Emma didn't know why she was so incredibly nervous. It was just Paul. They'd already survived an almost-apocalypse— sorry, Apotheosis— together. They'd been flirting back and forth over his coffee at Beanie's for months before that, even if Paul had been pretty bad at it and neither of them had even known the other's name.
It was just a date.
One date, nothing fancy.
Just a casual first date between two of the only people in town who actually remembered what happened during what was being called The Blackout. That was one of the reasons they'd agreed to avoid the movie theater.
Maybe Emma was nervous because they'd already had to reschedule not once, but twice. First, Nora had called her in for an extra shift because Zoey was so sick— she'd somehow lost her voice during the Blackout, and still hadn't recovered, the poor thing (insert Emma's eye roll here)— and the second was because Paul realized he had a weekend business conference he had to go to once he'd gotten his old boss's job.
But now they were finally getting to go on that date, and the only thing Emma could think about was oh God, what if I fuck this up? Emma really likes Paul, and she really doesn't want to fuck things up with him. Her mom had always said to find someone with shared life experiences, and that was the best partner you can have. And who better has shared life experience nowadays than Paul? Not to mention the fact that she and Paul were already attracted to each other beforehand.
Paul picks her up from her apartment, and takes her to dinner.
"How was your week?" He asks, sounding just as nervous as Emma feels.
She fiddles with her necklace while she answers. "It was— uh, it was okay," she says. "Classes are going fine, but work is still a pain in my ass. I tried asking Nora again to get rid of the stupid fucking 'tip for a song' thing, but she still won't budge. I guess I can't really blame her, since she doesn't remember what happened, but still. It's annoying as fuck."
"You could quit again," Paul suggests. "Go work at Starbucks like you'd said you would that day."
"I'm seriously tempted," she admits. "But I'm not sure if Nora would giving me a good recommendation to them."
"I'll do it," Paul grins, and Emma huffs a small laugh.
"I don't think Starbucks would count that," she says quietly, still smiling. She changes the subject. "So how are Ted and his kids doing? You know, I still can't believe 'the Borat guy' from Beanie's is such a good dad. Even after seeing him in action with the little one— Hannah, right?— I'm just like... wow."
"Uh, yeah," Paul chuckles. "They're fine, I think. He hasn't really talked much since then, but I think they're all okay." He pulls into a parking space, turning off his car. Neither makes any move to get out yet.
"You know..." he says quietly. "That's something I want, one day. Maybe not soon, but eventually."
"A family?" Emma asks, unsure how to feel about this as a first-date conversation, and Paul nods.
"I'm sorry if this is too soon to talk about it—" he starts, but Emma interrupts.
"No! It's— it's okay," she says, surprising even herself. "Um, it's something that needs to be talked about, you know? We should both know going into this what the other person wants out of life. So we don't get any unrealistic expectations of each other."
"Exactly," Paul says, clearly relieved. "I'm not trying to rush anything, or scare you off, or do something like that. I just want you to know— both of us to know— what to expect down the road."
Emma smiles softly. "Good. Me, too. I mean the— the knowing thing. I actually, uh, haven't decided if I want kids or not."
"That's okay," Paul says encouragingly. "You should definitely focus on school first— if that's what you want to do, I mean. Not that you have to listen to what I'm telling you you should or shouldn't do, it's your life—"
Emma interrupts him again, but this time with a gentle kiss. Paul's clearly surprised at first, but he kisses her back. After a few moments of it, they both pull away, blushing like teenagers, and grin at each other.
"Um... dinner?" He asks, and Emma nods.
"Dinner," she agrees.
They both get out of the car and head inside the little diner. They talk about other things while they eat, staying far away from the subject of their futures and desires for it.
"And then Nora told him to get out of my face before she called the cops," Emma says, laughing a little.
"Really?" Paul asks. "I thought you said she hated you— or that she didn't care, or whatever."
"She doesn't, not really," Emma says with a shrug. "She can be okay sometimes. Like when a customer is clearly crossing a line. Zoey, though. Ugh. Zoey's just a bratty pain in the ass all the time."
Paul nods sympathetically. "There's this intern at the office who's kinda like that. Catherine, I think. She acts like she knows better than the rest of us, even though she's still in school, and we've all been doing this for years."
"Oof," she winces. "And how's Bill and his daughter?"
"Bill's great!" Paul says cheerfully. "He actually got full custody of Alice this past week, so she's moving in with him tomorrow. I said I'd help out. And he and Deb are finally getting along, too. He told me that apparently, she's just a little shy— which I already knew, because Alice told me, but you know. Bill didn't really believe her until he saw it for himself."
"Well I'm glad for them," Emma says. "Let me know if you guys need more help, okay? I'm pretty good at that stuff."
After dinner, they head back out to the car, but they linger by the passenger side door. Paul has one hand on the handle, prepared to be a total gentleman and open the door for her, but Emma stops him. She leans up on her tip-toes and pulls him down to meet her in the middle for another kiss. Paul lets go of the door and wraps his arms around her waist, hugging her tightly to him. This one lasts longer than the first, and when they pull away, it's to breathe.
"My roommate's staying with her girlfriend all weekend," Emma says quietly.
"Okay," Paul says, nodding as he understands exactly what she's implying.
He opens the passenger door for Emma, then closes it behind her before hurrying around to the driver's side. He just barely stays within the speed limit, and takes Emma back to her apartment. He'd had something else planned for their date, but that could wait for another time. This? This couldn't.
—
The next morning, Paul wakes up in an unfamiliar room, with Emma wrapped tightly in his arms. His phone's ringing, and he rolls onto his back to reach blindly for it. He answers it.
"Hello?" He asks sleepily.
"Paul, where are you?" Bill's voice says. "I'm waiting outside your apartment. I've buzzed like six times."
Paul shoots upright in Emma's bed. "Shoot! I'm so sorry, Bill, I kinda forgot— I'm not at home right now. I can be there in ten minutes, though."
"Where are you?" Bill repeats, and there's a moment of silence before he figures it out himself and laughs. "I guess things went pretty good with Emma, then?"
Paul blushes as he craddles the phone with his shoulder, trying to tug his pants back on. "Um, yeah... really good. Dinner was great, you know?"
"And what about after?" Bill teases.
"I think you can guess," Paul chuckles nervously. "I'm gonna let you go— Emma offered to help today, is it okay if I bring her?"
"The more the merrier," Bill says. "Alice's friends are going to meet us at the house to help unpack. She doesn't know yet— Deb wants it to be a surprise."
"Okay," Paul says, nodding to himself. "I'm just gonna wake Emma up then, and we'll be on our way." He hangs up on his best friend, and finishes getting dressed before gently shaking Emma's shoulder. She wakes up with an incoherent mumble.
"Bill just called," Paul says softly. "He's waiting outside my apartment so we can go help Alice move in with him, remember? He said you can come, too, if your offer's still open."
That gets Emma's attention, and she nods as she sits up. Paul tries not to stare as she gets dressed, but he doesn't do a very good job of it. They head over to his apartment, then Bill leads them across the bridge into Clivesdale so they can help Alice pack and move out of her mother's house there.