[LYNN POV]

"Wow, monkey, you're not kidding when you told me that you want to take me to a fancy date," I mumbled as we followed the maitre'd to our table.

The european restaurant was fancy enough. Everything was immaculate. Crystal chandeliers hanging above the ceiling, giving off soft but bright glow on the room. Sounds of silver cutlery clinging along with soft chatters of people dining in, either with their loved ones, family, friends, or business partners. 

Miles Davis songs were playing softly in the background, the soothing jazz music added to the relaxed and comfy atmosphere in the fancy yet homy restaurant.

"Yes, luv. Do you like it?" he replied with a wide grin.

"Of course. Wherever we go on a date, as long as it's with you I'm gonna enjoy it. Thanks, monkey," I stood on my tiptoes and planted a kiss on his cheek.

Orlando gave me a cheeky smile, mirth and excitement twinkled in his chocolate eyes. He tightened his arm on my waist as we walked, my arm brushed over his blazer that he wore over his dark jeans. He looked absolutely handsome and dashing yet casual with his hair ruffled a bit, a look that I grown to love so much on him.

"Have I told you that you look so cute and sexy tonight? Even better now that I know you dress up like this for me instead of that Wall Street guy," he whispered, unknowingly to my thoughts over him just moments ago.

I chuckled. "You have. Only the fourth time," I answered smugly.

Orlando laughed merrily before glancing up and down at my appearance and I felt a blush crept up my cheek at the adoration I saw in his eyes.

"I love this dress on you, luv. You look beautiful," he stated softly, his eyes gently appraising me. He smirked when he saw me blushed even more and pinched my cheek lightly.

"Glad you like it. I had to change into four different dresses until I came up with this one," I muttered in all honesty, though I rolled my eyes in an effort to make it seem nonchalant. 

"Hm, I paid extra attention to my under armpit for our date. Wondering if my deodorant was good enough. Glad to know I'm not the only one having the first date jitters," he shrugged, giving me a naughty, boyish smirk.

My jaw dropped in disbelief at the information he just dropped me. Orlando only smiled bashfully like a boy who got busted stealing a cookie (which was something that he'd done before in my trailer).

"Orlando!" I exclaimed, giggling at the same time. "I can't believe you just told me that!"

Orlando bit his lip, stifling his laughter in embarrassment. His cheek tinted slightly with pink. However being him, he refused to stay abashed for long.

"Ah, luv. I appreciate that you were honest with me about your date jitters with me. I simply wanted to honor that by being frank myself."

I giggled and slapped his arm playfully. "I don't have date jitters!" 

I was about to pull out my own chair, but Orlando hastily stopped me and cleared his throat, pulling the chair for me instead.

I raised my brows at him and he grinned attractively, gesturing for me to take a seat. He saw my questioning look at his chivalrous act, something that he rarely done for me all this time we knew each other. He gave me a lopsided smile.

"Might as well get used to it, luv," he whispered to my ear, drawing a smirk from me before he moved to take a seat in front of me.

The moment I laid my eyes on the menu, I placed it back to the table, careful not to accidentally burn it with the candle in front of us and glanced at Orlando who seemed just as lost as me. His dark brows furrowed together in concentration as his obsidian orbs scanned the menu attentively.

He looked so cute like this.

"So," I began, folding my hands in front of my chest. "I assume since you're the one who brought us here, meaning that you speak German?" I teased with a smirk.

Orlando faked a disapproving glare at me, as if I was underestimating him.

"I was born in England, luv," he scoffed. "German is only a few hours away by train."

"Then why the lost look?" I teased.

He smirked like the devil. "Because the foods they have here don't seem as attractive and delicious as the lady in front of me," he winked, giving me a seductive smirk. "I wish you're on the menu."

I rolled my eyes, but he wasn't finished with me. All of a sudden he glanced around nervously before leaning in and pulled out his index finger in a calling motion in front of his face, as if about to tell me a secret. I leaned in a bit in curiosity. He glanced nervously again to his side, and I wondered what had bothered him.

"What is it?" I asked nervously. Unknowingly to me, I had been deceived by his act. His serious and nervous facial expressions fled in a blink, and a naughty smirk took its place.

"Even the appetizers don't look as appetizing as you, luv," he whispered in a husky voice.

The insides of my stomach did a salto in my tummy at his entrancing words. Without my consent, the heat crept up my neck and goosebumps crawled up my spine, causing me to shiver at hearing his voice.

Orlando noticed my turmoil and cackled in victory. I had to laugh to cover my slip up, but it came out nervous. So to save the pride I had left, I kicked his foot under the table.

Orlando didn't shriek in pain, meaning that I failed to hurt him on the shin. Instead he laughed when he saw my annoyed face. My cheek burned in both nervousness and embarrassment around him.

"Oh, luv. It's so easy to make you blush. I love it. Please don't ever change," he said happily, taking my hand and placed a kiss on my knuckles.

The waiter looked at us with a smile, and I cleared my throat, pulling my hand away from Orlando who eyed me knowingly. He knew I didn't like being observed by people.

Orlando turned to the old waiter and smiled at him. "So, what's the favorite dish that people usually order around here?"

The waiter replied with completely another language, which was German, and I was left speechless. Orlando seemed to be listening intently but his brows furrowed a bit.

"Oh! Hirnsuppe! Yes! I'd like that!" Orlando said to the waiter before he turned to me.

"You wanna try Hirnsuppe, luv? Lee recommended it to me before. He said it's a German delicacy, and we can only find the best here in this restaurant."

"What's it look like? Hirsoup?" I asked.

Orlando attempted to talk in German with the waiter, obviously not really good at it, but the waiter smiled brightly as he tried to explain the dish.

"It's a uh... It's a soup, I think. I never had it myself," he told me. After seeing my amused face he added, "And yes, I suck at German, but it's better than nothing," he said smugly.

I laughed and shrugged. "Sure. I know nothing about German, so I'm left at your mercy. Hirsoup it is."

"Hirnsuppe, luv."

"Hirnsoup," I repeated.

We spent the time waiting for our food chatting animatedly, mainly with Orlando teasing me every few minutes or attempting to teach me some German words. By the time the food arrived, a slight suspicion nagged behind my mind at the vague looking, creamy, slightly green German soup.

"Hmm, it smells good. Good thing Lee told me about this food. Or else we won't know what to order. Let's eat, luv."

Orlando take a sip at the soup and nodded. Shrugging, he continued munching happily, much to the waiter's pleasure.

"What is this soup made of?" I asked the waiter.

He answered in German, and I looked at Orlando for translation. But since he didn't get the man's explanation, the waiter did gestures with his hands instead. The old man talked cheerily, tapping at his head then moving his hand around his hair animatedly.

Lost in translation, we were.

"Mind-blowing? Yeah this soup is not so bad. You mean it's good? Delicious? Köstlich?" asked Orlando.

The waiter nodded frantically, giving him a thumb up. The man looked at me encouragingly to try the soup, so I sipped at it, surprised to find it to taste not so bad. I nodded and the waiter smiled warmly at us before taking his leave.

Just when we were halfway through our meal, a French guy, probably in his early 20s came and asked for a picture with Orlando. He thanked us before making a small talk.

"Hirnsuppe, huh? A German delicacy. They're very good choice. I had it too earlier," he commented at both of us in thick French accent.

"Yeah, this soup taste a bit different but good nonetheless," I replied with a smile.

"Ah," he exclaimed in surprise upon hearing my accent. "An American lady! It is rare that I found an American to have such a fondness in this kind of dish, let alone a woman."

"Why is that?" asked Orlando.

"You know, since it's made up of calf's brain and all," he informed us.

Orlando and I shared a look, but we maintained our collected expression despite the fact that I wanted to gag at the moment. We both smiled at the French guy as he bid us good bye. 

After he left, we both continued staring at each other in bewilderment. Orlando looked slightly paled and crazy-eyed before we both coughed and tried our best to cover our gags.

Have you ever wanted to gag, cough, be mad and burst out laughing at the same time? It was painful.

After we both downed our glasses of water, trying our best to shake off the picture of poor baby cow that had been robbed of his brain, I whimpered slightly and shivered.

"I can't believe you made me eat that," I whined. My eyes blurred slightly with unshed tears, which I wasn't sure if it was because of the disgust, the gagging or the coughing.

Orlando looked at me in horror and disgust still, eyeing his almost finished brain soup.

"I'm going to kill Lee for this," he hissed before coughing again.

"The waiter was trying to tell us that it is a brain soup, not that it is mind-blowing," I whimpered. "I can't believe I tolerated its taste."

"I can't believe I almost finish the soup and think that it actually taste good," whined Orlando.

We both stared at each other in equally pitied look and anguish, before we both smiled bashfully at each other and burst out laughing, ignoring the weird looks the other diners threw us.

We wasted no time getting out of the restaurant soon enough after paying the bill, not caring to wait for the dessert, afraid of what other creature or body parts might lay beneath the dessert which name I couldn't pronounce correctly.

Orlando held me tightly in his arm as we walked through the street in the city, glad to be inhaling fresh air after our horror dinner. The chilly wind blew, making me shiver slightly. 

Orlando noticed and undid his scarf, circling it around my neck and kissed my temple, smiling lovingly at me as he rubbed my arm in an attempt to warm me.

His warmth from his scarf surrounded me and his masculine soap scent filled my nostrils pleasantly. I beamed up at him and clinged to him.

"Warm enough, luv?" he asked softly.

"Uh huh," I replied and smiled up at him.

He gazed at me, obsidian orbs melted with my blue ones. His eyes crinkled as he smiled, the warmth in his eyes seeped into my core despite of the chilly temperature outside. Then he sighed in regret before speaking gently.

"I promised you a special first date, but I made us eat brain soup instead," I laughed lightly at that. "I'm sorry, Lynn. I blew it."

My laughter faded when I saw his serious expression. Orlando was looking straight forward as we walked, lost in his thought. 

"Clearly you've never been in the restaurant before. What gave you the idea to have dinner there, anyway?"

"It's Lee. I asked his advice on where to have a nice restaurant to have a date with you. He said this one is the best in town. So I go for it. I googled it, it got nice ratings in TripAdvisor and the interior was lovely. But they fail to mention about the brain soup," muttered Orlando.

"Well, I won't say that the brain soup is the best part of the date, but it's nice still. We have a lot of fun tonight, haven't we? We laughed a lot, we talked. We joked. That's what matters."

"Even if I spilled wine, or the brain soup on your lovely dress, will you still enjoy it?"

"I will. But make no mistake, if it is a deliberate act, I will not go down without a retaliation. Not to mention I will demand your clothing to cover the spills," I stated smugly, folding my hands in front of me.

Orlando looked down at me with a mischievous smirk. I lifted my chin in defiance to challenge him to do any of those evil ideas in the future.

We both engaged in our small staring competition, a smug smirk pulled up at my lips. To my surprise Orlando's eyes softened greatly at my smugness before he caught me off guard. 

He placed a hand in between strands of my hair and behind my neck, crushing his lips on me in a searing, passionate kiss.

I leaned into his kiss, savoring the way his soft lips grazed mine affectionately. I wrapped my hands on his waist inside his blazer, letting his warmth overwhelmed me as he moved one hand to press me on my back, molding my body into his perfectly.

"Never change. Never leave me," he said in a low voice between kisses and cupped my face. His eyes piercing into me with such an intense emotion I had never seen on him before. 

"I love you, Lynn."

My breath hitched in my throat upon hearing him say those three words. The look of his eyes seemed to be even deeper than I originally imagined before, full of love and adoration that made my heart pound against my chest almost painfully.

I was thinking to open my mouth but his lips captured me before I even had the chance to do it. He kissed me deeper and slowly this time.

"It's okay, Lynn. You don't have to say anything back to me just because I said it. I just want you to know what I feel," he said softly with a smile, though I could see disappointment and determination swam in his eyes as he stroke the sides of my face gently.

My eyes widened at the realization that he took my mortification as rejection.

"I will make you fall for me soon enough," he said with a smirk, covering up his disappointment.

Orlando kissed my temple and beamed at me before leading me softly in his arms to resume our walk, but I stopped him.

"You don't have to," I said before a silly grin plastered itself across my face. "I already have."

Orlando's face lit up like a Christmas tree. Happiness, love and mischief twinkled in his chocolate eyes as the dark orbs bore into my blue ones.

"Already have what, Lynn?" he asked, rasing his brow handsomely, taunting me as he brushed a strand out of my face. I snorted. 

"Already have brain soup, monkey," I scoffed, making him snort in laughter. I moved in front of him and looked up into his eyes.

"I love you too, Orlando," I said softly as I linked my hands behind his neck, tracing my fingers in his soft, dark curls.

Orlando's face split up in two with a wide, broad grin before he leaned down and kissed me in a deep, loving kiss. He laughed merrily and pulled me in his embrace, burying his face in my neck. 

I hugged him and rested my cheek on his shoulder, unable to wipe the wide smile on my face. We held each other like that for some time before Orlando pulled away slightly, holding both my arms in his warm hands.

"Now there's no turning back, luv. You're mine and mine alone," he said with a devilish smirk. "My girlfriend."

I widened my eyes in excitement and happiness at the word 'girlfriend', but further faked a horrified expression at him. 

"I feel as if I just struck a deal with the devil himself," I said in wonder.

Orlando raised his brows in a mild surprise at my remarks, before his expression darkened.

"Yes, dear one. My love for you is strong like the fires in Mordor and my jealousy demanding as the grave," he declared with his deep, scary, horror like tone. His expression cold and cruel.

I froze. He knew I hated it when he pulled up this kind of creepy character. Especially at night time. The darkness of the cold street didn't exactly help.

He continued staring at me in such an intense, dark, creepy way and I gulped nervously. I jumped back and let out a terrified shriek when he suddenly lunged at me growling like a beast, baring his teeth to my neck before he gave away his character, howling with laughter as he embraced me lovingly.

"That's so mean," I whined. "I hate actors," I complained, burying my face in his chest and gripped his middle tightly.

Orlando kept laughing as he rubbed my back comfortingly.

"I love you, Lynn. Someday you should let me at least once to take you to watch a horror movie. I'd love to see the way you cling into me like this when you freak out," he said between chuckles.

I punched him lightly on his stomach and he faked a pained groan.

"You're still annoying like before I date you," I pouted. "Anyway, is there still any time left for our date tonight?"

"Why, yes of course," he answered happily, throwing his arm around my shoulders protectively as we walked.

"Then I'm taking you to my kind of date," I announced with a grin. "This one is stomach-friendly than the last," I teased him.

"What do you have in mind, luv?" he asked with a twinkling eyes, his brow arched in inquiry.

"Espresso brownies and hot chocolate."

Orlando's eyes perked up in excitement. He chuckled and pecked my lips, giving me his award-winning dazzling smile.

"You're the best, luv. Now let's cleanse the brain soup in our intestines with espresso brownies and warm ourselves with a cup of hot chocolate!" he declared.

"Ugh, yuck!"