Could be considered a follow-up to Toxic, but reading that isn't required to follow this: they were written as standalone pieces, but essentially this is set following the events of Toxic.
scrambled eggs
What did you say came after sleeping together but before IKEA?
A date.
Yeah, that's it, a- date.
Yeah, weird, isn't it.
Yeah, it's a bit weird. S'pose we could give it a go, though. Maybe?
Okay.
He calls before she's even left the car park. She turns around: Jim Beam will just have to wait. He's wearing jeans and a buttoned-up shirt when she arrives; she hasn't seen him so smart since that time he went to court with Liam. His little table is set with two sets of cutlery and a bottle of 'real lemonade'. He hands her an origami flower as she steps in.
(I don't know how to do this.)
He cooks scrambled eggs on toast and makes her close her eyes while he adds his 'secret ingredients'; they're the best scrambled eggs she's ever eaten.
"Jamie Oliver, eat your heart out!" she jokes, standing to clear the table. He pushes her back into her seat and takes her plate.
"Who?"
"Never mind." He's never seen her smile like that before. Somehow, she looks free. Happy. He rinses the plates in the sink and leaves them to dry as she curls up in the corner of his sofa, leafing absently through the textbooks piled at the end. He joins her and touches her arm. Slowly, she leans closer, and suddenly, the only place for his arm is across her shoulders. She relaxes into his chest.
"This is the best date," she mumbles. He smiles into her hair.