𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐋𝐄𝐍 𝐃𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐄 ♡ (𝐎𝐍𝐄-𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐎𝐓𝐒)

𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞

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story by: dancingwiththestarsinhereyes

Sadie checked her appearance in the mirror at least twenty times before five minutes passed. Butterflies filled her stomach as she smoothed her long, flowing ivory cotton dress and tucked a stray hair back into her low, tousled bun. He'd given her very little detail about where they were going and she was dying with curiosity on top of her nervousness.

"Are you ready?" Sterling asked from her side of their shared dorm room.

"As ready as I'll ever be," Sadie sighed. Of course, she was ready for this, but her nerves were getting the better of her. Why was she so nervous? This was Mark they were talking about after all.

"Good, because it's time for you to go," Sterling said, waving Sadie out of the room.

Sadie picked up her clutch and grabbed her sweater in case it got cool, kind of confused as to why Sterling was so eager to push her out the door.

Checking the time, she realized why– she was running late. She hurried out onto the lush, green lawn in front of her dorm where Mark said he'd meet her exactly at seven.

The sun was starting to set, and a light breeze made the palm trees sway at the moment she first laid eyes on him.

Wearing a bow tie, with his sleeves rolled up to showcase his tattoos, Mark stood on the lawn holding his guitar, surrounded by dozens of candles.

He started playing when she took a step toward him. All the butterflies floated away as he smiled at her. Nothing else mattered– not the past, the hurt, the missed timing, the rumors– everything that kept this night from happening for nearly three years.

He started singing as she drew closer.
"You don't know, You couldn't know,
What you do and how you do it,
You make my heart melt, and my head go crazy,
I can't get enough of what you do to me, Sadie."

She stood in front of him as he sang to her. When he finished, he sat the guitar down and came over to pull her into a tight hug.

"Mark, you lit candles and wrote and sung me a song on our very first date," she said, getting choked up even though she meant to tease him.

"You deserve it," he said, completely serious as he held her. The candlelight danced around them.

"But, this is so amazing and perfect. How can we go up from here?" she asked as he took her hand and started leading her toward the parking lot.

"Sadie, no worries. I have this all planned out. Let's just say, I've had a long time to think about all I wanted to do for you," he said with a wink. He opened the passenger door for her before hopping in himself.

"But what about your guitar? The candles? You're just leaving them?"

"It's taken care of. I told you not to worry, remember?" he reminded her.

"So where are we going?" she asked, slipping her hand back in his.

This didn't feel like a first date to her anymore. This felt like a date with purpose and promise. As if they'd only been waiting for the right time to push aside all obstacles and finally share their love with one another.

That sounded crazy, but this date wouldn't have ever happened if they weren't hopelessly in love. Too much was at stake for this to simply be a regular old first date.

"You'll see soon enough," he replied, giving her hand a squeeze.

Sadie glanced out the window at the ocean and the sun setting on the horizon as they headed down the highway. Where was he taking her?

A few minutes later, they turned off the highway into the driveway of an upscale beach house.

"We're going on a date to someone's house?" Her brow wrinkled in confusion.

"No, our date isn't at the house– the house is a friend of mine's, though and they wouldn't mind if we stopped in for a visit," Mark explained as he put the car in park.

He helped her out of the car and linked her arm around his leading her down the path around the home to the expanse of private beach behind it. Sadie gasped as the sight took her breath away.

Situated on the sand, more candles surrounded a table set with fine linen, candelabras and a huge bouquet of wildflowers, baby's breath and peonies. The table was set for two with silver domed plates in front of linen covered chairs and a bottle of wine chilling in an ice bucket.

"This is so romantic," she said softly. He took her hand and led her onto the sand. Sadie kicked off her heeled sandals and felt the cool sand against her feet. After dinner and wine, Mark stood and extended his hand to her.

"You know, it wouldn't be right if our first date didn't include a dance," he teased.

"It sure wouldn't," she laughed standing and stepping into his arms. They began to sway softly in the sand. Nothing special– this dance wasn't a choreographed, elaborate routine, and there was no music, only the sound of the waves crashing in the background. But this dance, this was the best dance of her life, she thought as Mark held her hand against his chest and kissed her forehead.

A few moments later, he took her face in his hands, studying her as if he was desperate to memorize everything about her.

"I don't care that it's our first date or our thousandth, or that I haven't even kissed you yet. I can't wait any longer to tell you that I love you, Sadie Carroway Robertson, and I always will," he said, his voice cracking with emotion.

She leaned in and kissed him, softly at first, but electricity charged through her as their lips touched making her eager for more. Surprised, but only for a second, he responded, welcoming her kiss happily.

"I love you, too, Mark, but I'm less patient than you are– I couldn't wait to kiss you any longer," she broke away and told him, running her fingers through his short hair and pulling him down to meet her lips again now that her own.

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧
hello everyone!! sorry i haven't update for a few days, i was busy with finals but hopefully i'll finish editing this book by tomorrow (: anyways hope you guys enjoyed this chapter <3