Can't Sleep... Love? (Mavi)

Night Eight

The day is awesome. We wander around Rome, see all the beautiful places, the fountains, everything. Of course Avi and I stay pretty much away from each other and try our best not to be too obvious about each other. In the late afternoon we go back to our hotel, Alex and Scott have a date night planned and Esther still has some work to do. And Avi and I... well we have our first date.

Back in the hotel Avi insists on going to his own room to get ready. He wants to do this the proper way.

Once I'm alone, I turn on my music and get under the shower. I have enough time left to take it slow. After the shower I put together my outfit, which is the hardest part. I wanna be formal but not too overdressed. We're going on a dinner date. I finally decide on a black skinny jeans with a plain dark gray blouse. A bracelet, a long necklace and a choker and I'm good to go. Back in the bathroom I do my hair and makeup, just a little bit of concealer.

At exactly 7 pm there's a soft knock at my door. I take a light jacket for when it might get chilly and a smaller bag and open the door.

Avi looks stunning. He's wearing black, as well and it suits him just perfectly.

"Hey, I would have brought something like a huge bouquet of flowers but since we're leaving tomorrow I only got this." He hands me a single white rose.

I smile and take it. "Thank you, it's flawless!"

I quickly take a glass of water and put the rose in it, placing it on my bedside table before I go back to Avi and hook my hand into the arm he offers me.

"Ready to go? The cab is already waiting."

The cab takes us to a very elegant restaurant at the river Tiber. It looks beautiful from the outside and as Avi leads me into it, I don't know what to say. It has a lot of little niches where tables for two are placed so you can have privacy. Perfect for us, actually.

"Good evening, how may I help you?" The hostess at the reception asks, probably she had heard us speak English while we were entering the restaurant.

"Table for two for Kaplan. I called this morning" Avi says with his deep voice.

She looks into her computer and then at us. "Is this a date?"

I don't know why she is asking, it confuses me a little but I nod, nevertheless. "Yes, our first one, actually. This man is treating me right, isn't he?"

I expect her to laugh or at least make some polite comment but she eyes me up and down. "I'm afraid you'll have to go elsewhere" she says curtly.

I want to say something but Avi is first. "Sorry, but I've booked a table for two only this morning and got confirmed that it would work out even on this short notice."

"That might be but we are not tolerating this."

That's when it it me. She was referring to us being a gay couple. Avi must've noticed that, too from the way he looked at her, disappointed, hurt, angry.

"Does your manager know how you treat your guests?" I chime in sassily.

"Yes, he knows and we don't want you as our guests. Please leave now or I have to get the security."

"Fine, but tell your manager that he should get the stick out of his ass and stop discriminating against people." I turn on my heel and leave the restaurant. "Come on, cutie" I take Avis hand and pull him out with me softly.

Once we're out of the bulding, I turn around to look at Avi. He is still in shock. "Hey, it's okay. We'll do something different, eat somewhere else."

"It's not that, Mitch. I've never been so humiliated before" his voice is barely a whisper and I have to listen very closely to get it.

"That was the first time someone was being homophobic towards you?"

He nods.

I wrap might arms around him and hold him tight. "Don't let it get to you" I whisper into his ear.

He nods again and presses a kiss to my cheek. "Yeah, I just thought that it wouldn't happen." We let go of each other and he sighs. "What about our dinner, now?"

I ponder for a moment. "Let's just walk along the riverside and search for a restaurant. We'll find something."

We end up in a cute little typically Italian restaurant. It's nowhere near fancy as the one we originally wanted to dine at. But the people there are so friendly and we even got seated outside near the river, having a beautiful view.

We both order original Italian pizza and some red wine to go with it.

Once we're alone again, I look at Avi, who had been quiet for a while. "Are you really okay?"

He smiles at me. "Yes, Mitch. Don't worry." He takes my hand and brings it to his lips, kisses it tender. "Now let's not talk about it anymore. Let's enjoy our date."

I couldn't agree more.

~

"What is the one thing your partner shouldn't do in a relationship?"

After dinner we take a long walk along the Tiber. After having talked about a lot of stuff and enjoyed some silence, we decided to continue with our question game. It was my turn to answer.

"Always belittle me" I answer directly. "I mean, don't get me wrong, I love to be held by a strong man, like you. Most of the time men think of me as their little twink, because of my frame and body type. But I am a grown up, I'm strong, too. I can handle myself."

"I know, Mitch. Is that why you kissed me first last night?" He grins at me. "I liked it, by the way."

I nod. "Maybe. And I don't get such an opportunity that often."

"Well with me you'll get it as often as you want it. Because I like both, to hold and to be held. And although you have this petite frame, that I love, I think you could hold me just fine."

"Thank you, Avi" I mumble.

We continue our walk for a while until we're both tired from the long day. We grab a cab back to the hotel and go up to my room in silence.

"Thank you for this date, Avi" I say softly and fumble with the key to my room.

"I think so, too, thank you very much for being with me." He leans in and puts a hand on my cheek. "Good Night, Mitch!" He kisses my lips, softly and I return the kiss.

It's the perfect kiss for a first date and after it ends I return "Good Night" and retreat to my room, leaving Avi outside, but slipping the key card into the pocket of his jacket. I want to keep the idea of the perfect first date but I don't want to be alone tonight.

I get ready for bed and lie down, still buzzing from sheer happiness. I grab my phone, seeing a message from Avi.

Avi: I see what you did there. I'm coming over, wait a second, I need to gather my stuff ;)

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A/N: hope you liked their first date. Vote and comment to brighten my day.