This Love…

Season 1 Episode 4: First Date

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Aiden asked, looking around for his phone.

"Don't you dare play stupid with me!" Rafe said, clenching his fists and looking ready for another go at Aiden. I just heard you making plans for another date with Hope! You're sick and twisted, you know that? You have nothing left to blackmail her with. If you actually think she'd go back to you, you're even more delusional than I thought!"

"Rafe! What in the world is going on?" Hope asked, entering the park with the twins in their double stroller. She looked to see Aiden sitting on the ground, his mouth bleeding. "Aiden, what happened?"

Aiden glared at Rafe. "Your husband's what happened! I was on the phone making special plans for a date tonight, and he pummeled me out of nowhere!"

Rafe looked at Hope. "He was making plans for a romantic and private date with you tonight."

Hope scrunched her eyebrows in confusion. "What?" She looked At Aiden. "Aiden, why would you be doing that?" She looked a little scared.

Aiden rolled his eyes. He found his phone, then stood up, and wiped his pants off. "I was not making a date to go out with you. Don't be ridiculous! Believe it or not, I found another woman—this one actually being interested in me. My plans were made for her; not you." He glared at Rafe.

Rafe crossed his arms over his chest. He wasn't buying it. "You told whomever you were on the phone with that you were starting over."

Aiden nodded. "Yeah, I am starting over by dating someone else!"

Rafe snorted. "Who would want to go out with you?"

Aiden, scowled. "Not that it's any of your business, but I am going with the owner of the Town Square Café. I met her just from being a customer there. She waited on me one night. She was attracted to me, I was attracted to her; you get the picture. Then again, maybe you don't. I know you're a little dimwitted. Do you need me to explain it to you again, only this time slower?"

Rafe started to walk toward Aiden again, fists ready for a fight.

Aiden laughed, palms up, and stepped back as Hope held Rafe back. "Relax! I was only joking. I think I have the right to one dig at you seeing as you just punched me out—under false pretenses at that!"

"Rafe, we we're in front of the twins. Do not do this right now." Hope glared Rafe as she scolded him. She then glared at Aiden too. "Either of you!"

Aiden held up his hands again, and looked her in the eyes. "Hey, I was minding my own business, making plans to move on. Isn't moving on what you want me to do? Your husband here is the one who punched me out simply because he jumped to the wrong conclusions. He shouldn't have been listening to my private conversation anyway."

Rafe glared at him.

Hope saw the look on Rafe's face and placed a hand over his shoulder. "Don't!" she said firmly. She turned to Aiden. "Rafe should not have punched you, but when you make a call in a public place, people are going to overhear your conversation. You can't get on him for that!"

Aiden shrugged. "Maybe not, but he still had no right to punch me. As a cop he should know better. You know, this is the second time he has lost his temper and punched me. You would think by now he'd learn to get his temper under control."

"If the twins weren't here, I'd do it again," Rafe said coldly.

Hope shot Rafe a look and swatted him. "Stop that! Aiden is right about that. You're a cop! Do you want to lose your badge? Do you know how lucky we were to even get our jobs back after the stuff we've both done in the past? You with your cover ups and me with…murdering Stefano?"

"I can't help it!" Rafe said. He glared at Aiden. "He just makes me so mad!"

Aiden rolled his eyes. "Yeah, well the feeling's mutual, Buddy. I could press charges, you know."

Hope reached into her purse and took out a tissue. She handed it to Aiden. "Put that on your lip. You need pressure to stop the bleeding."

"Thanks," Aiden said, doing as told.

"Please don't press charges, Aiden. I know what Rafe did was wrong. I'm sorry. He's just very protective of me," Hope said softly.

Rafe looked at her. "Excuse me, but I don't need you apologizing for me or making excuses. I'm not five years old!"

Hope glared at him. "Then stop acting like you are!"

Rafe looked hurt.

"I'm not going to press charges. I wouldn't do that to the twins," Aiden said softly.

Hope weakly smiled. "Thank you," she said, placing a hand over his shoulder.

Aiden looked at her hand, and she quickly removed it, nervously wiping it against the side of her skinny jeans.

Rafe rolled his eyes. "How noble of you."

"Rafe, stop it! If you don't want me apologizing for you, then you do it yourself!" Hope snapped.

Rafe sneered at Aiden. "I'm sorry," he said. "I just find it hard to believe that any woman would want trash like you."

"Rafe…" Hope warned.

Aiden shook his head. "That's okay. It's fine. After all, I made a dig at him, right? We hate each other. We always will. Shooting digs at each other is just what we do. I'm going to go see Chase now. You two have a nice evening." He then turned and headed toward the cemetery.

"Son of a bitch!" Rafe muttered to himself as he watched Aiden disappear into the cemetery. He wished Aiden could disappear period.

"Rafe, you have got to stop being so paranoid about Aiden! More importantly, you have got to learn to control your temper! One of these days he's going to run out of patience and press charges against you," Hope scolded.

Rafe turned his attention to her. "He's not refraining from pressing charges because of the twins. He's doing it to impress you!"

Hope rolled her eyes. "Rafe, please don't start this again. Heck, even if he was, who cares? The bottom line is you're not going to have to pay for punching him out."

"You didn't have to stick up for him over me you know. You played right into his pocket. And I still don't believe he was making plans to go out with the owner of the Town Square Café." Rafe rolled his eyes. "Please!"

"I stick up for whomever is in the right, and in this case it was him. You can't just go punching him every time he upsets you!" Hope chastised.

Rafe shrugged. "Why not?"

Hope rolled her eyes. "For one, it's barbaric. For two, you're a cop and I want you to lead a good example for our twins."

Rafe sighed. "Fine. I'm sorry. I'll try to control myself better."

Hope raised an eyebrow. "And to not jump to conclusions?"

"I can't make any promises," Rafe grumbled, taking the stroller and rolling it on ahead.

Hope rolled her eyes, then ran to catch up with him.

~*came back to me.*~

"Hello again, Son," Aiden said as he dropped by Chase's grave on the way to pick up Amy. He held two bouquets in his hands. One held red roses. The other held forget-me-nots. He placed the forget-me-nots down onto Chase's grave. "Here you go. Sorry. I was going to get them yesterday but figured I'd just wait until I got Amy's roses. Forget-Me-Nots aren't too girly, right? Plus they're blue. You always loved blue." Aiden took a deep breath and slowly let it out. "Do you think she'll like these?" He held up the red roses. "I know most all women, if not all women, love roses. And I figured red was a color everyone likes. I'm really nervous about tonight. I'm just afraid I'll mess up somehow. It seems like I'm always messing up in relationships. I wasn't as good of a husband as I could have been to your mother, and with Hope…" Aiden looked down to the ground with shame. "Well, we both know what how I treated Hope. I know this is just a first date and all, but I want to do better with Amy. I want to be a guy she wants to date. Heck, who knows? I know it's way too early to tell, but maybe she could one day be my third and final wife. You think maybe? I wish she could have gotten to know you. She'd love you. I know she would." Aiden looked at his watch. "Well, I guess I better head over there so I'm not late. What kind of impression would that make on her if I was late for my first date, right?" Aiden smiled weakly. "I love you, Son." He gently pat the top of Chase's grave. "I'll let you know how things go. Wish me luck!" Aiden then took off, ready or not, for his date.

~*came back to me.*~

Aiden rang the doorbell at Amy's condo. Her condo was at the end of the hallway, and there was a full-length mirror against the end wall that he checked himself of in as he waited for her to answer.

She smoothed his hair back with his hands and made sure that his black dress pants still had the crease in them. They did. He also wore the matching black suit jacket. His black patent leather dress shoes were still shiny and un-scuffed. His royal purple socks matched his royal purple dress shirt, and his silver tie looked nice against the shirt.

Just then, the door opened.

Amy giggled. "Are you checking yourself out?"

Aiden blushed, and turned to face her. "Sorry. I just wanted to make sure I didn't look like, as the kids nowadays say, 'a hot mess' for our date tonight."

Amy smirked. "You only look like half of a hot mess, and I don't mean the 'mess' part; just the hot part." She winked and smiled at him.

Again, Aiden blushed. He didn't know why she made him blush so much. He usually wasn't a blusher. "You look pretty hot yourself tonight," he told her.

She smiled. "Why thank you!" She twirled around, giving him a 360 degree view of her hot pink lace dress. She also wore strappy metallic gold high-heels. She didn't appear to be wearing any tights, but her legs still looked smooth and flawless. Her lips were a bright pink like her dress. "I'm glad you like it." She winked at him again, and clutched her metallic gold clutch purse close to her chest. "So where are you taking me?"

"I'm taking you to Chez Rouge. I figured it would be nice for us to be able to talk, and to get to know each other," he said.

"Oo, that sounds wonderful! So fancy!" She latched onto his arm as they waited for the elevator. "And what about afterwards?"

"I looked up the movie times. There are a few movies that really look good," Aiden told her. He allowed her to step into the now opened elevator first, then he stepped in after her.

"A movie?" Amy asked as the doors closed in front of them.

"Yeah, if that's okay with you," Aiden told her. "I just figured we could do the typical dinner and a movie for our first date."

"I think it's just an excuse so you can cuddle up next to me in the dark," Amy said, latching onto his arm again, and looking up at him with her head resting against his shoulder.

He blushed yet again. "N-N-No… I just meant—"

Amy laughed. "Will you relax?" She playfully swatted his chest. "I was just messing with you. Lighten up! There's no reason to be nervous. We're just going on a date like a couple of adults."

Aiden relaxed a little, feeling kind of silly. Stop acting like a teenager! You've been on several dates before. This one is no different. Now stop acting like you did in Junior High, and start acting like the adult you are! He quietly chastised himself.

The doors opened, and he headed out with Amy. "You really do look beautiful tonight. Not that it surprises me. You're so beautiful, I think it's impossible for you to not look beautiful," he said to her. He kissed her hand.

It was Amy's turn to blush this time. "Looks like I found myself a real charmer. I like it!" She grinned.

Aiden grinned too, and opened the passenger door for her.

"And not only that, but you're a gentleman too! Who says chivalry is dead?" she asked happily.

He smiled at her. "I'm just treating the princess like the princess she is," he said.

"Oh yeah, first date and I can already tell you're a keeper!" she said.

Aiden grinned before shutting her door. "Now you're getting it," he said to himself as he headed to the driver's side. Now if he could keep it up for the rest of the date, he'd be all set!

~*came back to me.*~

"Mm! The food here is so good! Also, it feels nice to not only not have to be the one serving, but to be able to sit down and relax with a handsome man at a fancy restaurant as well," Amy said.

Aiden looked around. "A handsome man? Where? Who?"

Amy laughed. "Oh, stop it! You're handsome and you know it!"

He grinned. "I'm sure not everyone thinks so."

"Well, if they don't, they're either blind or idiots," Amy said simply.

"Thank you for saying that," Aiden replied. He really liked Amy. She was a sweetheart. He wasn't quite feeling the butterflies that Hope always gave him, but he would give it time. After all, this was only their first date.

They finished their meals.

"Would you like dessert?" Aiden asked her. They have a really good chocolate cake here."

Amy shook her head. "I'm one of the rare people who don't like chocolate!" She then got the flirty look in her eyes again as she kicked off a shoe and seductively slipped her foot under his pant leg, moving it slowly up and down his leg. "There are other kind of desserts I could go for though," she purred.

Aiden swallowed hard. Wow, this girl moves fast! he thought. It was a little too fast for his taste.

He stood up, and extended his hand to her. "Care to dance?"

She looked a little put off, but quickly recovered. She grinned. "Sure! Why not? I love to dance!" She put her shoe back on, then took his hand, letting him help her up and lead her out onto the dance floor.

They began to slow dance.

Amy put her hands over his buns and squeezed hard. "Oops!" she teased. "Did I miss your lower back?"

"Actually, your hands are supposed to be over my shoulders," he corrected her, feeling his face flush yet again. What was it with this girl moving so fast? he wondered.

"I know. I just prefer to be the one to lead," she said with a wink, moving his arms so that they were draped over her shoulders instead of around her waist.

Aiden smiled weakly. He was beginning to see that Amy was a little eccentric. It was okay though. In a strange way, he found her oddness fun. It was a change from the usual women he had dated.

They danced to a few songs, then decided to head out and see the movie. Aiden was almost glad it was time to see a movie. At least now he didn't have to talk. After all, sometimes it was nice simply just being with someone—no words needed. He and Hope had had moments like that…

He shook Hope from his mind, and put his mind back on Amy and the movie they were headed to see.

~*came back to me.*~

They had agreed upon what movie to see, and after purchasing their popcorn, sodas, and non-chocolate candy, they took their seats. Amy, of course, wanted to sit in the very back.

All throughout the move, Amy kept trying to grope him. Aiden felt as if he were being sexually assaulted! He knew Amy was just being forward, but it made him really uncomfortable. It got so bad that, at one point, he eventually moved a chair down and set his suit jacket on the chair between him and Amy to give her the hint to not sit there.

After the movie, as they exited the theater, Amy gently touched is shoulder. "Did I do something wrong?"

"Amy, look. I'm sorry. I just don't think it's going to work out between us. You are a very nice girl and extremely beautiful, but...I think you're looking for a relationship that is a bit faster moving than I am ready for right now," Aiden said gently. "I'm sorry if I came off as a jerk in the theater. I wasn't trying to hurt your feelings. I just didn't feel comfortable with all the groping. Again, I'm sorry."

Amy shook her head. "I'm the one who's sorry. I shouldn't have tried moving too fast. I'm used to having moved fast in past relationships. I haven't exactly had a great track record with guys. Most of the guys I've dated had wanted to move fast. I've even had some men dump me for not moving fast enough for their taste. I really like you and I guess I was just afraid of losing you if I went too slowly. Can you forgive me?"

Aiden smiled. "Of course I can. I promise I'm not like any of those jerks. I had a bad breakup last relationship, and I just want to take things slow this time around."

"You've already proven you're not like those other guys," Amy said. She smiled. "And you know what?"

Aiden smiled too. "What?"

"I think taking it slow sounds real nice," Amy said, taking his hand.

He brought her hand to his lips. "Thank you for understanding."

"Of course!" Amy said. She yawned. "Not to sound like a party-pooper, but I have to be at the café early tomorrow. I'm ready to go home to bed—by myself to sleep!" she quickly added with a chuckle.

Aiden laughed too. "Let's get you home then."

"Thanks!" she said.

He then drove her home and walked her to her condo. He did give her a sweet goodnight kiss on the lips. It was nothing too passionate, but it made them both smile nonetheless.

"Call me soon?" she asked.

He nodded. "Definitely!"

"Goodnight," she said with a smile as she opened her door.

"Goodnight," he said, smiling back.

She then entered her condo and shut and locked the door behind her.

Aiden then headed for home. He had really enjoyed tonight once they had gotten past the groping incident. And who knew? Maybe she would be the new "one".

With a smile, he headed onto the elevator. It was late. He'd tell Chase about his date tomorrow instead of tonight.