A/N: Hi again! So happy to hear that everyone liked the longer chapter, especially because this one is even longer oops. As for reviews, you guys didn't let me down, as usual. To leilalolalee, that's so cute and I'm really grateful for the compliment (I may or may not have bragged about it just a little...). To Forever Day, I definitely try to keep the stories as different and fresh as possible, so I'm glad that doesn't go unnoticed. And thank you, I think almost all I have to offer is fluff haha. And to toffeema, Emmafan, and T123Davis, thanks for answering my pressing question - and for the compliments, I appreciate every one, truly.

So I wrote this chapter after the Christmas fic I wrote (feel free to read that if you haven't already), and I realized I love writing these two dating. Now, that's a little difficult to do in this fic, when I'm trying to keep these as all "first" kisses, so that's kind of where the idea for this fic was born. Anyway, I look forward to hearing what you think!

None of the original work belongs to me, etc.

Step by step, inch by inch.

Alex blinks. Three times in succession, actually. He has the distinct feeling that he's dreaming but the fact that he could still feel the soreness in his shoulder from the other day told him he was most definitely awake.

Nevertheless, he hadn't expected this. Hadn't planned for it, or even allowed himself to dream of this outcome in case things went in the total opposite direction.

But for some reason, they hadn't. So he just stands in front of her and blinks.

"You plan on saying something at any point soon?" Emma asks, smiling at his visible confusion.

As if snapping himself out of a daze, which is exactly what it was actually, Alex replies with, "Yes, just…uh…processing." Emma laughs slightly.

Alex takes a deep breath and then pulls down his sleeves that he hadn't noticed were bunched up at his elbows. "You're sure, right?"

Emma laughs fully this time, nodding her head fervently. "Very."

Alex just keeps staring at her. He didn't have a game plan for this scenario. In all his overthinking of this particular moment, he had planned for every possible negative outcome, including the building actually collapsing around him. But he hadn't counted on this.

"One hundred percent certain, I mean, you haven't been drinking or anything?" he verifies, feeling like he was grasping at straws. Emma shakes her head with a soft smile on her lips.

Then she reaches out to grab his hands with her own, "I mean it, Alex. I have feelings for you, too. More than that, really; I can't put it into words exactly."

He had said something similar in his confession to her earlier, but it still sounded foreign coming back to him. Especially from her. He doesn't manage to interject before she continues, however.

"I don't…quite understand it, weirdly enough," she's trying to talk with her hands but they're still interlocked with his, "but I want to figure it all out. With you." She looks up at him then, as if to make sure it's finally getting through to him. Alex is pretty sure he still looks like a deer in the headlights though.

"I'm serious! Why is it so hard to believe?"

Alex can think of many reasons. He could list them off the top of his head in alphabetical order. It was the same list that stopped him from expressing his feelings to her so many times when he had wanted to before. But he doesn't want to explain it to her now when, in reality or fiction, she was telling him she felt the same way about him as he'd felt about her for a long time.

So he somewhat lets his brain click back into place, takes another deep breath, and asks her his next question, a topic he hadn't been practicing nearly as much as the first. "Can we go on a date, then?"

Now, it's Emma who blinks, and Alex feels like a complete idiot. Don't rush them, it scares them away! Emma Woodhouse dating tip #12. He knew this, knew all her stupid rules and tips. In fact, he could probably write a whole book about them, if Emma didn't already own the royalties. But, naturally, in the moment when it counted, all of Emma's unwarranted advice seems to breeze right out of his head.

"Not now, obviously, we're working. But whenever works for you, if you are ever free from helping the world or whatever," Alex clarifies, not sure if he is digging himself out of or further into the hole he had already started.

But Emma seems to have gotten over her initial shock (lucky her), and lets her head tilt slightly, appraising him. He forces himself not to shift awkwardly under her gaze, which seems to pay off when she smiles at him and says, "Sure."

"Sure?"

"It's an English word meaning yes," she mocks, wrapping her hands more closely around his.

"And here I was, this whole time, thinking it meant the exact opposite."

"Only when people employ sarcasm, Mr. Knightley. Not that you'd know anything about that." His mouth falls into the easiest smile he sure he's ever known. Every fear he's ever had seems to fade the longer the conversation continues.

"Sarcasm? Another foreign word, you'll need to explain it to me, too."

"I think that's what people generally do on dates, yes?"

"Oh, definitely. No good date is complete without an English lesson," Alex is staring at her lips as he waits for her response.

"That explains oh so much about my past dates," she jokes, just as her cell phone rings. The warmth of one of her hands leaves his own and he's never felt so empty. But once her phone is in hand, she snaps her head back up and their eyes meet again and she's smiling at him as their other interlocked hands fall naturally to their sides. And then he doesn't mind as much.

"Hello?" Emma answers into her phone. "Hi Ann–, wait Ryan did what?" Her face changes immediately and he knows she's entering her Emma Woodhouse, miracle worker state, meaning he should probably leave her to her own devices. But he worries that if he leaves, whatever illusion this is will break and he'll go back to pining for her at a distance.

But her squeezing his hand brings him back to the here and now. One look from her and he knows the conversation isn't something she can finish quickly, and he wouldn't want her to – he knows how important Annie is to her. So he makes a face to show that it's fine, and drops her hand to pick up one of the sticky notes on her desk.

Emma's distracted by the phone call for a long time, so it's a few hours later when she finds the sticky note with the message "Friday night, 7. I am picking you up" planted on her computer screen. She smiles fondly, because he could have simply texted her. But instead, she now has physical evidence that Alex Knightley did, in fact, ask her on a date. Judging by some of the looks they'd gotten over the years, she figured there had to be a bet going on somewhere or other.

Alex is true to his word and arrives at her house at exactly seven o'clock. He remembers driving down to her condo and thinking that he should be a lot more nervous than he was, especially after how much effort had gone into telling her how he felt and then blurting out the ridiculous notion of a date.

But his worries are put completely to rest when he opens the door to a very perturbed looking Emma Woodhouse. He knows she isn't mad, which meant she was just slightly annoyed. Slightly annoyed was the perfect atmosphere for their witty banter.

He opens with, "I'm not late so don't even start with that," and a smile playing on his face.

She rolls her eyes at him, "I know you're not late, I bought you the watch remember?"

"So why do you look like I just committed a felony?"

She groans, before seeming to realize they're having this conversation in an open doorway, then lightly pulls him into her condo. Mostly, anyway. He ends up leaning on her door frame with her hand still in his, looking very content with the whole situation.

"Why does our date have a dress code?"

Alex had a feeling she would have a thing or two to say about that. "Because we can't do what I'm planning to do in six inch heels and business casual dresses."

Emma looks down at herself; she's wearing a light blue sundress. Very simple and flattering but not what Alex had suggested. "How is this not 'comfy'?"

Alex takes her other hand in his before looking at her kindly, but firmly, and saying, "Put on pants."

She groans again but seems to concede with only a slight flippant comment. She's throwing, "Five minutes!" over her shoulder before racing up the stairs to get changed. Alex chuckles and closes the door behind him, wondering into the kitchen for water as he waits. He sips from the glass and laughs to himself again, realizing how completely unique their first date was already.

The next time he sees Emma, which is about four minutes later, she's wearing a black pair of jeans and a floral top. Still a far cry from most people's "casual" clothing, but it's Emma so he didn't expect much else.

"Ready?"

"We're about to do some awful physical activity, aren't we?" she pouts as she reaches out to grab his hand.

"Something like that," he offers, wrapping his hand around hers before laughing at her third groan of the evening.

This Something Like That activity turns out to be bowling. Emma recognizes the place from Alex's fourteenth birthday party, one of the first she'd been invited to. The memories come back quicker than the unease sets in so Alex already has her through the door before she realizes he actually expects them to bowl.

Her complaints start with having to wear somebody else's shoes and end with her being totally overdressed for the activity. His rebuttals begin with them already being there and end with him having told her not to dress up.

Eventually, the pouting, complaining and arguing ends and Emma seems to remember that, though she hasn't done it since she was a kid, she did actually kind of enjoy bowling.

The downside was the fact that she was pretty much on par with Alex's bowling skills, when he had had every intention of impressing her. But the sound of her laughter and excitement as she gets a third strike makes the fact that they're at a tie-game less annoying.

Because their bowling skills were so evenly matched, the real advantage came to the bowler who could flirt with the other better and distract them from the game. And, as with most things in life, Emma proved to surpass him in this too. His final turn ends up being a gutter ball because Emma insists on adjusting the collar of his shirt before he throws. She was annoyingly good at making everything distracting to him, but her hands on his neck were kind of the final straw.

He loses but he doesn't even have the heart to truly complain.

But that's also because the date works out better than he expected. Alex had known that any regular date would hardly be suitable for Emma and him. He couldn't sit across from her at dinner and pretend to not know everything about her. He couldn't take her to the movies and spend the entire time not arguing about the other person's awful taste in movies. But something easy and silly like bowling, he could do that. The flirtation-distraction game had just been an added bonus he didn't think either of them had seen coming. A bonus he was sure they'd be enjoying again, another night.

After the game, he convinces her to eat a slice of pizza with him – despite her many protests. She looks like every bite is torture, but he can tell that she was starving from all their "physical activity". And, she looks like she's secretly enjoying the "fat-infused, gluten-filled, heart attack waiting to happen."

They're talking about clients and events from work when she suddenly says, "It's still really weird that you asked me on a date."

Alex takes a sip of his pop before replying. "I know you have a degree in life-coaching," she hits him at this, "but, as far as I've ever been told, normal people go on dates when they like each other."

"We aren't normal people, Alex. We're…you and me. We don't need official dates."

"You're saying you didn't enjoy yourself tonight?"

Emma looks down at her shoes, her own shoes – not having kept the bowling shoes longer than necessary, before replying. "No, I loved it. Wish I had planned it myself, really," he smiles at her praise, wishing they weren't sitting on bar stools so he could wrap an arm around her.

"But I just mean, I don't want you to feel pressured. All of this is supplementary."

Alex is shaking his head though. "No way. If I'm going to be with you, I'm going the whole nine yards. Which includes preliminary dating, taking it slow, and general gentlemanlike behaviour."

She scoffs, "You've been taking advice from your dad again, haven't you?"

He rolls his eyes, "Emma, I'm not going to let you tell people, especially our parents, that we're together unless we're sure about this."

"I am sure!"

"I know that, so am I, but we're taking a big jump here so let's just take it slow."

Emma pouts and plays around with her cardboard pizza plate. She's muttering something akin to "Fine" and "You better makes this worthwhile", so he starts chuckling because, whether she's happy about it or not, they are going to get through this.

When he drops her off back at home, he realizes that dating Emma is one of the best things that ever happened to him. Not that this was surprising to him, and not that he didn't expect them to have bumps along the way like anyone else, but the fact that "dating" her felt so normal made it seem as though he had just been preparing for this moment for a very long time.

"If I shower tomorrow and still smell like pizza and sweat, I'm blaming you," Emma says, as she puts her key in the door and turns the lock. "And if my shoes are damaged in any way, you are buying me another pair," she adds, walking into her condo and flicking on the lights. "And the next date should definitely involve less horrible lighting, it's bad for the eyes," she turns the corner into her kitchen and notices that he isn't following her.

Emma turns around to see Alex smirking at her from her doorway. "Are you taking in the scenery or are you planning to come inside?"

"Nope," he responds, shaking his head. She walks over to him, narrowing her eyes even though she's more confused than annoyed. "Why?"

He looks at her in mock-shock before stating, "You would hardly invite someone in on the first date."

She looks at him as though she's trying to decide whether to drop her jaw in shock or clench it in frustration. "Seriously, Alex?"

"Yes."

She closes the distance between them before pressing her face into his chest. "You are the worst."

Alex laughs and wraps an arm around her, rubbing circles into her back. After a few minutes, he tells her, "I'll call you tomorrow, okay?"

She nods into his chest before moving her head back and looking up at him expectantly. He smiles and says, "Good night, Emma," before removing his hand from her back and walking towards his car.

He gets her text a few minutes later, after he's parked in his own driveway. He laughs at the three-worded, "I hate you." and ends up staying up for another two hours texting her before his body finally crashes into bed.

Their second "official" date doesn't come around for some time since work is keeping them both so busy. It's more than two weeks later when Alex finally manages to stick his head into Emma's office for long enough to ask if she was free that Thursday night. Surprisingly, she was and he again made a point of telling her that he would be picking her up shortly after work.

Emma fidgets in the seat next to him on the ride over. She wasn't worried about whatever Alex's plans were, she just doesn't like not knowing what to expect – hated being caught off guard. She didn't understand why he wanted to keep these things a secret anyway, it wasn't like she wouldn't eventually find out what was going on. At least she had dressed better this time, having slipped into one of Alex's pull over sweaters rather than potentially ruin another well purchased cardigan of her own.

"You okay?" Alex asks, taking his eyes off the road only briefly to look her over with concern. Emma manages to still the shaking of her leg, though it takes a good deal of her concentration.

"Yup," she responds, popping the P and turning to smile at him. Alex looks skeptical but simply squeezes her hand and continues driving. He doesn't even protest when Emma leans over and begins choosing the radio station – something he was known to complain about. Perhaps they were both just a little on edge.

When they finally arrive, however, Emma lets whatever skepticism she has go and just starts laughing. Alex is trying to help her out of his car when she uses both her hands to cover her mouth to stop the sound, but he's already chuckling a bit himself. "Surprise?" he tries for, and Emma just shakes her head and steps out onto the sidewalk.

For the guy who took her bowling for their first date, a second adventure to a mini-golf course should not have surprised Emma at all. But she can't help remembering the last time they'd gone mini-golfing. It had been golf-in-the-dark mini-put in Malibu and Alex's brother, John, had fallen ill in the most strange of ways. That was, of course, not the only reason why that evening was memorable, or funny for that matter, but it's the first thought that flashes in her mind and Emma knows she isn't going to let Alex convince her to eat the food at this place like last time.

"You were thinking about John, I'm guessing," Alex says, after he pays for their clubs and golf balls and they set off. Emma had still been giggling the whole time, which Alex could only take as a good sign because she at least wasn't complaining like she had about bowling.

Emma laughs again, pulling one of the clubs from his grasp. "I was thinking about that whole day, actually. It was kind of bizarre," she replies, wrinkling her nose a bit.

The course is a bit of a maze to get through but, seeing as it was made for children, it wasn't hard to find the bright pink number 1 after a small bit of searching. Alex drops the bucket of balls and begins setting up his first shot before he continues the conversation.

"Bizarre wouldn't be my word for it," he strikes the ball coolly and turns back to face Emma before he even sees his result.

"Well, you didn't know my sister as well as I did back then," she says, watching the golf ball he just hit fall into place. Hole in one.

"Do you still believe she did that?" he asks, humorously, as he moves out of the way to give her a chance to putt. She moves to the tee, but simply leans against her golf club, as if she had all the time in the world.

"It's not even a question, Alex. She most definitely did it."

"You honestly think Isabella poisoned my brother and still hasn't admitted to it?" Alex finds himself laughing slightly at her shocked expression as he moves to grab her other hand in his own.

"When you say it like that, it sounds like she was trying to kill him. No, she just purposely messed up his order so he would have an allergic reaction and walk out on his date," Emma shrugged, grinning up at his disbelief.

"Emma, she's not that devious."

"She grew up with me, Alex. She had to learn a thing or two," she winks at him, before leaning into his chest. "Well, I can hardly argue with that," he replies, wrapping his arms around her. Emma then poked him in the gut before muttering a "Hey!" of indignation. Alex just laughed.

Emma remembers the evening they were discussing clearly. She, Isabella, Alex, John, and the boys' then-girlfriends had gone out together to celebrate something – it was important at the time but now it seems so trivial that Emma has forgotten what it was, exactly. Nevertheless, the six of them had ended up mini-golfing at this fancy place up in Malibu, where they were visiting at the time. Emma's sister had spent the entire time split between trying not to look jealous and being obviously jealous about John's newest girlfriend. So when they had all ordered smoothies from the course, and yes it was the sort of mini-golf course that actually served smoothies, Isabella had neglected to inform them of John's slight allergy to mangos. Needless to say, Alex's brother had to return home early, after a rather nasty allergic reaction.

"Are you planning to golf or are we just going to stand here?" Alex's questions into Emma's hair just as she returns from her trip down memory lane. She hits him again and then untangles herself from his arms.

Now, Emma knows how to golf – she grew up in California, it was inevitable. But after the bowling incident, which turned out to be more successful in retrospect, she decides to play down her superior mini-golf skills. As much for her own sake as for Alex's.

So her first attempt ends up being something of a, well, failure – plainly speaking. It barely makes it very far and bounces off of one of the railings which puts it into a terrible angle. She turns back to look at Alex with her patented Don't say it face before lining up for her next attempt.

Emma adjusts her grip three times before saying, "Could you just help me with this?" Alex raises both his eyebrows in surprise, but nods and walks over to her.

"You know, I'm not really a golf expert, Emma," he says, unashamed, but scratching the back of his neck nonetheless. "But um, you probably shouldn't grip it that tightly."

Emma looks up at him – he's standing two steps away from her, observing her technique. She cocks her head slightly in disbelief, wondering if his competitive edge is making an appearance yet again.

"Would you mind just showing me?" Emma asks, shaking her club at him to emphasize her point. Alex draws his eyebrows together, but nods, before leaning down into his own golfing position. He hits an imaginary ball before righting himself back into a standing position and shrugging, as if to say There you go.

Emma can't help herself from laughing. Alex smiles over at her, confused, "What?"

She raises her hands to her face to quell the laughter, not that it helps much, before responding. "Just get over here, you dork," she leans over to pull him to where she's standing. He still looks slightly confused but then Emma pulls his hand around her waist and he finally clues in, feeling the blood rush to his face.

"Oh. Right. Sorry," he says by her ear, adjusting his hands to cover hers on the golf club.

Emma smiles and leans back against him, "If you're going to take me out like we're still in high school, I at least want the full experience." Alex laughs and helps her to hit the ball. It lands in the hole, though his technique isn't as good as her own. She focuses on the feeling of Alex's hands on hers to avoid saying so out loud.

They continue in much the same way, ending the game with a tied score. Well, they're pretty sure it's tied, anyway. Unlike bowling, they had to keep their own score here and neither of them would say that they were fully focused on the game, in all honesty. So they called it a tie and moved on with their lives.

"You seriously don't eat at golf courses?" Alex asks, as they find themselves back in his car at the end of the night. He had bought himself a hot dog from the snack bar but Emma wouldn't touch a thing, even when he tried to use the fact that she ate pizza last time against her.

"I don't eat at mini-golf courses. You never know where my sister may be," she says, trying not to grimace at his terrible food choices, and failing miserably. Alex simply laughs.

"You're still on that," Emma nods as though that were obvious. "Well, she got him in the end, so whether she was behind that mishap or not, I don't think John would mind."

"You know she could have killed him right?" Alex just shrugs in response.

"Well, fine. Just remember, Mr. Knightley," she pauses for dramatic effect and he finds himself leaning forward. "I know what you're allergic to, too." Alex laughs again and uses his free hand to wrap around Emma's shoulders. They sit like that for a bit before either of them speak.

"You know, if you can do this," Emma points to Alex's hand on her shoulder, "And eat at the same time, I think you more than capable of eating and driving at the same time, too." Alex gives her his best sarcastic expression, "Someone's hungry."

Now, Emma laughs and shrugs out of his hand so she can face him. "Yes, so can we go or not?"

"I can't eat and drive and hold your hand at the same time," Alex reports, with a sort of smug smile on his face. "Besides, I'm almost done," to which Emma just rolls her eyes.

By the time they get back to Emma place, having picked her up a vegetarian wrap to tie her over, it's dark out. This time, Emma doesn't try to invite him in, preferring to simply sit down on one of the chairs on her front porch and getting him to join her.

"Thank you," she offers, when Alex has settled into the wicker chair beside her.

He shrugs, "The wrap was like $4.70, Emma, it's not a big deal."

She hits him in the shoulder, "Not that! Everything."

Alex raises an eyebrow, "The golfing was like $20 bucks so it's no big deal, but I guess if you factor in gas…" his voice patters out when she raises a hand to cover his mouth. "Shut up, Alex."

He nods, then somehow manages to pull her out of her chair and onto his. Emma laughs, "Alex, I'm eating."

"If I'm expected to eat and drive, which is very dangerous by the way, Miss Woodhouse, then you can be expected to sit here and eat at the same time. It shouldn't be too strenuous," she hits him lightly, and he just wraps his arm more closely around her.

They chat quietly for a good while, Emma's wrap soon gone, the wrapping on the chair beside them. When she begins nodding off on Alex's shoulder, he takes that as his cue to leave.

"You need your rest, Emma," he tells her when she protests his leaving. She pouts up at him so he leans down and kisses her cheek, letting his lips linger a bit longer than necessary. Emma smiles, in spite of herself, and catches his hand before he leaves.

"You're moving a bit fast, there, Alex."

He sighs, though he's smiling, "It's very hard to move slowly with you, Emma."

She positively beams up at him, releasing his hand and letting him go. That night, she goes to sleep with that same smile still gracing her lips.

Emma wonders if Alex is always this childish when he plans dates or whether it has something to do with him taking her, specifically, out on dates. She prefers to accept the latter.

It's only a few days after the second date when Alex asks her for a third one. Unsurprisingly, he chooses another location that was rare for dates between two adults: an aquarium. Emma rolls her eyes at him when they arrive but she knows she's also doing a terrible job of hiding her smile.

They're the oldest ones in the building that don't have children with them but Emma doesn't care. She barely notices as Alex's excitement is enough like a child's that she doesn't feel that old. And his hand in hers kind of mulls out everything else around them.

"Wait, look at this one," he says, with subdued excitement as he drags her over to look at the sea turtles. He's looking up at it with absolute concentration and awe and Emma finds herself laughing.

He turns to look at her with his brow furrowed, "Am I boring you?" The usual snarky comment comes off lacking and she knows he's genuinely worried that he made the wrong call here.

"No," he seems to breathe a bit easier at this response. "I'm just wondering if I should leave you two alone," she adds with a straight face, as she gestures towards one of the turtles. He laughs at her comment and then walks towards a different tank.

The ease with which they move across the room is something special, at least to Emma. She used to think that any time she spent with Alex had to be very loud, since they were always arguing or making each other laugh. Maybe this was the difference between their friendship and them dating, the fact that she could lean against his shoulder looking at jelly fish and not need to fill the silence with sound. She decides it isn't worth dissecting, really, because she could miss out on simply enjoying it.

"Sorry this isn't half as entertaining as our last date," Alex breaks the silence, as he removes his hand from hers, preferring to wrap it around her shoulders. She looks up at him and realizes that he is worried again, worried that he messed up and that that could somehow change something between them. "No, don't," she says, shaking her head.

He raises an eyebrow, "Don't, what?"

"Don't act so afraid that this is going to change anything." She turns to face him head on and his arm falls from around her. There's a beat before Alex says anything.

"I'm not following."

She groans and puts her head in her hands, before looking back at him and replying. "This is why I didn't want to date."

His face falls, "We can go back to being friends –"

"No!" she practically shouts in the middle of the aquarium. She barely takes a second to read his surprised face in the tinted blue lighting before she's talking again, "I want to be with you, Alex. I want you to come over to my condo and watch stupid movies with me. I want to go out for dinner with you because we're tired of each other's cooking. I want to hold your hand in front of my dad when he gives you the Take care of my daughter talk. I want all of that, but I don't want this." She gestures at him, looking extremely displeased and exasperated.

Alex just keeps staring at her because he doesn't get it. "How is that different from this?" he asks, using his hand to gesture the aquarium around them.

"It's not this that bothers me," Emma motions at the tank behind her full of blow-fish. "It's this," she points to his face because she doesn't understand what he doesn't understand.

"You want me…to fix my face?"

"You're impossible," she groans. Alex grabs her hand and pulls her into a more secluded hallway of the aquarium. "Emma, please use your words this time."

She rolls her eyes at him and raises a hand to her forehead. "You need to stop."

"Stop what?"

"Stop acting like this is going to fall apart if you take the wrong step!" she manages to emphasize her point without actually shouting, which is an improvement.

"I'm just worried that –" he starts, before she interrupts him. "I know you're worried, that's the problem." She sighs before letting herself continue, "That's why I didn't want to go on these dates. I don't want you to feel like every minute is about proving yourself. I like you, Alex, more than a lot, and I want to be charmed and swept off my feet as much as the next girl. But I'm not just some girl –"

"I know that."

"Then don't act like we haven't know each other our whole lives. Don't act like you're worried that I'm bored when you know how to tell that I'm not. Stop pretending that you can't read my thoughts just by looking at me. You're my best friend, Alex, you know me better than anyone. You don't need to date me to know how I feel about you."

Alex looks at her like he's trying to understand what she's saying. Then he sighs, taking a step forward in order to rest his forehead on hers.

"I quite enjoy dating you, you know," he says, moving his hands down her arms.

Emma laughs in response, moving to wrap her arms around his neck, "It isn't so bad, I guess." She breathes, wishing she could explain to him how she felt any more than she already had. "Just...trust us, okay? And maybe plan a normal date for once."

Now he laughs and moves to press a kiss to her forehead, "That staying in watching bad movies idea doesn't sound half bad."

"You're going to make us order-in greasy take out, aren't you?" she asks as she tightens her grip around his neck and pulls him in to hug her.

"Is there any other way to do a movie marathon?" he questions back, as he wraps his arms tightly around her waist. Alex can practically feel her roll her eyes in his neck but she just grips him tighter.

They stay like that for a while before continuing their tour of the aquarium. The ease that their other dates had seemed to find a place in this one as well as they walked along, talking about work and their friends. At the end of the date, they pick up some gelato and he drives her home.

"We should go to the zoo next," Emma offers as she unlocks the door to her condo.

"What happened to no more dates?" he jokes as he moves to lean against her now open door frame.

"No more dates where you worry so much," she says as she pulls her hair out of its braid. Emma knows that Alex won't concede to her on the 'no dating' idea, he's too traditional for that kind of thing. So she compromises, something she's not quite used to. But, to be fair, she isn't completely used to dating Alex yet either, and as easy as that has seemed so far, she knew it was a change that came with a lot of baggage too.

"You have high standards, Miss Woodhouse," he lets out a deep breath. She makes a face at him.

"I guess I have my work cut out for me, then," he smirks up at her. "Good night, Emma," he says, before taking a step towards his car.

"Wait, what?" Emma demands, pulling him back to her door by the back of his jacket. Alex turns around to meet her eyes and looks at her with confusion. "I said, good night?"

"Yes, I was here for that."

"Your question then was…?"

"Do you have any idea what today is?" she stares at him as though he must be kidding her. He's still confused, though.

"It's April tw–"

"Not the date, Alex! The day, do you know what day it is?"

He stares at her like he's severely worried about her mental stability. Emma scoffs, "How many dates have we been on Alex?"

"Three," he states, slowly, before catching onto her drift. He smiles lightly, "We've been on three dates, Emma."

"Yes, and what do people do at the end of the third date?"

He scoffs now and crosses his arms, saying "Are you really going to be that old-fashioned?" And the murderous look of pure shock that spreads on her face is the best thing he's seen in ages. He expects her to explode at him, but she just keeps looking at him and blinking. The laughter that burns to pop out of him is reaching dangerous heights when she finally speaks.

"I have been playing by your rules for weeks, Alex. Are you honestly going to pull this on me right now?" she looks like she really wants to kick him so he takes a slight step back.

"They aren't rules, Emma. Helpful suggestions, maybe. And didn't you say, we aren't normal people?" he's half-laughing now and he knows the rest of it will probably burst out of him soon enough.

"I am going to punch you, Alex Knightley. And then, you are going to kiss me," Emma says.

"Nah, the lighting isn't right here. Bad for the eyes, I hear." Then he's grabbing her fist before it collides with his shoulder and pulling her into a much awaited kiss.

It's the most awkward angle possible and he's still a bit afraid to let go of her fist, but neither of them really care. Eventually, things seem to fall into place, and Alex wraps his arm around her waist to help adjust their slight height difference. She manages to steal her hand back and then rests both of them comfortably on his neck.

What feels like hours later, Alex pulls back because he knows he can't let this go any further just now. But he's smiling all the same.

"Worth the wait," Emma breathes out as she pulls back a bit herself. He's beaming now, wondering if this was all really happening.

Then her fist collides with his shoulder and, once again, the pain reminds him of the reality of the situation. "You didn't have to be such a smart ass about it," she says, her own smile lighting up her face.

He smiles back, in spite of the pain, and cups her face in his hands. "I meant it. They aren't rules, not for us. I want to take it slow but it's still you and me; we don't need to follow anyone else's traditions."

"Will you come inside, then?"

"No," she rolls her eyes, "but only because it's late and we both still have work tomorrow. Movies and take-out next time, okay?"

Emma nods in his hands before leaning in and brushing her lips against his again, "Okay."

In spite of everything, Emma still wasn't really convinced that Alex meant their relationship was now their own world, one that didn't rely on outdated traditions. Not until their fourth date, when they stayed up until two am watching cheesy comedies and woke up the next morning still on Emma's couch. It may have also helped that the accidental sleepover turned into a full weekend spent in her condo. Or that on Monday, she overhears his conversation with his mom where he referred to her as his girlfriend.

Little things, but still, Emma knew that was how Alex was about their relationship. Wanting every little thing to fall perfectly into place. And, to be completely honest, she found that a lot of things between them were worth the wait, and she knew that they were both in it for the long run anyway.

A/N: Well there's another long one for you that I hope you all made it through! If you can't tell, when I said I was adding something in, I was referring to their second date (which was originally only a short recap paragraph), so if the pacing seems off it's because I added that much later than the rest. Otherwise, I hope to hear from you on what you thought of this installment, and I might have another surprise/question for you next chapter - so keep an eye out!