"All right, what exactly counts as appropriate attire for a date down at the wharf?"

Anna looked up from shifting through her friend's closet, and Roxy glanced up from her English homework (apparently Mr. Depaw didn't care that he'd assigned a weekend essay every week since school started, the honors class would have one every weekend). Bloom was straddling her desk chair, twisting an old silver ring around her thumb. Her hair hung in wet limbs around her face, waiting to be done up.

"Something simple," Anna insisted. "I've been to the restaurant before. It's pretty relaxed."

"Plus Andy had track practice after school, and usually he's too tired to be fancy." Roxy added.

Bloom smiled lightly. She'd seen the track and field practice when she walked past the field earlier that day. "So…jeans and a t-shirt? Or something fancier?"

Anna moved some hangers aside. "Um, I'd say a little fancier. Ooh," she pulled out a black leather jacket. "This is nice. Why have I not seen it?"

"Aunt Caroline gave it to me for helping with her art gallery over the summer. Plus she'll be in Colorado for Christmas this year, so it was like two presents rolled into one."

"It's genuine."

"Yeah."

"It's perfect."

Bloom shot up. "No way! What if something happens to it?"

"Well what else can it do? Sit in your closet for the next three years?"

She rolled her eyes and started to say something else, but Anna threw the jacket at her. "It's perfect," she said again. "Now where's that grey shirt with the British flag on it?"

"Second drawer in my dresser." Before Bloom even finished Anna was racing off to get it.

Roxy chuckled. "Do you get the feeling she's taking this too seriously?"

Bloom shrugged, grabbing a hairbrush and starting to work it through her tangled bangs. "I'd probably be freaking out without her. I've never had a serious date before."

"Robbie Quailey!" a slightly muffled voice yelled from the closet. Bloom grabbed a pencil from her desk and threw it at Anna. The black haired girl started laughing hysterically, and Bloom's cheeks turned the same color as her hair. Roxy glanced between them, looking genuinely curious. "Has this whole 'blind date after a drunk night' thing happened before?"

"No." Bloom said quickly, glaring at Anna. "It shouldn't even count as a relationship."

"Aww, but he was cute. Like a little lost puppy. Plus that was the year we met; my dad just transferred jobs again. You were the first friend I made."

Bloom rolled her eyes, but looked a little happy recalling the memory nonetheless. "Well a dog sounds a lot cuter than that guy was."

"And we all know dogs are your favorite animal."

From his cage, Roxy swore she saw Kiko growl at Anna. She chuckled, reaching down and scratching behind his ear. "Don't worry Kiko, she still loves you best."

"You spoiled little fluff-ball," Bloom grinned.

"Found it!" Anna cried triumphantly, pulled the shirt she was looking for out of the closet. She tossed it to Bloom, who caught it with a slight eye roll. "Now put that on; and I think we should straighten your hair. It would look super hot."

"What happened to this being an informal date?" the redhead asked.

Anna grinned. "Do you want me to drive you to the bay or not?"

"Remind me again why you're calling," Andy said, shifting his phone from one ear to the other. He was leaning against the wall near the entrance to the restaurant (ironically called the Blue Water Grill, with a big blue swordfish mascot).

"Because," Rio replied, his voice slightly crackled from the bad connection, "I figured you'd need a guy to guy pep talk."

"...You've never had a date in your life. Shouldn't Mark be the one talking to me? Or Ellis?"

"You mock me."

"Yes, yes I do." Andy rolled his eyes. "Look, I appreciate this man, but why don't you go back to trolling on a forum or attempting the chemistry homework."

"But I -"

"Goodbye, Rio." Andy shut off the phone before he could say more. With a sigh, he leaned back against the wall again.

And he heard a soft giggle from his left.

He swiveled his head and nearly jumped when he saw Bloom there, a small smile on her face. "Issues with Mr. Sarcasm?"

"Something like that."

Her smile widened. "Did I scare you?"

"No! ...No. You didn't," he insisted when she started laughing. "You're such a jerk sometimes."

"Hey, I can leave, thank you."

It was Andy's turn to grin. "Untrue. Anna drove you. When can you get your license?"

"December. When did you get yours?"

"July," he replied, holding the door open. "Shall we?" he asked, holding his hand out.

Bloom took it. "We shall."

"Artu! Get away from there!" Roxy called, tugging on her dog's leash as he sniffed a palm tree in someone's yard. She loved the nightly walks she took him on (plus it was a great break from that bloody paper), but sometimes she wished he'd pick up the pace.

Almost like he'd read her thoughts, Artu suddenly lost interest in the tree and went back to walking at a slightly fast pace. Roxy smiled and went along with him again. When they got to the usual corner, he veered right instead of left, which was the route back home. Roxy thought about tugging him in the other direction, but decided it would be good to try a new direction.

They went on for a few blocks, and eventually worked their way towards the pier, which was crowded with people for a Friday night. Artu (who'd pretty much taken over as the handler for the walk) led them around another corner, and Roxy was surprised to find - sitting on it's own personal pier - the Blue Water Grill.

Roxy looked down at her dog in mild shock, who had a smile on his face. "You...how did..."

Artu barked happily and sat down, his tail wagging.

After a moment, the pink-haired girl bent down and scratched him behind his ears; his favorite spot. "You crazy little mutt. What'd you bring me down here for?"

It was again like he'd understood her. Before she could blink, Artu shot up and raced down the boardwalk toward the restaurant. Roxy was practically dragged along with him. After a few yards, he turned sharply, heading down towards the boat docks. Once they were down there, he finally came to a stop, his focused on a life raft leaning against a beam.

"What are," Roxy trailed off as her eyes examined the raft more closely. It was moving.

"Rio!"

The boy jumped about a mile in the air. Once he caught sight of Roxy, he started rubbing his hands together, the usual nervous habit he did when he got caught doing something he wasn't supposed to. "Oh. Hehe...what's up Roxx?"

"Taking Artu for a walk. What the hell are you doing on the marina now? Shouldn't you be trying to pick up girls at the arcade?"

"Ok, Charlotte was very nice."

"Charlotte was twenty. What are you looking at?' she asked, noting a good sized gap in the wood board that probably had a view of the restaurant. When he started doing his hand thing again, she sighed and shoved him away so she could look through.

When her eyes adjusted, she saw she was staring at the deck of the restaurant. Apparently the heaters weren't working, because some people were wrapped up in blankets. Roxy looked around a little, and after a moment her eyes fell on a familiar girl with a mess of red hair.

"Now Roxy I can explain..."

"Are you spying?" she asked, turning back to face him. Artu was sitting quietly, glancing between the two with a mild curiosity.

"I'm not spying," Rio said after a moment. "I'm just..." after a moment, he shrugged. "Ok fine."

"Rio, you are so impossible, you know that!"

"...So does that mean you're not interested in what I've seen?"

Roxy opened her mouth, then closed it. "You're impossible." she repeated.

"I know," he replied, turning back to the gap. "But the question is, are you impossible too?"

She looked down at Artu, who seemed perfectly content lying down on the dock. She looked between the dog and Rio, and finally sighed. "Move over," she said is a hushed whisper, going over to look through the gap with him.

"Knew it."

"Shut up. I'm only going to be here for a minute."

"But that's still a minute you're doing it."

"Why are we even doing it? It's not like they're incapable of having a nice time on their own."

Rio chuckled. "Because we, my friend, are nosy."

Roxy nodded thoughtfully. "We should see a therapist for that."

"That's bull."

"What are you guys doing?"

Rio and Roxy jumped and spun around. Standing a few feet from them, a curious look on her face, was Miranda. She had been one of Mitzi's flunkies, but Roxy hadn't seen her since the party last week. She had her hair up in a sloppy ponytail, and was dressed in sweats.

"Uh...hey, Miranda. What're you doing here?"

She jerked her thumb back at a decent sized boat tied to the dock. "Our house is getting some remodelling done on the east wing, so we're staying on the boat for a week. Plus I had the flu." She paused, her eyes falling on the gap in the wood. "What's up there?"

"Nothing!" Roxy and Rio replied together.

"I'm, uh...glad you're feeling better, Miranda," Rio said after a moment.

"Yeah," Roxy added, grabbing Rio's arm as they started to move toward the entrance to the dock. "Well, it was nice seeing you, but Rio and I have to get going. He promised to get me an ice cream down on the boardwalk."

Miranda raised an eyebrow. "Wait...are you two like an item now?"

Rio's jaw dropped. "We are not -"

"Talking about it! Mum's the word! Bye Miranda!" With that, Roxy dragged him up the dock, Artu following.

"That was too close," Rio said once they were back on the sidewalk, practically running as far away as possible.

"You think she'll tell Mitzi?"

"I don't know. She has so few brain cells, I doubt she remembers her address half the time." He glanced back down the street. "Bloom and Andy will be fine."

"I didn't ask about Bloom and Andy. And of course they'll be fine. Bloom could take that girl with her pinky finger. And if any good came out of that, it's that those two can finally have a peaceful night without you being a snoop."

He shrugged. "Well that, and I apparently have a girlfriend. Too sexy for you, huh?" he asked, wiggling his eyebrows.

Roxy groaned and dragged him around a corner. "Shut up, Rio."

"And then, no joke, he literally dumps the flower pot and all of its contents onto our Biology teacher."

Bloom laughed. "No way! Well, I guess since we're talking about Rio here, yes way..."

Andy chuckled. "Exactly. He ended up with detention for a week."

The redhead shook her head. "Oh man..."

The two faded into a comfortable silence. The bill had been paid, Bloom met Andy's cousin Oliver (who was actually really sweet), and the restaurant was slowly starting to clear out.

"When does this place close?" Bloom asked absently, looking out to the water.

"Maybe a half hour. But the bar's open later."

"Hmm...I think I'm going to avoid the alcohol for a little bit. As fun as our last fiasco was..."

Andy smiled, "Indeed."

Bloom's eyes fell to him, and she smiled when she saw the look on his face. "What?"

"Nothing, nothing at all."

"You liar, what're you thinking about?"

He smirked. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

She propped her elbows up on the table and leaned a little closer to him. "Kind of."

Andy smirked. "Well it might take a little convincing."

"Well...maybe I could think of something," she said slowly. They were both getting closer to each other, and Bloom's lips were just a few inches away from Andy's.

From the table, Bloom's phone buzzed, startling them both.

Andy looked down at the cell phone, wanting to throw it into the ocean. "It's Anna." he said dully.

Bloom's cheeks were as red as her hair. "Yeah." After a moment, she picked up the phone and flipped it open. She quickly read the message over. "She's outside."

"'Course she is," he muttered before standing. "I'll walk you out."

She nodded. "So...what're your plans this weekend?"

"There's a track meet tomorrow at the school, and Sunday I'm helping out at the Greek Food Festival at the church for community service."

"Busy."

Andy nodded. "You know," he said slowly, "I could use some support at the track meet tomorrow. Ellis and Anna are going to be there..."

"And I need community service, too, don't I?" Bloom asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Well no...I mean...well I..."

Bloom laughed. "Tell you what; I'll go tomorrow, bring my homework, and if I get done I'll help you on Sunday."

Andy stared at her for a moment. "Really?"

"Yeah really." she said as they walked out the door. "Call me tomorrow morning and tell me when the meet starts. I'm usually up by eight, ok?"

"Um...yeah. So wait," he said as Bloom starting walking off. She turned back to look at him. "Does this mean I get a second date?"

Bloom smiled. "Well you're my boyfriend, so I'd hope I get another date." His jaw dropped, and she winked at him. "Goodnight Andy." With that, she turned and ran towards Anna's car, idling near the curb.

Andy watched her go, a small smile on his face. "Well alright. Score one for me."

They will play us out
With a song of pure romance,
So stomp your feet and clap your hands...

Let's Kill Tonight (Panic! At the Disco)