Sick Days w/ Atticus Finch

Part 7 (Final)

A waiter led Atticus and me to a table in a secluded corner of the restaurant. We sat down across from each other. The waiter left and came back a short moment later with menus. Atticus hesitantly asked, "Do you drink y/n?" I said, "Very rarely, but this is a special occasion."

He smiled shyly and ordered a bottle of red wine. We sat in comfortable silence for a moment before he said, "I hope you like it here. I wasn't sure what you liked." I smiled and said, "To be honest, it isn't somewhere I'd usually go, but it's absolutely beautiful. I love it."

He reached across the short table between us and gently took my hand in his. He gazed into my eyes, rubbing his thumb slowly across the back of my hand. He softly said, "Good, I like seeing you like this, in a less professional setting. It makes me feel closer to you." The way he was looking at me made it impossible to look away as my face heated up.

Before I could say anything back to Atticus, the waiter returned asking for our orders. I stammered, not sure what to order. Everything was incredibly expensive and I had barely glanced at the menu. I cut my eyes to Atticus in a panic and he smiled gently at me before answering the waiter with, "You pick. Whatever you think is the best will be fine."

I let out a small sigh of relief as the waiter smiled, nodded, and took off with our menus. Atticus released my hand, leaving it cold and empty. He reached for the wine and poured each of us a small glass. He said, "I'm not one to drink either, but as you said, it's a special occasion." I smiled and took a small sip of my wine.

As it hit my tongue, my eyes widened and I had to force the wine down my throat. Atticus laughed, a sound sweet and deep. I blushed, covering my face in embarrassment. I said, "I'm sorry, it's really gross." He captured my wrists and gently lowered my hands from my face. He said, " Don't worry, I think it's gross too."

"Then why did you order it?"

"To impress you," he said with a confident smile. We both started laughing a moment later. Clearly his tactic didn't work. The rest of the dinner went on without a hitch. It was perfect, the lights, the food, the conversation. Everything was absolutely perfect.

When the bill came I tried to tell Atticus I would pay half of it, but he cut me off and wouldn't even let me finish my sentence. I smiled, typical of him I suppose. We left the restaurant fairly late at night with beaming smiles, and Atticus's palm pressed to the small of my back.

Once more he opened and closed the car door for me, and we drove back to Maycomb with laughs and chatter filling the car. As we drove, a small spattering of rain began that soon turned into a downpour. When we got to my house, Atticus and I looked at each other and then began to laugh.

He got out of the car and came around to my side, drenched from head to toe, but still ever the gentleman. He took off his blazer and held it up over my head as I got out of the car. He closed the door behind me with his foot. We sprinted up my porch steps and to my front door. We stood there, drenched in water and looking at each other with wide smiles.

Atticus dropped his blazer onto my porch and gently cupped my cheek, never taking his eyes away from mine. He leaned down and I leaned up. Our lips touched softly and I could have sworn the rain stopped for a moment. My body was on fire and my heart was racing. This was surely the best part of my night. Atticus and I pulled away after a moment and just looked at each other.

Finally, Atticus reached down, grabbed his blazer and said, " Goodnight, Miss Y/N. I hope to see you again soon." I smiled and said, " Goodnight, Mr. Finch. I'm sure you will." I watched as he ran back to his car, blazer over his head. His car door slammed and he drove off. I touched my fingers to my lips and smiled. "Oh, Atticus Finch, you surely will be the death of me."

A/N: I hope you guys don't mind how short the ending was! I've been working on this fic for a few months now and kind of got tired of it, never the less I hope you liked it and thank you so much for reading <3