"No. I know he meant it. And maybe…maybe, he's right."

Neal hated doubting himself. But with everything that had happened and what Peter said, the young conman was starting to have second thoughts. Except for Kate. He stared out the window, thinking how nice the Burkes' house was. It was so warm and friendly, that Neal was seriously considering how pleasant it would be to stop running for a while and settle down. He knew El already cared about him and he thought Peter did. Though that would probably take some convincing.

The young conman quietly picked up the phone, checking to make sure El was downstairs and Peter was out. Neal flipped the business card between nimble fingers and slowly dialed the number.

"Is Kate Moreau there?" he asked.

"Yes, who is this?"

"Tell her it's Neal Caffrey." Neal tapped his fingers restlessly against the windowsill.

"Hey, Neal" the cool voice on the other end of the line suddenly turned bright and sweet.

"Kate. I've been wanting to ask you something. There's a new exhibit opening at the Met. You want to go?" Neal held his breath.

"Neal…are you serious?"

"Yeah. Okay, never mind. It was a bad idea, I should-"

"No! No, I mean I want to go…it's just…" Kate trailed off.

"Just what?" Neal felt the disappointment rising up.

"Never mind. I'll meet you on the museum steps at three on Tuesday?" the cheery tone was back in Kate's voice, but Neal could tell it was forced.

"See you then." Neal decided to play along. He hung up, wondering what was up with Kate. He barely knew her, but already he knew something was wrong.

"Neal, you okay in there?" El's voice filtered through the door.

"Of course! Not a problem. Everything is just great!" Neal quickly put the phone down and smiled as El came into the room. She looked around suspiciously, but Neal had conveniently placed an open book in front of him, so that he appeared to be reading.

"Guess what?"

"What?" El placed her hands on her hips and frowned at him.

"I'm going on a date."

"What?!" two very loud exclamations more or less shook the Burke household. One was a very excited exclamation from El and the other, a not so excited yell from Peter.

"Oh sweetie, that's wonderful! Where are you going?" El beamed.

"The Met. There's a new exhibit there and I thought Kate and I could go see it."

"Well, taking a girl to a dusty old museum sounds wonderful" Peter grouchily muttered.

"Hey! Our first date wasn't so wonderful either" El laughed at her husband, who immediately blushed.

"Peter took me out to the local pizzeria. He was so awkward the entire time. By the time our waiter brought the food, Peter was about to run out."

"I was not," Peter said indignantly.

"Hon, by the time we were ready to leave, you got out of the chair so fast you knocked into a waiter and sent an entire pizza flying into someone's lap" El burst into giggles at the mere thought of it.

"It was an accident. Besides, the people were very understanding about it."

"Mm-hmm…especially after you offered to pay for their dinner." El smirked.

Peter folded his arms and glared as Neal and El smirked at him.

"Just bring some extra cash," Peter said to Neal, the conman rolling his eyes.

Neal paced the steps. He had already been there for a half hour and he was starting to wonder what had happened to Kate. Perhaps she had had an accident.

At four o'clock, Neal finally realized that Kate wasn't going to come and left.

~TBC

Sorry, I know this chapter is short, but at least it's something! Feel free to leave a review! This story will be over in a few more chapters.
Note: The part about El and Peter's first date is something I completely made up!