You Took Me By Surprise (Joker Fanfic)

5 ~ A Replacement Date

So here I was, all dressed up in a simple black strappy dress and a denim jacket. Did I look too casual? I couldn't decide. God, I couldn't even think straight. My stomach was churning from the nerves of this date I was about to go on. I can't believe I even had the balls to initiate it.
It was a guy named Aaron who had been having a few appointments lately at the dentist's where I worked, and he was unbelievably handsome. Dark hair, tanned skin, brown eyes, and pretty tall. I'd never asked a guy out on a date first before, so I decided to keep it casual and suggest we could go get some coffee. Sometimes I get random bouts of courage which come out of nowhere.
I was just putting on a necklace when I heard a knock at the door, and I nearly jumped out of my skin. I glanced at the time on my phone; could he be here 15 minutes early? I went to the door and opened it with slightly jittery hands, but an actual wave of relief came over me as I saw it was Arthur.
"Um hi, (YN)", he smiled. "I have a Christmas card for you...from me..." he tailed off.
"Oh my God Arthur that's lovely, thank you! I still have to write my cards out so I'll have one for you soon, I'm not very organised lately which is weird for me", I garbled, taking the red envelope from him.
"No problem". He looked like he was about to leave but didn't want to, like he was searching his mind for something to say. Poor guy's probably lonely.
So I said hurriedly, "I've got a date coming in about 15 minutes and I'm shitting it to be honest". I began picking at the skin around my fingernails.
"Oh" he said in that quiet little voice I've heard him use before. "I'm sure it'll go good, you look, uh pretty good" he smiled, looking down at his shoes.
"Pretty good is all, huh?" I joked.
" Well you know what I meant", he said with a slightly amused tone to his voice.
"Well, would you like to keep me company for a few minutes? Since I'm so nervous, I need distractions", I stepped back, gesturing into my apartment.
"Well if you'd like me to", Arthur replied shyly.
We talked about general life stuff for a while, and I forgot that I was actually nervous. Arthur was really calming to be around. I made him some tea and gave him some cookies I had made earlier. I was quite surprised that he actually ate them, I'm always thinking he must barely eat at all. After that, I checked the time and was surprised to see it was 4.15 p.m. My date was supposed to be here for 4 p.m.
"Don't worry, he's probably held up with something" comforted Arthur, sensing my anxiety.
Unfortunately when it got to 4.45 I had given up, I guess he didn't want to meet me. Honestly I wasn't as bothered as I thought I'd be, I was enjoying chatting with Arthur so the time had gone really fast. If I had been waiting on my own, that would've felt horrible. Still, I was disappointed to an extent.
"I'm sorry that's happened (YN), he's crazy if he just didn't want to meet you".
I was looking down at my hands because tears were threatening to form in my eyes after he said that.
I could feel Arthur looking at me for a while though. A few minutes of silence.
"Uh okay I know you probably won't want to do this, and you can say no of course, but..."
"Yeah?" I looked up.
He began spluttering with another laughing fit which lasted a few minutes. I waited patiently.
"You okay Arthur?"
"Yeah sorry, um, I feel so awkward saying this but I was thinking we could go for coffee together instead. If you wanted" he avoided my eyes, not looking too hopeful.
"Yeah! How sweet, I'd really enjoy that Arthur. Let's go", I replied, surprised.
The way Arthur's eyes lit up as they met mine was adorable.