Arthur probably shouldn't be as nervous as he was. It was just a date, after all. He'd been on dates before - not in a long time, granted, but he'd done it. Hell, he'd even been out to dinner alone with Belle before. Every individual aspect of this night had been covered already, but somehow the idea of having to tackle all of them at once had his stomach in knots and his palms sweating.

He was going on a date. With Belle. Alone.

If he managed to get through the entire night without making an ass of himself, it'd be a damn miracle. He'd already had to change his shirt due to excessive perspiration. This was going to be an exercise in self-torture.

He arrived at her house about fifteen minutes early, so he parked and waited. No need to seem over eager, even though he absolutely was over eager and they both knew it. He was out there for about five minutes when her door opened and she peaked outside. He resisted the urge to slide down in his seat because who the hell else would be sitting in his car in her driveway?

She gave him a brilliant smile as he shamefacedly got out of the car and walked to the front door. May at least give doing this right a shot before he could mess it up any more.

"Hey," she said as he reached the porch. "I was wondering if that was you out there."

"I was early," he said as nonchalantly as he could. "Didn't want to interrupt anything."

"Oh no I've been ready," she replied. "And you're never a bother, you know. Just let me get my coat?"

He nodded, watching as she retreated back into the house for a moment. He didn't dare follow her. He'd been inside her home before a hundred times, but this was different somehow. This time he wasn't here as her friend or as Bae's father, he was here as her date. He was the man who was probably going to be kissing her goodnight at the front door this evening. Oh for goodness sake, he'd kissed her before! Why was he so worried about it now?

She turned back to him wearing a tan peacoat left unbuttoned and for the first time he really took in the dress that she had assured him the other night would be very pretty. She'd been right, of course. It was a pale yellow brocade with a rose pattern and she practically glowed in it. He recognized her tall pink shoes from taking them off of her while she was drunk, which made him think of taking them off of her while she was sober and wearing the short yellow dress. This was a bad place to take his thoughts and he desperately tried to look anywhere but at the shoes. The shoes were going to lead him into trouble.

"Is Bae with a friend?" he asked, trying to direct the conversation someplace safer.

"Yeah," she replied. "He's at a sleepover at the Tillman house."

"Tillman as in Coach Tillman?" he asked. "As in the guy you went on a date with?"

"It was one date," she replied. "And Bae is still friends with his kids."

"Of course," he said, confused at his own reaction. "I just hadn't heard much about them for awhile is all."

"They're more of his 'basketball season' friends," Belle explained. "August is more of a soccer season friend."

"So I take it you decided not to tell him you had plans?"

"I didn't," she admitted, looping her arm through his on their way to the car. "I thought it was probably best to keep things between us for right now. Besides, this way he'll be gone all night."

He almost tripped over his feet at that. Even a week ago he wouldn't have believed what she'd just insinuated, but he would have had to be a complete idiot to miss it now. She had just implied that they might be together all night (or at least for a good portion of it). He suddenly wished he'd brought another shirt to change into because this was going to be a long evening and he wasn't sure this one would last.

The restaurant was a nice one. It wasn't the nicest one in town, but it was close - it was also the nicest seafood restaurant within an hour's drive. There was a five star place a little closer, but going there would have required reservations and calling in favors and he didn't want to try too hard this early. He could always take her there later, but he didn't want to start this whatever it was by showing off too much.

She knew him well enough to wait in the car so he could come around to open the door for her, which gave him a chance to take a deep breath before helping her out. It wasn't until her hand was in his that he realized she was still wearing the opal ring he'd given her during the custody agreement.

He could do this.

They didn't speak on the way into the restaurant, but then they didn't really have to. It wasn't until the hostess had seated them and the waitress taken their drink orders that he realized he had no idea what to talk about besides Bae.

He didn't want to talk about Bae. Bae was a mood killer. Bae would remind her of being a mother and that wasn't what he wanted to accomplish right now. He wanted her to think about being on a date and whether or not she liked him and if they'd kiss when he walked her home. Parenting wasn't the same as being a couple, and he didn't want to blur those lines just yet. He was in this for the long haul, but he wanted her to want him there.

"This is awkward," she said after a few minutes. "Isn't it?"

"A little," he admitted. "It's been a long time since I had to try to impress a woman."

"It's been a long time since anyone tried to impress me," she replied casually. "But I'd like to think we're past that, aren't we?"

"I suppose," he said. "But I'd rather not skip that entirely."

"Oh really?"

"Well," he replied, trying not to focus too hard on how pretty she was in candlelight. "You deserve to have someone try to impress you."

Her entire body language changed at that, her shoulders relaxed a little and her face broke out with a beautiful smile that reached her eyes. He wanted to kiss her but there was a table in the way, and he'd hopefully have plenty of time for that later. Right now he just had to make it through dinner without making a complete ass of himself.

Why was there so much more pressure right now than there had been even when they'd first met, anyway? She knew him now and had apparently decided there was something about him worth going out with in the first place. If anything, he was in a better place now that he had been then.

They had ordered oysters as an appetizer, but it didn't occur to him until he was staring at them that they were supposed to be an aphrodisiac. He wondered if she made the connection herself, but she looked so damn innocent as selected one of them from the platter, tilted her head back, and let the meat of it slide into her mouth. Dammit, seafood had been a poor choice.

The rest of dinner went well, actually, aside from nerves that had his stomach in knots and left him unable to eat more than a little bit of his meal. After appetizers (and a cocktail each) conversation had come easier, and by dessert they were both laughing.

"So," she said sweetly, dragging her spoon idly through the top of her chocolate mousse. "I have a question."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," she replied, glancing up. "But it might be a little weird."

"Well now I'm nervous."

"It's not bad," she hurried to reassure him. "I was just wondering how long you'd been wanting to try this?"

"You mean date you?" he asked and she nodded in reply. "Well, that's kind of a complicated question."

"I have time," she replied. "I have no other plans for the night."

"Almost from the beginning," he admitted. "I have a bit of a thing for fair brunettes, so that didn't really help. But it was more than that fairly quickly. By the time we went on vacation I certainly had feelings for you. I think that's why I was so nervous about people thinking we were married."

She nodded sympathetically and reached out to touch his hand.

"I think I kind of halfway knew by then," she said. "I didn't want to know, and it was easy enough to ignore after we got back."

"What do you mean?"

"Honestly," she said softly. "This is so embarrassing, but I had a...a dream about you while we were on vacation. After we went to dinner I took a bath and fell asleep and well...you were there."

She was blushing a little bit but also seemed halfway exhilarated by the admission. She was leaning forward just enough that he was needing to focus so as not to look down her dress.

"What kind of dream?" he asked her, already knowing the answer but wanting to hear her say it.

"The kind you're thinking of," she replied, biting her lower lip a little and looking away demurely.

He'd almost have thought she was embarrassed if not for the foot that was working its way up his pants leg. She may have had enough to drink.

"So," he said, clearing his throat and trying to maintain some kind of composure. "When did you decide you were interested in more?"

She looked away and her foot stilled, but she turned back to him and resumed her under the table flirtation soon enough.

"More recently than that," she said quietly. "I knew there was something there by the vacation, but I wasn't sure what yet."

"Oh?"

"I'm not the most experienced at this sort of thing," she continued. "I've really only seriously dated one person since high school and I haven't really wanted to since."

"George?" he asked, knowing the answer already but wanting confirmation.

He hadn't quite realized the tall deputy had broken her heart so badly.

"Yeah," she replied. "I probably should send him a thank you note after this. He's the one who pointed out I liked you."

Well, he hadn't expected her to say that.

"Did he?"

"That's why we broke up," she replied. "He said I had a thing for you and should give it a try."

So basically they'd been wasting time since he was in the hospital. He wasn't sure if he should cosign her thank you note to George or go slam his head against a wall in sheer frustration. Although between his recovery and her getting pneumonia there hadn't been much time to do much of anything.

"Here's to not wasting time, then," he said, holding his glass out in a toast. She clinked her glass to his and took a sip.

"I'm glad we figured it out at least," Belle added. "Anyway, I wouldn't have wanted to do anything over the summer. It was too soon."

"You're worth the wait," he replied. "If you wanted to wait until Bae was out of the house to go out again...I won't say I'd be thrilled, but I'd understand."

"I know," she said. "That's why I thought you'd be worth the risk."

They stayed at the table for long after they reasonably should have left. He didn't want to leave, though. Leaving meant her foot wouldn't be on his leg and her attention wouldn't be on him. Leaving meant going back to separate houses and not knowing when he'd have her full attention again.

Eventually, though, it was time to lead her back to the car. Both of their drinks had long ago worn off but she still held his hand all the way back and held it again as he drove her home. It had been a long time since anyone held his hand, and her skin was so soft he found himself wishing he'd picked a restaurant that was further away because far too soon he was pulling into her driveway and the date was over.

She waited for him to come around and open her door again before she got out. Belle held his hand again as he walked her back up the porch to the door.

"I had a really good time tonight," Belle said, turning to face him. "I'd like to do it again."

"I would too," he replied. "I'd like that very much."

"Good," she said.

"Good."

She leaned forward and kissed him before he could make a bigger idiot out of himself. He couldn't really believe he'd been so worried about this. She liked him. She'd told him she liked him, and now she was kissing him.

He wrapped his arms around her now and she melted into him, her lips never quite leaving his. She was warm against him and their son wouldn't be home until tomorrow sometime.

"Would you like to come in?" she murmured. "For um, coffee?"

There was no reason to turn her down, except for the little voice in his head reminding him that she didn't like sex and she hadn't missed it. But then, she'd said she wanted to have sex with him. She said it had been a long time and it had been almost as long for him. He wasn't ready for this. This wasn't coffee, this was a chance to completely mess everything up.

There was no way he could say yes, and there was no way to turn her down.

She leaned forward to kiss him again and he reciprocated without even thinking about it. She was delicious and beautiful and he was such an idiot for what he was about to do, but here he was about to do it.

"Not yet," he said after a moment. "I'd love to, believe me I'd love to, but I'd like to wait a little bit longer before coffee. It's just…"

"No, of course," she replied, standing up a little straighter. "You're right. It's too soon."

He kissed her again quickly.

"I just want to make sure we're both ready," he reassured her.

"You're right," she said. "This has to work, after all. We might as well do things right."

That's it, he was doing things right. He wasn't backing out because he was terrified of letting her down, it was because he respected her too much. He kissed her again, running his fingers through her hair, hoping to remind her that it wasn't about not wanting her - never about not wanting her.

She threw her arms around his neck again and leaned into him. He fell back against the front door and kept kissing her leisurely. She was perfect, and he could do this right. She was worth it.

He was painfully aroused when she finally pulled away, but the happy little smile on her face and the way she dropped the keys once before she could let herself in the house made it worth it.

He was going to do this right, for Belle's sake and for Bae's.