"She's just as nervous as you are."

"Thank you, Isaac. I know that you can sense what she's feeling and stuff but I don't need to know about your special connection!" I snapped as I searched through my closet for the perfect shirt.

"Yeah, I'm not sensing it through a special connection. She just texted me and told me that she's really nervous. Which is how I know that she's really nervous."

Scott laughed and I threw a shirt at him over my shoulder. I growled, "Shut up and help me pick a shirt."

"Dude, Carter literally sees you all of the time. You spend more time with Carter than you do almost anybody else. I'm pretty sure you could show up in what you wore to school today and she wouldn't care."

"Look, if she's making a big deal about it, then I should make a big deal about it. Because if she thinks it's important enough to dress up and be nervous, then it is, and I should take it really seriously. If I don't take it serious, she won't think that I'm serious. And then she won't think that our potential relationship is serious."

"You are so overthinking this," Scott laughed.

"I am definitely not overthinking this. Carter's probably overthinking this too. Isn't that right?"

"Carter is going into this knowing exactly what she's going to do, how she's going to do it, and why," Isaac replied. "She knew what was going to happen before you asked her on a date."

"Shut up, Isaac."

"I can't help that Carter's smarter than you."

"She's not smarter than me. She's just…."

"Smarter than you."

"Hey, don't sweat it, Stiles. Allison was smarter than me. She's a ton smarter than Isaac. And Kira's way smarter than me. And Lydia was way smarter than you. It's cool. I think they might have to be smarter than us. Because we do some really stupid stuff. And, when they're with us, the stuff we do isn't so stupid."

"That's a really good theory. Now, seriously, what should I wear?"

It was thirty minutes later that I appeared at Carter's door and knocked quietly. She opened the door and I was floored. Her long red hair flowed down over her shoulders and almost matched the red of the polka dotted red and white dress she was wearing. My eyes traced over her, coming back up to stop on the deep red smile adorning her face. She informed me, "You just missed Lydia and Danny."

"I'm not here to see Lydia and Danny," I retorted.

"Good. Where are we going?"

"You'll find out when we get there. Come on. Get in the jeep."

She rolled her eyes and brushed past me. The smell of fresh mown grass and the rain wafted off of her and I breathed it in before I followed her. She was buckling herself into the jeep when I slid in next to her. She asked again, "Where are we going?"

"Again, Carter, you'll find out when we get there." I started the jeep and pulled away. She reached across the seat and took my hand, threading our fingers together and leaning her head back against the headrest. I squeezed her hand and she closed her eyes.

"Are we going to the movies?"

"Carter, stop that," I scolded. "It's a surprise. Quit."

"But Stiles…."

"Nope. Hush." I let go of her hand for just a second so I could flip on the radio. For the rest of the ride, her thumb tapped a rhythm on my hand while she sang under her breath. We parked outside of a restaurant and she peeked over at me.

"This is stop number one of the night," I announced. "They have the best wings you will ever eat in your life and some of the best burgers. And it's two meats for the price of one night."

"Stiles, these are the reasons my heart thrums for you," she replied with an ecstatic grin.

She let go of my hand and climbed out. I locked the Jeep and caught up with her, slipping my hand back into hers. We walked inside and took a booth in the back. When our waitress got over to us, I'd spent so much time looking over the top of my menu at her, that I had no idea what I wanted to order. So, when the lady asked, "What are you having today?"

"She can order first," I pointed to Carter quickly.

"Mm. I'll take a cheeseburger with everything on it, a side order of wings, and a side of fries. With a sweet tea, please."

The waitress's eyes drifted over Carter and she asked, "Honey, are you sure? You know our side of wings is ten wings. And our burgers aren't small."

"I know. The menu said ten wings. That should be enough. I'll look at the dessert menu afterwards. Thank you." Carter smiled up at her.

"I'll have the same thing as her," I informed the waitress.

She nodded, wrote it down, took our menus, and left. Carter whispered conspiratorially, "I don't think she thinks I can eat all of it."

"I know you can," I whispered back and Carter laughed.

"I'm glad you have faith in me, Stiles. Now, what are we doing after this?"

"We are doing something very secretive that I can't tell you about until we are absolutely in the middle of it," I replied.

"Idiot."

"Okay, so, as your official first date that doesn't suck…"

"That's still to be decided."

I rolled my eyes at her and continued like she hadn't said anything, "We need to do all the official first date kind of things. We need to have awkward small talk, terrible pick-up lines and innuendoes to see if you're interested in going home with me at the end of the night, and then, I'll try to be cute and steal from your plate."

"Okay, well, I guess I should deal with these now. You know almost everything about me. Small talk is hard. Although, you have awkward down to a tee. I am very interested to hear your terrible pick-up lines. At the end of the night, of course we're going to make out in your jeep. But, this will have to be a really good date for you to get to second base. And, if you try to steal from my plate, you will get a fork in your hand. That's not a joke."

I grinned at her. "Well, I'll start then. Are you a tower?"

"Mmm. No, why do you ask?"

"Because Eiffel for you."

Carter laughed and replied, "So, are you Jamaican?"

"Hmm, not since the last time I checked. Why?"

"Cause Jamaican me crazy."

I snorted and that went back and forth until the waitress brought out food. As soon as the waitress sat it down, I reached over and stole a fry off her plate, and immediately got my hand slapped. She warned, "Next time, you'll get a fork in your hand. Remember that."

"I wish I knew a line about getting stabbed."

"I know some that aren't just cheesey pick up lines."

"Pervert," I accused.

"Without a doubt. Don't tell my brother though."

"Something tells me Brian already knows ever."

She snorted again and ordered, "Eat your food so we can get to the next part of our date."

It was movie perfect. She swatted me when I licked my finger and wiped barbeque sauce off her cheek. We told stupid jokes. We shared a piece of chocolate cake at the end of dinner and I insisted on paying the bill and she paid the tip. Then, we held hands on the way out to the jeep.

As soon as she was buckled in again, she demanded, "Okay, where are we going?"

"I can't tell you until we get there," I refused to answer her once again.

"Ugh, Stiles. It's six thirty already. Can't I just know things?"

"Absolutely not."

"Ugh!"

"Drama queen." I turned the radio up again and took her hand back in mine. She started singing again and I grinned in silence.