Collection of Stories

First Dates

"So what film do you want to watch?"

He looks at me expectantly and I freeze. This is the judgement moment. It either goes to complete shambles from here on out or really well so that it leads onto a second date. My heart races and I try to hide any sign that a nervous blush is appearing on my cheeks.

"What films are there?"

This is the right (and wrong) answer. He looks back to the screen and shows me hundreds of films, all different, all varying in ending scenarios. The pressure is back on and I just pick a film at random, one I haven't seen in years. I can't really remember the plot, but it used to make me laugh as a kid. Hopefully, it'll make us laugh now. Whilst he sorts out the film, I try to get comfortable on the bed, sitting in a way that feels nice now but will probably ache later. Once it's set up, he comes and joins me on the bed. There's a kind of awkwardness that doesn't really go away until he puts his arm around my shoulders and then it just kind of melts away. It just feels right.

By the time the movie is over, I realise that despite the film being awful, it was so bad that it was good. It did the trick; It made us laugh. The fact I could quote lines from the film: Not the best thing. The fact that we could talk about it for half an hour and still find faults in it: Priceless. When a silence breaks in and ends our conversation, it's not awkward. When he kisses me on the top of my head making my insides spark, it's not awkward. When he kisses me on the lips, it's not awkward. It feels... right. And I wonder why I waited so long to be here, to be here kissing him like my life depending on it, why I didn't ask him out months before.

But we're here now. That's all that matters.