Reluctantly breaking away from the kiss, both panted heavily from their previous excursion. Running his thumb along her swollen lips before giving her a quick peck on the lips, he smiled at her.

Giving her a serious, somber expression, he informed her, "Since we're being completely honest, I have to tell you something."

"You're not gay are you?" Haley joked, hoping to reduce the amount of panic she suddenly felt. Whenever people start a conversation that way, it never ended well.

"You know more than anyone else the answer to the question," he stated, winking flirtatiously at her.

Placing a hand on his arm, she questioned, "Then what is it?"

"This whole dinner idea was my idea. I just got Stella do to the dirty work," he admitted nervously.

"Oh really?" Raising an eyebrow in shock, she continued to stare at Lucas.

"Yup. So what are you going to do about it?" he challenged playfully as his gaze met hers.

"Right now, I'm going to eat my dinner," she replied when she saw the waiter approach them with their orders, "while you sit and think about what you did."

Leaning back against his seat, he watched the waiter walk away from the table after setting the food down before returning his full attention back to Haley.

"What?" Haley questioned him, raising a brow out of natural habit. She absolutely loved how he was able to match her bantering. A good sense of humor was one of her ideal trait her dream guy would have, but then again, she based those traits on the Lucas' personality and qualities. She also was glad he was a person who she could have a serious conversation with, no matter what the topic was.

"Can't a man just stare at a beautiful woman without being questioned?"

Giving him a look that meant she didn't agree with the fact that she was beautiful, she continued to eat her meal. She was finally able to relax when he began eating.

"So what do you say we hang out tomorrow?"

"You mean on a real date?"

"You can call it whatever you want."

Before she could stop herself, she accepted the offer.

"Pick you up at seven?" Lucas couldn't keep the smile off his face. He was finally able to climb over Haley's walls. Hopefully, he wouldn't come crashing down like a ton of bricks.

"Sounds good."

----

Arriving promptly at seven, Lucas drove Haley towards his destination.

"Did you forget something at your place?" she asked, looking at his house through the car window.

Hoping that he made the right choice for their date, he simply answered, "No," before getting out of the car and opening her side of the door.

"Right this way," he stated as he held his arm out for her to take hold of.

She followed suit as they walked towards the house. Once inside, Haley instantly smelled the aroma of her favorite dish. Licking her lips, she could almost taste the food. It brought her back to the night where things got complicated. She wondered if her date was trying to relive the moment, making the correct changes.

"I thought it would be a good idea to start over...for the hundredth time," he partially kidded.

He pulled out the chair for Haley to sit in while he went to retrieve the food. Lifting the cover off the pan, he scooped the food into two plates. Then he poured both of them some drinks.

While waiting for Lucas, she admired the table he had elegantly decorated with candles and scattered rose petals. Taking the single rose on table set right in front of her, she inhaled the lovely scent. She had grown so accustomed to vividly imagining going on a date with Lucas for as long as she could remember that she had to pinch herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming. A part of her was scared; scared that he will realize that she's not the one for him but another part of her hoped that everything would fall into place. Fate has brought her to this point in her life. All she had to do was take charge and open up to the possibility of allowing Lucas into her sheltered life.

Her friends always told her to take chances in life because you never want to live in regret. Life was too short to close yourself to any opportunities or possibilities of being happy that were thrown your way. Although she often found herself giving the same advice to others, it was one thing to say it but another to actually follow through. She knew that with any relationship, there was an enormous possibility that things don't work out, but she hoped that now wasn't one of those times. She would hate to lose what they both...what Lucas struggled so hard to obtain. And that's what surprised her the most. She still didn't understand what he saw in her. There must be a zillion girls throwing themselves at his feet. What made him interested in her?

Setting the food and drink in front of her before getting his, he sat down across from her.

"Thanks for going through the trouble of cooking dinner." She took a bite of her delicious food before smiling up at him.

"Please, mac and cheese is the easiest food to make in the world. Besides, you love it and I happen to love cooking."

"Good because you can cook for me anytime."

"I'm holding you to that."

After they finished eating the fudge brownie desert with vanilla ice cream on the side, they continued their conversation about their childhood and youth as they walked towards the living room.

"And that's when I realized I wanted to be an editor," Haley explained. "I knew it wouldn't be easy, but I figured I would get my start somehow."

"Is that why you took this position as my secretary? You hoped it would lead you to become a editor?"

"Yeah," she replied meekly.

"I can give you something to edit and if you're good, which I'm sure you are, I'll put in a good word for you."

"Thanks, that would be great!" she exclaimed excitedly. She didn't want to get her hopes up, but this could be the kind of break she always hoped for. "So what do you have planned now?"

"I rented a movie for us to watch."

"What movie?"

Pulling out the movie he placed on top of the television, he held it out to her before putting it in the dvd player.

Sitting next to Haley, they watched the movie in silent; enjoying the feeling of snuggling up next to each other.