They Weren't Kidding

Chapter 12

Life gave me a bit of time of happiness before bringing me down. I had a good two months of me being able to see my girlfriend in person, hanging out with her and enjoying the time. Where I thoroughly enjoyed the time with her, I feel like I took that time for granted. I didn't expect it to end so suddenly, or at all for that matter.

In these two months, I experienced my first date I had ever been on...and the second...and the third. Needless to say, it was an eventful month. Not solely for the fact that Ryan took me on my first date. She had also managed to steal a few other firsts of mine. And vice versa. Though, I know what you're thinking. No, we didn't go that far during any of our first three dates. But they were the dates that I would remember for years to come. And all three were quite similar with only minor differences between them.

The first date was the one I was the most nervous for. I had dressed in casual attire due to the fact that I had no idea if I should have dressed up or not. I stood outside a sushi bar that was not too far from where Ryan lived. It was December so I blamed all the shaking that I was doing on the cold air around me. In all reality, I was so anxious about this date despite the fact that dates, when you break them down, are just days set out to hang out with a person you really care about. I wanted to make it a great date for her as much as I knew it would be for me.

After about five minutes of standing and my skin stuttering, I sat down on a nearby railing. Part of it was to appear as though I wasn't as nervous as I was. I knew the moment Ryan had arrived. I was looking out for her mother's car to drive up and when it did, my heart stopped and I began to become more nervous. I looked down at my phone to make it look as though I wasn't anxiously awaiting her arrival, even though that was exactly what I was doing.

Ryan walked up to me after waving her mom off.

"Hey, baby," she greeted, as she walked up to me. I looked up as if being alerted by her presence solely from her vocalising her arrival.

I smiled as I looked at her. She looked as beautiful as ever. Ryan was also wearing casual clothing, but she always seemed to make the casual look work so well.

"Hey, you," I responded, getting up from the railing I was sitting on to hug her. Ryan returned the hug before grabbing my hand, lacing our fingers together and leading me inside the building.

As we stepped inside, Ryan gestured around us and said, "Pick a spot to sit."

I've always been terrible with decisions. I tend to overthink every option and if what option I picked would settle well with the other person. I didn't matter that it was something as trivial as picking a spot to sit in. I hated making decisions.

"I think you should pick," I said to avoid letting her know all about my inability to make decisions, no matter how small and meaningless they were.

Ryan rolled her eyes before walking over to a booth at the front of the room and sitting on one of the sides. I followed behind her, taking a seat in the area across the table from her. She gave me a bit of a sideways glance that didn't manage to register past my eyes due to my nerves skyrocketing in that moment. I was shaking as strong as ever.

Ryan must have sensed my nervousness, as she had reached across the table to grab my hand in attempts to calm my nerves. I looked up at her and she gave me a small smile. I returned the gesture, offering a half smile.

At that moment, the waitress walked over and asked our drink order, breaking our focus from each other. We ordered and turned our attentions back toward each other. We had small conversations as we awaited our drinks to come through. When they did, we accepted them and looked at the menus in front of us. I had asked Ryan to order what she liked for both of us so we could share and because it was only my second time eating sushi.