A/N: Real sorry for the delay, but this COVID-19 lockdown's on my nerves! Writing this chapter gave me premature ventricular contractions! *grin*

Chapter 22: Premature-Ventricular Contractions

"you look happy" a cranky voice said from behind, as Elizabeth Delgado stood in front of a mirror wondering whether she should tie her hair, or let them fall free. She was never someone who would spend hours in front of a mirror before a date, but somehow, she just couldn't resist, trying to look her best for her date tonight. Maybe the prospect of a real date with the real boy she really liked had rendered a temporary change. They had decided on an evening date, because well, dinner didn't feel special enough, especially after all the Sydney Double date stuff. They both actually had night duty, and they didn't want their date to be cut short, so if they wanted to continue their date, well, the command centre's control panel, and Cruger's chair serve as pretty great beds… they had pre-decided this much!

Z turned around to face Sydney, who was seated on her bed, and was scowling, and leaning back a little.

"I have a date," she said.

"says the girl who once stated that she can go on a date in sweatpants and she wouldn't care." Syd said, thinking back to the conversation the two girls had had when Jack had first started dating Ally, back in 2025, like a day before they had found the A-Squad.

"it's with Sky" Z further stated.

"oohh, now it makes sense…" Syd said, and Z blushed, a little stranged.

"what is that supposed to mean?" she asked, indignantly.

"you think tonight's gonna be the night?" Syd asked, tilting her eyebrows.

"if you mean sex, then no."

"no I mean is today the day you think he will confess?"

"confess what?"

"that he is in love with you"

"he's WHAT?" Z looked at Syd, alarmed.

"you didn't know?" Syd asked, a wicked grin spreading on her face.

"NO!"

"well I've seen the way he looks at you. He is absolutely in love with you" Syd said, smirking.

Z had suspected this for a while now, that Sky felt something more for her, but until Syd said it, Z couldn't bring herself to believe it.

Now Z felt skeptical about the date… she and Sky had an understanding. They had a pact that they'd only be friends, and will not fall in love. Seemed like Sky was going back on it. She couldn't jeopardize their friendship like that! it was the best thing that ever happened to her. Even more than meeting Jack.

"believe whatever you want to Z, he is in love with you" Syd said, and then shuffled into the bathroom, locking the door.

No. Z didn't want to believe it. But on the other hand, she did want to believe it, but then she dismissed it, believing it to be a figment of Syd's imagination. Then she let her hair fall free, down her shoulders, and pinning a clip at the side. She looked really pretty, honestly. But she decided not to overdo it, but no matter how this night went, she promised herself that she would have fun, enjoy herself, after all, it was her first real date with Sky Tate!

X-X-X

When forty minutes later, Sky showed up, she found it hard to contain her excitement, and she felt chills when he kissed her cheek, and handed her a bunch of pencils, which had eraser tops, and were bound together with a ribbon.

"what's that?" she asked, as he handed them to her

"you said no flowers. I thought stationary would suffice" he replied cheekily. Z kissed him on his lips, her heart melted.

"that's pretty cute…" she grinned, and he replied, returning the smile, "I'm pretty good at this."

"so ready for tonight?" he offered her his arm, she looked at it, but then declined it, "you're too cheesy" smirked, and made her way out, playfully asking him to catch up.

They were seated in the car, together, with Sky driving, and Z in the passenger seat. "Z you look stunning," he said, smiling; she was wearing a short black leather skirt, with thigh length net stockings, and a maroon top, which was topped by a crop black jacket, and a choker.

"thanks" she replied, blushing. She wondered why had she let him drive, it was so unlike her

"so where are we headed to?" she asked, grinning.

"well, I think it's better that you see AS we go through" he replied, smiling, then added, "speaking of which, our first stop is here!" he chuckled, and parked the car in the parking lot of some place Z hadn't noticed.

"ice-skating? are you serious?" Z asked when she saw the board outside, and was surprised to see it, he just grinned at her, grabbed her arm, and led her inside.

"I wanted us to have fun, and well, an ice skating rink is just perfect for fun!" he grinned, like an idiot, and led her over to the skates-for-rent stall.

Then they went into the locker room to leave their belongings under the lock, and strapping on their skating boots, and gloves, and the snow coat, which was definitely needed.

Then they rejoined each other, to make it into the ice rink, which had the ceiling like an indoor stadium, which looked pretty.

"Z, to be perfectly honest, I've been here before. And I'm pretty good at it" he said, nervously.

She smirked, "let's see just how good you are." And they entered the rink, Z held on to the railings at first as Sky showed some not-so impressive tricks, like going around once or twice, or skating backwards. Then Z smirked, and let go of the side railing, freely gliding across the ice, maneuvering through the sparse crowd to make her way to Sky.

"hey?" he looked surprised as he saw her gliding through, effortlessly. He hadn't imagined Z would know how to ice skate; this was even harder than regular skating.

"U likey?" Z asked, mischievously, then grabbed Sky's hand, and pulled him away from his side of the rink, right to the middle, where there was absolutely no chance of support.

"Me likey" he replied, gliding across the ice with her, and then she spun around on her ankles, with him, and they met again, bringing each other close together, holding each other's hands and looking into each other's eyes, and then they kissed, softly.

Time seemed to stop, the world seemed to spin, and the only thing that mattered to Sky was Z, and to Z, Sky. Their kiss broke apart after only a few seconds, though it felt like forever, which was followed by ringing, beautiful laughter.

"I didn't know you knew how to skate so well" he asked, smirking, and she replied, grinning cheekily, "well, to be perfectly honest," she said, teasing his tone, "I've done this before, AND I'm pretty awesome at it"

He grinned at her cheekiness, and smiled at himself. He'd NEVER underestimate Z Delgado again. They skated together, spun around, and almost danced together, happier than they could ever be. They didn't let go of each other again, and just let themselves enjoy each other's company. Finally, a little tired, they came to rest at a corner of the rink, where he wrapped his arms around her, pressing her back against the wall, she smiled at him, and grinned, "here?" she asked, incredulously.

"No! are you crazy? I just like holding you close" he replied, to their very… intimate position.

"you know, when I was ten years old, my mother used to take me ice skating out over the frozen lake in the forest in the winters." She grinned.

"there's no frozen lake in NTC" he said, all the forest in New Tech had was a small stream, where he and Z had had their first sex sesh.

"who said I lived in NTC?" she asked, and then grinned, "I used to live at Freudenberg down the countryside, like what? a hundred miles from here." She smiled, as she saw the look in his eye change, to a look of awe.

"really" he softly asked.

"yeah, I moved to NTC when I was thirteen, after my mom died." She told, with a little sadness in her voice. "it's been tough since"

he kissed her lips again, "I'm not going to let it get tough again" he said; it was all she needed to hear.

Then they decided to ditch the ice skating rink, and made their way to the car again, laughing.

X-X-X

So, then Sky and Z's next stop was the Dino Bite Café, an extension of the one at Amber Beach, quite famous for it's dinosaur theme, and it was literally the NTC's teenager hub, although it was frequented more by adults in their mid and early twenties. It served alcohol too, but today, unlike quite a lot of other days, Sky and Z didn't order any, instead they decided to go for a jumbo size strawberry milkshake, too large for either to finish on their own.

"wait, just one milkshake?" Z asked, eyeing it suspiciously, mischief taking form in her mind.

"well, it's a date-special, you know?"

"what makes it special?" she asked, in her typical Z style, and he replied, in his typical Sky style, "it has two straws" and the two burst into a chuckle.

"this is lame!" Z exclaimed, "now that I'm on a date with you I don't even get my own milkshake?" she asked, whining like a kid.

"hey I should be complaining! You're the one who'll get more of it!"

"really?" she said, "what about your big mouth?"

"Hey!" he groaned, and she replied, "you know what?" and left it at that, letting what she was gonna do, speak for her.

She took another plastic straw from the stand, and dipped it into the milkshake, and began sucking with both of the straws, Sky's yes widened as he saw her laugh doing what mischief she was doing, and he decided he wouldn't stay behind her either. He eyed her playfully, and then challengingly, and then took around a dozen straws in his hand, dipped them into the milkshake, and then began slurping the drink through ALL OF THEM! Half an icy milkshake later, Sky Tate found whatever he had gulped down hurriedly coming back out through his nose!

As he realized what a fool he was making of himself on his FIRST date with the girl he practically loved, he started laughing and as a result, more milkshake started running down through the wrong pipe, and it was a few minutes before Sky could completely feel the sting of embarrassment, as he saw Z laughing so hard that she almost fell off her chair. Then he made a cute pouty face, with his eyes looking like a kitten, his whole lower jaw covered in the strawberry milkshake.

She looked at his adorable face, and she couldn't contain another chuckle, before she reached for a hanky from her pocket, and wiped his face clean, whilst he continued to laugh.

"would you stop laughing?" she replied… laughing!

Oof! It had been so embarrassing, and maybe in a way gros… but to Sky and Z, it was fun, oh so much fun! Watching each other's antics on the first date, which, as either was afraid at the time, was not awkward for either. They felt like the best friends they were, but at the same time, closer.

X-X-X

Anyway, after getting out of the café half an hour later, both a little ditzy with brainfreezes, she leaned a little onto his arm, both smirking, and chatting, and overall, enjoying.

He led her, walking, to the most romantic, and beautiful part of New Tech City, 'La Belle Ville Lumière' as they called it. Another name for that square was 'Little Paris' as it had the similar romance in the air. It was just a little great plaza, with a main square, that had beautiful yellow, diamond shaped lights suspended in the air, using some ET technology, and they glimmered beautifully, casting shadows here and there. The whole square wasn't lit up with anything else. It was specially built for romantic walks, no vehicles were allowed beyond a point. There were a number of trees and plants that bordered the square, strangely, giving it the look of a sorta park. There was a sweet, sweet fragrance in the air, and they saw a large artificial fountain right in the middle of the cobbled stone square, that had heaven's seven archangels, who were glimmering in a white light, distinct from the yellow lights that shone in the rest. There were no other electrical lights in the whole plaza.

Walking on the cobbled streets, in the most romantic part of New Tech City, Sky Tate decided this was the time. He had spent hours and hours in front of the mirror, trying to come up with some clever, poetic lines to substantiate what he was about to confess, but in the end, had settled upon this:

"Z" he turned to her, right as they reached by the fountain, its waters bubbling by their sides; she turned to look at him, and he said, "you give me premature ventricular contractions"

"what?" an amused look spread on her face as she tried to contemplate what the complex term meant. He grinned, as she said, "Sky I'm not a genius, you gotta walk me through the explanation" she smiled, so he knew she was still in a light mood, and he replied, grinning, "well, I googled it," he said, and then told her the actual meaning, which would've saved the comedy AND been more romantic.

"you make my heart skip a beat"

Though the words were sweet and touching, and beautiful, Z felt a dismay spreading through her. She couldn't even completely feel the warmth of his words, when her brain started revolting, telling her to get away before her heart gets shattered again. Another part labeled this part as irrational, and supported Sky completely, saying that he was a beautiful guy who would never hurt her, hadn't he been the one who had supported her when that jerk Joseph had broken up with her? Why would he do the same? But she panicked! Syd was right after all! She then made up her mind, in that same panicky state.

"Sky I can't do this." She said, with a heavy heart, "please take me back"

"no!" he protested, "no, Z, that's not the deal! You promised me a full date. That means we're gonna walk around, look at the twinkling lights and then—"

"Sky why are you messing this up?" she didn't even let him complete.

"Z, it's what people do for the people they love! They buy flowers, take romantic walks, the—"

again she cut him short, "Sky you know me, This stuff freaks me out! It just reminds me how fake it is. Every time someone does this, it is to take advantage of me. I've had this way too many times!"

"well, maybe I'm not like everybody else! You've said so yourself!"

"what's wrong with what we're doing? It's working! We don't have to fight, w—"

Now he cut her short, "maybe I want to fight!" he said, "I wanna feel close to you, I want you to love me!"

"well I don't!" she replied, irate, and that hit him pretty hard, but he continued.

"so what are you gonna do? Keep shutting everyone out? Never feel anything? Isn't that what YOU taught me NOT to do? What was with all that 'loosen up' shit? Was it an act?" he asked,

"no it wasn't an ACT! I genuinely wanted you to share your feelings"

"see now here you're contradicting yourself! I am sharing! You should too!"

"well, I can't" she replied.

"how you gonna do that?"

"I'll figure it out…" she spoke with bitterness, "I don't need you to take care of me! I can take care of myself"

"oh yeah?"

"it's what I've been doing all my life!" she replied, and then turned to walk away, then turned around and added a bitter, bitter afterword, "why don't you find yourself some other girl who won't break your heart?" the question stung his heart.

"because I love you." He said, almost expressionlessly, then the very next moment, she saw, ALL of Schuyler Tate's feelings surging up inside his eyes. She ignored them, and turned away, and started walking away really fast.

"Z DELGADO I TOTALLY AND COMPLETELY LOVE YOU! AND I WANT THIS WHOLE WORLD TO KNOW!" he shouted on top of his voice, so that his love, who was walking away, could hear him. She heard, but still unheard him, and just kept on walking, pulling her jacket closer to her body, as countless tears rolled down her eyes. She just couldn't face him.

He looked at her, hopefully, that maybe she'd turn around, or at least glance back at him, but then she turned round the corner, and with her, all his hope was gone. He stood alone in La Belle Ville Lumière, helplessly vulnerable, and for once, defeated.

A/N: Though i don't really like stories changing tone all of a sudden like this, it's what i do best! This was personally my favorite chapter of the fic. I've wanted to write their date for quite a while, and now that it's done, i am completely and utterly satisfied with the results!
SO LONG UNTIL NEXT TIME!