It's a brand new day!

LOCATION Bash & Aleks' house
DATE 8th of July 2021
TIME 9 am
ATTIRE Link
TOPIC FOR @Aleks xx
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"Is he still?" - "Yup," -" Why am I not surprised," Nicole chuckled a bit as the witch left the house and let the human in. It was the usual, nothing had really changed there. Nicole bounced lightly on her feet towards Aleks' bedroom, having taken her shoes off her steps were so soft she could sneak up on just everyone. Where Aleks went, Nicole went, it had been a saying since the moment they had met. It just felt like it was how things were meant to be. He was her best friend, he was her person, the person she would call in the middle of the night if she needed someone to help covering up a murder or anything bizarre like that. As always he did have his very own personal alarm clock, not one he really enjoyed - so she always made sure to take a spin down to the kitchen, to make him a cup of coffee.

Opening the door with her left hand, and placing the mug with coffee on the dresser to the right as she entered the room. "Morning sunshine!" She smiled brightly, announcing herself before she went over to open the blinds and let the sun into the dark room. Nicole turned around looking at him as she placed her hands on her hips for a few seconds. She then walked over to get the cup of coffee and placed it on the bed table before sitting down on the bed side looking at him. "It's 9'clock come on, its a perfect day," she lifted her hand towards the window where the sun was shinning so brightly. "I even made you coffee," she almost sang trying to lure him out of bed.

As many other days the past few years Nicole had chosen to stop by and wake up Aleks, and like every other day, he was very happy to stay in bed. As always, he had full covering blinds, completely blocking out any sunlight and no lamp turned on during the night. Whenever he had someone visiting, they always felt like they were walking around in a completely black room. But his room was light, so whenever sun had access, his room was very bright.
The gentle and happy voice almost sang as the light figure entered. It woke him up, but he didn’t move out of the spot, but he was aware of her presence. She removed the blinds which made his eyes clench hard, trying to block out the sun, failing. He then rolled around and brought his pillow with him, to cover his eyes and ears. Only moments later he could feel how she sat down on the bed, trying to convince him it was time to get up. It was first when she mentioned coffee,  that he lifted the pillow up with slightly narrowed eyes that he gained eye contact with the blonde best friend. He covered himself with the pillow, groaning a bit before he threw the pillow to the foot end of the bed. He quickly sat up, wrapped his arms around her and started to lay down again. “Sleep,” he mumbled.

She looked into his eyes as he lifted the pillow up just slightly, narrowing her dark brown eyes just a bit as she chuckled by the groan. Nicole laughed a little as he threw the pillow to the end of the bed, following the movement with her eyes. Being distracted for a few seconds, she had no chance in defending herself from the sneak attack coming up, as he sat up and wrapped his arms around her and pulled her down with him. The sweet laughter filled up the room, "Aleks," she bubbled while failing to not lay down on the bed. "Come on, it's a beautiful day," Nicole added crawling up so her upper body was on top of his, while looking into his eyes. "And that was a very cruel trick," she lifted her left hand up pointing at him shortly, trying to look serious which lasted about one and a half seconds before she started laughing again. Nicole buried her face in his chest trying not to laugh to much, but had to admit defeat. Then she lifted her head up again. "But seriously though, when did you go to sleep?" She asked while shaking her head a little bit. Nicole was an early riser, first up, coffee, a run and a workout before breakfast and then her day started - waking up Aleks had become a tradition. "I can make waffles - or pancakes.. scrambled eggs?" She suggested trying to lure him out of bed, with a slightly playful look in her eyes. "And of course, the coffee," Nicole eyed the coffee on the table for a few seconds as she sat up on her knees, and turned her eyes to him.

Her laughter filled the room with light and energy. She had such a pleasurable laughter, or maybe it was just because he was so used to it. He groaned a little as she said his name.  He slowly let go of his grip around her as she crawled on top of him, telling him that it was a beautiful day. He looked displeased – but in a way that she knew that he just felt like it was too early to get up. He liked her company, no matter what. He lifted his eyebrow a little and a prankster smile appeared on his lips as she said it was a cruel trick he had pulled. He couldn’t help but chuckle lightly. It was nice to wake up to her every morning, even though it wasn’t always every morning. But she just brought so much light and happiness into his day from the very beginning of it. He lifted his hands up, almost shrugging, as if he couldn’t help himself doing such a cruel trick. If he could, he would live his life in his bed or on a couch with blankets and pillows.
As she buried her face in his chest, he closed his eyes yet again, hoping that he could just get a moment of more, but he could feel how she lifted her head to look at him, and he opened one eye glancing down at her. “Uuuuh…” He closed his eyes and leaned his head back into the pillow. “F…fou- Three o’clock I think?” he replied. Just the mere sound of how late he was up made him know that he hadn’t gotten enough sleep. She started to talk about breakfast. His brown eyes were still closed, but just the thought of breakfast made him lick his lips. The Coffee. He looked up at her, bending his neck, since she was still laying on him. He wrapped his arms around her. “I’m not getting up as long as you’re laying here,” he said, before his hands found their way to her sides and started to tickle her. If everything went as planned, he would roll her over, so she laid on the free spot in his bed, tugged into his covers. He would then roll her again before he would get out of bed, only wearing his boxers. It should take her a moment to get out of the covers, so meanwhile, he found a white boring t-shirt to put on.

Her eyes grow bigger by the reply to when he had fallen asleep, "dude seriously? I woke up at four, explains why I could see you had been active up to twenty minutes before that," she shook her head a little bit. There was a handful of things that Nicole and Aleks had in common and then the trail of traits where they couldn't be anymore different, but she liked it like that. He didn't get enough sleep, far from, and yes, she could use her powers to put a few good habits in his brain - but it wouldn't be him, and she only played with people's minds when she had to. Unlike her father it wasn't a hobby to her. She smiled as he licked his lips by the mention of food, meaning the bait was working just a little bit. At least she thought. Then his arms once again wrapped around her, and he started tickling her making her laugh, see this trick was even more cruel than dragging her onto the bed in the first place. Nicole fought to her best ability to escape, but her tiny frame didn't stand a chance, laughing so much she could feel the slight ache in her stomach. She ended in the free spot of the bed, tugged into the covers, turning her head towards him still laughing and shook her head a bit. "You are right, it is actually quite comfortable, maybe I should just move in," she joked as he rolled her again, Nicole fought the covers, while he got up, her brown eyes landing on him shortly as she got out of them, her hair looking more messy than she first arrived. She blew some air out with her mouth trying to blow one of her blonde waved locks away from her face, but just ended up using her left hand to run her hair back into place.

Nicole sat up on her knees and moved to the edge of the bed where she had been sitting not long ago, grabbing the mug with coffee as she got up. "I guess I will just take this then," Nicole took a sip of the coffee. "Delicious," she teased before then hurrying out of the room to towards the kitchen, as fast as she could with a warm cup of coffee in her right hand, and with her tiny legs.

Aleks couldn’t help but spit out a short chuckle as she seemed shocked by when he had gone to sleep. It was summer holiday now after all. Who could blame him? Well, clearly his best friend. “I wonder why it’s a surprise to you,” he mumbled with a slight smile.

It was a success, he got to tickle her and roll her into a comfortable burrito. She joked with him, telling him that it was comfortable and that she might just move in. “You know, maybe I should talk to Bash about getting you a key,” he mentioned as he started to get off the bed.

He got his shirt on and heard how she mentioned she would take something, “Yeah, yeah,” he said before he heard that she was taking a sip of something. He looked over his shoulder, almost with darting eyes. That was his coffee! She continued teasing telling him it was delicious. He turned around and pulled his shirt all the way down. “Oh no you didn’t,” he said and started approaching her, just as she got up and hurried out of his room. “’Cole!” he raised his voice playfully and started to follow her – still not wearing real pants. “Give me my coffee!” he said before his long legs got him close enough to her. He stretched his long arm out to grab around the hand which hold onto the cup of coffee and his left arm swung around her tummy to stop her from running off. “You little thief!” he giggled with his head to the right for hers. Still holding her hand, he moved their hands with the cup up to his lips taking a sip from it. His dark eyes closed, enjoying the slightly bitter taste. He didn’t mind drinking from the same cup nor sharing utensils. He lowered the cup with a somewhat relaxed and satisfied sigh. He opened his eyes yet again. “What about sunny side, toast n’ bacon?” he suggested slowly letting go of her completely. He placed himself up against the nearest wall and held his hand out to take the coffee from her.

The burst of energy was nothing knew, she was always a chaotic ball of energy, and most mornings it was like this. It was good and vibrant, making her hype to almost reach the celling. Laughing as she made it down the hall, not risking dropping the cup by running to fast, also who didn't enjoy a good chase.  He first grabbed the hand where she held the coffee, and she slowed down before was being stopped around the arm around her tummy. Nicole clearly had a blast, she couldn't even try hide it. She turned slightly around facing him, locking her dark eyes with his, as he moved their hands up so he could take a sip from the cup. "Told you it was delicious," she exclaimed with a teasing smile, before he lowered the cup again and let go of her again. "With avocado?" She asked narrowing her eyes a little bit, as always with her it was a yes. Nicole gave him the cup as he reached for it, and spun around on her heels again, heading towards the kitchen.

Nicole knew where everything in the kitchen were, she was most likely the one who used it the most. Bash always worked long hours, and praised a good home cooked meal, the same with Aleks. Lexie had taught herself to cook, she loved making her own meals and eat as healthy as possible. She tip-toed to reach the bred on the top shelf, she was sure Bash or Aleks was just messing with her. She got the frying pan from the middle drawer, placing it on the stove. Nicole took few slices of bread and placed it in the toaster on the counter. "Will you put on the radio?" she asked looking back slightly, nodding towards the small radio before taking to steps to the side and opening the fridge. Nicole took the eggs, bacon and avocado out on the counter, then closing the fridge again. "Same as usual?" she asked before taking the amount of eggs out that she needed, and cracked them by tabbing them lightly on the side of the counter till it cracked and put them on the stove. The empty eggshells placed in the sink for now. While the eggs cooked, she made herself a cup of coffee and turned to Aleks again. "Honestly I don't know what you would do without me." she teased with a soft chuckle before returning to make the coffee.

She was so energetic in the morning, that he almost envied it. The only thing he envied more was his cat being able to sleep through all of their noise and tumbling around. It still laid right next to the pillow he had been throwing. He hummed softly, agreeing that the coffee was delicious. Coffee was exactly what he needed in the morning – and Nicole’s excellent cooking. To him, she could be a chef if that were what she wanted – even though he knew that her dad had other plans. Dancing, dancing, and more dancing.
“Yes, please,” he replied, receiving the cup. Wrapping both of his hands around it, letting his eyes follow the small figure go for the kitchen. “You’re a darling – don’t you forget that!” he called to her.

She knew her way around the kitchen, and therefore he was quick to rush back to grab a loose pair of pants by his desk before he walked back to the kitchen, just in time to see how she was standing on tip toes to get the loaf of bread. He couldn’t help but smile by the sight. It was somehow incredible how much the height difference could do. He took a sip of the coffee again and headed towards the nearest chair. He was just about to sit down when her voice stopped his action and with a small groan, he got up from the half sitting position and walked towards the radio to turn it on. It immediately started playing Girls like you by Maroon 5. He nodded a bit to the rhythm. He looked towards her as she asked if he wanted the same as usual, “Yes, please,” he said and turned his back towards the counter where the radio stood. The mere sound of her cooking, through the music, was enough for him to know what she was doing. He took another sip of his coffee, feeling how the bitter taste helped giving him some sort of energy. Black gold, some would describe it as. He looked up from his cup as she started teasing. He pulled a smile and approached her. “I would be sleeping like a baby in my bed and eat takeout Thai as the only meal for a whole day,” he said. He frowned a little as he got closer and saw how her hair was still messed from the bed. He lifted his hand to reposition her hair gently. “Without you I would be such a mess,” he chuckled, “Okay maybe Bash would do something about it, but you know,” he said and shrugged.

The music from the radio started taking up the room, making her body already take in the tune, moving in time to the music. When you danced as much as she did, it didn't take much more than that - you didn't even need music, but she did prefer it. Nicole turned to him as he approached her, looking up into his eyes with her brows slightly lifted, shaking her head a bit of him as he mentioned thai would be his only meal. Without you I would be such a mess, she chuckled a bit while rolling her eyes a bit. She couldn't imagine her life without him, the moment where she had thought that she had to - her world had seemed to start crumbling. "Well mine would for sure be rather dull," she pointed out with a more tender smile. The toast was finished, and she smell of roasted bread started to fill up the kitchen. "Bash always has a card or two up his sleeve," she pointed out to the Bash statement.

The soothing sound from the eggs on the pan made her take her eyes from his, for a second, she turned away from him the pour the hot water from the kettle in her cup, making her own cup of coffee. Quickly grabbing some oat milk in the fridge door and added it to the coffee - yeah she did sometimes just fill up their fridge with what she needed. Then her attention turned to take out the other stove and heat it up, placing the bacon on that. After it was full on getting the chopping board, to cut the avocado, it was always tricky with avocados and she just begged it was good. "Sweet," she expressed as she got it cut and saw it was perfect. "Will you get the plates?" Nicole then asked, they were also always on a higher shelf and she had so much going on by the counter that it would be so much easier if he would grab them - he also was that taller then her, even if the shelves were in front of her just above her head. She would move her head a little bit to the side so he could open the cabinet to get the plates.

Aleks pulled a charmed smile as she said her life would be quite dull without him. He wondered if it would’ve been true. She was so filled with energy, and he was quite sure that it wasn’t all of his doing. His eyes went to the toaster as the bread was done before they traveled back to her as she replied to the fact that Bash always had a trick. “He does,” he said and shrugged on his shoulders agreeing.

She made her cup of coffee and he took another sip of his. It was somehow funny, how he liked his black, and she wanted hers with oatmilk. He leaned against the nearest counter and enjoyed a couple of sips with closed eyes. Inhaling the smell of the coffee. It was only when he heard her open the avocado that he looked at her. She asked him if he wanted to get the plates, which made him put his coffee down and approach her. As he got close enough, she tilted her head. Just to be sure, he placed a hand on her head, where she could possibly get hurt if they didn’t coordinate the opening and closing of the cabinet. With his free hand he opened the cabinet and got two plates which he placed behind the cutting board, before he went and closed the cabinet and let go of her head. He looked down to the avocado which she had just opened. “It looks good,” he said, pulling on a smile. He gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze before he went to grab the utensils and a glass for each placing them on the dinner table. “You had a date later right? When was that?” he wondered, mostly to know when she had to leave or if she needed a lift or anything like that.

She felt he stood closer behind her, making her take slightly deeper breath in, which for a second surprised her, because she knew he was there - she was used to being close to him. Luckily the hand on her head took her back to reality. "Why thank you," she smiled as he complimented that it looked good, chuckling a bit by the small squeeze on her shoulder, before he began to set the table. She moved her head in the direction of the dinner table, and folded her lips for a second before he then asked about her date later. "Uhm- yeah," she breathed out, before grabbing a palette knife with her right hand and handed it to him over the counter. Then she grabbed the handle of the fryingpan with a firm grib using her dominate left hand. "It's Damien from my latin dance team," she didn't know why she felt like she needed to tell who it was, but then again - didn't they tell each other everything either way. "It's in the evening for dinner, so you have to deal with me for a few hours. My father wants me home for an extra gym session - just to make sure I keep up the good work," she told with a smile on her lips. It was sure she worked hard, and a lot. "Jealous that you have to share me today?" she teased moving to the dinner table with the pan and the table protector, placing it on the table, so the table didn't get ruined. Then bouncing back to get the roasted bread on a plate and the avocado on the other, perfect time for the bacon being perfectly done. With everything on the table, she sat down.

Nicole reached for a few pieces of toast and placed some avocado slices on top of the bread, letting him take his eggs before her. Taking a sip of her coffee while she waited, then grabbing the palet knife to take her eggs and perfectly place them on top of the bread and avocado, topping with a few pieces of bacon and a pinch of salt. "And then I have this gala thing on Saturday that my dad has set me up with, but its fine. Any excuse to dress up you know," she chuckled a bit picking up the fork and knife starting to cut the toast to take a bit, all the flavors danced on her tongue, and she wiggled a little bit to the side, a clear sign she was enjoying the food.

He nodded a bit as she confirmed she had a date. He saw that she handed him the palette knife, and he was quick to let his long arm stretch out to get it, so he could put it on the table too. As soon as he had put it on the table, he looked up at her with a sly smile. “Oh, Damien with the hair?” he said, before he ran his hands through his hair trying to symbolize the iconic pulled back hair he believed belonged to Damien. He had watching some of her lessons, both to spend time with her, without spending time with her and to learn for free – not that money was a problem for any of them.
Aleks chuckled a bit as she mentioned that it was in the evening and that he had to deal with her for a couple of hours. He didn’t mind that, he would even help her pick an outfit or give his opinion on makeup – whatever she felt like she needed. She needed to be home for an extra gym session, which was typical of her dad. To Aleks, her dad mostly thought of her as an outlet of his own passion – luckily Nicole liked dancing and keeping up the good work. “Of course, I’m jealous,” he chuckled before he sat down. “If I could, I would spend every minute of my life with you,” he said sending her a smile as she sat down when everything was on the table.

Aleks grabbed two pieces of the toast and placed an egg on each, handing her the palette knife when he was done. He then grabbed some pieces of avocado to place on top. They could almost eat the same thing; it was just the order which was different. On top of the avocado, he placed some bacon – a little more than Nicole. She mentioned a gala as he picked up his utensils, which made him look up. “Oh really? So, he’s going too?” he wondered. He knew that her father liked to show his face to the world, and he knew that her father cared a lot for Nicole, but sometimes he was busy too. “So, you’ve found the dress for the gala?” he added, wondering if she needed immediate help with choosing one.

Talking about the gala, Nicole was a bit sceptical about it, luckily, she was used to mingle with people and leave a somewhat good impression. "No, it's just me. It's this new rich family that moved to down from New York, I reckon he didn't have time to go on his own, but it’s alright,"she assured Aleks. Had she found a dress, she had two options for the gala, but she was mostly sure about which of them she wanted to wear. "Remember the white dress I bought last weekend when we were in the mall?" She asked trying to trick his memory a bit, "I was thinking about that one," Nicole took another bite from her toast before finishing eating.

After breakfast she helped him clean up, followed by forcing him out on a little walk, had they been in Oakheart she would have taken them to the beach - but it could wait to another day. After having spent the hours available, she gave him a big hug before walking home - okay she walked to the portal closest by and then from there back home.


The hours passed quickly, and she had headed towards the location where she was supposed to meet Damien. Time passed. Luckily it was still warm outside otherwise she would most likely had begun to freeze a bit. She closed her eyes and breathed out heavily. She felt so stupid, beyond stupid really. Nicole had at this point waited for over an hour, almost two, just standing outside the restaurant like a bloody fool. People turned their heads at her as they walked by her or headed inside, at this point everyone knew she had been stood up. She had been texting Damien serval times when he was going to be there and even tried calling him, no respond. It wasn’t till a few minutes ago that she had seen on his Instagram story that he was out with some other friends at some party in Grounds of Lily. Jerk. Nicole shook her head and looked up blinking a few times, it was a stupid thing to get sad about. But she had actually looked forward to this, and the last thing the guy could have done was at least call and be honest about not wanting to go – instead of this. Nicole called Aleks, taking a sharper breath in before he picked up, not wanting to sound to upset when he answered. “Hey, yeah no, he didn’t really show up. So, I’ve been standing here outside for hours now, will you come get me – I really need to think about something else,” she confessed over the phone looking down at the asphalt for a short moment, as she sighed a bit. Aleks already knew where she was going on what the plan had been for the evening, they had after all spend the entire morning together.

Nicole hung up after he had confirmed he would come pick her up, so once again she was standing in there in her blue dress, all dressed up waiting with her arms crossed, just wanting this disaster of an evening to be forgotten. Damien should have known better, and it was likely he wouldn’t be spending much more time at this dance studio after this stunt- depending on her mood after this evening.

Aleks raised his eyebrows slightly surprised that she was going to go alone to the gala, but he didn’t comment too much about it. She mentioned a white dress she had bought not long ago, which made him narrow his eyes thoughtfully, trying to remember it. Short, white and innocent, “That sounds like a good plan, it looks good on you,” he said with a smile. The breakfast turned out great and the morning ritual continued with cleaning, a walk and just spending time together.


Aleks laid on his bed with his phone, scrolling through a page with recommendations for scuba diving when suddenly his phone started ringing. He narrowed his eyes a bit as he saw who was calling. How bad had the date been since she was calling him already? He picked up. As soon as he heard her voice, he knew that it wasn’t really any good, and he sat up. She had been stood up. What a moron that guy was. He surely didn’t know what he was missing out on. “Yeah, no worries. I’ll be there soon enough. See you in a few,” he said before he hung up. Quickly, he put on some formal pants and a blue shirt. The jacket which matched the pants he swung over his shoulder before he called Sebastian to tell him he was going out and didn’t know when he was going to be back. And then he drove off.

He parked the car, put on his jacket, and approached the restaurant, seeing Nicole standing there waiting for the date which never had shown up. “Hey sweetheart,” he said watching how she had nothing to cover her arms or shoulders. Nothing which could keep her warm. Even though he had only just taken his jacket on, he swung it off and wrapped it around her shoulders. “I’ll can be your date instead,” he offered with a slight smile.

Nicole took a deeper breath in, both annoyed and slightly embarrassed by standing out here for this long. The pity filled look some of the people gave her was not making it better either. It was like a part of her just knew Aleks were close by, making her turn her head to see him approaching her. Her eyes lighted up by the second, and she couldn't help but smile. "Hey handsome," she replied frowning slightly by him having dressed up a little, she did know what kind of trousers he owned this was his more formal ones. He didn't even waste a second before placing his jacket around her shoulders. I’ll can be your date instead, she raised her brows a little bit, followed by narrowing her eyes for a second. "Okay, I will take it," she responded with a lower voice folding her lips together for a short moment. "I've always wondered what it's like being out on a date with the Aleks Theobald Mitchell," she teased a bit, her sad expression from before was completely washed about by having him near her. "I'm starving, do should we head inside, or do you have anything else in mind?" Nicole asked wondering. They didn't have to eat here, and there was plenty of places around town. The thought of Damien was already leaving her mind a bit, overshadowed by all the positive thoughts her mind had about Aleks.

It was clear that he had saved the day, the way that her eyes lit up. He smiled brightly at her as she returned the greeting. He knew, as well as her, that he didn’t dress up that often, but he had also known that if she had been stood up it might feel more as a defeat if he just arrived in a loose t-shirt and took her home. So, he had chosen to dress up, and liked how she had noticed and showed it by frowning. Like the first time they had met, he had swung his jacket around her shoulders. She seemed suspicious at first, but she allowed it, which made him pull on a slightly crooked smile. He couldn’t help but chuckle as she mentioned how it was to date him. To be fair, he didn’t know how it was either – it wasn’t like his dates leaved a review. He raised his eyebrows slightly as she asked if he had anything else in mind for a place to eat, he then looked up at the restaurant she had been standing in front of, thinking for a short moment. “We can eat here. Can’t have you starving,” he said placing a hand between her shoulder blades opening the door for her so she could walk first. “Ladies first,” he said with a wide teethy smile.

She nodded when he confirmed they could eat here. It was also a finer place, and it was somewhat easy to get a reservation - if you knew the right people, and luckily, she was raised by one. Placing a hand between her shoulder blades and guiding her towards the door, she moved towards the door he opened for her. It was odd, but in a good way, because despite it them being so close, this was another type of closeness in their behavior. But it also felt so natural to just step into. "Why thank you," she smiled brightly and stepped inside. The room was warm and nice, clearly a place for the more rich, which was usual her dining situation whenever she was out having dinner with her father and his wife. They were met by one of the waitresses, "table for two, Nicole Miles," the reservation was after all in her name. The waitress looked down at the screen shortly, then looking up at Nicole again. Clearly a fan of some of the plays Nicole had been a part of, choregraphed by her father - they were indeed quite the team. "Right this way," she gestured them to an a place a bit away from the other guests, and placed the menu cards in front of them.

Nicole couldn't remember the last time her and Aleks actually had dined out together, not like this. Yes, if she had been cheating a little bit on her diet and he had kidnapped her to McDonald's or something like that. But that was far from fancy, this was as fancy as it got. Nicole sat down on her chair and picked up the menu card thanking the waitress as she left. Smiling at Aleks, before taking a look at the menu card. "We should do more often, the setting is nice," she confessed looking shortly around. The golden patterns on the walls, the chandeliers, giving the entire space a slight royal feel. "Thank you by the way," she appreciated the fact that he had actually dressed up, and made a choice to dine out with her. Even if she hadn't expected it. Nicole looked back at the menu card, figuring out what she wanted, there was so many options.

As they stepped in Aleks eyes scanned the restaurant. He hadn’t been here before, but it sure looked nice. As Nicole presented herself to the waitress and how many seats, she needed it was clear to see that the waitress was impressed – either by the surname or maybe she was just a fan of Nicole’s dancing. It didn’t take long before they were brought to a table further away from the other guests. Privacy, apparently.

He let her sit down first, followed by himself. It wasn’t really like any place they had eaten out before. Which somehow was quite nice. This way it didn’t just feel like a rebelling to McDonald’s but an actual date  - with lights on the table and very fine utensils. He grabbed the menu and opened it while looking at Nicole as she spoke, “It’s really nice,” he agreed, “We can arrange something like this more often if you want,” he added with a wide smile before he let his eyes end on the menu. He looked up from the menu as she thanked him, his facial expression getting somewhat soft. “Anytime,” he said. He would never think twice about saving her evening, but he had indeed wished that she had texted him earlier. Poor Nicole believing that Damien would come and had been standing outside for hours.
After a short moment, his eyes went back to the menu looking over it. Everything seemed so fancy, even though he could almost argue that her cooking was better, but the chefs might not agree on that, so he chose not to say that. “Anything that catches your eye?” he wondered, “Or have you been here enough to know every dish?” he teased. It wouldn’t surprise him if her father had taken her here enough to have her experience every meal on the menu.

She couldn't stop her lips from smiling, it was a different smile, because she always smiled whenever she was around Aleks. But coming in here to rescue her evening and actually going out like this, it had her heart flutter and she felt loved - not that it surprised her that he would do this, he was after all the best person she knew. But she had never imagined them sitting in this setting, and her feeling so astonished by it. Nicole could feel her heart skip a few beats ahead, why was she reacting like this? Anything that catches your eye? Once again she moved her eyes up from the menu, having completely forgotten to actually read what was on the card for a moment. She had been here a few times before, so she knew a few of her favorite dishes. "Uhm," she frowned a bit looking quickly down at the menu again, getting herself together, which luckily only took a few seconds, "I've been here a few times, so I do know their chips are amazing, if you are going for something like a steak or chicken fillet," she acknowledged returning her eyes to him. "Their salmon and baked potatoes are also extremely delicious," she added before once again running her eyes over the card. "I think I will go with the salmon and the baked potatoes actually,"she grimaced a little before putting the card down. "What about you? Seeing anything you would fancy?"

It seemed like he had caught her somewhat off guard – maybe she hadn’t really had the time to look properly at the options, but then she mentioned she had been there a couple of times and what she thought of the different meals. She even told him what she believed she would be getting and returned the question; if there was anything he would fancy. He pulled a slight smile, “I’ll go with the steak,” he replied looking up at her.

He had his jacket hanging over his underarm as they exited the restaurant. The temperature difference wasn’t that great for him, but he could almost imagine with a dress like hers, she might get some shivers, so he didn’t hesitate to wrap his jacket around her shoulders like when they met earlier. “That was delicious,” he said and placed himself in front of her to tug her into the jacket. “Do you want a ride home? Or maybe just go for a walk?” he suggested looking at her as he made sure the jacket wouldn’t fall off her shoulders. His hands didn’t really want to move far away from the jacket, because they actually wanted to pull her closer. Therefore, he allowed himself to gently correct her hair, so it wasn’t underneath the jacket. His hands ended up on top of her shoulders. For a moment they rested there, waiting for some kind of reply, and depending on it and her way of saying it, he would remove his hands or let them stay.

Walking out of the restaurant, she felt hopeful for the first time in a while. The last time she had left a restaurant with such feeling had been back when she was with Ryan, but still, there was something different about this scenario. She knew his feeling that made the butterflies fly wild in her stomach, but she had not expected it to be around Aleks. So, as he placed him self in front of her and tugged his jacket back around her shoulders, she looked up into his eyes. It wasn't the same smile filled with energy like this morning, it was like something in her just clicked, making the smile way more soft than she usually looked, even just a little bit shy. His question made her take a slightly deeper breath in, a part of her didn't really want this evening to end, one way or the other. Pulled out of her thoughts by the gentle touch as he corrected her hair, she liked having him close like his. It was like time stopped around them, almost making her forget that he had asked her something, while getting lost in his deep brown eyes. His hands founding their way to her small shoulders, and Nicole once again breathed out, then remembering he had asked her something. She licked her lips softly, before replying: "How about ice cream - and then we can drive home to my place, watch a movie or something?" She suggested with a more tender voice, while her lips pulled up in its more usual warm smile. But it was mostly the spark in her eyes that were somewhat different, like under the light of this evening, she just saw him in a different light. "Or your place, I can just stay the night-" she folded her lips by the end of that sentence. It wasn't like she hadn't stayed over before, she had done that plenty of times, why did her heart pounding like crazy by the thought out of the sudden?

He noticed how he licked his lips, making him look at them shortly, feeling how time felt like it was slowing down and his heart beating heavier. She mentioned ice cream, which made him smile slightly. Something light and creamy to top off the hot meal. It sounded like a great idea. Followed by a movie at her place also seemed like an idea. He loved the fact that she didn’t just want a ride home but wanted to extend the time together. Even though they knew each other like the others back pocket, he still felt like he had seen and heard a lot of new things about her today. Not that she seemed different to him, but it was just like he saw both sides of the coin now – and he liked it. Then she suggested that they could go to his place. He quickly thought through whether or not if Sebastian would have anything against Nicole sleeping over. He usually didn’t mind it – but if something had changed… And what if Tien was visiting?
He pushed the thought aside and slowly let his hands slide off her shoulders, down her arms, letting one hand find hers. “Let’s start with some ice cream,” he said, “But you’re more than welcome to stay the night,” he said pulling on a light smile, feeling how the words tugged in his stomach. Something about her staying over had definitely already changed, or maybe it was just the pink sky he was walking around in right now. He let his thumb stroke against the back of her fingers before he repositioned him next to her, ready to walk towards the ice cream shop nearby.

Once again, this sensation rushed over her as he let his hands slowly slide off her shoulders down her arms. Like the trace gently touched every single nerve in her body, she again found it odd how something could change out of a sudden. Just this morning, his arms had been wrapped around her as she had teased him. That was what they did, but this, this was different, and she didn't want it to stop. One of his hands caught hers, making her heart skip a beat ahead. "Yeah," she breathed out with a small nod, "let's," she added. Her smile grew brighter by him saying she was welcome to stay the night. It wasn't like she was uncomfortable in the situation, or nervous like that, or there was a slight nerves that suddenly showed up, but it was mostly caused by: what this meant for them? Did he feel it like she did, or was it just her? But as she felt his thumb gently stroke against the back of her fingers, she felt how she held her breath for a second. Nicole took a leap of faith and let her fingers entangle with his as they began the walk down the street to the ice cream place.

Once again her heart fluttered like crazy, but it was easy to talk, just small talk like they usually did, anything from pointing out the different people they had seen at the restaurant, the man with the funny beard and top hat, laughing a bit at someone who had run past them on the way here, running so extremely funny you couldn't help but laugh. Finally getting to the small ice-cream truck near the park, she ordered her a cone with two ice cream flavors, cherry with white chocolate and another one with mango sorbet - as usual. "If I'm being honest," she turned her head towards him, once again felt a pull in her stomach, as the butterflies seemed to escape their cage. "There is no one else I would rather be here with tonight than you."

Her finger entangled with his as they started to walk towards the ice cream truck, and it almost shocked every nerve in his system – but in a pleasant way. Comforting him, reassuring him that this was alright. He didn’t hesitate a second to let his fingers wrap around hers too. Fingers interlocked. For once not ironically or to convince someone at a bar that the other wasn’t interested. Or at least that was how he felt it.

They arrived at the truck, and he ordered an ice cream with vanilla and a summer special sorbet, with soft ice on top. He usually went someone safe with one flavor, and bold or random with another. Once, he had even tried a cornflake ice cream with bourbon. As soon as he had received his ice cream he turned his attention to her. He couldn’t help but smile as she explained that she wouldn’t have spent the evening with anyone other than him. “I’m glad you called me then,” he said with a soft smile. “I’ve really enjoyed this. Spending time with you,” it may sound silly, the way he said it, because they usually spent a lot of time together. He allowed himself to interlock their fingers again, but not keeping her there if she didn’t want it.
As soon as she had taken a bite of her ice cream he chuckled a bit, looking at her nose. There was nothing on it, but he acted like it. “You-eh,” he chuckled and lifted his hand holding the ice cream as if he was going to point or if he wanted to remove it, “You got something right there,” he said and with his last words made his soft ice poke her nose, making him smile even more widely. “Okay, I am sorry,” he chuckled and found a napkin from the truck. “Close your eyes for me,” he said and held the napkin up, ready to clean up the mess he had made. If she closed her eyes, he would gently wipe the softice away, before he would lean down. He could feel his heartbeat in his throat, pound hard and quickly. It was really risky, since this could ruin many years of friendship - but she had interlocked their fingers first, right?

He gently placed his lips on hers, but only for a short moment. He was somewhat hesistant, since he really didn't want to ruin anything between them.

I’m glad you called me then, she tilted her head a little bit to the side, always been quite good at expressing her thoughts and feelings rather than tugging them away. "I would always call you," she responded honestly, it was always him she called. He had been the first one she'd called back when James had gotten her free from the kidnapper back then. The first she had called when she had gotten into  relationship with Ryan, even though it had been over the land-line, and the first one she had called heart broken it had ended. Nicole always called Aleks first. He confessed he also had enjoyed this, spending time together, made her blush slightly, at the same time as their finger interlocked again, she didn't hesitate at all.  Even though this was unexplored areas for them, it felt so natural to just fall into, as if they had needed a push all along to realize what had been luring below the surface.

Nicole took a bite of her ice cream, always preferred eating ice cream rather than licking it. His chuckle made her look up at him, befor trying to look at her nose, which must have looked hilarious enough on its own. Before she knew it she felt the cold as his soft ice poked her nose. Now she could see the ice cream as she closed her left eye. "You sneaky lil bastard," she giggled a little, as he took a napkin from the truck. Unlike many first dates, nothing here was tugged away by having to act perfect. They had seen each others worst behaviors, experienced the worst hair day and everything in between.

Close your eyes for me.

She looked a little suspicious at him for a second, narrowing her eyes slightly before she then closed them. She let him wipe the softice away from her face, she giggled slightly at him, keeping her eyes closed, not wanting her eyes poked out by any means. Nicole could feel him leaning in, and before she was ready to react he placed his lips on hers, for a brief gentle moment. Nicole opened her eyes after, feeling like he had just taken her breath away. How could one kiss feel so perfectly right? She longed for more. She wanted to feel the touch of his lips on hers again. Everything around her simply just stopped for a moment. Then only a heart beat later, she tip-toed a bit more than her heels already helped her, using the free hand to place it on the back of his head, at the same time as she let her lips touch his once again. Careful not to drop her ice cream in the other hand.