Stella was still nervous. She had taken a shower and then she had decided for a dress. She wanted to wear the neckerchief that Mac gave her and that's why she had to choose a dress where a lime neckerchief would fit to. So she decided for a green dress. It was a bit darker green then the neckerchief. It was olivine and had a short crinkle chiffon dress with a charmeuse braided neckline and back criss cross straps. The skirt ended above her knees. She also chose green stilettos which haven't very high heels. She let her hair fall to her shoulders and put on some make up. She had just finished when she heard a soft knock on her door. She picked up her purse from the sideboard next to her door and opened it. Mac looked at her and he seemed to like what he was seeing.

"Hey Mac. Satisfied?" She asked him.

"Absolutely. Are you ready to go?" he asked back.

"Yep." She closed the door behind her and locked it.

"You look beautiful, Stell." He said on the way to the car.

"Thank you. Just like you, Mac." She answered and gave him one of her lovely smiles that made him melt like ice in the sunshine. Normally, but he kept his condition because he always thought he has to. He learned that through the years. But he promised himself to change that a bit and to show some of his emotions to Stella. If they would work out like he wished it would. He knew that he can trust her and he tried to show that to her, but it was a bit hard for him after Claire died and Peyton left him. Peyton had been right. There wouldn't have been a way for them and their love but still he thought she chose a bad way to tell him. But that was another story and now he would concentrate on the only woman left in his life. Or at least the only woman he would like to live with and he would do anything for. He finally managed to ask her out on a date.

"Thanks." He said and smiled back. When they reached his car he opened the door on the passenger's site and helped her to get in. After he closed the door he went to the driver's seat and got into the car, too. Then he made their way through the traffic and to their destination.

On the way to the little restaurant where he wanted to have his dinner with Stella they talked about all the world and his brother. But after a while of having small talk she was curious.

"Mac… how long were you planning this?" She asked him. This question bothered her the whole day.

"To be honest Stella… I thought about that quite a long time before I was brave enough to ask you today. But I planned this last week or so. Why do want to know it?"

"I'm just curious, because… it seemed that everybody was surprised by that but it also seemed like they expected something like that from you."

"Um… actually I planned this alone and… I just told Lindsay about it because she was in that restaurant the day I made the reservation. She heard that I reserved a table for two for today and she was curious and asked me. I just told her that I wanted to have dinner with you because it's your birthday. She didn't know that I would ask you out and she promised to tell nobody. That's all. Maybe she told Danny that I had planned something for you and you know what they are like." He said with a grin.

"Yeah… whenever one of us has a date and one of them figure out a few hours later everyone knows. But can you resent them talking about it?"

"Honestly? No. We're the most important persons for them. I'm their boss and you're my best friend and we are their friends. It's normal that they want to know everything."

"And they just want the best for us." Stella said with a smile. They looked at each other for a few seconds before Mac concentrated on the traffic again.

"I think… when I remember the thing with Frankie years ago… if you wouldn't have killed him in self defense… some of us would have killed him for doing that to you what he did." Mac said thoughtful. Actually Stella didn't want to talk about Frankie and what happened that day but she knew that Mac was right. One of her friends would have killed him. Or at least would have taken him to task for that." She said. She wanted to sound as normal as possible but the images of that night were still strong enough to bring up emotions that made her feel like she wanted to cry even though it happened many years ago. Mac heard and felt it while she was talking.

"I'm sorry Stell. I didn't want to remind you of this if it still hurts you or make you sad."

"You don't need to apologize, Mac. This happened many years ago and I didn't think about it for a long time to get over it." The rest of their way they drove in comfortable silence. When they finally arrived at their destination and they were walking into the restaurant Stella broke the silence.

"You know… you have that special feeling for me… you know me that well that you can feel it when something is bothering me. I'm really happy to have a friend like you, Mac." She said.

"It's the same with you and me the other way round and I'm happy to have you as my friend, too."