PREWARNING NORA IS A BITCH IN THIS CHAPTER AND I DO NOT AGREE WITH ANYTHING SHE DOES BASICALLY
Number 38 - AU
Blind Dates
Nora didn't realise that one of the conditions of a blind date was that the date had to be blind.
Stupid, right? Well it was hardly the first thing that would pop up into her head to ask – Yeah, Vee, just checking before you set this up, the date isn't really blind, is he? Hahaha. Hilarious.
Was this just some joke? Nora wasn't this desperate. When Vee suggested the blind date idea and said that Rixon had a single and hot friend – neither of which were a lie, unfortunately – Nora thought she would have a fun day out, enjoy herself and maybe end up with someone's number or something. She never considered that she would be stuck in a booth seat and trying to think of an excuse to leave, which she knew she couldn't do because that would be rude and holy hell Nora was about to fuck etiquette and just leave.
But she couldn't just leave a blind guy in a booth on his own, right?
Fuck. This could be her good deed for the day, and when it was over she could go and cry into her copy of The Way Of All Flesh and then google pictures of abandoned animals or something. Maybe they would be more pitiful than the boy sitting opposite her.
Boy? Boy, he was all man. He was staring at his menu (illogical, because the fuck couldn't read) and his lack of vision gave Nora a fine opportunity to eye him up, and he was gorgeous. Black shirt, tight on sculpted arms; slight stubble, making his sharp jaw look more angular; dark lashes which only made his eyes look more intense.
But he was blind. And Nora wasn't into disability.
The waitress came around, "Can I start you guys off with something to drink?" and both of them rattled out the name of a soft drink before the girl left again. The date had looked in the direction of the waitress pretty well – he had probably been blind for a while – before he began to feel out the table in front of him.
"Your name's Nora, right?" He asked, his voice a low rumble which Nora tried not to wince at. Her hopes were that she could just get through the evening with minimal conversation and contact, but it seemed as if the date had a different idea.
"Right. And you're Patch."
"Thanks for reminding me," he said with a smirk. "What degree are you studying?"
"English Language with a Linguistics minor. And you?"
There was something unsettling about the way his eyes were not visible behind his sunglasses. "Physics."
The waitress brought their drinks through. "Are you guys ready to order yet?"
"I am," Nora said, hoping the evening would move along faster.
Patch agreed, "What do you recommend?"
After some suggestions from the uniformed teen Patch chose his meal quickly, and it didn't occur to Nora that he too wanted to be out of there as soon as possible. Nora ordered, and they both waited for a while in a dense silence.
"I'm trying to think of something to say," Patch mentioned after at least five whole minutes (in which Nora was also deperately grabbing at the straws of conversation), "But all I can think of is that you don't give a f– you don't care anyway. I mean, why did you even come if you were going to text the whole time?"
Nora guiltily slid her phone back into her purse. "I didn't think you could see that."
"Ah, that makes it alright, then? And just 'cause I'm blind, doesn't mean I can't hear you tapping on the bloody keys every two seconds."
The table became quiet again. "Sorry," she said.
Thankfully the food came out then – piping hot and a great excuse for silence. Nora shot the waitress a thankful smile before looking down at her plate.
If possible, the atmosphere was even more awful than it was before. Nora took a forkful of pasta and chewed it slowly.
"They didn't tell me you were blind," she said – and surely that was enough to justify her rudeness? "When Vee said I should go on a date – well, she didn't tell me you couldn't see."
"So what?"
"Huh?"
"So what?"
Nora pushed her food around her plate. "I dunno, really."
A tangible pause.
"Listen," Patch said. "I think I'm gonna leave. Don't really appreciate eating with people who hate me for something I can't control."
"I don't hate you."
Patch placed two rumpled tens on the table and left, his plate untouched.
…
When Nora arrived back to the dorms, Vee was quick to tell her how much of a bitch she'd been.
"I hope you realise Patch will never talk to me again."
"Finally, something the both of us will agree on!"
Vee's brows ruffled – what have I done, blah blah blah, it's not that big of a deal he's blind, blah blah blah, sure I've never been with a blind guy but he's really great, you're a stuck up bitch, fucking frigid, didn't know my best friend was so ableist – she slammed the door and left and Nora decided she would rather hang out with some of the girls on her course rather than Vee, who clearly just needed some time to cool down.
…
The poetry slam was always great, and it always started at times suitable for uni students – eight pm.
It was in the Bumble Burt's Café which was on site, and always had a respectable crowd. Nora sat down on a blue armchair, clutching a mug of tea and wondering how long it would take for Vee to calm down and maybe even just consider that as her friend she had the duty to not throw her in situations where she would be clueless. Sure, Nora herself had been a bitch, but she had been caught off guard and – well fuck, she felt guilty and wanted to be able to apologise to Patch, but it was hardly like she would ever see him again.
Until she saw him.
Again. Second time in one day. Sitting on a barstool, facing the faux-stage and sipping on a drink of his own.
…
"So, uh – this is something I literally just threw together, but, well, I hope you all like it." Don't look up, don't look up, don't look up.
"I met a great guy but I'm not a great girl
Spending another evening alone
Wish I could say sorry but I'm bad with words
Kinda ironic really.
Wanna kick myself
Maybe get a concussion too
Because being a bitch
Meant giving up you.
I'm being sincere
But how would you know
Maybe we should have another blind date
And see how it goes.
Same time, same place, tomorrow?"
Nora fumbled off the stage, face flaming hot and unable to look up at Patch – but she just had to, the curiousity was killing her – and out of the corner of her eye, saw his confused and conflicted expression.
…
The same waitress lead them to the same table and they ordered the same drinks – it really was like a redo – and Nora opened the menu and read it out loud so Patch could choose something properly.
It was halfway through the evening when he spoke up, "This isn't a date."
"Okay."
"What you did before was wrong and I couldn't ever date someone like you."
"Okay."
A/N: Thius is not me romanticising Nora's actions. she's an absolute dick and tbh she didn't deserve a second of patch's attention afterwards. Just my way of pointing out hypocrisy - you know, being 'all for' human equality/rights as nora is but then judging someone for something they can't control but the judgement being acceptable for some fucked up reason (I'm pretty sure everyone has their own 'nora' in this situation)
Thanks to TheBritWhoDoesn'tDrinkTea for the prompt and I hope this is still mushy enough for you guys :)
Sorry for the lateness! Been stuck with schoolwork and tbh I couldn't get my head around writing, I've been more in a reading mood recently
I know I say this every time but I really got into this one so I hope you enjoyed (and lol The Dragon Slayers ur comment was 10/10)
Ausilin xxx