"How about this?" Tessa held up the red dress for Natalie and Valarie to see, both the girls pulling a face and shaking their heads. "No," She tossed it to the other side of the bed.

She had been rummaging through her wardrobe for the last two hours, trying to find an outfit for her date with Xavier tonight. She had invited the girls over to help her and give her pointers on what to do and what not to do while trying to appease her worries – which were non-existent besides the fact that she didn't know what to wear.

"You guys aren't helping," She whined and tossed another attire into the pile of clothes, her entire wardrobe devoid of anything. "Come on-!"

A knock sounding had her stop mid-sentence as Daniel's head peeked in before the officer stepped inside, wearing denim jeans and a navy blue t-shirt, the other two girls instantly straightening at the sight of him and smiling.

"Hello Daniel," Valerie purred.

"Hello girls," He smiled in return before turning back to Tessa. "I was about to head out for a bit and wanted to see if everything was alright with you,"

"You could say that," She grumbled, eyeing the pile on her bed. "Just a bit confused about what to wear,"

"Huh," He hummed, looking towards the pile and moved the clothes around a bit. "So you trust this Xavier?" He picked up a few things before putting them to the side.

"Yeah, I do,"

"And he's a good kid?"

"I believe so, plus his moms are very nice,"

"You've met them?"

"I have,"

"Then how come I haven't met him?"

"You never said you wanted to," Tessa shrugged, Daniel giving her a sideways glance before sighing and shaking his head at her.

"You have your pepper spray?"

"Yup,"

"Alright then, enjoy your night," He put aside an attire and turned to place a kiss on her forehead. "Let me know if you'll be out later than ten,"

"Okay," She nodded and watched him leave her room, both Valerie and Nat falling back onto the bed and fanning themselves.

"He's so hot!" The dark skinned girl groaned and covered her face. "I get flustered just by seeing him!"

"Tell me about it," The other one nodded in agreement.

"Hey," Tessa called out to them, both the girls looking up at the attire she was holding before her. "How about this?"

The two looked at each other and then back at Tessa before grinning.

"Yes,"

Getting changed into the black skinny jeans and a white blouse under a denim jacket, she allowed the girls to do her hair and makeup. Valerie putting her black tresses into a messy fishtail braid while Natalie accentuates her features, making her lips and eyes pop.

"Okay, you're ready," The girls grinned with joy and took a step back, allowing Tessa to look at herself in the full-length mirror hanging behind her door, a smile on her face as excitement bubbled inside her chest.

"I'm ready,"

"You look gorgeous," Valarie clapped her hands together, all three of them looking up when the doorbell rang through the interior.

"Here we go," Natalie giggled and ushered Tessa out the room after handing her a purse with her essentials in it. "Best of luck, babe,"

"Thanks," She smiled at them and walked over to the entrance door with her two friends peeking out from behind her room. Taking a deep breath she opened the door to find Xavier standing before her in black denim jeans with a grey button up under a leather jacket, his usually messed up hair pushed to the side and his eyes wide as he held a rose bouquet for Tessa. "Hi,"

"These are for you," He rushed and thrust them her way as Tessa fumbled before grabbing them and admiring the beauty of the petals.

"Thank you," She smiled and put them on the kitchen counter. "Let's go?"

"Yeah," Xavier breathed out before taking a step back, allowing her to walk out and send her friends a thumbs up before closing the door behind her. "Let's go," He gestured to the hallway.

Both of them walked side by side on the pathway, the silence between them as Tessa realized how cold it was getting, her denim jacket not keeping her warm as she rubbed her arm.

"You look very nice today," Xavier finally spoke up, his hands stuffed into his pockets. "I mean, not just today, you looked nice yesterday as well, I mean, you look nice every day!"

"Thank you," She smiled at him in spite of his rambling, the tips of his ears turning red as he rubbed the back of his neck in his unease. "You cleaned up rather well yourself,"

"Oh, thank you,"

"Although," Tessa halted in her steps, forcing Xavier to come to a stop beside her as she stepped in front of him. The boy held his breath as she leaned forward and messed up his hair so that it fell on his forehead. "I like your messy hair more," She grinned as he pawed at his bangs, settling them with a jerk of his head.

He gave her a shy smile before they both continued on their way.

The bowling alley wasn't all too crowded on a Saturday, but the sound of the music was drowned out by the sound of the balls rolling down the alley, the pins falling, and the overlapping chatter of the limited inhabitants.

Walking over to the counter, they both got shoes before pulling them on and walked over to the bowling balls and looked at them.

"So, I don't know how to play," Xavier admitted, fumbling with his hair. "Do you know how to play?"

"No clue," Tessa shrugged, both of them looking at each other before bursting into a fit of laughter about the fact they had no idea what they were supposed to do. "But let's give it a try."

The two watched the people around them, before fussing over the bowling balls, chattering about which one felt better and which one was far too heavy. Eventually, when they had their pick, Xavier went first and sent his ball rolling to the side, Tessa doing very much the same when her turn came up. They both laughed hysterically at their failure to play and just overall enjoyed laughing with each other, neither one of them managed to get a score, but both enjoyed immensely.

Eventually, they two made their way to a nearby restaurant and got something to eat beneath the stars while talking about anything and everything under the moon: school gossip, good movies, T.V. shows they'd watched, family, friends, stories, it was never-ending. It wasn't until 9:30 did Tessa sigh about the fact that they should be heading back.

"I was told to come back at 10,"

"Same," He chuckled. "So I guess, we go back then,"

"Yeah," Tessa nodded. "Although, I don't want to,"

"Neither do I," Xavier murmured, gauging Tessa's reaction as he slipped his hand into hers, momentarily taken aback by how cold it was, but smiled when she squeezed his palm in her own. "Let's go?" He asked her with a bedazzling smile, showing off his teeth as the girl couldn't help but smile in response and nod.

They both walked down the sidewalk, hand in hand, enjoying the warmth of the other beside them, a smile on both of their faces before they finally arrived at their apartment complexes, standing before the door of Tessa's building.

"So I guess this is it," She sighed, looking up at the stretching building before her.

"I really enjoyed today," Xavier looked down at her.

"Me too,"

"Could we do this again, sometimes?"

"This time something we both know how to do," Tessa teased, causing the boy to laugh and nod in agreement. "Thank you, Xavier. For tonight,"

"Oh, you don't have to thank me, I'm sure I enjoyed far more than you did,"

"It's not a competition," She laughed at him and slapped his chest with the back of her hand.

"Whatever you say," He rolled his eyes, looking down at her for one long heartbeat before leaning down, noticing the way Tessa inconspicuously leaned back, the action causing him to smile before he placed a kiss on her cheek. "Good night, Tessa," He pulled away from her, walking backward towards his building.

"Good night, Xavier," She called after him with a hand on her cheek, heat rising up her neck as a goofy grin split across her lips before she pushed open the apartment door, stepping into the building.

Giggling to herself, she finally made it up to her apartment, silently humming under her breath before fishing out the keys and jamming them into the lock. Opening the door, she was momentarily confused to see both Valarie and Natalie sitting on the couch, looking pale and quiet as if though someone had threatened them and there was Daniel sitting at the dining table, glaring at the file before him with his eyebrows knitted in anger and a half packet of cigarettes lying beside him.

The sound of the door closing had all three of them look up before her two friends were instantly out of their seats and dragging her away into the room, the police officer watching them leave with silent eyes.

Closing the bedroom door behind them, the two girls started to speak in rushed whispers, their word overlapping as Tessa didn't understand a single word coming out of their mouths.

"Wait!" She held up her hands, both of them falling silent. "What?"

The two girls looked at each other in silence before turning back to Tessa with wide eyes and flushed cheeks.

"Daniel knows," Natalie murmured quietly,

"Knows what?"

"He knows!" Valarie hissed, shaking the shorter girl by the shoulders. "He knows!"

"Knows what?!" She demanded again, pulling herself away from them. "He knows what?"

"He knows what we say about him," Natalie bit her nails, looking at Tessa with uncertain eyes.

"Oh, then he should be flattered, I mean you guys keep saying how hot he is and all that,"

"No!" The two shook their heads. "No, we...we decided to stick around and wait for you to get back from your date so we could all talk about it, and we had no idea when Daniel got back, but both Nat and I were sitting in the lounge, and started talking about him and then we began to share out fantasy about him and it got real nasty real quick and he was sitting there throughout!"

"Oh..." Tessa sat back on her bed, looking at them in silence, wondering if she should laugh or be worried. "What...what did he say?"

"Nothing," Natalie shrieked. "He just cleared his throat to let us know he was there and that was it,"

"Well...I'll talk to him later, okay, clear everything up and let him know that it wasn't him you guys were talking about,"

"I don't think that will work," Valarie spoke hesitantly. "But! How was your date?"

"Oh! It was amazing!" Tessa grinned. "Neither one of us knew how to bowl, so we just enjoyed our blissful ignorance before we went and got something to eat. We talked and talked and talked and he had me laughing so hard throughout that I couldn't help but enjoy myself! We walked home hand in hand,"

"Aww!" Natalie cooed, coming to settle beside her. "And?"

"And he gave me a kiss on the cheek,"

"So sweet," Valarie sighed blissfully. "So you enjoyed?"

"So much! And we're talking about another date."

"That's awesome!"

The three talked for a little while longer until Natalie's elder sister came to take them home, Tessa seeing them off at the door before locking it once they had gone. Turning around she found the lounge dimly lit with no sign of Daniel. Getting changed into a sweatshirt and trousers, she made her way towards his room, knocking on the door before entering to find him lying on the bed with a cigarette between his lips and his gaze up at the ceiling.

Making her way to him, she settled down beside him before resting her head under his chin and cuddling into his side.

"So how was it?" He asked, blowing out a puff of smoke into the air above his head

"Amazing!" Tessa blushed shyly. "He was very sweet and made me laugh, we enjoyed a lot and it wasn't until we were coming back did he hold my hand – once he was sure I was alright with it, that is – and he gave me a kiss on the cheek,"

"Rather gentlemanly of him,"

"I know!"

"So it was good then?"

"It was! We're even talking about a second date,"

"Where to?"

"We haven't decided, but I'll let you know when we do,"

Daniel hummed in acknowledgment before extinguishing his cigarette in the ashtray on his bedside before shifting so that he was lying on his side and facing Tessa, looking at her wide blue eyes and black hair, a smile on her lips as he took a strand of her tresses between his fingers, coiling them around.

"So you like him?" He asked her quietly, watching the black tresses around his finger.

"I do,"

"And you trust him?"

"Yes,"

He nodded in confirmation before putting his hand on her side, looking at her from below his lashes.

"I want to meet him,"

"Xavier?"

"Yeah, I want to meet him before your next date,"