Tragic Kingdom (80s/90s imagines)

50. Neil Perry (Dead Poets Society)

For lukeybabe68

Neil had to restrain a whistle when he saw you. He thought it would be improper- though really he just knew it was something Charlie would do. That meant that, yes, it was definitely improper. "You look.. wow.. you look so pretty, Merinda."

"Thank you, Neil." You tucked a piece of your short, purple-streaked hair behind your ear.

He said it almost every time he saw you, but he always meant it. Especially now, you were dressed simply, but he loved you best that way.

"Where are we going?" you asked, eager to get the date started.

"A great little used book store in town," he answered. He sighed, realizing that transportation might be an issue. "I only have my bike.."

You shook your head, smiling. "That's fine. I'll grab mine, and we can ride into town. It's not like you can exactly keep a car at Welton."

He smiled at your effort to keep him from feeling bad.

The bike ride from your house to the boom store was not relatively long, but your hair was a wind blown mess by the time you got there.

"Oh my goodness," you mumbled, catching a glance of your reflection in the window. You quickly tried to control your hair again.

Neil kissed your cheek, noticing your frown. "You look great. Don't worry about it. Who's going to say anything about your hair? The store clerk?"

You followed him into the store and were taken aback by the vast shelves and tables and stacks of books of every width, length, color, and age.

"I propose a game. We each pick out a book for the other person to read, and of course, a couple books for ourselves," Neil suggested.

You nodded, agreeing heartily. "Alright. Game on."

You scoured through all the shelves you could reach. Finding books for yourself was easy, but for Neil? That would be different. He liked poetry, but you didn't want it to be too obvious a choice.

One row away, Neil was scanning the names of each author and skimming each synopsis to see if it was a worthy read for you.

You two had long talks about what you liked to read and hat you tried to avoid, so you both thought it would be easier to find something the other person would enjoy.

You were looking at a book you had chosen from the shelf and were so focused on it, you hardly noticed when Neil came down the row you were in and bumped into you.

"Oh, sorry," he smiled sheepishly.

You shrugged it off, pecking his cheek. "Found anything yet?"

He displayed the books in his hands. "Yup. I think I found one you'll like."

"Ooh, what is it?" you asked, curiously.

He held the book out of view. "Nope. You can't know until after I get it."

You playfully huffed. "Fine. I guess I can wait. I think I just found yours too."

He put his arm around you as you both walked up to the counter. "You can go first."

The woman rang up the books you picked out. "Oh, this is a good one. The ending always gets me."

"Sounds even more intriguing," you replied, handing her the money for the books.

Neil was absentmindedly playing with the hem of your shirt as he waited beside you.

The woman glanced down, noticing his gesture, and smiled softly. "How long have you two been together?"

You looked up at Neil. "Not very long."

"This is actually our first date," Neil added.

The clerk looked shocked. "I would have guessed years. I see couples all the time that don't have that connection. It's special, what you two have. A lot of new couples just hang all over each other, but you two were in separate aisles most of the time. That shows trust." She chuckled. "Even if there's no one else here."

At this point, both you and Neil were blushing furiously but beaming just the same.

"Thank you," both of you mumbled.

Neil paid for his books, and you two walked outside.

"I want to see my book," you insisted.

Neil relented easily, fishing the book out of the bag, while you got his out. You traded off, and you were delighted by his choice.

"My favorite author! Neil, I love it already, and I haven't even read it yet," you gushed, pulling him into a hug.

"I'm glad you like it." He looked at the book you got him. "An anthology of poetry. It's perfect. I can read it at our meetings." He kissed you on the lips, showing his gratitude. "Now let's go. I want to read this as soon as possible."

Once again, sorry I took so long. I hope you like this. I had to actually look up cute first date ideas bc my single self couldn't think of any, but I thought this would be cute. Thank you for requesting! M'kay.

~Mariah