The Bachelor: Italia Amore! [Pokemon Fanfic, 2017 PKMNWatties]

The First Group Date (From Hell)

Every time their eyes met, her heart sped up and she wanted to look away and try to think of something else other than the intense look to his eyes as he looked at her. But she couldn't and didn't look away, and she was sure that she looked terrified.

That or mystified at all that this was happening to her right now.

"I enjoyed tonight," he said smoothly, his lips quirking up as he watched her thoughtfully.

"Me too," she whispered, gazing back at him.

He glanced at the rose on the silver platter next to them and then back to her. His hand moved across the table and he let it wait, and before she could make herself second think it, she reached across the table slowly and hesitantly touched his, leading him to decisively grab her hand.

"I would give you that rose several times over," he admitted. "But would you take it?"

She swallowed heavily, feeling the tension in the room grow. She glanced at their held hands.

"I wouldn't choose otherwise," she said, even if she wasn't sure about all this still.

He reached for the rose and handed it to her, and she accepted it, and all the while neither let go of the other's hand. It made Ash uneasy, and she had to remind herself this was a reality show and she was there to help him out anyway.

She shouldn't be making a big deal out of things or giving weird reactions. Really, she shouldn't be acting so weird and be all weird about everything. Right.

Ash took a deep breath and gave him a slight smile, having composed herself as much as she could.

"Thank you for tonight," she said.

"Thank you," he echoed.

"That's a wrap, guys," they were startled out of it, with Zachary clapping. "That was great. You guys should eat the food. It'd be a waste of Giovanni's surprising culinary talents!"

"I would've been eating from the moment you brought all the food here," Ash huffed, giving Giovanni a look while she pushed aside their oddly intimate moment of earlier.

Wesley cut in, amused. "Sorry about that –we just prefer you guys not to be eating while filming. The sound of food being eaten ends up being picked up by the mics and we don't want that."

"At least it's still warm," Ash said cheerfully, digging in heartily.

"What's the verdict?" Giovanni smirked as he asked dryly, watching her in entertainment.

"Oh, so good," Ash moaned, closing her eyes blissfully. "It's delicious."

Giovanni looked very smug, but Ash wasn't paying attention.

"After you eat, we'll have you guys look over the footage we just shot for your date and do your interviews, then we'll take you back to the hotel. Got that, guys?" Wesley asked them.

"Mmm," Ash made some sort of noise, agreeing while more focused on her food.

Giovanni and the producers watched her in amusement.

"Well...what she said," Giovanni told the two producers sarcastically. "At least the food I made won't go to waste," he teased.

Ash swallowed her food and then grinned cheekily. "I'd marry you for the food, just saying. Be proud of how awesome it is. I'll have to return the favor one of these days and cook for you too."

"I'll look forward to it."

"Tell me we have some camera shooting this," Zachary muttered to Wesley. "This could at least go with the bloopers or post-credit scenes."