The First Date

Carson was nervous. He had never asked someone out so directly before, let along someone he actually wanted to date and not just hook up with. She had seemed interested, calming his nerves quite a bit, but one never knew until it was happening.

He sat in a nice Italian restaurant, waiting for Shannon to show. He had arrived extra early, for fear of her getting there before him. Now it was getting close to the time they had agreed to meet, and she hadn't arrived yet.

Carson just stared at the door. He'd never been stood up before. He wondered what he would do if that happened.

Luckily, Carson's mind was put to rest as she walked through the doors.

She was breathtaking. Shannon was dressed in a bright red, strapless dress that swished as she walked. She had her long hair up in a loose bun, with fallen strands framing her face. She looked effortlessly beautiful to him. Carson's smile grew as her eyes practically glowed when they landed on him.

He didn't think he looked too bad himself. He was wearing a light green button up that he'd been told brought out his eyes. He accompanied it with black jeans, trying to make it look like he didn't care too much on his appearance. When in reality, he'd spent hours coming up with the perfect outfit.

"Hi." She said shyly as she took the seat across from him.

"Hi." Carson said back. He couldn't take his eyes off her. Just like the day they met, he couldn't look away from those startling chocolate eyes. "You look beautiful."

She visibly blushed. "Thank you. You don't look to bad yourself." They sat, smiling at one another, just enjoying being in each other's company.

"I must say, excellent choice on the restaurant. I love Italian food. Pasta in particular." She said, obviously trying to start up a conversation.

Carson smiled in return and handed her one of the two menus. "Agreed. I like to think I could eat pasta every day for the rest of my life if I wanted to."

She smiled widely, and her eyes began to sparkle. "Then that's one of the many things we seem to have in common."

When the waiter arrived, they both ordered baked ziti, with a side of breadsticks to share. Carson was amazed with how well it was going. The two continued to chat about this and that without awkward pauses or breaks in the conversation.

"Wait, so you have two identical brothers running around town? How come I haven't seen them before?" She teased as their food arrived.

Carson smiled, then thanked the waiter. "They both live in the city. They attend NYADA and NYU."

"Wow, NYADA? That's really hard to get into. Your brother must be very talented." Shannon said as she took her first bite of the ziti.

Carson nodded as he ripped a piece of breadstick off, and then dipped it into his pasta sauce. "So what are you majoring in at NorthWestern?"

She smiled sweetly before answering. "I want to be a dog trainer. NorthWestern has a great animal phycology class, along with a good human phycology program. I'm currently on my second year."

Intrigued, Carson wondered what else the girl in front of him was interested in. But before he could ask, she turned the focus on him.

"What about you, what are you majoring in?"

"I'm majoring in Journalism. I want to be one of those big writers for papers such as the New York Times and all those other popular papers. I'm in the middle of my third year."

She smiled encouragingly. "That's some pretty big dreams. I bet you'd wipe the floor with the writers that are there now."

Carson didn't know what to say. Sure, he'd had people say that he was really good at writing, but never before had they suggested that he would be way better than everyone else. Let along someone who had probably never read his work before. He smiled widely. "Thank you. And I bet you'll be the best dog trainer that ever lived."

Shannon burst out laughing, catching Carson's attention. It wasn't a very gracefully laugh, but it drew him in none the less. It was care free and happy. He knew at that moment he would do anything to make her laugh again. He loved it almost as much as he loved her eyes.

The two continued to eat and share about themselves, forgetting the time and the rest of the world. When they were finished, Carson leaned forward to take the bill.

"Oh, are you sure? I could pay, or we could split it." Shannon said, seeming nervous for the first time all night. This made Carson smile at how cute the expression on her face was.

"Nope. I've got it. Thank you for joining me tonight."

She gave him the most beautiful smile. "Well where else would I be?" Her eyes brightened at the blush that crept up Carson's face. "Besides, the night isn't over yet."

They both stood and headed for the door, Shannon grabbed Carson's hand to slightly pull him after her. Once they were out the door, they just walked down the sidewalk. Shannon didn't drop his hand, making Carson even happier. He squeezed hers in his slightly, making a slight tint of pink appear of the girls cheeks. That's when Carson noticed that her left cheek always seemed to be slightly more pink that the other, even when she wasn't blushing.

"Are you alright, your left cheek is more red than your right one."

She glanced away quickly before turning back to him. "Yeah, it's a birthmark. Have you ever seen those people that have a side of their face a different color than the other?" Carson nodded so she continued. "Well my face is kinda like that, just a lot more subtle. It's called a port-wine stain. It used to be much brighter when I was little."

Carson could tell she was uncomfortable talking about it, but it didn't look bad. So what if her face wasn't technically symmetrical. She was beautiful. "I think you should think of it as a beauty mark, because in my mind, it just adds to the large amount of beauty you have already."

She stopped walking and turned to look at him. For a second, he didn't know whether he'd said the right thing or not, but it became apparent that he did when she slowly began to smile and step towards him.

"That is, by far, the most beautiful, kind, and thoughtful thing anyone has ever said to me." It was getting dark out, but by the light of the street lamp, Carson could see just how happy she was. He smiled as well, overjoyed that he was the reason behind her happiness.

The two continued walking in peaceful silence before they reached what Shannon said was her apartment building.

"Thank you so much for a wonderful evening. I had a great time." She said, turning and taking both of Carson's hands in hers.

"Me too. I hope we can do this again some time real soon." And he meant it. He already couldn't wait for their next date.

There was a moment of awkwardness, the first of the whole night, that neither wanted to move away from the other. Finally deciding to just go for it, Carson leaned in and met Shannon's lips half way in a passionate kiss.

Carson had kissed many people before, both girls and guys alike, but never had he had a kiss like that one. It was careful and passionate to the point where it was as if they were both afraid of breaking one another.

To Carson, it was over too quickly, but he knew there would be more in the near future.

They said goodnight to one another, then Carson watched her walk away and enter her building. The swish of red fabric being the last thing he saw before the door closed behind her.

Carson seemed to float on a bed of clouds on his way home. He couldn't seem to get the image of the beautiful brown eyed girl in the red dress out of his mind. He didn't want to.

Once he was locked away in his own apartment, he went straight to his room and changed into comfortable cloths to sleep in. Once in bed, he saw his phone vibrate on the night stand.

Curious, he went to see who was texting him so late. He smiled when he saw it was his brother Kurt.

So...! How was the date?!

Carson didn't know how to reply, so he texted him the only information in his mind that he knew for sure.

She's the one.

***
There you go guys. I loved writing this chapter, and I hope
you enjoyed reading it. Can you guys do me a favor and come up with a ship name for Carson and Shannon? I'm hopeless at it. Thanks!
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