DDLC: Our Time

Chapter 9: Monika's Date

It took longer than Monika would have hoped, but finally the time had come for Alex and Monika to have their date. She had left the decision of what they would do up to Alex, and this time, he had decided that he just wanted to have her over at his house to hang out.

Monika walked up to the front door wearing black leggings, a white top, and a green jacket. She took in a deep breath, filled with nervousness and excitement as she rang the doorbell. It only took a moment before Alex answered the door.

Even though he was at home, he had gone through the trouble of dressing up for Monika's arrival, wearing black joggers and a T-shirt that was blue on top and faded to white at the bottom. Monika smiled brightly at him.

"Hi, Alex! I'm here!"

"Hey, Moni. Come on in, come on in. Leave your shoes at the door, please." He invited her in, stepping aside and opening the door up more. She entered into his house and removed her shoes, leaving them at a little mat that had been placed by the door.

"Oh you have hardwood floors," Monika noticed first. "Does it ever get cold walking on it with bare feet?" She asked curiously.

"Sometimes. I don't really notice it anymore." Alex answered with a shrug and a little chuckle.

"Ahaha, my house is all carpet and padding, so I've always wondered. I can slide around on your floor though!" She giggled, doing a quick little slide across the floor. The socks on her feet allowed her to actually slide a little bit before she almost lost her balance.

"Whoa! Don't go crazy now, Moni. I don't need you hurting yourself when you just got here." He teased her with a smile. Monika turned towards him and smiled.

"I can't believe this is finally happening. Can I have a tour of the house? I wanna see everything!" She requested excitedly. Although he was surprised by this, he nodded in agreement.

"Of course. Let me get you something to drink and I'll walk you through the place." He agreed. Monika followed Alex to the kitchen, where he poured two glasses of ice water for them.

"Thank you. You have a very nice house. It's big too! You could entertain a lot of guests." Monika said as she looked around.

"Oh yeah. We've had a few gatherings here where I had like 10-15 people all making their way around." Alex said with a chuckle. He handed her glass to her.

"Oh thank you," She said as she took it. "Maybe one day we can have all of the girls over for something. I don't know what exactly, but it would be nice to switch things up – have a more casual setting, you know?" She suggested.

"I wouldn't mind that." Alex said with a nod. Monika looked up at Alex. Something was different about his expression. He seemed...melancholy.

"Are you okay, Alex? You look a little down." She observed.

"I'm good. Just been tired lately is all. But I didn't want to keep you waiting any longer, you know? It's already been like 2 weeks." Alex said. Monika rested her hand over Alex's hand.

"Hey, you don't have to force yourself. You know I'm willing to wait." Monika said. However, Alex insisted.

"No, I want you here. I thought doing this now would cheer me up," He said, managing a smile. "Besides, this story's about you too. Not just me." He pointed out.

"Ahaha, well that's true. Thank you for having me over," Monika smiled gently. "I'm ready for the tour."

"Great. Let's do it then." Alex nodded. He walked up to her and offered his hand to her. She smiled and took it, holding onto it through the entire house tour.

Starting downstairs, Alex walked Monika through the dining room, the kitchen, back through the living room and towards the downstairs bedroom. The walls in the downstairs bedroom had been decorated with superhero posters, sports symbols, as well as a basketball hoop and a dart board.

"Ooh this is nice. You even have a 'Man Cave' sign!" Monika pointed it out and laughed, "That's so funny."

"Thanks. We used to have all of my video game systems and a pool table set up in here too, but we had to move stuff around. Maybe one day the pool table or the Foosball table will go back in here." Alex said.

"You've got all kinds of stuff for entertaining, huh?" She pointed out.

"I certainly do. Let's head upstairs." Alex said.

Next Alex and Monika went upstairs. The first door on the right was Alex's room, but he figured they should save that for last. So Monika got to see the other two bedrooms in the house as well as the TV room, which had been decorated with a movie theater theme.

"Oh these are cute! I love that sign right there." She said, pointing to a sign hung up high on the corner of the wall. It read 'THEATER' in big letters, and was posted up behind the flat screen TV.

"Thanks. I suppose if we ever have the other girls over, we could all sit and watch a movie in here. I'm sure they'd be down for that." Alex said.

"Exactly what I was thinking." Monika said with a smile.

And so finally, they arrived at Alex's room. Monika looked around curiously at his desk, his dresser, and his bed. He had figurines on his desk, empty shopping bags against the walls, and two stuffed animals on top of his dresser. She was surprised that there weren't nearly as many decorations here as there were downstairs.

"This is your room?" She asked.

"Yep. Where I lay my head down every single night." Alex answered with a faint chuckle, sitting down at the edge of his bed.

"I love these little figurines you have," Monika said, walking to the edge of his desk. She picked up a small figurine of a Pokemon with her thumb and pointer finger, turning it side to side to look at it. "Very cute." She said before putting it back.

"Thank you. Make yourself at home." Alex invited. Monika sat down in Alex's gaming chair, which had been sitting in front of his desk. She turned it so she could still face him.

"You have a nice house, Alex. I just can't get over the fact that I'm actually here. I never thought that I would..." Monika trailed off. She wasn't sure how to phrase her next words. As it turned out, she didn't need to continue. Alex already knew what she meant, as he often did.

"Hey, that's why I suggested we write a story together. I wanted to give you a chance to experience these sort of...mundane, everyday things that you don't get to see. I know that's what you wanted." He said with a kind smile.

"Aww, Alex. You're gonna make me tear up. Thank you so much." She said appreciatively.

"Anytime." He replied. Monika turned her chair a little towards Alex's desk. She rubbed her hand over the top of Alex's laptop, which was sitting on his desk. It was closed.

"This is where the magic happens, huh?" She said, stroking her thumb across the logo.

"Yep. This is where I'm doing my work now." He confirmed.

"Very cool. Maybe I'll type this chapter up." She joked.

"Haha, go ahead. That would make my job easier." He laughed.

"Ahaha! I'll leave that to you. You're the one with more experience." Monika giggled. She got up out of the chair and walked over to Alex, sitting next to him on the bed.

"Oh you could easily do it if you wanted to. You're smart and you write well. You could totally do it." Alex said to be encouraging.

"Yeah? You think so?" She looked up at him.

"Oh yeah, definitely." He agreed, resting his hand on her back. She smiled and scooted closer to him.

"You're sweet, Alex. Out of all of the chapters we've done so far, this has definitely been my favorite. By far!" She said happily. Alex chuckled.

"Thanks, Monika. So you're not mad that I avoided sharing stuff in the club?" He brought up.

"No, not at all. I know you will when you're ready. Although, I still named the chapter 'Diversion' just so you knew that I knew what you were doing. You can't get past me that easily." Monika said with a little smirk, wagging her finger at him.

"Haha, yeah, I guess so. Thanks for being so understanding, Monika. I gotta admit, this has been nice...I needed this." He said with a nod.

"We both did." Monika said, leaning against him. Alex wrapped his arm around her.

Both of them savored this tender moment. This strange arrangement, this little story between the two of them was all done so that they both could have something tangible to hold on to – a real connection to help fill the void in both of their lives.

They really needed each other in a bittersweet way.

Then came the moment that Monika would truly treasure forever. Without saying another word, Alex looked down at her and raised her chin up to face him. Despite their lack of experience, they shared their first kiss, and it couldn't have gone any better...