It was a dinner-date. Her first, in fact. Nani finally decided that they had waited long enough and bit the bullet. They let Jumba and Pleakley babysit Lilo & Stitch while they were gone. Nani made sure before they left to make Jumba swear not to do anything evil while they were gone, just in case. She may have seen him cross his fingers, but she was too excited for her first date to care.
When they got to the restaurant, the date had already gotten off to a bad start. It was taking awhile for the food to arrive, the table they were sitting in seemed particularly dingier than the rest, and the lack of conversation wasn't necessarily helping things either.
"... You look gorgeous, Nani." David said.
"Oh! Uh... you do too, David... I mean, you look very... handsome..." Nani replied.
This wasn't going very well.
In an honest attempt to get a good conversation going, Nani started,
"I wonder when the food will get here."
She tried to think of something clever to add to the question, but came up with nothing.
"Uh... yeah." David dully replied. Almost like his mind was somewhere else.
Nani wasn't sure how dates were supposed to go, but she was pretty sure something was wrong with this. It felt like something was missing from the date. Something... important.
"Oh, the food's finally here! I'm starving!" David exclaimed. His mind brought back to the present.
Nani looked over at the waitress who was making her way towards their table. The waitress was quite attractive, Nani observed. David seemed to be staring at her before he noticed Nani staring at him.
"Here you go, folks! Enjoy!" The waitress smiled.
"I will." David said. Giving her a look.
"Yes, we will." Nani added. Noticing that look he was giving the waitress.
After laying the food on the table, the waitress quickly left. Feeling like her presence was a little unwanted there.
David gave Nani a puzzled look and said, "What was that? You were very rude to that waitress, Nani."
"What were you doing looking at her like that?" Nani questioned. Hoping the answer would ease her mind.
"What? Oh, Nani, you don't have to worry about how I look at other women. I only have eyes for you." David said. Covering his slip-up with a little flattery.
Nani breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Okay. I guess I do worry a little too much. Sorry, David."
"It's alright, Nani." David smiled deceptively. Silently breathing his own sigh of relief, since Nani bought it. "Let's dig in."
As they ate the food, Nani considered the possibility that David was lying. This brought her worries back in a big way, and she began to eat quicker due to the stress. After taking a particularly large bite, she began to choke.
"David... help..." Nani managed to say, through gagging noises.
"Nani!" David yelled loudly. Possibly to grab the attention of bystanders so they could see his heroic deed.
He hurried to get in a Heimlich maneuver, subtly copping a feel while he was at it, and eventually saved Nani.
"Oh! David... thank you!" Nani exclaimed in delight. Hugging David for his good deed.
David enjoyed the hug and held her tightly while the hug lasted. "It was nothing, Nani." He smiled.
"Nothing!? You saved my life! That deserves a reward..." Nani winked. Possibly implying a very special reward.
David's face lit up like a star and showed a little more anticipation than he would've liked to. It didn't matter, though. He was finally getting what he wanted out of her in the first place.
After they finished and paid for the meal, they made their way to the exit until David said,
"Ooh, I really need to go to the restroom. You wait outside."
"Okay, David." Nani said. "Don't take too long, though, it's cold out there!" She added, after noticing the weather.
"I won't!" David said, faking desperation.
She went outside, giving herself some time to think. She began to think back to how she got suspicious of David when he supposedly gave the waitress a look.
"I was too harsh on him." She thought. "All he did was look at her. I shouldn't be so fast to jump to conclusions next time. David's a nice guy! He even saved my life earlier!"
She was trying to convince herself, and she knew it. She still had the feeling that something was missing from their date, and she couldn't shake it no matter how much she tried to brush it off as just high expectations for her first date.
It was a big deal, admittedly. It was her first time dating, and she was thankful that she was having it with such a great guy like... David.
"He is taking quite awhile in there, though... It's really cold out, I'll just go inside and wait for him there."
She casually walked back in and...
It was David. It looked like he was asking that same waitress from earlier for her number.
"No..." She gasped, not believing what she was clearly seeing.
It looked like he was about to head back to where she was supposed to be, successful in his mission to get the other woman's number, so Nani quickly retreated back outside. Her breathing becoming heavy.
David walked back to where she was and resumed his "faithful boyfriend" act.
"Hey! Sorry I was late. I'd give you details, but I don't think that would be appropriate." He said. Slyly coming up with an excuse to not come up with an excuse for his lateness.
"... Agreed. Let's head back to the car." Nani said. Hiding the sadness in her voice as best as she could. She succeeded, apparently, since David didn't question her afterward. He wouldn't have cared either way, though. All he cared about was what would happen later that night.
As they were driving back to Nani's place, her paranoia wasn't getting any easier to deal with.
"Was he really getting that woman's number?" She wondered. "I need to know, or I won't be able to sleep a wink tonight..." She decided.
It took a little while for her to gather up enough courage to ask. She wasn't quite sure how he'd react, and she wasn't sure if she even wanted to find out, now that she thought about it, but it was too late. She already decided she'd go through with it and that's what she was gonna do.
"... Um, David?" Nani asked, weakly.
"Yeah, Nani?" David said, without even a hint of hesitation.
"I... um... You took a little long in there. The rest room, I mean." Nani started. Half-wondering if she could possibly get away with backing off and not telling him she saw what he was really doing at this point.
"Oh...?" David said. Curious, and more than a little afraid that she went inside and saw what he was doing. "I'm sorry, Nani. I should've been quicker about it."
"The thing is, David," she started, "I went inside and-"
"I wasn't asking her for her number!" David shouted, defensively.
"... I didn't say anything about that." Nani said. David mentally slapped himself at the sheer stupidity of his actions. Nani then asked, "Is there something you'd like to tell me, David?"
David panicked. He was sure he made it without her seeing, but apparently not.
"Now how am I going to get out of this!" He thought. "Uh... I was just joking!" He said. Forcing a smile, despite his own feelings of dread.
That was what Nani was hoping to hear, but she knew it was a lie. It seemed like all her fears had come true, but she had to keep a level-head. She needed to stay strong long enough to find out for sure if it was true.
"Don't you lie to me! I saw you asking her when I walked back in!"
"Well—um—why'd you go back in the first place!?" David questioned.
"It was freezing out there!" Nani yelled in retort.
Things were heating up, until they realized they'd arrived at her house. Nani immediately stormed out of the car and made her way to the entrance. David got out and tried to convince Nani to stay. Not because he genuinely wanted her to understand, but because he was still holding out for that "reward."
"Nani, please, don't do this! I swear it wasn't-" David started, until Nani interrupted,
"Then what was it, David!?" She screamed. She headed back to the house. Calming down a bit before turning back to say, "Y'know, David? I've been wondering what's been missing in this date ever since it started. Now I know what it was. Love."
"Nani wait-" David started, until he was interrupted again. This time it was by Nani slamming the door shut. He hung his head low in defeat and left the Pelekai's house. Never to be seen there again.
The End.
Author's Note: Hey, this is my first story, so don't hold back with the constructive criticism, please! ^^; I also just went through a breakup, so my sore feelings over that may have spilled into this story... still, I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I did writing it! :D
