Her Escape, His Safe Haven

Chapter 21- First Date

Athena's POV

"Are you ready beautiful?" Eli asked, coming up to me at my locker.

"Do I get to know where we're going?" I asked

"Nope, I don't want to ruin the surprise." He winked at me and grabbed my hand leading me to the car.

"Is it weird that I'm nervous?"

"I mean, only if it's weird that I'm nervous too." He chuckled

"Why on earth would you be nervous? You're THE Elliot Voss." I laughed a little

"What's that mean?"

"I mena, you're the gorgeous, incredibly smooth guy who could have any girl he wanted. Not only are you hot, you're also badass, and possibly the sweetest guy I've ever met." I ranted a little.

"Awe, baby girl, you're going to make me blush." I smiled "By the way, I'm nervous because you are the girl I want. You're talented, beautiful, smart, and strong. I feel a little intimidated."

I felt the heat creep up my neck at his comments. I don't get those kinds of compliments often.

"I'm excited for this date Eli." I said after a few moments of silence.

"Me too beautiful." He glanced at me with a huge grin on his face.  "We're here." He said pulling into a parking space.

"The zoo?" I asked with a smile.

"I wanted to do something a little goofy, and then we have an appointment at seven with a realtor to see a couple places. How does that sound?" 

"Exciting." We walked up to the entrance and Eli paid for us before we went inside.

"Alright have you been here before?" Eli asked.

"Nope, I've never been to a zoo before."

"I'm glad I can be with you for your first time." I blushed thinking about another possible first time he may be there for. "So, this is the zoo part and then there's this little train thing that will take us to the aquarium." He explained. "What do you want to see the most?"

"The pandas!!!" I said excitedly.

"I should have known." He chuckled and he led the way through the different animal exhibits. We stopped in front of each one for a few minutes, sometimes longer if they were doing something cute.

We stopped in front of the panda's and Eli stood behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist. "Thank you for coming out with me Athena" He whispered in my ear sincerely. I turned my head a little so I could look at him and I placed a kiss on his cheek.

"Thank you for wanting me to come out with you." I said. The panda exhibit had three adult pandas and two baby pandas.

"Look at how cute they are! Can I have one?" I asked jokingly.

"Sure, you distract the zoo people and I'll sneak one out." He joked with me.  "Are you ready to head over to the aquarium?" He asked after we finished laughing.

"Yeah I guess we can leave the pandas."

"We can come back before we leave okay?" I nodded eagerly and Eli led us over the the train thing.

We walked through the aquarium much like we did at the zoo. Eli didn't let go of my hand once as we view the beautiful fish swimming in their massive tanks. Kids and families crowded the aquarium, and it warmed my heart hear the squeals of joy and laughter. I noticed Eli too, seemed to enjoy the vibe here. Being here, with Eli like this...everything seemed so...unimportant.