Dates and Kisses

Darien POV

"Arwen wants to do some more planning for the party...what do you think?" Aragorn asks, his mouth half full of cereal.

"Um, how about...you and Arwen go," I say, grabbing the cordless phone. "Um, I'm sure you guys can get lots done without more people. Besides, uh...I kinda wanna ask Emma out for lunch with me..."

Aragorn shakes his head. "All right, I guess I can't make you go."

I start to dial her number just as I get second thoughts. What if she said no? What if she didn't actually want to be with me THAT way? Wouldn't that makes things weird between us? Not to mention, I think it'd be a long agonizing death of heartache. I laugh half-heartedly to myself for sounding so damn wimpy.

"Ah, I guess I'll call her," I say to myself.

Aragorn lifts an eyebrow. "Yes, I thought you already decided on that."

"Hello?" I hear Emma's voice. I pause. What if she rejected me? We hadn't exactly gone out anywhere, planned all out for just the two of us.

"Hello?" she says again.

"Emma!" I say. "Uhhh...sorry."

"That's okay," she says. I can tell she's smiling. Could she be just happy to hear from me? "What's going on?"

"Um, well, I have a question for you..."

"Okay, shoot," she says.

I take a deep breath. "Emma, would you like to, like, um..."

"'Like, um', what?" she giggles.

I can feel little sweat beads rising on my forehead. "Would you...er..."

"God damnit! Spit it out!" Aragorn yells, startling me.

"Emma, would you go out with me for lunch?" I spat out.

She laughs. "For...a date?"

I can almost hear my heart pounding out of my chest. "Uh, yea."

"Sure, I'd love to," she says.

I exhale a little too loud. "Cool."



Emma POV

"What are you dressed up for?" Dad asks fix my makeup in the living room mirror.

"Just going out to lunch with Darien," I say.

"I thought you weren't going out with that boy," my dad said sternly. He never liked me dating humans, though he didn't mind them being my friends.

"Well, we're friends, but I think he likes me," I say with a grin.

"Ooh," dad says and kisses my forehead. "Well, I'm off to work at the palace."

Just as I say, "Bye, dad," he hear a honk from outside.

"He's taking you in a CAR?" dad asks before I leave.

"Yea, dad!" I say, and run out. My parents are so weird about not driving in cars. They have to be 'respectable' and follow the 'old ways'! Ha, stupid.

"What's up Darien?"

"Hey, Emma!" he smiles at me and I jump into his car. It's not a very nice car. It's a red convertible that's a little worn out looking, but that's okay. I like Darien, rich or not.

"So, you still haven't told me where we're going," I say. "Tell!"

He laughs. "Nothing really special...just the Amrodama," he says and winks at me.

"Nothing special? I heard that place is really nice!"

"Yea, I heard that too," he says.

"So, what kinda date is this really...what does this date mean? No pressure," I add.

He laughs again. "I don't know, really. I just thought it'd be cool to just chill since at you house and the mall we had so much fun, just the two of us." I nod. "Yes, we had so much fun."

"And I also have something else to tell you," he says, looking a little worried all of the sudden. Then he's silent. The suspense starts to rise and I feel like I have to know.

"What? Do you have to move back to Rohan?" I cry.

"No, no, nothing like that, thank god," he says, but then doesn't say any more. "Let's see if I can get this out by the end of the date. It's kind of hard to tell you."

He looked so anxious I couldn't help wondering what he had to tell me. Maybe about some former relationship that he still thought about...so he wouldn't want to go out with me? That thought worried me. I wanted him to like me!



We go to this restaurant that's super-cute. It's not really fancy or anything, but just laid back and the food looks good.

We get seated at a booth and we just sit right next to each other with our feet the booth on the other side of us.

"The party is tomorrow!" I exclaim. "This is gonna be the best ever. I can't believe all the stuff Arwen is paying for. It's a good thing Elrond is leaving and that he trusts Arwen. He probably shouldn't!"

Darien nods. He seems to have lost that anxious mood of his and now he's acting normal. "For real. One of my friends from Rohan is coming with her cousins. I'm excited," he says.

"What's his name?" I ask.

"Well...HER name is Janelle," he says.

"Oh," I say. I wonder if he had any feelings for Janelle. That wouldn't be cool. I look right into Darien's soft blue eyes. He looks back and smiles at me. I decide to ask something that I hope he doesn't mind me asking. "So, do you have a crush on anyone?" I ask.

He puts down his fork, leans back on his chair, and looks at me. "Yea, I do, actually."

"Tell me," I say. "Some girl in Rohan? Tell me about this girl."

He starts to look a little bit nervous and his eyes wander away from me. "She's really pretty and sweet and he hit it off," he says, and then looks at me. "She has long blond hair and these blue eyes...she's amazing."

I bite my lower lip and look away. Even though the description kinda fits me, he's not talking like it IS me. I'm sure most of the girls in Rohan have long blond hair too.

"She is gorgeous in every way and I love the way she smiles with her teeth when she's about to laugh," he continues. "It's that girl, right there," he whispers and points to something. I look and it's a mirror and in the mirror I can see...

"ME?" I squeak.

He smiles. "I've been trying to tell you...I had a feeling you guessed."

"You know who I like?" I say.

"Who?"

"This guy that is perfect just the way he is. He is smart and really cute..." I look straight into Darien's eyes. I lean over towards him. "I love this guy with shaggy blond hair," I say, running my fingers though his hair. "...Can I kiss him?"

He tries not to smile, but leans into me and softly kisses my lips. The innocent little kiss seems to last a long time though. I wished he would do more like start making out with me, but I guess he would rather be respectful in a public place. "I had no idea," he whispers, as soon as we break apart. "I wish I would have known you liked me before."

"I had to figure it out for myself first. Besides, we have so much time to be together. Why rush?"

He smiles at me, looking dreamy. "I've daydreamed about doing that."

I softly push his stomach. "Now I feel embarrassed so let's just finish eating," I whisper.



Lame chappie, but next chapter Legolas shows up. *sob* But trust me, at the end of this story, you'll be glad. I'm wondering if I should have them in their last year or school? Hmmm, whatever.