𝓡𝓮𝓴𝓲𝓷𝓭𝓵𝓮𝓭

First Date

Brooke's P.O.V

I finished applying my lip gloss and grabbed my mini bottle of Rose perfume, the one my dad had curated for me and applied it. Satisfied with my reflection I headed downstairs with a bounce to my step.
My dad noticed my happiness and smiled knowingly.
"So, you  and Ryan are finally going out huh?"
"Yeah!" I chirped and sat beside him. He chuckled and patted my head. The doorbell rang indicating that Ryan was here. I got up in a hurry but before I could open the door, my dad inserted himself in between and greeted Ryan.
"Now son, I trust you won't hurt her, but still, know that if you are the cause even one single tear , it won't be good for you." My dad said in a fake menacing way. I assumed he was only half joking and whined.
"Daaaaad!" He chuckled at me and said.
"Take good care of her for me, will you?"
Ryan nodded solemnly and said.
"I wouldn't dream of hurting her sir. I only want to see her smile."
Satisfied with his answer my dad went back in. Grabbing my hand Ryan ushered me outside.
"Hi" He breathed, the street light dancing in his eyes.
He leaned, his lips meeting mine in the most delicious way. I bit on his lower lip, he groaned, his hands winding through my hair as he tilted my head up. I finally break off the kiss, too breathless.

~~
"A rage room?!" I let out a loud laugh, truly delighted by Ryan's choice.
"I love this" I give him a quick peck on the cheek and drag him inside. We make quick work of putting on the safety suit, helmet and goggles. Finally inside the room, I see two baseball bats  and two slender edged hammers. I grab the baseball bat and eye the glass bottles kept on the table. With a mighty heave I smash the bottles and turn towards Ryan, gesturing at the now broken bottles.
"Remind me to never ever cross your path, okay?" I laugh and eye the T.V. in the corner. Ryan quickly catches on and grabs the hammer. We both let out loud shouts as we bring down our weapons of choice on the T.V. . It's screen breaks with a satisfying crunch. I am now smiling like a maniac as I raise my arms to hit it again. Ryan meanwhile has moved onto smash another set of glass bottles. After I am satisfied with the new shape of the T.V. I move to stand beside Ryan. We abandon our weapons and grab the teacups, throwing them down on the floor with as much force as we can muster.
The whole experience is extremely freeing and I can feel all the suppressed emotions ebbing out of my body.
We smash all of the bowls and mugs and move onto the tubelights.
"Behold, the all powerful, tubelight breaker!" Ryan shouted in glee as he smashed it onto the ground. With a grin I mimicked his movements, both of us doubling over in laughter.
After spending 45 minutes absolutely destroying anything and everything in the room, we came out and got rid of the safety suits, goggles and helmet.
I grabbed Ryan's chin and pulled him towards me. I kissed him with a fierceness that surprised me as well. I was extremely thankful for the thoughtful date today. Even I had not thought that I needed to let out my frustration in this manner, but somehow he knew.
"I'm glad you liked the date." He said, a silly grin adorning his face.
"Like? I loved it! Thank you!" I said, squeezing his hand.
~~
We were currently parked outside a cute looking Cafe, brightly lit with blue and green decorations.
We made our way in and got seated at a cozy booth. To my surprise a cat walked upto us and began rubbing its head against Ryan's leg. Ryan scooped it into his arms and scratched it under the chin. The cat let out a content purr, settling into his arms. He looked absolutely precious with the little kitten in his arms. Unable to resist, I quickly clicked a few pics.  I then noticed that there were several other cats around the store.
So this was a cat Cafe!
I cooed at the cat in Ryan's arms and tried to have her come to me. The cat paid me no attention as it basked in Ryan's love. He laughed at my failed attempt and gestures at the menu. With an annoyed huff I take the menu.
I go up to the counter and order loaded nachos, and two mushroom and cheese bagels as well as two lemon iced teas.
I notice another snow white cat sitting at my feet. I immediately scoop it up in my arms and scratch it's head. It purrs as if content and settles in my arm. I make my way back to our table and the other cat immediately jumps out if Ryan's arms and settles on my lap.
He gasps loudly, as if betrayed.
"Pepper, how could you?! I thought we were bestfreinds for life man." He peers over the table, looking at the cat. Pepper pays him no attention, as I scratch his head as well.
"Pepper huh? Then how about we name this one.... salt?"
Ryan nods as I continue showering both the cats with attention. The cats played on my lap, unable to resist looking Ryan slid in beside me and insisted on taking photos. We ended up taking too many when the cats started meowing at each other loudly. Pepper then climbed onto salt and started.....rubbing himself.
"Aaah...no Pepper! Bad Pepper!" Ryan said sternly, leaning down to talk to the cat. The cat paid him no attention as it continued what it was doing.
"Okay, mister. That's enough." I gently picked up Pepper and set him down. Salt leaped off of my lap and they both went off.
I giggled as Ryan looked on with comically widened eyes.
"Here's your food!"
We dug into the food, hungry after today's activities.
Once full we made our way out, stopping in front of Pepper. Ryan scooped him up and whispered in a serious voice.
"Be a good boy, okay? I'll come meet you soon." With that he gently set him on the ground.
We made our way out and settled in the car. Ryan sighed as he took my hand in his and started tracing patterns. He made no move to start the car.
"I don't want this date to end....." He trailed off.
"Then it doesn't have to." I said with a smile.
We switched seats and I quickly started driving towards the one location in this town I loved the most.
As we drove on, I thought about how amazingly lucky I was to have found friends like Raha and everyone else and how nice it was to have people on my side. I glanced at Ryan who was looking out if the window as he tapped his foot excitedly.
I was especially grateful to have him in my life. He was like a ball of sunshine and I was afraid that all my baggage would end up hurting him. What if he should have chosen to date someone who was more like him, happier and not so.... well, like me.
"Oh my god! Are we going where I think we're going?" He asked excitedly, twisting in his seat.
"You'll find out soon enough."
I parked the car in the spot and killed the engine. Ryan came over to my side of the door and opened it.
"Such a gentleman." I teased.
I held his hand and we entered together. Years worth of memories came rushing back to me as we took in the tree house in front of us. It wasn't a typical small tree house but a big one, roughly the size of a bedroom. My dad has built it for us when we were four and we had continued to play here ever since. One of the first things I did when we came back was visit this place and make it livable. I often came here when I wanted peace and time to think.
We climbed up the stairs and entered the house. I turned on the portable lamp I had installed and stepped back as the light illuminated the space.
Ryan looked around in awe at the now furnished house. I had added a few rugs and beanbag chairs. The queen sized mattress was still there along with the cabinets stocked with food and games. I had also added two of the candles I had made, which gave it an earthy scent.
"Wow Rose, this is... wow. I haven't been here in years. Do you remember how we used to hangout here all day after school?" I nodded remembering that this was the place that had strengthened my friendship with him and the rest of our friends. We settled down on the bean bag chairs as we reminisced our childhood.
"Do you remember how much we tormented your dad to build us a tree house? Who knew would build an actual livable house out of this?" He chuckled as he leaned back. I nodded laughing at how four years old us had begged and begged for a cool place to play in after reading a novel in which the kids had a play house.
"And how we used to play monopoly and fight for our lives in 5th grade?" I asked.
"How could I not? You always beat me and took away all of my property " I laughed at how indignant he looked while saying that.
"I loved doing that. You were so fucking cute back then."
"So I'm not cute anymore?" He asked with a pout.
I rolled my eyes and leaned closer."That... is.... subjective." With a giggle I leaned back. He crossed his arms and turned away.
"Okay okay fine, I'll admit it. You are very very cute."
He turned towards me with a grin. "Just cute?"
"Yeah, what else do you think you are?"
"How about I show you?" He leaned forwards .
His lips brushed mine, softly at first, exploring and taking his time. I licked his lower lip and with that he started kissing we with an urgency. My hands found their way to his hair as he gripped my chin and tilted my head upwards. He wedged one knee between my thighs as he began to lean even more downwards. I moaned when his tongue flicked mine. Growing more frantic, my hands roamed his chest and stomach, feeling the solid warmth beneath.
"God Rose, you are breathtaking ." He said, touching his forehead to mine. We were both flushed as we heaved, breathless.

~~
"Goodnight. I'll see you tomorrow. " I gave him a quick kiss before exiting the car. I was giddy on the inside, butterflies in my stomach as I opened the door. I bit my lip to stop the smile from breaking out.
"You look...happy. I gather your date with Ryan went well. You could've put some effort into dressing up though. How do you think you'll manage to catch a boy's attention with those clothes. Where do you even get them from?"
Mother dearest stood there with a glass of wine in her hand, eyes narrowed as she took in my outfit. I sighed at her words, used to her behavior when she was drunk and did not approve of anything I did.
Without another word, I went upto my room.