It was date night. 

Or it would be once Emily told James she was suddenly free for the rest of the day. 

Gustavo discovered he had insanely high blood pressure caused by stress which he's decided is from Emily and the band. Him and Kelly ran into the girl in the lobby of the studio on her way into work, kicking her out and driving her back to the Palm Woods so Gustavo could yell at the boys in person. 

Sure, they caused trouble and panic and messes and chaos, but stress? 

The girl marched through the lobby, seeing three of the four guys at the end by the elevators. 

"Rehearsal is cancelled!" Emily cheered at them. 

"How come?" James asked. 

"Because Gustavo's doctor ordered him to take a 24 hour break from the things that stress him out the most," Kelly answered knowingly. 

Kendall nodded, understandingly, "Oh, Griffin? Budgets? Writer's block?" 

"You, you," Gustavo pointed, "him, her, and Logan!" He snapped, the block on his wrist beeping, flashing red. 

"Ah! His watch is gonna blow!" Carlos cried, taking cover behind Kendall and James. 

"It's a blood pressure monitor," Kelly assured him. "It goes off when he's stressed so-"

"So he should stop yelling?" Emily remarked, the beeping rising again as Gustavo glared.

"Stay away from me for the next 24 hours!" He shouted, backing up slowly with Kelly. 

The girl stiffed a laugh, turning back to her boyfriend, hopefully, "So, now that we're free..." she trailed off. 

James smiled, "Would you like to accompany me on our first official date this evening?" 

Kendall and Carlos creased their brows in astonishment, "You haven't been on a date!" Kendall gasped. 

"Yeah, what about all those movie nights, and picnics in the park?" Carlos reminded them. 

James nodded his head in accusation at his friends, "You mean the movie nights you crashed?"

"And picnics you stole?" Emily said. 

The two guys looked at each other in realization. They just thought it was a hang out they missed the memo for. They smiled guiltily, stepping backwards. 

"6:00?" Emily asked. 

"It's a date," James grinned. Emily stepped forward to kiss his cheek, Carlos' gasp startling them. 

"No rehearsal!" He gasped, "That means I'm free to go out with a Jennifer."

Emily nodded encouragingly, "Wow, everyone just wants to go out tonight," she laughed. 

"Don't say that to Logan," Kendall warned. 

James grimaced, "Yeah, him and Camille had a fight and now she's going on a date with Jett."

"Jett?" Emily repeated, shocked. "What possibly could've happened that she would rather go out with Jett?"

"Oh, Logan said something about data and how you should only date two times a week so you don't break up," Carlos recalled. 

The girl grimaced. She wouldn't be thrilled to hear that from James, but it's nothing compared to how upset Camille must've been. "Yeah, that'll do it," she nodded, giving the guys a flat goodbye as she headed up to the crib to talk to Logan. 

He really liked Camille. But he also really liked science. However, as proven, love science doesn't exist and you shouldn't combine the two. Logan has not figured that out. 

She gently entered, seeing Mama Knight standing at the counter with a slumped Logan who slammed his cup on the marble. "Hit me," he slurred. 

Emily widened her eyes as his cup was refilled with milk, the boy downing it again. "Hey, there," she smiled. "No rehearsal today," she beamed, hopefully bringing his spirits up.

Logan glanced up, blankly staring at Emily as he chucked back another shot of milk, motioning to Mrs. Knight for more. 

She sighed through her teeth, worriedly watching her friend. "You know she's just doing this to get back at you," she tried to mention. 

Logan frowned, slamming the cup back on the counter as the door opened, Kendall entering, "Hit me again," he said. Small amounts of milk poured into the cup as he threw it back once more. Emily shared an exhausted look with Kendall who nodded off expectingly. "Look, it's just time to face the facts," he told them, "Camille and I are just too different, okay? I based my decisions of logic, and Camille thinks my logic is stupid."

"Okay," Kendall nodded, "but you know there's no such thing as the perfect girlfriend."

Emily nodded, "Exactly, you have to take the good with the-"

"Boo!" Logan interrupted, shoving a thumb's down in her face across the counter. 

"Well then, Mr. Logic, what are you going to do?" Mrs. Knight retorted. "Invent the perfect girlfriend?"

Logan laughed mockingly, before going silent, looking off in wonderment as if he was considering the possibility. Emily held her breath, fearfully looking to Kendall who remained as still as her. 

***

"Greetings, Logan. You are smart and hot like me. Let's go on a date." 

Logan invented a robot girlfriend. She head a square head, square chest, triangular body to act as a skirt, foil arms, and Logan even included eyelashes and a bow. Logan took off his goggles, laughing in victory. 

"It worked!" He cheered, looking to the three standing in the middle of the apartment, grimacing in discomfort. "Is this too weird?"

"Completely," Kendall told him. 

"But impressive," Mama Knight hummed. 

"And a huge waste of time," Emily admitted, Kendall nodding in agreement. 

Logan gasped, "Oh, I know. I'll go on Sciencemath.Date and search for the perfect girlfriend." 

"That's a thing?" Emily asked. 

"One that's just like me. Only not a robot."

"What?"

"Nothing," Logan replied, hurrying off with his laptop to his bedroom. 

Emily turned after him, exiting the crib, "You guys aren't broken up!" She reminded him, rolling her eyes at the couple's dramatics as she strolled down the hallway. 

***

Emily prepared for her date with James. 

She met him in the crib at 5:45. James texted her, asking the girl to meet in the crib earlier to help Carlos prepare for his date with Jennifer. 

James gawked in awe as she walked through the door. The girl stepped in covered in a dark purple dress. The sleeves fanned over her shoulders, dipping down for flowing in ruffled layers to her mid thigh. Her hair spun in ringlets, pulled back into a low ponytail. 

She smiled under his gaze, only to falter when she saw James hadn't changed since the afternoon. "Hey, you almost ready?" She asked.

"You are-" James began, stuttering as he saw Carlos skipping out into the main room. Emily's jaw dropped. "l-looking sharp!" James coughed out. 

Carlos wore baggy jeans with fire embroidery, a bedazzled flame t-shirt, and a matching hat falling sideways on his head. 

Emily cautiously stepped over to James behind the counter, looking to the boy for desperate answers. 

"Uh-huh," Carlos hummed, fixing his tuck in the mirror, "I got a big date so I got to dress big, right?" 

"Yeah, you do," James smiled, supportingly. His punctured the hole in the top of his juice box, turning the straw to Carlos and squeezing the package to spurt red juice all over Carlos' outfit. "Oops, sorry!"

"James!" Carlos cried. 

"Epic juice box fail."

"Now I have to change!" Carlos grunted, furiously stomping into his bedroom. 

The girl turned back to James for answers, "Please tell me what's going on."

"I'm saving Carlos' date with Jennifer," he told her. Emily sighed. 

"Don't you think we should let Carlos find a healthy relationship through his own trail and error? If you keep doing this, no girl is ever going to have a second date with him when they realize he's nothing like the image you've given him," she told him.

"Did you not just see what he picked out?" James exclaimed.

"I know, good work," she high-fived him, thinking back to Carlos in the devastating outfit from moments earlier, taking back her original statement. "...And our date?" She wondered.

James' eyes widened, "Yes!" He remembered, "We are going out, but I have to make sure Carlos is ready first." Emily nodded, understandingly. If it was Kendall or Logan, she would've been significantly more annoyed, but Carlos is special. 

"What are you up to?"

Emily and James turned to see Katie sneaking up behind them inquiring their motives. James shrugged, pridefully, leaning back against the countertop, "Just saving Carlos' date with red-dress Jennifer."

"Impossible," Katie said. "She's too classy, and he's too Carlos."

James smirked, nodding behind the small girl as Emily gaped in delight, seeing Carlos walk out of his room, dressed in dark jeans, a light button down, and a blazer. 

"Now, I have to wear this stupid outfit!" He snapped, glaring at James, who winced apologetically. 

"I'm sure Jennifer will understand," Emily told him. He frowned, stalking over to the printer.

"So, bud, where are you taking the future Mrs. Garcia?" James asked.

Holding up papers, "Well, in my hands right here, I have directions and reservations to the nearest Sloppy Cheese!" Emily choked while James' juice spilled out of the tiny box in shock. "There's pizza, prizes, and a whole lot of fun."

Carlos smiled to himself, nodding goodbye to his friends, eyeing the directions. Emily gave her friend an encouraging smile as he walked out. She quickly turned to James, "We have to save that date," she begged him.

"Oh, I thought we shouldn't intervene too much in his dating life?" James retorted. 

"I am not a shallow person," Emily told him, "but I would be furious if you took me to that kid infested, germy, slime pit for any reason."

James stiffed a laugh, giving her a reassuring smile that was no where in his plans. "Then we've got to change those reservations and go on the date with Carlos."

"Wasn't this supposed to be your first real date?" Katie reminded them. "And where are you going to get last minute reservations to a fancy restaurant in L.A.?"

Emily gasped, "We'll give him our reservations!" She realized, hitting James' arm. 

"You print out the directions, and I'll change the reservation name," James nodded, pulling out his phone. 

"You want to bring my new slingshot?" Katie asked, holding up her new weapon. 

Emily grinned, taking it from her hands, "Of course, I do." Katie winked, walking back into her room.

Emily leaned over the laptop on the table, printing the directions and James paced in the corner, waiting to get off hold. 

"I'm sorry another date got ruined," he told her. 

Emily briefly looked up, furrowing her eyebrows together, shaking her head, "Don't be sorry, you didn't do anything wrong."

"But I didn't have to get so involved in Carlos' date."

"Yes, you did," she corrected him. "You're too good of a friend not to."

James smiled in comfort, "You're too good of a girlfriend," he told her. The girl looked up, softly smiling at him, the sound of the printing whirling filling the silent air. "And you look so hot tonight."

Emily bit back a laugh, shaking her head as she turned to accept the papers from the printer, knowing a comment like that was due any moment from James. 

James hung up, turning to Emily who held up the new directions in her hands, ready. "Let's hide in the lobby to switch the directions when he meets Jennifer," James said in a hushed voice, ushering Emily out while he looked to make sure Carlos wasn't in the room yet. 

In the lobby, Jennifer sat, on time, for her date. 

Carlos waved excitingly to Jennifer in the lobby. She sat on a nearby bench, a small red dress on, grinning as she stood to meet him. 

"So, where are we going tonight?" She wondered. 

Carlos smirked, folding the directions and stuffed them in his back pocket. "Let's just say that you are going to have the greatest date of your life."

Emily and James peaked out from behind the bushes, switching the directions before Carlos and Jennifer walked out, arm in arm. Emily pushed herself out of the leaves, glaring at James in annoyance. 

"Why am I wearing leaves?" She snapped. 

In addition to the traditional tree hats, James insisted they dress themselves in large palm leaves to further disguise themselves. 

James ignored her complaint for the hundredth time, holding out his fist, "Friendship powers: Activate!" 

Emily sighed, "No."

"Activate!" 

The girl rolled her eyes, lamely holding out her fist, connecting it to the boy's, their hands opening, fingers interlocking before flying apart when James pushed them forwards.  

***

Emily and James snuck into the restaurant after the large group was led to their tables. 

James shoved them into one of the large plants on the side, smushed together, peeking through the leaves to see where Carlos was off to. 

"Why is literally everyone here?" Emily asked him over her shoulder. Chez Fancee was easily one of the nicest places around. In addition to Carlos and Jennifer, Emily and James picked out Logan, Camille, Jett, and presumably Logan's date, Kendall, two adults, and some traditional brunette, and Gustavo. 

"I need you to focus," James told her, pointing ahead to Carlos. "How do I get close enough to keep him from ruining his date." 

Emily spotted a lonely waiter off to the side. She eagerly pulled out Katie's slingshot, gripping a nearby bread roll, "You'll be their waiter this evening," she beamed, firing the roll into the man's head. He yelped, falling back from impact. James gaped in approval. She leaned forward, grabbing a pen and pad from the hostess stand. "Then, hand this to Carlos to read."

James nodded, reading the note she scribbled on the pad, tricking Carlos into letting Jennifer order for the both of them and then offering to discuss her feelings. 

"You rock," he told her, kissing her head, before slinking off to steal the man's uniform while Emily remained camouflaged in the decor. 

Emily smiled to herself, watching James interact with the couple nearby after changing into the uniform. He nodded, falsely taking their orders. He turned, tossing the menus away, high-fiving Emily as he passed by to the kitchens. 

The girl winced, ducking deeper into the plants as she saw Gustavo attempting to address James. "Can I at least get some more rolls?" He shouted. 

Emily turned, stealing a basket of rolls off the cart behind her, slinging roll after roll into Gustavo's booth, giggling to herself as he fell back into the booth as bread rained over his head. 

James finally exited the kitchen, holding up a tray of food. Emily frowned in confusion watching him interact with Kendall and the mystery girl. She witnessed James gasp, hurriedly walking off in her direction. 

James briefly tucked his head into Emily's hiding spot, "That's Lucy!" 

Emily scoffed, "No, it isn'-Oh my god!" 

As she shouted, James tore himself out of the bush, turning around, acting like he heard nothing despite the entire building looking in his direction for the source of the outburst, including Kendall and Lucy who warningly pointed to Emily in the bush. 

As the restaurant turned back to their own conversations, James leaned down back to Emily, "How's the conversation going?" He asked, spying on Carlos and Jennifer ahead. 

"I think it's alright," she shrugged. Carlos pulled his arm up, gripping his shoulder tightly. Emily gasped, knowing what he was prepared to do. "He's about to pop his arm out of its socket." 

James yelped, grabbing a bucket of roses and sprinting over to their table casually, placing a rose in his hand before the joint left its place. The girl impatiently watched as Carlos continued to refuse the rose, fighting James, until the manager apologetically came over, forcing James to another table, mistaking him for a real waiter.

"Buy ze rose!" James cried, being shoved away. Emily turned, taking a small bouquet from the front out of its vase, tucking the stems into the slingshot, firing them directly into Carlos' palm, proudly smiling to herself as she saw Jennifer beam with delight. 

Her mood fell, spotting James being placed at Gustavo's table. "Trout almondine, table 12!" James cried. 

The girl in the plants, grabbed a cooked fish off the plate from the cart, cringing as she slung the fish from her bare heads, gasping as it slapped Gustavo in the face. She buried her face in her shoulder, muffling her laughter. James paced over, ignoring calls from nearby tables, crouching besides her plant. 

"We're not supposed to be stressed Gustavo out!" James reminded her. 

Emily scoffed, "Whatever, I don't even understand why he thinks I cause the stress," she rolled her eyes. 

"Well, maybe it's because you shot a fish at his face."

Emily glared, staring him down, "Go stop Carlos from arm wrestling at the table," she shoved, nodding to the dessert cart on his other side. "Jennifer likes soufflés!" She hushed. 

Emily contently sighed to herself seeing Jennifer pleased with the dessert Carlos "ordered" for them. "A la mode!" James shouted. Ice cream. 

Emily hopped out of her hiding place, taking an ice cream scoop from a nearby assembly line. Feeling the chilled cream freeze her fingers, the girl jumped in place, mumbling "cold" over and over as she impulsively fired, hitting James in the back of the head. 

James yelped from the cold, falling over into the table, his mustache coming off in the dessert, revealing himself to the couple. 

"Oh no," Emily muttered, stripping the leaves off her prepared to go help diffuse the situation. She flung the tree hat behind her, apologizing profusely as she bumped into people, trying to reach James who had been thrown across the room on a flying dessert cart. 

"Em! Emily!" James shouted, unable to stop the cart. 

He knocked into an arguing Logan and Camille, Gustavo, and Kendall and Lucy before Emily was able to reach the cart, slowing it to a stop so James didn't violently crash into drywall. 

James smiled in relief, breathlessly sighing as he pulled himself off the cart, before upsettingly turning to his girlfriend, "You hit me with ice cream!"

"It was cold!" She responded. "And no one got hurt, so it's okay," she sighed, double checking the room by scanning the crowd to see no one was injured in the chaos. 

"What about that?" James winced.

Emily turned, seeing him pointing to Kendall and Lucy without the false wig in front of the adults, assuming to be her parents, scolding her. 

"We can prove it to you!" Kendall told them. 

"We can?" Emily repeated, the guys also wondering as they inserting themselves into the argument about rock music. 

"We can," Gustavo approved, limping over, "As long as I get something to eat afterwards."

Emily scoffed, "I got you the trout." 

The man's eyes widened, "That was you?" He shouted. 

Emily shrunk back, nervously laughing, "No." 

The guys laughed, heading up to the stage with Lucy, James tearing off his disguise. Emily turned to Gustavo, "You go relax, I got keys," she assured him. 

"Good," Gustavo grumbled, slumping into a chair, fixing his broken glasses. 

The guys mounted stools on the stage, Lucy and Kendall playing guitar. Emily placed herself at the piano besides them, looking to Kendall for a cue to start. 

The boy turned his head back, nodding to Emily as he began plucking the strings. "I don't know why you always get so insecure," he began. "I wish you could see what I see when you're looking in the mirror and why won't you believe me when I say that to me you get more beautiful, everyday." 

As Kendall sang, Carlos leaned over, lightly patting the top of the piano, Emily glancing up, as she focused on the music. Carlos smiled, "Thanks for your help," he whispered. Emily gave him a small nod, smiling while looking back down at the keys. 

"Cause you're my cover, cover girl. I think you're a superstar, yeah you are. Why don't you know? Yeah, you're so pretty that it hurts. It's what's underneath your skin. The beauty that shines within. You're the only one that rocks my world, my cover girl," the guys sang. 

Emily smiled to herself taking notice of the reactions in the crowd. Lucy's parents discreetly nodded along to the beat, Jennifer flirtatiously waved at Carlos, Camille exchanged glances with Logan, meaning they made up, but the one she couldn't look away from were the two strumming in front. 

Kendall and Lucy couldn't take their eyes off each other. They had an interesting relationship. There was an unspoken attraction with zero flirting involved. Up until recently, Emily assumed they were strictly friends. But with the supposed winking and time spent together, she wasn't so sure anymore. 

"You've got a heart of gold, a perfect original," Carlos sang. 

Emily nodded along, mumbling the chords under her breath, eyeing the keys intently. Unbeknownst to her, James found himself staring off at her, singing, "Wish you would stop being so hard on yourself for a while." Despite the fun they had tonight, and no matter how okay she said she was, James couldn't get over how the girl freely gave up her night for someone else. How, no matter how stressful and annoyed she probably was in the plants, she never complained. 

Emily looked up, glancing at the guys singing, leading back into the chorus, no longer having to focus on the chords throughout the bridge of the song. Her eyes landed on James who was already staring. "I would do anything to make you smile," James sang, smiling at her. 

"My cover girl," the guys sang together, James winking to Emily who blushed discreetly under the dim lighting. "Woah, oh, oh, my cover girl," Kendall finished, locked on Lucy. 

The crowd applauded lightly, still sitting in a very classy place. Emily pushed herself back from the piano, taking note of Gustavo's silent approval from the back where he was with the staff, setting up a large table for the entire group. She flattened out the wrinkles in the dress from sitting, going to step off the slightly elevated stage. 

James maneuvered around the stools, pushing through his friends to his girlfriend. She looked over to him, unable to speak as James pulled her close, engaging in a kiss in front of everyone. Falling in sync with him, Emily placed her hands over his on her hips, gently pulling back looking to him in confusion. 

"I just felt like it," James shrugged, smiling. Emily shook her head, laughing to herself. She accepted James' arm held out for her as he led the girl back to the large table for the crew. 

***

People's meals were relocated to the new table, and others were able to finally order. 

Jennifer gushed to Carlos about how amazing the date was, sitting across from him and flattering the boy with compliments about how he was the best during the performance. 

"I got the best buds ever," he told her, nodding to James and Emily besides him, giving them full credit for the date. 

"I know," James hummed. Emily rolled her eyes, completing the friendship powers handshake at the table. He slung his arm over the back of her chair, leaning over to mumble in her ear. "Except I was obviously the best one up there, right?"

"Obviously," Emily assured him, holding back an amused laugh, playing into his ego for a moment. 

In front of them, Logan and Camille suddenly engaged in a heated kiss. Emily gaped, sitting back, turning to the side, looking at James in discomfort. 

"We would never," James muttered to her. 

Emily snorted back a laugh, "You can't say that," she laughed, nudging his knee. 

"Huh," Gustavo thought, receiving attention from everyone at the table. "My blood pressure is perfectly normal." Emily smiled at him, knowingly, "Turns out I didn't need to spend time away from my dogs, I needed to spend quality time with my dogs."

Emily pridefully turned to James, "See, I don't cause stress," she told him, as Gustavo received the check.

A rapid beeping alerted the girl. She spun to Gustavo who remained speechless, gasping at the check as his blood pressure monitor screamed, glowing red. 

"Maybe I do," Emily mumbled in shock, turning to the man on the other side of her as the guys ran over to him, trying to coax Gustavo back down. James rubbed his temples, Kendall fanned him, Carlos attempted to take the check away, and Logan tried to feed him dessert. 

Emily groaned, furiously pressing buttons on the monitor, "Just turn it off and it's like nothing is happening!" 

***

Sorry for the long wait.

And SORRY for this mess. 

No excuses, hopefully I can deliver something substantial soon.