A/N: Have been too busy to write and too lazy to write. A terrible combination for a wanna be fan fiction writer. So here is my attempt at something.
Vincent looked back and forth between the two girls as they stared at each other in surprise. By the look on Catherine's face, he sensed that there was more to them than just customer and waitress as he heard Catherine's heart to beat much faster than he's heard before. Catherine tried to hide her blushing cheeks but it was futile as Tess never took her eyes off of her and it dawned on him that she looked familiar as he stared intently at the woman.
"Hi, I'm Vincent, Catherine's date," Vincent broke the silence between them as he reached out his hand.
"And I'm Tess, Catherine's friend," Tess paused and looked him over before continuing. "Best friend actually," she replied sternly as she gave him a you better not hurt my fried or else look and shook his hand firmly.
It was a look Catherine knew all too well. She'd seen it many times before especially since they started working at the bar together but Tess has always been protective and has been since they were in diapers. Tess wasn't a fan of the drunken guys that Catherine attracted and it surely didn't help that Tess had fallen for one of them. It was a whirlwind relationship that took a quick turn downhill when Tess caught him with another woman. Since then she swore off men and promised to never trust another.
"Tess, you can let go of his hand now," Catherine chimed in and tried to protect Vincent from her best friend, who she knew was much stronger than her thinner frame revealed.
"It's okay," Vincent answered as he slowly pulled his hand away from her firm grip. "I get it."
"You look familiar. Have we met before?" Tess quickly added as she stared at him.
Vincent shook his head. "Not that I know of."
"Actually, you two sort of met. Tess, Vincent was the one who helped me at the bar with the drunken frat guys a couple of weeks ago."
"Ah," Tess replied as if she knew who he was. "So you're him," she said as she rolled her eyes. "Are you two ready to order?"
Catherine quick to notice her friend's attitude shook her head in frustration. "We haven't had a chance to look at the menu. Can you come back in a couple of minutes?"
"Whatever," Tess answered and turned to walk away, leaving the two alone once again.
"Your friend doesn't like me," Vincent was the first to break the silence.
Catherine turned away and saw their reflection on the darkened window. "It's not you per se. She's not very fond of any guy from the bar," she slowly turned and met his pleading eyes. "I'm sorry."
"I'm not like the others," he whispered softly and as if on cue his eyes changed to its own accord, flashing gold as he gazed at her.
"I know, Vincent," she whispered softly as she placed her hand on his. "And that's what drew me to you," Catherine finished more confidently with a hint of blush coloring her cheeks.
His lips curled to a smile as her words quickly drowned out the negative voice screaming at him to turn around and walk away. Vincent knew that he was testing faith and playing with fire but he could no longer deny what was between them. "You like that I'm different?" he said with a smirk as he wrapped his arm around her waist.
"I like that you're not like the other guys I've met before. You're different from them but in a good way. There's this thing about you that I'm just drawn to and I just can't help myself. I'm here with you because I want to be, Vincent," Catherine finished as her heartbeat raced and her blushing cheeks gave her away but little did she know how he could hear her heart racing that was matching his.
"If only I'd known," he exhaled against her lips as he pulled her closer to him. "I would have never stayed away for so long."
"Why did you? Why would you stay away?"
"I can sit here and make up excuses but I won't. All those reasons I kept telling myself, none of it matters now. We're here together. You know that I'm different, even from you but as long as you can accept me, I promise to never stay away from you again or leave you."
"That's a pretty big promise to make," Catherine didn't hesitate to reply.
"And one I intend to keep."
"Ahem," Tess deliberately interrupted as she cleared her throat and stood with her arms folded across her chest as she watched her best friend make a huge mistake. Men were assholes and couldn't be trusted at least that was how she felt since she caught her now former boyfriend with someone else.
"Tess," Catherine spoke softly. "Can you give us another minute."
"There's no need," Vincent interrupted. "I know what I want," he smiled before turning away from Catherine and making her blush. "I'll have the chicken-fried steak with a side of mac and cheese. Also, later for dessert we want the apple pie with cinnamon ice cream and a slice of the berry coffee cake to go."
"Is that all?"
"Coffee and water, please."
"Got it. And Cat? The usual?"
Catherine shook her head. "I'll have the herb crusted ahi on toasted sourdough with a side of clam chowder. And water."
"Any appetizers for the lovely couple?" Tess said in a sarcastic tone.
"Actually yes," Vincent answered. "The loaded nachos sounds good. Catherine?" he turned to her.
"I think we have enough food but if you want the nachos, they're good as well."
Vincent turned back to Tess. "You heard my lady. Nachos as well," he said with a huge smile on his face. He was determined not to let anyone ruin his good mood and his first date in a very long time.
"Got it. Will be back with your drinks," Tess replied as she scribbled their order then left them alone again.
"I'm sorry, Vincent."
He turned back to her with the same smile he had when he first saw her that night. "I'm not letting anyone ruin our date and you shouldn't either. If you want, we can just get the food to go and eat at your place. I really don't mind. I just like spending time with you and that's all that matters to me. It doesn't matter where we go or we are, just as long we're together."
"Let's stay here. Tess will just have to deal with the fact that I'm here with you and that we're on a date. By far the best one I've been on," Catherine broke to a smile before blushing once more. "And it's just the beginning."
"Hopefully it doesn't end here."
"We'll see how dinner goes first," Catherine answered as she bit her bottom lip.
"I promise not to disappoint," Vincent answered as his eyes shined brightly.
