Annie was enjoying a well-deserved free evening when her phone rang. It was her home phone, not her cell, so she didn't get the usual thrill when she knew Auggie would be on the other end.

"Hello?"

"Annie! Are you sitting down? Please tell me you're sitting down."

"Hi, Dani. Yes, I am sitting down."

"The loan went through! I'm a business owner!"

Annie felt a surge of happiness and excitement fill her at the news. "Oh, my god! The catering business?"

"Of course, the catering business, silly! Oh, this is so exciting. But I've got so much to do! Step number one is deciding which dishes to use, so tomorrow night, dinner, my place, 6:00, don't be late!"

"Oh –" Annie didn't want to say anything to bring Danielle down from her high, but she and Auggie had been getting together nearly every night, either at the other's places, or on the phone, or Skyping.

"Dress up! This is a celebration, okay?"

"Umm, okay, Danielle, you mind if I bring someone?"

"Sure, the more, the merrier! I gotta go, sweetie. So much to do!"

"Bye, Danielle."

Annie hung up the phone, feeling a weird mix of elation for her big sister and trepidation of having Auggie meet her family and friends so soon. Granted, it'd only been a few weeks, but this past weekend's activities cemented the fact that they were in a relationship, and the affection was mutual.

She giggled at herself at the phrase that just popped up in her head. Affection? She thought. No, all-out attraction, bordering on near obsessiveness on her part. After being single for most of her life – with the exception of a boyfriend here and there – Annie now couldn't go a day without seeing him or at the last hearing his voice. She'd worry about how fast they were moving, had Auggie not expressed the same feelings to her.

Now thoughts of taking their relationship further filtered into her thoughts every so often, and she almost whimpered when they parted for the night after engaging in some rather heated makeout sessions.

As if he knew she was thinking about him, she heard her cellphone ring. After this past weekend, she'd changed his call tone to the Superman theme.

"Hey, Auggie."

"Hey, beautiful. How are you doing?"

Well, I just got wrangled into accepting a fancy dinner date for the both of us, where you'll meet my family and friends, and also, I've been wanting to jump your bones for a few days now.

"Fine, just fine. How are you?" Even as the words came out of her mouth, Annie knew he'd call her it.

"Annie, come on, what's going on? You sound upset."

Annie sighed. "No, not upset. It's just – my sister just called, and she's having a dinner tomorrow night, and I – well, I kind of said I'd be there, and I'd be bringing a guest."

"Ahh, I'm the guest, then, huh?"

"I'm sorry. I really should have asked you first."

"Think nothing of it. I'd love to meet your family."

Annie breathed a sigh of relief. "Really?"

"Yes, really. Why would you think I wouldn't accept?"

"You haven't met my family," Annie muttered. Then, "It's at 6, and she said to dress up. She likes to make a big show of everything."

"Sounds perfect. Can you drive?"

"Sure, I know you have trouble driving at night. Thanks, Auggie."

"You're welcome. Now, onto more important things. You up for a Skype session?"

"Of course."

At precisely 5:45 the next night, Annie pulled her red VW in front of Auggie's store/apartment. At almost the same time, Auggie stepped out the door, pulling it shut and locking it behind him. He turned and saw her pull up, and a wide smile lights up his face.

Annie was immediately struck dumb, complete with open mouth and all. Her eyes never left him as he walked across the sidewalk, opened the passenger door and slid in. Thankfully, she shut her mouth as he leaned over to kiss her hello, but as he pulled back, Auggie saw the "deer caught in headlights" look on her face.

"Something wrong?"

Far from it, Annie thought, as her eyes take him in from head to toe. He had, indeed, dressed up, from the dark red silk shirt that stretched across his shoulders, complete with dark tie and slacks. It far outshone the white shirt and slacks he'd worn on their first date, and Annie had to swallow quickly or risk drooling on her new dress.

Even his brown, wavy hair had been tamed a bit. But what really shocked her was his lack of glasses. She thought him handsome with the "Clark Kent" look, but without, and dressed to the nines as he was and smelling as good as he did, he was drop-dead gorgeous.

"Who are you, and what have you done with my boyfriend?" she breathed.

"Boyfriend, huh?" Auggie asked with a smirk. "I like the sound of that." Leaning over again, he closed her still gaping mouth with a searing kiss. "Shouldn't we get going?"

Annie nodded and automatically started the car and pulled out. She couldn't help looking over at him, and finally when she couldn't hold her curiosity any longer, she asked, "Where are your glasses?"

"Home," Auggie replied. "I'm wearing contacts. Or contact, actually," he said with a laugh. "I'm more comfortable wearing the glasses, but tonight, I wanted to make a good impression."

She didn't reply, or at least laugh at his little self-depracating joke, so Auggie looked over at her. She seemed to be overly concentrating on her driving, with her breath coming in and out heavily, and her hand clenching and unclenching on her thigh.

He couldn't help the smile of satisfaction that graced his lips at her obvious reaction to him. His reaction wasn't dissimilar, as his eyes trail over the tight, dark pink silk dress she's wearing. One arm was completely bare, and the material was gathered across her chest as it stretched over the other shoulder. An idea came to his mind to ask her to turn the car around and head back to his apartment, where they could –

He shook his head at the thought. No, he can't think of that now. This dinner, obviously, was important to her, and he'd have to cool his libido for now.

The dinner progressed smoothly, despite Danielle's obvious attempt to hook Annie up with a friend of hers. Obviously, Annie's mention of bringing a guest the night before had Danielle believing it was a girlfriend of hers. Auggie's presence threw a slight wrench into her plans, and she whispered an apology to Annie before they all sat down.

However, the seating arrangements had already been made, and Annie found herself seated between Auggie to her right and her so-called new "suitor" to her left. Annie tried to ignore him, and made sure to whisper in Auggie's ear and hold his hand throughout the first and second courses, but it didn't persuade Greg or Craig or whatever his name was to stop trying to engage her in conversation.

Auggie did his best to charm Danielle and her husband, Michael, and Annie felt a surge of pride at how he'd integrated himself into their little group so readily. She was thinking of ways to thank him later when Danielle stood up to grab another bottle of wine.

Annie thought they'd all had more than enough. She limited herself to one glass since she'd be driving home, but Auggie had accepted a refill, as did Danielle, Michael, and a handful of the other guests.

Now they were all raising their glasses again as Danielle made her way around the table. Annie was intent on finishing the delicious cheesecake, else she would have been able to catch Danielle's faux pas. All she knew was that she heard Danielle's voice, slightly slurred given the amount of wine she herself had drank.

"Come on, Auggie, are you blind or something? Lift up your wine glass so I can fill it."

Annie's head jerked up as she saw Danielle standing to the right of Auggie, a joking smile on her face, her hand waving the bottle in front of her.

Before Annie could think of something – anything to say, Auggie's posture froze, and his countenance darkened. His head turned around so he faced Danielle head-on, and the iciness in his voice chilled the jovial atmosphere in the room.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, Danielle, I am blind. Legally blind. I cannot see out of my right eye, and I can only see out of my left with the aid of glasses or contacts, which I am wearing now."

The look of horror mixed with shame and embarrassment came over Danielle, and Auggie couldn't hold back the deep-seated frustration and anger that came over him. It'd been a while since he'd been so crassly insulted, and the fact that it'd happened now, in front of a woman that he was growing to love, her family and friends, was the last straw.

"If you'll excuse me, everyone."

"Auggie, wait," Annie said, nearly tripping over her chair in an effort to push back from the table to follow him. He was too quick for her, though, and she soon heard the front door slamming.

"Danielle! How the hell could you be so rude!"

"Annie, honey, I didn't know, I swear! You never said anything. He never said anything. Hell, you never even said you were seeing someone."

Annie shook her head at her sister, "That still doesn't excuse your behavior. I'll talk to you tomorrow." Annie grabbed her purse and wrap from the side table and quickly left, hoping Auggie hadn't gotten too far.

Her heels clicked across the porch and down the steps, her eyes searching everywhere for him. And then – there, on the sidewalk, stood Auggie, his back straight, but his head hung down to his chest, and his fists clenched by his sides.

"Auggie!"

He turned at the sound of her voice. "Pathetic, aren't I? Can't even storm out, 'cause I can't see in the dark."

Annie caught up to him and cradled his face in her hands. "No, you're not. Danielle's the pathetic one. She always did have a big mouth, even more so when she's drunk."

"I'm sorry for ruining your dinner."

Annie scoffed, "It's not my dinner, it's Danielle's. I was just there for the free food and handsome company."

Auggie placed his hands on hers as they cradled his face. "What did I do to deserve you?"

"Fixed my computer," Annie said.

Auggie chuckled, "You mean you wouldn't have agreed to go out with me if I had lost all of your work?"

They were standing close in the dim light thrown from the streetlamp, but Annie didn't see anything other than Auggie's soft brown eyes looking directly into her own. "We'll never know now, will we? Just think what would've happened if Carl had taken the call that day."

Auggie laughed and wrapped his arms around her, bringing her flush against him. Her own slid around his neck. Taking a deep breath of her now-familiar and intoxicating citrus scent, Auggie whispered into her hair, "I love you, Annie."

Annie's breath came in and stayed there as his words crept through her and settled in her heart, which now beat loudly against her chest. His arms tightened just a bit around her back, and she swore she could feel his heartbeat echoing her own.

"Auggie, I –"

Shaking his head, Auggie pulled back from her. "Shh, can we just go home now?"

Annie nodded her head, afraid to speak, though she wanted to shout her own proclamations to everyone within hearing distance. There'd be time enough later, she thought, when they were alone, and preferably naked, in bed.