Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

Ugh, my alarm. It's woken me up so many times now that the mere sound of it makes me annoyed. In fact, I try to use it as little as I can. Wait a minute, it's a Saturday! Why the hell is it on now?

I throw my covers off, grabbing my glasses and shoving them on my face. I look for my phone, to turn it off and go back to sleep, when I see…

Monika is waving at me from the screen, smiling. I pick up my phone and wipe the sleep from my eyes

"Monika, did you really have to wake me up this early? I'm used to getting up pretty late at the weekend, you know." I yawn, as I look at the clock. It's 9AM. I don't think I've woken up this early on a Saturday for months

"Well, I just couldn't wait to show you!" She twirls around, her skirt spinning with her. "You know, it feels really cramped in here. It's like I'm boxed in, compared to your computer."

"I'm sorry. Tell you what, I can delete some things I don't need, that should free up some space."

I go through my phone, deleting apps and photos I don't need, until I see all my pictures of Monika.

"Huh. Seems weird to keep these. I suppose that I don't need them, now that I have the real thing, do I?"

I'm about to delete one, when Monika shouts out "Wait, stop!"

"Really? They're just pictures you know."

"I know, but it's nice to keep them. They look good, after all. And I like knowing that you love me enough to keep pictures of me." She smiles at me again.

"Well, if you're sure. It's your space, after all."

"So, when are we going out?"

"I mean, I was planning to go kinda late, cause it's gonna have to be quite dark when we start dinner. Also, I still need to make all the food we're - I mean, I'm going to have. Especially since I'm not great with food."

"Well, maybe I can help you out with that! I mean, I'm pretty good in the kitchen."

"Wow Monika, It seems like there's nothing that you can't do. You're so helpful. I'm still not sure what I did to get a girl like you to fall in love with me."

"Hey! I don't like it when you speak like that Euan. There's lots of reasons a girl like me would be interested in a girl like you. You definitely deserve my help." I blush at her words.

"Heh, thanks Monika. Anyway, I suppose we'd better get to cooking then, if I'm going to be making a nice dinner."

"Wait, what about Mai? Won't she be having breakfast?"

"Nah, she usually wakes up pretty late too, so we should have a while. We have the morning all to ourselves."

"I hope you're not getting any ideas dear!" Monika smiled at me as she wagged her finger.

"Haha, don't worry. I'm not dumb enough to try anything like that with you."

"Come on, let's go through."

As we walk through to the kitchen, I pull out the only cookbook that I own, and start flipping through it. "Hmmm… anything catch your eye Monika?"

"What do you mean? I'm not the one who's going to be eating it, after need to make sure it's something you enjoy."

"Well, it's like I said, I'm not really great at this sort of thing. I think the most complicated meal I've ever made was some spaghetti bolognese. And it wasn't even that good. Meanwhile, you're saying that you're really good. So I thought it would turn out better if I just, you know, deferred to your authority."

"Well, let's see… Stop! That one there! That looks nice, and it's even pretty healthy."

"Huh? Lentil lasagne? Well, alright then, if you say so. Although it looks pretty complex."

"Well, I'll be helping you out. It'll be fun, right?"

"I'm sure it will be."

We were about halfway through the meal however, when my phone went off. I had a text. This was kinda weird, since normally the only texts I got were from companies trying to get me to sign up for "free" trials of stuff.

"Monika, can you see who that is?"

"Yeah, it's from someone called… Matt."

"What does it say?"

"Well, he's asking if you were okay, because you weren't there last night."

Oh crap. Now I remember. Normally, we all congregate on a Friday night and watch stuff together. Sometimes it was a movie, or other times it was a TV show or an anime. However, it was one of the highlights of my week. We rarely missed it. In fact, I'd only ever missed it once before. I grab my phone from my pocket and look at his message.

'Yo Euan, u doin alright man? Where were u last night, we ended up having to start w/o u! U ended up missing 3 episodes of Fate:Zero.'

I slap my palm to my face. Just my luck we were starting a new show this week too. "Dammit! Why am I always so forgetful about these things? And why didn't they say anything last night? Alright, I'll just tell him that… uh… I was…"

"Just say that you were doing work."

"That's the thing though. I've only missed one before, and that was because I had broken my finger falling down the stairs. And even then I only missed one. So I'd need to have a pretty good reason." I stand there for a while, lost in my own thoughts.

"Hey, it's gonna burn if you don't keep an eye on it! Geez you get distracted really easily you know."

"Alright, alright, I'm being careful."

Eventually, after what feels like the most intense cooking session of my life, it's finally done. I lock it in a big tupperware box and place it in the fridge.

"Wait what about dessert?"

"Dessert? I dunno… I think I'll just grab an ice-cream or something."

"Really? Don't you want to have something homemade?"

"Maybe another time. I'm happy having made just one thing for now. I'll make more stuff another time, perhaps."

I walk back to my room with Monika and lie down on my bed, just as I hear Mai turning on her radio as she gets up. I realise that we spent almost an hour and a half cooking, and it's now 10:30.

"Well after that, I'm way too overworked to do anything now." I say, lying spreadeagled on my bed.

"Well, how about we watch something?" Monika replies. "Help me make up for you missing yesterday night with your friends."

"It wasn't really your fault Monika, I just need to be less forgetful. But that's a pretty good idea."

"Well then, why don't we start Fate:Zero? Then you can catch up, and I can get into it too!"

"Well, if you're sure. Are you sure you'll enjoy it?"

"Of course! You might not know it from the game, but I'm actually pretty into big action packed stuff."

"Wait, you said that Fullmetal Alchemist was one of your favourites, right?"

"Yeah"

"But how did you watch it? Does it even exist in your world?"

"Well, uh… I…" This time the roles are reversed, and Monika goes bright red as she blushes. "I'm sorry Euan, I was lying! I haven't actually seen it before, I just wanted you to feel good about what you chose. I'm… I'm really sorry. That wasn't good of me, to lie to you like that."

"Aw, It's okay Monika. As long as you enjoyed it, that's the main thing. You did enjoy it, right? You don't have to worry about making me feel bad, I'll be fine."

"Yeah! I really do like that sort of thing, I was really telling the truth there."

"Well that's good. Let's get started then."

By episode three, I'm pretty into it. I want to watch more, but it would be pretty selfish of me to get ahead of my friends, especially since we'll probably be watching it next week together anyway.

"Well, I'm gonna go make sure I'm ready for tonight then." I say, standing up.

"Wait, what do you mean?"

"Well, Mai was right with what she said. If I want this date to be good, I have to be prepared. So, I'm going to have a shower. After all, this is my first date. I want it to go as well as possible. And you deserve me at my best, after all. I shouldn't be slacking just because you can't smell me."

"Of course you had to make it weird."

I laugh as I leave to take my shower, grabbing a towel as I go. As I exit my room however, I almost bump into Mai, who has her eyes closed as she yawns.

"Oops! Sorry Euan." She eyes the towel in my hands "So you're taking my advice after all? Good!"

"Well, you're a relationship veteran, you know, so most of your advice is probably pretty sound. And I want to give the best possible impression."

"Good for you! After all, you need to be taking more showers anyway, in my opinion." She flashes an evil grin at me as she walks to the kitchen, and after a second I realise what she meant.

"HEY! You better not be implying what I think you are!"

She laughs as I enter the bathroom, and turn on the shower. Afterwards, I decide to make sure that I'm really putting everything into this, so I decide to use the untouched bottle of cologne that is sitting on the side of the sink. I spray it onto my wrists and neck, and put my clothes back on. I reenter my room, and Monika smiles at me.

"There you are. Wow, you took a while."

"I was only gone about 10 minutes. I was as quick as I could be you know."

"I dunno, I think you could've been a bit quicker. You could've gotten changed in here instead of the bathroom. I wouldn't have minded that one bit."

I go beet red once again as Monika grins at my embarrassment.

"Uhhhh… Well Monika, I'm gonna go get some lunch, I'll only be gone a minute."

Rather than make something elaborate, I decide to simply grab one of the ready meals I have lying in the fridge. As it's heating up in the microwave, Mai, who's also having her lunch, looks at me.

"Wait, Euan… Are you wearing… perfume?" She sniffs loudly in my direction. I blush strongly once again. I'm like a traffic light today.

"Well, uh, you know… It was like you said, so I wanted to make a good impression. So I, uh… wore some cologne."

"Hey, don't get the wrong idea! I'm not judging you! I think it's a great idea. It's nice you're finally taking some more pride in your appearance."

I don't retaliate to that one, since she kinda has a point. My outfits for the last year have consisted pretty much entirely of nerdy t-shirts and a few pairs of faded jeans. I only buy clothes when I grow out of something, rather than actually wanting something new to wear.

"Thanks Mai."

I'm still a little red as I enter my room, and Monika notices.

"What is it? Did Mai say something about your 'date' tonight?"

"Well… yeah, kinda."

"What was it?"

"It's nothing, really."

"Well, now you have to tell me!"

"Well, she uh...she smelled my cologne." And once again, I go beet red. Goddammit, am I gonna have to start a counter for all the blushes I'm doing?

"Hey! You don't have to be embarrassed about that! It's amazing how much work you're putting into this, even though you don't have to. It's just one of the reasons that I love you."

As nice as her words are, they really don't help the blushing situation.

"So, uhh, I wasn't planning to go out for another few hours, so we still have some time. Was there anything you wanted to do?"

"You know what? I'm happy just being here with you, How about we watch more of that show, Fullmetal Alchemist? It was really good!"

"I thought you'd like more nuanced shows. You know, things that have deep, complex themes, and interesting characters"

"Well, I like them too! But it's also fun to just watch something that's got fighting and good action in it as well! Besides the characters in this are really good too. A show can have good action and have complex themes at the same time. They're not mutually exclusive."

"Well, alright then. If you're sure."

We ended up watching for a while. However, we had to stop before anything too important happen so that we could get out on time.

"So, are you ready to go out on our first ever date my love?"

"Yeah… I think so. Wait, no I'm sure! Yeah, I'm definitely ready!"

"Haha. Awww, you're so cute sometimes, you know that?"

Add one to the blush tally.

"Well, thanks. Shall we get going then?"

"Yeah. Let's go."

As we leave, I knock on Mai's door.

"I'm going out now Mai! See you when I get back! I might be a while!"

She opens it and places her hand on my shoulder.

"Well, good luck, I hope you have fun! I'll wait for you to get back. I'm sure It'll go well, you're a likeable person, so just be... yourself. And Euan."

"Yeah?"

"Well done. You deserve this."

"Thanks Mai. See you!"