AN: So, erm, I have no idea how dates go, since I'm only 14 and all that stuff. Hopefully you'll ignore the inaccuracies. I don't own Glee, nor White Dress, nor Come On Get Higher by Matt Nathanson. Cheers.

She hears the angels out on the streets
Tonight as she walks right by oh they sing so softly
They sing "oh whoah, oh whoah, oh whoah
Love's right behind you oh whoah"

Her meetings with Sebastian Smythe were irregular, as her visits to Lima Bean were also irregular. She didn't have to turn to caffeine before, but she was a senior, and entrance exams and college applications didn't make themselves, especially with the rapidly depleting amount of time between today and the day she was going to get her diploma. It was all nerve-wracking, but Rachel Barbra Berry didn't do nerve-wracking.

Within the span of this year and the yesteryears though, she had done some new things. For example, she expanded her repertoire, adding more of the pop songs (but stayed away from mainstream, as those required modification using software, and she wasn't about to degrade her voice into something that still needed editing in order to sound right) to her song selections. She has been, in fact, taken by a few obscure vocalists and semi-famous bands that didn't quite make it, but they made amazing music all the same.

It wasn't Broadway, but fame wasn't just about Broadway. She was lounging on an armchair this time, sitting opposite to an empty chair, and a Strawberries and Cream Frappucino sitting in front of her.

This was another step to another direction; Rachel Berry wasn't completely vegan anymore. She's been having lesser and lesser time dedicated to arranging her diets for the next few weeks, and it's taken a toll to her choices. Of course, her veganism wasn't completely thrown out of the window; she still disliked eating meats, fish, and eggs, so there was still a little bit of the Rachel she knew before.

A planner was open on the circular table, a shining gold pen in the middle. Her swirling penmanship adorned the guiding lines; a more harried but still legible style of writing adorned the edges, taking up almost every bit of space in the light yellow pages. Sometimes she'd write down random thoughts as they came to her, but that was only when she had free time, and that was a long time ago. She sighed, stared out the window as the world went about its business, passing by her without the bat of an eyelash. That was all going to change, she swore to herself.

"Alone yet again, I see," the familiar voice came from her right, as she took off an earbud, placing it in the pocket of her jacket. The Warbler previously mentioned carried with him a tray, a plate with a sandwich and a caramel macchiato.

He didn't need to ask if he could sit there, she just automatically put the plastic cup and planner on one side, so he could set down the item he was holding. It was a weird dynamic that the two had between them: If one was eating something the previous meeting, the other would be the next one to have a meal the next time they'd meet.

And because Rachel was still as punctual as ever, this system never changed, not really.

"Still here in Lima, I see," she retorted, crossing her arms, though lighthearted grin on her face gave her away. He stirred his coffee a bit before drinking, and then he thought of a wittier comeback.

"Still waiting on me, I see," he replied, a smirk settling on his face.

"You wish, Smythe," she rolled her eyes, slurping a bit of the mixture of fruit and cream in her beverage holder.

"It's not a wish when it's true," he shook his head, clicking his tongue. "You're getting a tad too slow for this, Berry. Are you feeling okay?" he asked sarcastically, though there was still that fine edge of concern that barely showed, but she knew as there. She sighed in lamentation, staring out the window, before looking back to him.

"I'm alright. It's just the fact that it's our final year, and college applications are all over the place. Nationals and Glee is also a huge factor to all of this," she sighed again, massaging her temples with her left hand. "So many things are happening at once, and I feel like sleep is way too far away."

He shrugged, trying to look like he didn't care and at the same time look like he did, as he ate his sandwich hungrily. "I can relate," he half-frowned, unused to this melancholic and tired Rachel Berry. He had gotten so used to the fiery and intense one he met in competition a year ago.

"Something tells me you can't, but I appreciate the sympathy," her smile looked like a grimace, as she took her planner and put it inside her bag. He tapped his chin a few times, in thought.

"I know just what you need, Rachel Barbra Berry," he said, out of the blue. Her eyebrow raised.

"Oh?" she replied, drinking the rest of her beverage, wiping the cream mustache that might've formed then. "Praytell me what it is, Sebastian Luther Smythe?" She mocked him by copying the movement he made as she talked. He grinned, taking this as a compliment, but went down to business.

"You, my dear, need a day out," he said in a matter-of-fact tone, chewing the last bit of his sandwich, then taking a gulp of his drink in order to keep it down. He then leaned back on the armchair, elbows on the armrests, hands tangled to one another. He looked like a modern day Sherlock, had he not worn that atrociously red scarf today. "What do you say?"

She lifted her shoulders in an attempt to shrug. "I could use a break from all that crazy," considering the fact that she was already seven kinds of crazy, her situation might have been more stressful than he originally thought. "Do we go now, or do we have to finish our drinks?" She asked, wiping her hand of the condensed moisture she acquired from the plastic container. He shrugged in return.

"Your choice. My beverage of choice is warmer than yours, seeing as it is still snowing a bit outside," he hinted, to which she rolled her eyes at.

"Alright, Mr. Know-It-All. Let's go," she said in a slightly exaggerated bored tone, standing up and readjusting the strap of her bag. The black trench coat she wore was in sharp contrast to the white dress and red boots she also had on. They seemed to match, as Sebastian was wearing black jeans, white shoes, a red shirt, and a black jacket. Rachel noted this, and grinned as he picked up her cup of coffee, leaving the plate of crumbs behind him as they walked out of the store.

"What?" he finally asked, as they walked down the street. She gestured to their clothes; apparently obtaining gloves within the time it took for him to finish off his food and for them to exit the place.

"We match," she remarked smoothly, and he raised an eyebrow at the similarities. "That we do, that we do."

"Great minds do think alike, eh?" she said, as they passed a myriad of commercial stores of downtown. He shrugged, though he had a slight grin on his face. Soon they'd walked far enough to go past the buildings, and they reached the suburbs. Some of it, anyway.

A park was right up ahead, and the lake seemed to be frozen over. A few people took this as an opportunity, and were renting out ice skates for the brave ones who wanted to try. He nudged the shorter girl, pointing at the frozen body of water. "Ever tried ice skating before, Berry?"

"Sometimes, when I had time out of my schedule," she muttered into her gloves, still quite freezing. "Why, have you?" she ventured, as he took her hand and leaded her to the recreational space, kicking away the white frost to show the dirt underneath.

"Not at all, but now's a good time as ever, right?" he looked at her and smiled. For a moment, she thought her heart skipped a beat, and then he started running.

Because she didn't want to get dragged in the snow, she started running too.

It was exhilarating, filled her up with energy, she didn't want to let the sensation go, but then they reached the bottom of the hill, where the lake was found, a few kids with their parents and teenagers on the ice. Some attempted to skate, while some few looked like they actually knew what they were doing. A feeling of dread pooled in Rachel's stomach, as she hoped no one there would recognise her.

She was left standing there, as her companion went ahead and rented them some skates. He returned to her with white ones, the laces a bright neon pink. She grinned in appreciation of the attention to detail, and they found a tree stump where they could leave their things. She wanted to question how he found out her shoe size, but she ignored it in favour of actually putting the shoes on. They were the perfect fit.

He was already by the edge of the ice, already gotten his balance, hand held out for her. She was kind of glad that it was really cold; he'd tease her mercilessly if he found out that the blush on her cheeks wasn't caused by the low temperatures. She walked like a toddler doing their first steps, and it was a little bit of an embarrassing sight to see, for her, anyway. If she had been with Santana or Quinn, she'd be laughed at, because they'd probably had lessons.

When she reached the edge of the ice, she was a little bit too eager, and slipped the moment she stepped in and landed on her butt. He still had the nerve to laugh at her, but he did help her up after he sobered up, a little bit of help from the glare she shot him.

"Are you sure you've done this before?" he asked, giggling. Her eyes were still narrowed, but soon enough, she was giggling along with him.

The rest of the hour was spent re-teaching Rachel how to skate, maintaining Sebastian's equilibrium amidst his uncharacteristic giggling, and of course, falling down about a third of the time. It was quite obvious that they had a lot of fun, as the one manning the rentals remarked that they were quite the happy couple. They - of course - reacted by denying this profusely, but the middle-aged man wasn't quite convinced.

Soon they were back on the sidewalk again, though it seemed like Rachel gave up a glove for him to wear as well. "So, how did you learn how to skate like that?" she poked him in the chest with her gloved hand, placing the other in the pocket of her jacket to keep it warm. Honestly, she had no idea why she was wearing a dress when she knew perfectly well that it was -6 degrees out.

"I took lessons when I was ten," he admitted with a shy half-smile. She was taken aback by this response. The Sebastian she knew liked mind games, and liked smirking, not smiling shyly. It was a bit of a surprise, but she kind of like this Sebastian as well as his cocky, arrogant self.

"Where to next, then?" she asked, as Matt Nathanson started singing in her left ear. The music calmed her, and seemed to bring a sharp summer heat to her body, ignoring most laws of natural order by ignoring the external environment and making her feel like it was a cool summer day.

So come on get higher,
Loosen my lips,
Faith and desire at the swing of your hips,

She hummed, as a few more houses started appearing.

"Pull me down hard, and drown me in love," he sang, looking at her with a sort of endearing look. She smirked and punched him in the arm, convinced that the emotion behind that look was merely an illusion.

"So come on, get higher, loosen my lips, faith and desire and the swing of your hips," she reiterated, singing this time.

"Just pull me down hard, and drown me in love," he repeated, taking her hand and twirling her around. She grinned widely, and didn't seem to notice that they were going back to the downtown area, singing and dancing all the way back.

"I miss the sound of your voice," she beat him to the second verse, though he only grinned as an acknowledgement of that fact. "The loudest thing in my head," he sang, putting his hands aside his ears, and acting as if he were a cartoon and he'd been hit by a gong. She shook her head, the knowing smile still on her face.

"And I ache to remember," he continued. "All the violent, sweet, perfect words that you said," they sang together, already passing by two boutiques, unminding of that fact.

It was just so easy to lose the world in themselves, singing and dancing as they went on their merry way, as if Rachel's experiences with Jesse St. James, Sebastian's lingering infatuation for Blaine Anderson, their glee club teammates probably threatening the other side with guns and knives, it was as if all of that went away, even for the meager 3 minutes and 32 seconds that the song cost. All for the music, after all.

"So come on get higher, loosen my lips, faith and desire at the swing of your hips," the Warbler sang this time, as the last repeat of the chorus came around, as they slowed down with their walking.

"Pull me down hard, and drown me in love," she continued, and he took her hand for what must've been the umpteenth time today, and lead her inside a restaurant she hadn't seen before, but it looked all kinds of fancy.

This is all wrong, she thought as he sang those same lines, though not quite in the reason she was thinking it. "It's all wrong, it's all wrong."

"It's all wrong, it's so right."

"So come on get higher, come on get higher."

"'Cause everything works, love."

"Everything works in your arms," she said, smiling as she made herself comfortable in the seat they were given. He tilted his head, and gave her this look that she was sure had to be an illusion. Sebastian Smythe, she knew, was a cocky bastard and didn't quite have the hang of love. He infatuates, he obsesses, never loves. Even if he did, he was gay.

"Is there something in my teeth?" she quoted Elphaba in mock horror, just to break the sudden and awkward silence that fell upon them. He chuckled and shook her head, now taking a look at the menu they were provided with. She blushed, and followed his example then.

As Sebastian was walking towards a taxi station, something hit him, an epiphany of sorts. No, Rachel Berry is a girl. You're gay! Besides, she has a boyfriend! He chided himself, shaking his head. But the vision of doe eyes and shining ebony hair wouldn't get out of his mind.

He sat on a public bench, a hand covering his face. Here we go again.