A/N: As usual, I would recommend putting the video on loop.

What did she think? Oh, she didn't want him anywhere near the property. H*ll, she didn't even want him in Duskriver. But, she had told Anita that she would give him a chance. Frankly, she wished that she hadn't agreed to that. So, she couldn't be happier when the waitress returned right before Kaleb could answer Anita's question. She passed out their drinks, and she almost immediately took a sip of her lime daiquiri. "Do you want to order any food?" the waitress asked as she glanced between them.

"It'll be awhile," Anita answered with a small smile that also showed that she was somewhat nervous. The waitress scanned over them all again before she nodded and headed off, not asking questions, but (f/n) had a feeling that she could sense the tension around the table.

Once the waitress was gone, (f/n) hoped that by some miracle Anita and Kaleb had forgotten about him coming over Café Rose Tea. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case at all. Instead, Kaleb finally replied, "After service probably would be better so that I don't get in the way." (F/n) had the perfect remark in response to that, but she held her tongue for Anita's sake. Honestly, being civil with him was incredibly hard. He glanced over to her. "Will that work?"

Now, he was asking for her approval? Ha! Bad move. "First," (f/n) began as Anita gave her a worried glance, "tell me why you came back to Anita. Why should I trust you?" She crossed her arms and maintained a firm expression on her countenance.

He took a sip of water. Good. Kaleb was nervous. After he set down the glass, he met her gaze directly, and she could see how nervous he was in his optics. "I came back because I realized how much of an a**hole I had been to her." (F/n) let out a bitter chuckle. What an understatement. Happy, she saw that her laugh made him tense more. "And, I missed her. I missed how determined she was to reach her goals too, how kind she was, how she could look past someone's flaws and how loyal she was to those she cared about. I realized that I had f*cked up, and I wanted to see if I could redo things with her." Frankly, she wasn't impressed yet by his words.

Rubbing the back of his head, he smiled over to Anita before he focused back on her. "I know that I was asking a lot when I approached Anita again, but I wanted to try. I realized that she was a major part of my life, and I didn't want to move on from her. I made countless mistakes, and I was a fool for doing so." He sighed apologetically and gave a small smile over to Anita, who smiled back to him. "I admitted to all of my faults, all of the stupid sh*t I put her through and asked for another chance. She," he smiled appreciatively as though he was remembering when he had talked to her those two months ago, "forgave me. She let me back into her life, and I couldn't be happier."

Leaning back on her chair, (f/n) raised a brow and held a stare with him that made her look like a protective sibling. In a way, she was. Anita and she had been friends since ninth grade, and Anita felt like a sister to her. She didn't want some idiot coming back into her life to screw it up. "I promised her that I wouldn't disappoint her again. I told her that I'd be there for her."

"Isn't that convenient." (F/n) didn't relax her expression. "You hurt her, make her cry, because you consider her to be a bother and needy. You didn't have time for her. Yet now that you do, you want a free pass to date her seriously? Just because you're ready, you think that you suddenly can walk back into someone's life and expect everything to be okay, like you never pulled any of that cr*p?" She released a bitter laugh and noticed that Anita was looking more uncomfortable and wanting to pull her aside to speak to her again. Kaleb looked like he might wet his pants. Good. Maybe, it'd teach him some humility. "Well, do you have an answer?"

Releasing a drawn-out sigh, Kaleb tightened his hands around his dark blue jeans. "I didn't ask for a free pass. I told her that I changed and that she could leave me at any time for any reason. I didn't ask her to forget what I did; I asked for her to see that I wouldn't do it again." He met her eyes once more. "I knew that it was a long shot, that it was selfish of me, but I felt that I had to try. And, I've kept my word. I've been different. Otherwise, I know that Anita would've kicked me to the curb."

His fingers curled around the fabric of his jeans before they relaxed. "You probably still won't trust me after saying that, but give me some time please." He did genuinely look apologetic, but this was the first time she had met him in person. For all she knew, he could be a good actor. "If you see me do something, say something, whatever it is that you don't like, you can tell Anita. Let her know, and I'll be fine if she ends it. I'll know that I wasn't able to keep my word, then."

Debating on what he was saying, she pushed back strands of (h/l) (h/c) hair and huffed. Somewhat, she relaxed, and she looked over to Anita, who had a hopeful look in her eyes. "... Fine," she said roughly. "But, that doesn't just apply to tonight, to your stay here. It applies to every day that you spend with her. Don't take advantage of her again."

"I know; I won't." He sounded genuine, but (f/n) didn't lower her guard. Kaleb better be prepared to keep to his word for even longer, for as long as he was with Anita, or she never would give him another chance. Unlike Anita, she wouldn't be so forgiving.

"Good." (F/n) rolled her shoulders, and for the sake of her friend, took a sip of her drink before she relaxed outwardly. "Then, let's have a good dinner." A smile fell onto her lips, but it was forced. She just made sure that he wouldn't be able to tell that. "How about some easier conversation?" A mischievous grin fell onto her lips, and she glanced over to Anita. "What do you say, Anita?"

Rolling her eyes, but glad to see that (f/n) was taking things easier, she shook her head and chuckled. "And, what is this easier conversation? Just what are you planning on asking?" Anita averted her eyes to Kaleb. "She's been planning this for awhile when I first mentioned that I was dating someone seriously."

Relaxing himself, Kaleb laughed a little. "Really? Well, just what are you planning at throwing at me?"

"Well, I already know some of your secrets, but if you want to tell me anymore, I won't object," (f/n) pointed out, taking a sip of her daiquiri. She swallowed and tipped her glass towards him a bit. "So, any?"

Laughing some more, he shook his head. "No, I think that Anita knows everything and that you know everything bad about me. So, no."

"I suppose that's for the best." (F/n) sat up a little. "Why don't you tell me something that you want to about yourself."

Humming in thought, Kaleb smiled over to Anita. "Well, what about that discovery that you found out about me?" Anita started to giggle, and he smiled back to (f/n). "I didn't even know this about myself. But, apparently, I sleep with my eyes half-open if I'm super tired and fall asleep out of bed."

"Not all of the time, but I've caught him a few times like that," Anita clarified, chuckling a little. "He looks super creepy." A slight embarrassed blush touched his cheeks. "But, I was admittedly worried the first time. I've never seen that before, but when I went to check on him, he woke up and looked confused."

"Yeah once she learned that it was nothing serious, she teased me about it." A playful smile touched his lips as he diverted his eyes back over to her. "Still does."

"Of course." Anita grinned and took a sip of her drink. (F/n), watching their interaction with each other, had some hope that maybe this would work out. It was incredibly small and probably way too optimistic, but Anita seemed to be enjoying herself genuinely. There was no pain present in her eyes, and she was smiling like how she did when she was very happy. Still, she couldn't just brush aside the past for Kaleb. Or, Anita could get hurt again with him if she relaxed too much. "If I didn't, I wouldn't be a proper girlfriend," she teased before she took another sip.

Once another chuckle left him, he was about to say something else, but the waitress came back to check on them. All three of them looked to the menu in the center of the table. Noting their look, she asked, "Need a little more time?"

About to say that they did, (f/n) was cut off by Anita. Her friend grabbed the menu and looked to the appetizers, ordering a few of them. "That should be good." Anita handed the menus to the waitress, who left shortly after. (F/n) rose a brow, and Kaleb seemed to be curious about her action too. "That way, we can share. It's our first meal together, and (f/n)'s finally not about to bite your head off." Slightly, an eyebrow of (f/n)'s twitched, and Kaleb chuckled again before a smile rested on his lips afterwards. "I think that deserves some celebration."

"Of course you would," (f/n) commented, giving a playful roll of her eyes to her friend.

Winking back, Anita grabbed the items out of the center of the table: napkin dispenser, salt, pepper and a dessert menu. "But, thanks for sitting here and giving me a chance," Kaleb mentioned to (f/n).

With another sip of her drink gone, (f/n) smirked a bit. "You're not out of the deep end yet, so I don't know if you should be thanking me. But just in case, you're welcome." Kaleb got a little bit nervous again, but he relaxed when (f/n) smiled a bit. Mentally, though, (f/n) was more than ready to finish dinner and be away from him. She just hoped that Anita wasn't planning on going with him.