A/N:

I wanted to post something for the 2 year anniversary of this collection—I'm a little late, but here! (What? Two years already? Yeah. Where all the lilypad stories at, fandom.)

On another note, I should have my multichap lilypad story up soon so look out for it!

Summary: She didn't do blind dates.

"Hi, I'm Lily," the blonde introduced herself with a smile and held her hand out for her blind date to take.

He grasped it firmly and replied simply, "Dell."

He didn't smile in return. But his hands were surprisingly soft, Lily noted absentmindedly. Most men didn't make her so acutely aware of how indelicate her own hands were from playing guitar. Once he let go after an ideal three shakes, she took a seat across from him. His hair was ashen, eyes a deep red and what seemed like a scowl was on his lips. Not necessarily her type, Lily concluded, but not hard on the eyes either. He did look an awful lot like Haku, though.

The words, "Dell? Like the computer?" were on her tongue, but she kept her mouth shut. He probably got that a lot. Hell, she wouldn't like people asking her "Like the flower?" whenever she introduced herself, not that anyone ever did. But she sympathized.

"This is a really nice restaurant," she eventually mused, her eyes scanning the environment around them. Dimmed lights, soft music and elegant furnishings. She looked down at her dress, smoothing out the creases in the black fabric that formed once she sat down. She already knew her hair and makeup was spot-on; she stopped by the washroom first before making her way to meet him.

Crimson eyes flitted across the room before returning to the menus in front of them. "Yeah, what do you want?"

Lily blinked.

He was barely even talking with her. What kind of first impression was he trying to make? Because "good" was not the kind of vibe she was getting.

"Uh." Lily picked up her own menu and flipped through the pages. "The duck confit sounds good. And, uh, I guess I'll have a Caesar salad for the appetizer."

Dell nodded and waved a waiter over as he recited both their orders. The waiter took both their menus away and wished them a nice evening.

Then there was silence between Lily and her date.

It was awkward. He was barely even looking at her.

"So, Dell," she started, "what do you do for a living?"

He paused. "Coding."

"Oh." That probably explained the soft hands. He didn't particularly do any rough work.

"And you?"

He was holding up a conversation! "Well, I've been moving between jobs lately. I just need some income until I get signed by a record label."

"Music, huh?" She could hear the contempt in his voice.

Lily narrowed her eyes at his tone. "What, you know a lot of musicians?"

"A fair share," he muttered.

"What the hell's with your attitude?" Lily seethed.

He frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"Seriously? The way you looked at me and the way you talked once I said I do music. That attitude!" she elaborated, frustration evident in her voice. "Not even that, you've been standoff-ish the entire date so far. Why are you even here?"

"I'm asking myself that right now," she heard him answer under his breath.

Suddenly, the waiter returned with their appetizers, seemingly unaware of the charged atmosphere between the couple. He delicately placed the plates of food in front of the patrons and left after a few polite words. Lily stabbed into her salad with her fork, silent.

She could barely taste the dressing as she ate the vegetables much faster than she normally would.

"You know," Dell said eventually, in between mouthfuls of soup, "I'm only here because Haku asked me to come."

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I realize that. She set this up. How do you even know her?"

Lily couldn't imagine her friend getting along with this man any better than she was.

"I'm her brother."

She choked on her salad.

Fuck, that made sense. No wonder they looked so much alike. That would also explain why he knew a handful of musicians, since Haku was an aspiring singer like herself. But, hell, she didn't even know her friend had a brother.

"I can't believe she set me up with her brother," Lily gagged. "God, this is why I don't do blind dates. Why the hell did she think we'd hit it off?"

"You think I'd know?"

The blonde let out a frustrated sigh. "I told her. I told her what kinda guy I'm into, and you're nothing like my ideal man, y'know?"

"Let me guess," he started, a humourless smile tugging at the edge of his lips, "your type: tall, dark and handsome? Athletic as hell? Sorry to disappoint you, Sunshine, but ideals are ideals."

"Stop talking like you know me," Lily growled. Though he wasn't completely wrong, not that she'd ever admit that to him.

"You're shallow as fuck. It's not a surprise you're still single," he observed casually.

"Shut up," she hissed. "There's nothing wrong with having a type. Hell, I'd bet that you have a type, too—so piss off."

"I could say that you're my type," he commented, "and that just shows that having an ideal doesn't mean things'll work out. Say, how were your past boyfriends?"

"Stop projecting your exes onto me," Lily sneered. He was starting to anger her now. "And I don't talk about my exes on a first date."

She promptly corrected herself, "Last date."

"Was that supposed to hurt?" he spoke wryly.

"A lot."

He watched her with amused eyes as she glared at him.

The waiter timed his return impeccably again, this time carrying the couple's entrees as they stared each other down. Supposedly in a romantic way, as per the employee's words: "Oh, how the sparks are flying!"

Lily was going to make something fly, all right—

She poked at her duck. "You that desperate? To get laid? Asked Haku to hook you up?"

"Are you forgetting that you're the one who asked to be introduced to someone?" Dell casually pointed out. "I just got dragged into this."

"You could've said 'no'," Lily protested.

"I could've," he echoed. "I never said I didn't want to get laid, though."

He was making fun of her. "Yeah, no. Not gonna happen. Not in a million years."

"Also never said I'd want to do you," he added.

"You'd be so lucky, having me," she stated.

She could see his gaze move from her dolled-up face, then down to her torso and the form-fitting dress that accentuated her curves. "To be honest, you're not my type."

She felt something flare up within her. She couldn't believe she even spent time trying to look pretty for tonight.

"Fuck off," she grumbled, redirecting her attention back to the meal in front of her. The sooner this was over, the sooner she could say goodbye to this asshat.

The duck seemed dry and the vegetables overcooked. Everything was hard to swallow.

She always knew she had terrible luck with men. She had hoped that perhaps Haku knew some nice guys. She wasn't going to admit it, but Dell was right; her ideals were just ideals. Because every single ideal man she had the misfortune of dating—assholes, all of them—had a habit of betraying her expectations, their initial impressions.

Lily absentmindedly wondered if Dell was trying to purposely lower her expectations of him. Honestly, he could only go up hill from here—not unless he started kicking puppies for fun.

How sly.

Still, he was related to Haku. He couldn't be that bad, could he?

They were both well into their entrees before Lily broke the silence, asking, "Why did you agree? To come?"

He stopped, setting his fork and knife down away from his steak. There was a pause, and a dull smile graced his lips as he answered, "To meet one of Haku's friends, I suppose. I can't say that Haku and I are the closest siblings."

Lily blinked.

"Oh." She didn't know what to say to that. Perhaps she did underestimate him.

Then he added with a smirk, "And to be completely honest, you are my type, physically."

She immediately huffed, "Oh, fuck off. Never gonna happen."

Yeah, okay. He was nothing like his sister. Haku was gentle and caring, albeit a bit too sensitive. Dell, on the other hand—he was teasing her relentlessly, wasn't he? How could he be related to someone as sweet as Haku?

"I'll have you know, you're not my type at all. Any of it," Lily informed him.

"I thought we decided this whole 'type' thing wasn't working for you?" he questioned, his attention returning to his meal.

"No, no, no. I never agreed with you on anything!" She frowned.

He watched her, bemused, but didn't speak another word.

A silence enveloped the couple and continued until their dinner came to a close. Lily insisted on paying for her own order, to which Dell allowed much too easily for a date. At least by covering her own tab, she wouldn't feel in debt to this man in any way and could avoid him in the future. Well, as long as she never ran into him while she was with Haku.

The two parted quietly, his insincere "I had a nice night" burning in her mind.

Lily sighed.

This was why she didn't do blind dates.

"Why did you hook me up with your brother?! Of all people!" Lily demanded from her friend the following day.

Haku jumped, startled by Lily's harsh tone. "Huh? I thought you two had a nice time?"

"What? Why would you think that?" She stared at Haku with wide eyes. "We barely talked, and when we did, we were pretty much arguing!"

She frowned. "Really? Well, to be honest, I haven't spoken with Dell personally for a while. Um, we don't get along that well, but that's not the point. Anyway, we actually talked a while last night and he said he wanted to see you again. How did it not go well?"

"Is he a masochist?" Lily blanched. "He's totally a masochist—what the fuck!"

"Um, he said you were fun. Or, er, interesting," she supplemented.

"Honestly, Haku, why did you even ask him to go on a date with me?"

She blinked like the answer was obvious. "I thought you'd get along well."

"Sorry, Haku. I don't think there's anything there," Lily admitted. "We were kinda like water and oil, or something."

"So you don't want to see him again?" Lily could see her friend deflate as she asked for confirmation. God, she could only imagine how excited Haku had gotten, thinking that her brother and one of her good friends were falling in love with each other. Hell, she must've been ecstatic with Dell just agreeing to go on the date in the first place. Being sisters-in-law would be nice, but his wife? Not so much.

Still, Lily paused to think about it.

If there was one thing she got out of the night, it was that she needed to start dating outside of her comfort zone. But not too out there.

Besides that, Haku was looking at her so expectantly.

"I wouldn't mind meeting him again," she answered eventually. "But not as a date. Maybe just talking or something. Like friends."

She beamed, grasping the blonde's hands in excitement. "That's fine! I'll tell him!"

Lily smiled in return as Haku pulled out her cellphone and dialed a number.

She couldn't understand what Dell had to gain in another meeting and he didn't strike her as the kind of person to pointlessly ask to speak with her again, masochist or not.

But when she looked at the grin on Haku's face as she spoke with her brother on the phone, it all started to come together.

And maybe, under different circumstances, they really could be friends.

A/N:

I'm not sure what I wanted to do with this myself? Or, well, here is Lily and Dell not hitting it off! And I do like me some family relations. I think they'd need a mediator to work out awkward sibling issues lmao

Yet again, I'd like to thank everyone for the 2 years . . . Which story has been your favourite?

Personally, mine is "Five Times Lily Got Drunk". By no means is it perfect (I can see things that can definitely be improved on), but it's just the one I'm most happy with, probably because it depicts them in the type of relationship I like them having the most. And it's fun.

(I don't think they're romantic people, so putting them in lovey-dovey situations doesn't work for me. Not unless I'm breaking their hearts, which you do see me writing pretty often, but I digress. But this actually reflects the fact that the oneshots more "love"-based are the ones I'm least happy with haha.)