Dick and Kori had agreed to go on their date on the Friday of that week. For both of them, the week had seemed to drag on since they had decided to go on a date together. Kori found it difficult to go through the school day without seeing any of the Raymere group. She got along with them all so well and she missed them whilst she had to hang out with Xavier and the others.

Initially, the first couple of days after Kori and Xavier's breakup were filled with the two of them being bitter towards one another. However, Kori decided that it was petty to act in such a way if they had any hopes of staying 'friends' with each other.

She knew that Xavier still had some form of control over her in the sense that he would always interrogate her because his personality was that way inclined. He was the type of person who thought he had a right to know everything about everyone; especially her considering she had been his girlfriend for so long.

Kori sighed as she closed the door to her locker. She flipped her hair over her shoulder and settled her books within her bag. She strolled down the hallway and headed for the main double doors of the school. The day had finally ended and she was tired from her day but she was buzzing with excitement for her date with Dick. Every time that she thought about him in the past week, she had been unable to fight a smile from crossing her features. He was just so sweet and kind and she could honestly see herself happily dating him.

As Kori walked out into the light breeze that flowed within the air, she grimaced at the sight of her 'friends' who were huddled together, gossiping about their weekend plans that Kori didn't care for in the slightest.

"Kori!" Kitten beckoned, causing Kori to cringe. She had hoped that she could simply slip past them without them noticing her but apparently, she had failed.

Kori plastered a fake smile across her lips and forced her legs to carry her over to the group of jocks and cheerleaders. They had no dynamics even close to the group of friends she had at Raymere. They all talked about each other behind their backs and more often than not, none of them were at all trustworthy.

"Hey Kori," Roy hummed, raking his eyes over her form. Roy Harper literally made Kori feel sick. He had tried to get with her so many times and he didn't handle rejection all too well either. She had continuously declined his advances and thought little of him. Kori honestly considered Roy as the definition of pathetic.

"Hello, Roy," Kori responded, trying hard not to let her disgust show.

"Kori, we're hanging out at X's tonight. You coming?" Kitten asked, leaning against Roy in a provocative manner. That was another thing that caused Kori to think Roy was a pig; he had been with Barbra, Terra and was currently seeing Kitten. He was a pure womanizer; it was repulsive.

Kori suddenly registered the question that Kitten had asked her, in her head. She gulped and panicked for a moment. She had her date with Dick and she didn't plan on cancelling but she wasn't sure what her response would be. She knew for a fact that they would interrogate her; especially Xavier. She glanced up at him and he was already eyeing her suspiciously.

"Uh... No... Apologies, I am busy," Kori told them,

"With what?" Terra asked, crossing her arms over her chest,

"It is... Personal." Kori paused, "Perhaps, next time?"

The majority of the group shrugged Kori's excuse off and started walking further into the car park.

Kori sighed, relieved that they had dropped the subject. She froze however as she turned to leave. She felt a firm hand against her shoulder. Kori closed her eyes for a brief moment and remained calm and collected.

She turned around and noticed the mix of emotions in Xavier's eyes. He was confused at her decline of hanging out, jealous that she had other things to do and angry because he couldn't tell her what to do anymore.

"Yes, Xavier?" She prompted, irritated by having to wait for him to speak,

"Are you not coming tonight cause' we broke up?" He asked,

"No. I already told you that we can remain friends and I was being truthful when I said that. I simply do have plans."

"Okay... Then what are you doing?"

"I told you... It is personal."

"Kori, we went out for 3 years. There's nothing personal about you that I don't already know."

"Well that is where you are wrong, Xavier. This is a personal thing which you do not know about."

"Why won't you tell me?"

"Because you are no longer my boyfriend; I do not have to tell you everything anymore."

Xavier stayed silent as Kori rolled her eyes and turned away from him. This time, he didn't try to stop her. She even heard him as he walked in the opposite direction and hurried to catch up with the others.

Kori breathed a sigh of relief. She needed to get home so she could prepare for her date with Dick.

Dick had told Kori to dress casual and at first she had been very curious as to what they were doing for their first date. However, Kori now understood why she was told to go against a fancy dress. Dick had brought her to the park for their date.

Kori smiled as Dick used his arms to signal this was where their date was taking place, "I promise... It's better than you think." He vowed,

Kori giggled, "Actually, I think the park is a nice change of location instead of a normal dinner date."

Dick grinned and gently took her hand in his. She blushed slightly but allowed him to lead her into the park. Kori glanced around at the grass. The newly risen moon had cast quite the lighting effect across the grounds. She genuinely thought his choice of location for their date was exceptionally romantic.

Finally, after walking for about 10 minutes, Dick stopped which caused Kori to look up. Her smile vanished and her expression was replaced with shock and admiration. He was right; it was better than she thought it was going to be.

He had led her to the wooden gazebo that he had found her sheltering in a couple of days beforehand but it had been completely done up. There were bright fairy lights draped over the roof of the gazebo in a delicate fashion with a couple of lights hanging off of the edge so that the inside was lit up. Kori felt her heart race as she noticed a light blue blanket spread out inside of the gazebo with a couple of white candles lit around the blanket. In the middle of the blanket, there was a light coloured wicker picnic basket. Kori was speechless; she had never seen something so beautiful. Every date that she had ever been on had been the same; a dinner date and a movie or something similar.

"Richard..." She breathed, scanning her eyes over the sight again.

"Do... You like it?" He hoped,

Kori turned her head and faced him, "It is amazing..." She replied,

Dick favoured her with a grin and led her up the steps of the wooden gazebo and they simultaneously lowered themselves onto the blanket.

"Did you do this yourself?" Kori wondered, indicating the decoration of the gazebo,

Dick nodded, "With some help from Wally and Ryan, of course."

"It truly is beautiful..." Kori returned, gazing around at the bright spectacle that surrounded her.

He smiled and reached behind him to grab the picnic basket. He opened the flap of the basket and obtained a clear container of salad, 2 plates, 2 bottles of soda, a loaf of soft white bread, some butter, cheese and ham. He laid the food out in front of her and reached back into the basket and brought out some cutlery.

"Is salad okay? I wasn't sure what you liked and I didn't know if-" Kori cut him off,

"Salad is my favourite." She paused and her expression softened, "Richard, please relax... I am already having a wonderful time with you..."

It was Dick's turn to blush. He cleared his throat and his shoulders slumped a little bit, signalling that he had calmed down ever so slightly. He proceeded to dish out the healthy meal equally between them and cut them a couple of slices of bread too. He smeared some butter over the bread and placed the ham and cheese neatly so that Kori could get some if she wanted to.

Kori picked up her fork and immediately took a bite of the fresh lettuce before her. She closed her mouth as she absorbed the refreshing taste of the salad.

"I did not know that salad could taste better than other salads. This is very tasty!" She exclaimed,

Dick swallowed his own bite and smiled at her, "My butler, Alfred, prepared the food for us."

"You have a butler?"

"Heh... Yeah... Well, we count him as family to be completely honest."

Kori nodded as she took a swig from her bottle of soda. There was a brief silence which was filled with Kori staring at Dick's face. He seemed so nervous around her tonight and she didn't know how to feel about that. She softly touched his hand.

"Richard... Are you alright? You seem... Distant..." Kori explained,

Dick sighed and stared back at her whilst biting his lip. He had certain things on his mind. He really liked Kori and he really wanted to go out with her properly but part of him felt like he was simply... A rebound. She had seemed genuinely excited about the date but he couldn't help but wonder if she actually liked him or not.

"I just... I'm just a little bit worried that... I'm your rebound or something." He paused, "I mean... You broke up with Xavier at the start of this week and I'm just wondering if... You're sure that you're over him... I want you to be sure about this date..."

Kori tilted her head to the side and offered him a soft smile, "I can understand why that would cross your mind but you can relax. I felt trapped being in a relationship with Xavier. He stopped me from doing so many things and hanging out with so many people. He made me feel like some kind of prisoner." She took a breath, "I am certain that I am over him. I feel nothing for him because I know that the version of him that I originally developed feelings for is long gone... Richard, believe me. I would never use someone as the rebound and I would not have agreed to this date if I did not feel ready."

"Really?"

Kori nodded, "Besides..." She blushed, "I believe I have developed... Certain feelings that aided me in agreeing to attend this date..."

He smirked. He was pretty sure that she had just admitted to liking him. He shuffled a little bit closer to her and boldly grabbed her hand, "If you just said what I think you said... Then... I like you too, Kori..."

For a moment, Dick prayed that she had meant that because there was no way he could take that statement back. His fears evaporated as Kori gave him a bashful smirk,

"Good..." She whispered, noting the fact that their faces were only inches away from each others.

Kori breathed deeply and flickered her eyes towards Dick's lips which were parted slightly. She wondered if she should kiss him because she wasn't entirely sure if he was going to kiss her.

He slowly brushed some of her auburn hair behind her ear and ended up cupping her cheek afterwards. Kori gulped as his eyes melded with hers. She felt her breathing stop for a second as she revelled in the idea of kissing the dark haired boy in front of her.

Dick inhaled a deep breath and decided that if she didn't want this, she would have pushed him away by now. So, in a quick motion, he seared his lips to hers. He experienced an immediate rush of emotions and he felt his heart beat so fast that he was honestly scared that it would shoot out of his chest. Kori's lips felt warm and they fit against his perfectly. He also picked up on the fact that she tasted like some kind of strawberry sherbet.

He pulled away after a moment, deciding that he wanted to check her reaction to his impulsive action. His nerves melted away as he saw her timidly smile up at him.

"Was... Was that okay? Did I overstep any boundaries or-" Dick was cut off by the red head smiling at him,

She shook her head, "You did not overstep anything. I am glad that you kissed me. I am glad that we kissed."

Kori leaned her forehead against his and ran a slender hand through his mess of ebony hair...