the door when the little bell sounded. Upon seeing the top of an almost platinum-blonde head pass through, he sighed and leaned back against the corner of the snack aisle, turning his attention back to his book. The series was an old favorite he'd decided to re-read for the eighth or ninth time, though it would only be his third time reading the full series, as the final book had come out only 2 years past. He didn't think he'd stayed up till 5 AM reading a new book since then.

"Okay, I know I took a little while, but I definitely didn't take long enough for you to start reading and completely ignore me."

Liam blinked at Blake's voice. He hadn't heard anyone else come in after the blonde. When Liam turned around to face his friend, his eyes almost popped out of his head.

Blake was the blonde.

Shining, white-blonde ringlets fell down past Blake's shoulders, covering a sleek, dark-red leather jacket. Dark gloves and a scarf helped cover her hands and neck, and tight, dark-washed jeans encased her legs. She smirked at him, smoothing some of the ringlets out of her face, "I'll take that to mean I made the right choice."

Fuck, she's incredible.

Liam shook himself, blinking, "That is a wig though, right? You didn't just happen to be dying your hair today or somehow do that between now and when I called you?"

Liam winced as he heard the sliver of disappointment creep out in his voice. To his relief, Blake just raised an eyebrow.

"You think I did this—" she pointed at her head, twirling around, "—in twenty minutes?"

Liam shrugged, "I've never dyed my hair before."

Blake rolled her eyes, though she smiled. Liam must have been giving her a weird look, though, because the next moment, she arched a delicate eyebrow at him, "What? You don't like it?"

Liam shrugged, scrubbing a hand through his hair, "It's not that. You look good—it looks good on you, I mean. It's just—" He paused, trying to think of the best way to say what he meant.

"It's not you," he said finally, "The blue hair fits you better. At least, to me it does."

Liam blinked when Blake smiled at that and took his hand.

"I'm glad you think that," she said, cheeks a bit pinker than before.

Why would she be embarrassed by that?

"So, where are you taking me on this surprise date?" She asked, peering up at him.

Liam smiled at that.

A date. We're finally going out on a date.

A hint of nerves pulsed through Liam, but excitement quickly overshadowed it.

For the moment, Liam's smile was all Blake was going to get as he pulled her after him out of the store.

Liam grinned as Blake eyed him and the closing green line doors. He didn't like going underground on the T, and would have preferred to walk, but their destination was a bit too far to do that on a first date. Somehow, Blake's hand in his made Liam's stuffy-air-induced semi-claustrophobia a bit more bearable. Not as much as he would have liked, but still, it helped. They'd been able to snag a pair of seats, at least.

"Sooo we're not going to the Pru then..." Blake said, giving him a pointed look, "Quincy Market? North End? Oooo, Mike's Pastries?"

"Shit, that probably would have been a better idea," Liam said, eliciting a skeptic look from Blake.