evan pulls the vanity mirror in his car down, checking his reflection one last time before he enters the restaurant. they'd agreed to meet at the melting pot on mercer street at 7 o'clock. he glances down at the clock that reads 6:55 and lets out a nervous sigh.
"fucking calm down," he hisses at himself. "it's just tee. it's not like you're meeting with the president, dumbass."
normally, he wouldn't talk so aggressively towards himself. but for some reason he felt it necessary to work up the courage to finally get out of his car and enter the restaurant.
with one last sigh, he tosses the mirror up and gets out of the car. he brushes his clammy hands down his pants and pulls his shoulders back, walking confidently towards the entrance of the restaurant.
"hello!" the chirpy hostess says with a grin. "how can i help you?"
"hi," he pulls at the collar of his shirt, "i have a reservation for two."
"great! what's the name on that reservation?"
"halverson."
"halverson for two. right this way," she says, grabbing two menus and leading him towards the dining area.
as soon as he's seated he pulls out his phone, waiting for a text from her. his clock now reads 6:59. she did say she's always late though. a few more minutes pass and his phone buzzes with a text.
walking into the restaurant now!
his entire body freezes as he stares at the door and tries to regulate his breathing. this is it. he's finally going to meet teagan. moments later, the door opens. a girl walks in, her bottom lip taken between her teeth in what can only be a nervous habit. she glances in his direction and their eyes lock. unsure what to do, he waves.
she smiles, lifting her hand to wave back at him before making her way towards his table. when she's about half way there, her foot gets caught on something and she falls to the ground.
evan hops up from his seat and rushes to her side, grabbing hold of her arm to help her up.
"falling for me already?" he jokes, flashing one of his award-winning smiles at her.
she blows a strand of hair out of her face and laughs. "i was actually trying to find a way to get to hell. i thought it'd be more enjoyable than this date."
"ouch." he laughs, pulling her up to her feet. they finally stand face-to-face with each other and he takes this moment to examine her features. she's different from what he expected, but still beautiful.
her cheeks darken to a deep shade of red as she puts her hand out and says, "hi. i'm teagan."
he glances down at her hand, pushing it out of the way and wrapping his arms around her in a hug. he leans in towards her ear and quietly says, "nice to meet you, teagan. i'm evan."
the feeling of her grows lighter and lighter in his arms and his forehead creases in confusion. when he pulls back, she's gone. he looks around the room, wondering where she went, when he notices that the entire restaurant is slowly disappearing. table by table.
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his eyes slowly open and he takes in the familiar setting of his bedroom.
he reaches for his phone to see that it reads 4:07am. quickly, he navigates to his contacts and hits tee's number, holding the phone up to his ear and waiting for her to pick up.
"hello?" she mumbles sleepily.
"hi." he yawns.
"evan? it's," she pulls the phone away from her ear, "four in the morning. why are you calling?"
he closes his eyes. "just wanted to make sure you're still there."
"what? yeah. i'm here."
"okay." he feels himself falling back asleep. "goodnight, tee."
