DEFINITELY MILKSHAKES

Robbie Thorne
1 New Message

When Lilette saw the notification, she was sliding her phone and script back into the pocket on the front of her apron at the end of her break, and as much as she wanted to open the message and see what her crush had to say- her manager was glaring at her to return to her customers, so she ignored it.

Another hour had passed when Lilette felt her phone vibrate once again.

And then again.

And again.

"What the hell?" She muttered to herself as she grabbed the check to give to her last table.

When she returned behind the register a few moments later, her phone had vibrated a couple more times- causing Lilette to become concerned. After checking that she was out of sight, she snuck a peek at her phone.

Mom
1 New Message

Gwen Strickland
1 New Message

Robbie Thorne
3 New Messages

Simon Saunders
2 New Messages

None of the notifications were out of the ordinary, her mom was probably checking in, Gwen and Simon probably wanted to run lines, and Robbie had probably realized she was working and sent another message to tell her not to worry about his previous message.

But the fact that they'd all texted her in such a quick pattern, confused Lilette. Because of this, she opened them as soon as she got into her car after her shift. Starting with Simon.

Robbie wants to ask you out.

Why aren't you answering him?

This made Lilette's stomach flip and her heart jump into her throat. In an attempt to calm herself and to further delay the inevitable fact that Simon was wrong and Robbie didn't want to ask her out, Lilette opened Gwen's text next.

Literally, if you don't say yes I will actually hate you.

Oh god, Lilette thought as she then decided to bite the bullet and open Robbie's messages.

Can you talk?

Hey, I just realized you're at work- call me when you finish your shift?

I wanna ask you about something.

OH. MY. GOD. Lilette almost dropped her phone. Maybe Simon was right. Maybe Robbie did actually like her.

But what if she was wrong? Why would Robbie Thorne like her? He was the town hero- Mr. QB1 and her? She wasn't anyone special. It just didn't make sense. Without replying to Robbie, she opened her mom's text.

Why is Robbie Thorne just sitting in his car outside the house?

OH MY GOD! Simon was right! With this in mind, Lilette responded to her mother first:

Um, I'm not sure- I'm on my way home now.

And then, pretending she had no idea where he actually was, Robbie:

Hey, I just got done at work. I can call you as soon as I get home?

And then she put her car in gear to head home.


When Lilette turned on to her street, her mom was proven right- as there was Robbie's Jeep parked in front of her house. She pulled into the driveway and watched in her rear view mirror as he got out of his car and leaned against the bumper, waiting for her.

"Hey." He greeted her when she got out of her car.

She waved as she put her stuff on top of her car and walked towards him.

"Hi, sorry I didn't answer- we were kinda slammed."

"That's alright, I hope it's not too weird that I just came over. Practice finished and I really didn't wanna do this over the phone or wait till Monday."

Lilette noticed how weird he was acting, almost nervous- which if she was being honest, kind of made her feel better for feeling so nervous and jittery.

"It's okay, just maybe a little warning next time- mom was worried."

Lilette laughed to make sure Robbie knew she was kidding.

He chuckled.

"Yeah, I didn't think about that."

"It's alright... what did you wanna talk about?" She asked him, leaning against the bumper beside him.

"So, um... I know that we've kind of had this flirting thing going on all year and I know we've been just chalking it up to the show."

He paused, looking directly in front of them before taking a deep breath.

"And?" Lilette prompted him.

"And I don't know about you but I know that what I feel for you isn't just a role in a musical anymore."

Lilette couldn't believe what was happening. This had to be some sort of dream. She'd almost convinced herself it was when Robbie reached over and took her hand in his, resting them both on his thigh.

"Really?" She asked, in slight disbelief.

"Yeah, is that so hard to believe?"

"I don't know- a little bit?"

"Why?" His brow furrowed slightly in confusion.

"I guess because every time I thought that maybe you felt something for real, you did something that said the opposite?" Lilette explain, a bit of snark in her tone.

"Yeah, that makes sense... well, this is me officially apologizing for all of that. I didn't mean to hurt you, I would never want to do that- I just didn't know what I was feeling."

"That makes sense, I think I was still playing off everything that I was feeling as acting chemistry at that point too."

Robbie smiled and squeezed Lilette's hand.

"Well, what about now? Is it just acting chemistry still?"

Lilette hesitated momentarily, almost afraid. When she looked over and saw the soft smile on Robbie's face, she spoke.

"I don't think so... I think that I really like you and that it's real."

The smile that appeared on Robbie's face caused Lilette's heart to skip a beat and she mimicked the grin.

"So, what do you say? Would you be willing to see how real these feelings are?"

Lilette's heart was pounding a mile a minute.

"What did you have in mind?"

"Well, if I'm asking you out- I should do it properly, huh? So Lilette, would you like to go to dinner with me?"

Lilette swore his smile grew even larger.

"I'd love to... when were you thinking?"

"When are you working next weekend?" His eyes hopeful.

"I can get my shift switched- don't worry."

"So Saturday? I'll pick you up around 7?"

"It's a date."

After a moment, Robbie laughed, shaking his head, almost as though he'd remembered something suddenly. Lilette furrowed her brow in confusion. Seeing this, he explained.

"Don't you mean an appointment?"

"Oh my god. I still can't believe that happened- it's so embarrassing!"

Robbie just shook his head and wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

"Maybe, but it was pretty cute."

She just buried her head in her hands as he pulled her closer and dropped a kiss on her hairline.

"Well, I have one request." Lilette told him, laying her head on his shoulder.

"Anything you want, I'll make it happen."

"Milkshakes?"

Lilette watched as Robbie's smile became large and bright. This time, the laugh he let out was loud and full of joy as his head fell backwards.

"Definitely Milkshakes."