In Another Life ▻ Fiona Gallagher

03. chapter three

FLASHBACK

A few weeks passed before Julian and Fiona were truly able to have a proper conversation again. Yet, those weeks were spent stealing smiles from one another in the hallways at school, easily growing distracted when seeing one another at their respective practices, and still trying their best to keep track of their own lives in the process.

Fiona had told Julian the last time that they spoke that they could get dinner another time. He knew that could mean any time, yet he was hesitant to ask again, not wanting to get turned down again. He hoped that soon enough, he'd get the opportunity to truly have a conversation with her and take her out. Julian knew that if he could do that, maybe he'd have a chance at the two of them becoming more in the long run.

Despite those thoughts, he still took his time in pursuing Fiona, and after a few more days, she'd grown tired of the game. She had played hard to get when they'd first met, having been led to believe that's what a girl should always do, but although it seemed like he wanted her, he didn't chase her as much as he had originally, and Fiona wanted to know why.

As she walked through the halls at school, she saw him at his locker and took the opportunity while it was presented. Walking over to him, she pushed his locker closed to get his attention, then tilted her head, looking up at him, "Are you ever going to ask me out again?" she questioned, arms crossing in a bit of a challenging stance.

Julian's brows arched in response and he looked down at her with a little chuckle, "You said another time, I wasn't sure when would be good for you," he shrugged. "I'd hate to be turned down again. I'm not sure my ego could handle it," he added, a soft smirk on his lips.

Fiona scoffed at his words and her eyes rolled almost automatically. "If I was going to keep turning you down, I would have never said 'another time'. So.." Her shoulders lifted and fell in a shrug of their own. "Are you going to take me to dinner tonight, or not?"

The boy's smirk widened as he looked at her, enjoying her forwardness. She truly was something else. She was unlike any of the other girls at school who had shown interest in him, and if you asked him, that was a good thing. There always seemed to be something missing with them, but not with Fiona. Fiona drew him in effortlessly.

"Yeah.. yeah, I'm taking you to dinner. We can meet up after practice," Julian replied, biting down on his lip in the center. The thought of it all immediately sent a flurry of nerves through him, and he could only imagine that this was what people meant when they spoke of butterflies in their stomachs.

Fiona smiled as he agreed to take her out, nodding to acknowledge the plan of meeting after practice. She rocked back on her heels for a moment, suddenly feeling nervous instead of the rush of confidence that she'd had minutes prior.

Typically, Fiona never gave guys the time of day, though several had tried. She had learned early on from talk around the neighborhood that most guys were only out for one thing, and she wasn't about to give herself up that easily.

Most of the guys at school believed that they could get ahead by sleeping with different girls, yet if a girl were to sleep around, she'd have the reputation as a slut. Even if a girl didn't sleep with anyone, she still had a chance to be called a slut for many of the same things that guys were getting praised for. It just wasn't worth it to her.

Apart from that, Fiona had many more responsibilities than most fifteen-year olds. As the oldest of her siblings, she was always the one looking out for the younger ones when her parents were indulging their addictions and being particularly negligent.

It was a tough role for someone as young as she was, yet she'd rather take all of that on than have her family go without, or worse, be taken into social services. She'd been through that several times in her life already, and if she could prevent that happening to her younger siblings, she'd do anything that she could, no matter how much stress that it put on her.

"Okay, yeah, we'll meet up after practice. Just try not to stare at my ass too much in the meantime. I know you've been watching me at practice," she teased Julian, a playful smirk growing on her lips.

A scoff passed his lips and he shook his head, "Not any more than you've been looking at me. I think we're even, Gallagher," he spoke, nudging her shoulder with his. Reopening his locker, he grabbed what he needed for his next class as he looked back at her.

"Yeah, well.. I guess we are even," she started. "Still, if you keep looking, I'm going to start charging you interest by the minute." She bit down on her lip in the center, fighting a small laugh as she started to walk backward. "I'll see you after practice."

Julian rolled his eyes at her teasing and shook his head. "See you after practice," he replied, watching as after he agreed, she turned to walk away, presumably in the direction of her own class.

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The rest of the day seemed to crawl by, and they both knew why. Everything was just a waiting game at this point, and they were both tired of waiting. Waiting to see how things played out tonight, waiting to see if they progressed from there, but most of all, waiting to see the outcome and how things would turn out in the long run. At least by tonight, the first bit of waiting would be over.

Once both of their practices were over, they both wasted no time going to the locker rooms to shower up and get cleaned off and ready.

Julian wasn't sure if she had a specific place in mind, but he intended to take Fiona wherever she wanted to go. He'd been saving up his money for a little while now, wanting to be able to buy whatever he might want for himself, and so he knew that he had enough to take her anywhere.

Fiona did everything that she could to look her best. She was sure that he had seen plenty of north side girls look better with half of the effort that she was putting in, but she still wanted to try. She wasn't super girly by nature, and she didn't approve of fixing yourself just for a guy, but she intended to look nice.

After they were both ready, they met up outside of their corresponding locker rooms, Julian smiling immediately upon seeing Fiona. She noticed his smile with ease and gave him a smaller, shyer one of her own. "So.." she started, stopping in front of him and looking up at him from where she stood, "where are you taking me?"

Julian tilted his head at her question, humming lightly as he considered it. Since she'd been the one to approach him about their previously postponed plans, he'd thought she might have an idea. "Well, do you have anywhere in mind? Anywhere that you've been wanting to go?" he asked her.

Fiona bit down on her lip, shifting from one foot to the other, considering her options. There was a new grill-type restaurant in town that she'd wanted to try. "We can go anywhere?" she questioned, not used to being able to just go to whichever restaurant she wanted.

"Anywhere that you want," he agreed, nodding lightly.

Fiona nodded as well as he agreed that they could go anywhere. "There's that new grill in town, I want to go there," she replied, holding her head high to show that she was confident in her decision.

Julian let out a little laugh at her expression, but didn't protest. He'd wanted to try the new restaurant himself. Holding out a hand to her, he gave her a smile, "Okay. Let's go, then."

He could feel his heart race with each second that went by that she didn't take his hand. His throat was growing dry, and he swallowed before biting down on his lip as he waited. She gave him a playful smirk after a moment, seeing his nervous expression before finally taking his hand and starting out of the school with him. 

// author's note:

so this is very short, i know but i wanted to keep a somewhat consistent chapter length so i broke the first date up into two chapters. the rest is coming very soon.