Dear journal,
Scott's currently walking down to my room to grab me for our do-over date. I am definitely nervous about it since the first one went so awfully, but I was also excited at the same time. He promised me it'd ten times better than it was this morning.
-M

--

When Scott arrived at my hotel room, he had brought me flowers. He wasn't late, actually five minutes early. I smiled and took the flowers, taking his hand as we walked out. He had an Uber waiting downstairs for us, ready to take us to whatever restaurant Scott wanted to take me to. It was a nice little place, in which Scott and I sat across from each other. He held my hand from across the table, making sure neither of us were on our phones. I eyed his cute little outfit. It's definitely something he wouldn't usually wear, but since the restaurant was slightly formal, he dressed up a little.

"You wanna share an appetizer?" He asks suddenly. "It's on me. I've been eyein' that calamari since we got the menu, I can't eat it all by myself." I smiled and nodded.

"I mean, if you order it, I'll definitely eat some," I answer. Scott smiles.

We ordered and our food came shortly after. We kept a conversation going nearly the entire time, which was nice to known that our cell phones weren't needed to have a nice time together. Scott even insisted on sharing desert, but by the end of my meal, I was so full.

He seemed to be having a nice time to. Earlier today, he had looked so out of it, like he had no idea what he was doing. He just looks so much more confident and happy than he did before, it was a really nice change of pace.

When the check came, Scott handed the waiter his card and said he'd pay. Of course I argued, but I knew I was going to let him take it anyway. About five minutes later, the waiter returned with a concerned look on his face. He handed Scott the card.

"I'm sorry, sir, but it appears to me that your credit card has been declined," he explains apologetically, his British accent pouring through the statement. Scott blinked a few times before actually taking the card back.

"What?" He says. "That can't be, it was workin' just earlier today," he continues, a shocked tone spilling into his voice.

"I'm very sorry, there is nothing we can do," the waiter continues. I quickly took my card out of my wallet and handed it towards the waiter.

"I got it," I say. Scott snatched the card from me before the waiter could take it. He pulled out his phone.

"Can you give us a moment?" Scott asks the waiter. The man left the two of us as Scott brought his phone to his ear. He was silent for a moment before I heard a faint voice from the other line. "Yeah, dad, do you know why my credit card is declined?" He asks. After a second of listening, his eyes widened. "What?" He questions. "You-you cut me off?" Scott asks angrily. "Dad! I'm in another country, is this really the right time to do that?" He listens again. "We have no money? You told me to quit my job a month ago because we were doin' so well! I could've had my own cash!" With a few more words, Scott's dad hung up the phone. Scott slowly pulled the phone away from his ear, an angry expression written on his face. I reached out to grab his hand, using my other hand to get the waiters attention. I gave him my card and watched as he quickly went to do the transaction.

"Don't worry about it-" I start.

"Don't worry about it?" He questions. "How am I supposed to not worry about it, Mitch? This was supposed to be my do-over, but I fucked it up just like I do with everything else in my life!" he exclaims. I tightened my grip on his hand.

"Hey," I whisper. "Please don't get like this," I continue. He takes a deep breathe as our waiter returned with my card. I silently mouthed a 'thank you' and all but dragged Scott out of the restaurant. Nearly as soon as the door shut behind us, Scott yelled a loud 'Fuck!' as he began pacing around. I let him cool off as I sat on a small bench in the area.

"I can't believe he'd do that to me!" Scott exclaims. "He called Avi's mom and asked for Avi to pay for me for the entire trip, what kind of asshole does that?" He continues. "I'm so sorry," he says suddenly. "I'm no good at dates and I'm trying so hard for you, but nothing seems to be working-" I stood up and grabbed his hands, standing on my tip toes to kiss him once. He immediately stopped speaking.

"I had a great time," I whisper. "Money isn't a big deal, honestly. As long as I'm having a good time, and you're having a good time, it's been a successful date. I can truthfully say that I had a great time with you," I explain. He shakes his head.

"I had a good time with you, but not about the whole situation with my dad."

"And that's understandable. You're allowed to be angry about that, but just know, you didn't ruin this date. It was amazing." I say honestly. "And the night is still young. If I remember correctly, Alex is with Jake tonight since I went with you and there's a perfectly good room back at the hotel. We can stop somewhere and get some chocolate and snacks and maybe watch a movie?" I suggest. Scott smiles.

"Yeah," he replies. "That sounds really nice. I'll call an Uber," he says, pulling out his phone. Within twenty minutes, the Uber had arrived and we were on our way to the store. We picked up quite a few different candies and snacks and planned on watching either Mean Girls or the Sponge Bob movie. We got back into the Uber to return to the hotel, hand-in-hand. He leaned towards me as the driver drove. "Thanks for today," he says. "I had a good time, regardless of what my dad did," he smiles. I kissed him once, and then once more afterwards.

"It's my pleasure," I whisper.