Hi there!

Hope you`re up for a date!

Once again, thanks for each and every review, fav, follow and PM! It really keeps me going, and I am so pleased:) You guys are the best!

I know some of you have been waiting for today`s chapter; it`s about Sulley and Randall`s date, or dinner, and let me just say; there`s definitely romance in the air now! Writing certain parts of this chapter caused my heart rate to rise too, just so you know;)

With that being said, this chapter was extremely difficult to write; I have actually never been on a date myself (I know, I`m weird), and when I first sat down with this I was completely blank. However, after spending some time thinking and imagining, I came up with something I feel works. ;)

Here you are, enjoy!

Chapter 16: Crush Course

"You`re gonna be late."

Mike gave his best friend an accusing look as they both entered the green monster`s beloved car; it was already past seven, and Sulley should have been at Randall`s place five minutes ago.

A lot of things had taken more time than Sulley had predicted that afternoon; picking up the groceries had been easy enough, but the blue monster had faced a dilemma when it came to whether he should buy Randall a gift or not. He knew it was considered common politeness to bring a little something for the host, and thought that he probably should; but then came the question on what on earth he should buy? He didn`t want to bring Randall flowers – Sulley feared that all sorts of flowers could be interpreted into a declaration of love, and since he didn`t know what Randall considered him, he had decided flowers weren`t the way to go. Eventually he had ended up buying Randall a box of chocolate, but he still didn`t know whether he had the courage to give it to him.

When the shopping was done, Sulley had spent an impressing amount of time on getting ready. Mike couldn`t believe it could possibly take him so long; he didn`t even have to pick out an outfit! But Sulley had taken his time, carelessly ignoring his best friend`s sighs and eye-rolling – and Mike was beginning to wonder if the other monster`s plan was to arrive fashionably late or something.

However, they had managed to make it to the car, and the green monster stepped on the gas before the other one had even reached to close the door; Mike wanted to get his friend to Randall`s apartment as quick as possible, to Sulley`s own good.

"You know Sul, I think the most important matter for Randall is the fact that you`re actually coming; not which odorant you`re wearing..!" Mike knew Sulley was nervous, and tried his best to cheer him up – and one of his favourite ways to do that was by teasing; "Unless you`re planning to… get close tonight?"

"What?!" Sulley looked startled and stared back at Mike; "What`s that supposed to mean?"

"Sul -"

"We`re not -"

"Sulley -"

"…we`re not there..!"

"- yet". Mike`s teasing grin vanished, and his face gained a more compassionate expression; "You`re not there yet. I know, Sul."

Sulley gave Mike a shy smile in return; he was happy he had such an understanding best friend.

The apartment was spotless.

Randall had spent the entire day cleaning it, with good help from Mrs Lorenzo, and was very pleased with the result. He was a bit of a neat freak on a normal basis, but today it was even more important to him that the place looked perfect; he was expecting a guest for dinner.

The purple monster was used to having company by now; Sullivan and/or Gladys had been over every day for the last couple of weeks. But today was the first time, for as long as he could remember, he had actually invited someone over. A friend.

Randall was still amazed by the fact that he actually had a friend, a friend he was confident enough to ask over. He could hardly believe it, and felt happy and terrified at the same time; happy to have someone to invite over for dinner, and terrified of pushing him away. Randall wasn`t that good with others, and had problems with expressing his emotions - what he had overheard Sophie tell Sullivan a couple of weeks ago had been painfully true; he was afraid of caring, afraid of bonding – and afraid of losing.

However, Sullivan had surprised him; Randall had openly hated him for years, but those feelings were all gone now, and replaced with…he didn`t really know. All he knew was that the guy he had gotten to know was someone special, someone who truly cared. Someone who had completely ignored Randall`s loud protests and threats, and refused to leave him alone with his dark thoughts. Someone who…had probably saved his life…

Yes, Sullivan was special; special in deed. Randall had the big monster on his mind as he walked from the kitchen and into the living room, and jumped at the sight of his own reflection in the window; his scales were in a deep shade of pink, a colour he sometimes found himself wearing when he was thinking about someone he…cared for. However, it hadn`t happened in a while, due to obvious reasons. He quickly changed back to his normal colour, but could feel his heartbeat rising as he walked closer to the window.

For a moment, Randall stared at the reflection of his own face, until a movement in the parking lot outside caused him to change his focus; a familiar, big, blue creature had caught his eyes, and a little shiver went up his spine. His guest was here.

Although Randall had been expecting a visitor, the knock on the door took him by surprise; why did Sullivan bother knocking? He never did that, he normally just locked himself in with the key he had borrowed from Sophie. The lizard thought about that as he walked over to the front door – he also wondered how he was going to greet his guest; it all suddenly seemed much more formal when he had to open the door himself and let the other one in.

"Don`t you have Sophie`s key..?" Randall swung the door open, and his own choice of words made him feel like strangling himself;

"I mean – You normally just enter – Why do you – I mean - Hello..!"

"Hi!" Sulley couldn`t help but chuckle from Randall`s greeting - he still found the lizard`s way of being kinda awkwardly cute;

"I have the key, but… I thought I`d knock this time. Since this is… the first time you`ve invited me…"

"Oh. Okay". Randall stepped aside and let Sulley in;

"T-thank you".

"For what?"

"For coming".

Without any further warning, Randall moved closer to Sullivan and put all four of his arms around him. The unexpected hug was over after only a few seconds, and left the blue monster startled – he didn`t even get the chance to hug back. As Randall loosened his grip and withdrew himself from the other, an odd tension rose between them in the hall. The lizard looked embarrassed, and Sulley was happy to be covered in thick fur – it kept the current colour on his face from showing;

"I…I brought your groceries..!"

"Thanks".

Randall took hold of the bag handed to him by Sullivan and hurried into the kitchen; his face felt like it was burning up. He had just given Sullivan a hug, and wasn`t quite sure what had come over him; he had just felt so happy to see the him, and before he knew it he was wrapped around the other monster`s chest – Randall could feel himself blushing again just by thinking about it.

"Need help with anything..?" Sullivan followed him into the kitchen and looked everywhere else than into the lizard`s eyes.

"After seeing your skills in the kitchen, Sullivan; I don`t think so…" Randall hissed. He tried his best to keep up his attitude and not make a fool of himself again, and started unloading the groceries from the shopping bag;

"…but on the other hand, I think it would do you good to learn how things are actually done in a kitchen, so pick up an apron and get over here…"

Sulley grabbed hold of an apron he found on a hook by the door, and took place next to Randall - somewhat ready for a little cooking-lesson;

"Okay, then -" he smiled with anticipation;

"What are we making today?"

"Lasagna -" Randall returned his smile, although with a hint of tease;

"Real lasagna..!"

Randall hadn`t been cooking in a while, but he clearly hadn`t forgotten his kitchen-skills; he fried the meat, made the sauce, prepared the dessert – all at once and with a lot of confidence. Sulley, on the other hand, was a little less confident; he had been granted the job of slicing the vegetables, and tried his best to keep up with Randall`s speed – but there was no doubt that having four arms was a big advantage in a kitchen, and the blue one fell behind from the very start. When Sulley noticed that the host was getting a little impatient, he tried to increase the speed of his slicing - which caused Randall to put down the kitchen-tools and yell at him;

"Damn it, Sullivan, you`re gonna chop your own fingers off!"

"I don`t want to keep you waiting..!"

"You`ll have me waiting in the Emergency Room if you continue like this..! Here; let me show you!"

Randall lined up right next to Sullivan, took hold of his hands, and sliced a tomato together with him;

"See..? This is how it`s done, you big dork…" The purple monster gave the other one a teasing grin before he returned to the sauce.

Sulley missed the feeling of the slender hands around his own, but took hold of another tomato with new-won courage and sliced it in the same way Randall had showed him; it took a little longer, but the result was somewhat the same.

"You`re improving -" Randall smirked from where he was standing.

"So are you."

"What do you mean?"

"It`s possible to hang out with you now."

"Yeah, like you haven`t been enjoying my company for the last couple of weeks..!" Randall gave Sulley another grin and a friendly punch as he picked up the sliced tomatoes and threw them into the sauce.

"The first few days here weren`t exactly cheerful, you know..!" Sulley replied to Randall`s teasing, but quickly switched to a more serious tone;

"But it`s been good…good getting to know you".

"You too". The scaly monster smiled as he tasted the sauce;

"…and this is perfect, by the way..!"

"Have you been thinking about the job-offer..?"

Sulley lay down his spoon; he had just eaten the last piece of his dessert, which had been the perfect end of a perfect meal.

"Actually, I have…" Randall admitted;

"And I think… I think I wanna give it a go".

Sulley`s face broke into a big smile;

"Great! When do you wanna start?"

"Not sure yet… I don`t really know how to be funny, so I guess… I`ll need some practice first… But I want to try it."

Sulley could hardly believe the good news; Randall wanted to return to Monsters Inc.? That had to be the final sign of his recovery – either that, or the final sign of his change…

"We`ll find a day for you to come with me and visit the factory, no problem! And I`ll prepare the other employees, so you don`t have to worry about them – these are really great news, Randall..!"

"Oh well, it`s about time I do something else than sit around at this place, so… Winds of change, ya know…"

They shared a smile and Sulley treated himself to another piece of pie.

A bit later, when they were finished with clearing the table and loading the dishwasher, the two friends went outside for a walk. They could both use to stretch their legs after the big meal, and they also enjoyed walking together; there had been lots of walks during the first two weeks of their friendship.

Today, they chose to walk through the park. It was all dark and quiet, and there were no other monsters out. That didn`t come as a surprise; it was a Saturday night, so most of the other citizens of Monstropolis were either at home with their families or out on the town with their friends. A gentle snowfall was the only company on Sulley and Randall`s stroll, and for a long time, they didn`t say anything – they just enjoyed the silence surrounding them in this little piece of nature in the middle of the city; until Sulley remembered some news he hadn`t shared with Randall yet.

"I…I told Sophie you`re back yesterday!"

"You did? What did she say?" Randall stopped walking as his eyes grew wide with excitement; he had been waiting for Sullivan to tell his sister, but now that the deed was done, he wasn`t sure if he was ready.

"She said a lot…and she cried, but… I actually think she was happy, at least she thanked me".

"Does she want to see me?" The scaly one hardly dared to ask. He dreaded the answer, but had to know.

"Sure!" Sulley noticed the relief in the other monster`s eyes at the sound of the little syllable, and carried on with the good news; "I told her we`d pick a day and get back to her -"

"Are you coming with me to see her..?"

"Do you want me to..?"

Randall turned his head away from Sullivan again - admitting he wanted company was still hard for him;

"Yeah…I want you there".

"Then I`ll join you, I`m sure Sophie won`t mind."

"…just promise me that you won`t arrange the meeting with a dinner at your place, you still have a lot to learn in the kitchen before I can trust you with preparing and cooking a meal for three – or four, if Wazowski`s joining us, too. Or perhaps we can just place him by the children`s table with Rex…"

Randall smirked at his own joke, and Sulley had to chuckle too;

"You know Randall, it`s a good thing you`ve recovered, but you`re getting a little too confident now..!"

"It`s all your fault, you know, blame yourse-"

The snowball hit Randall on the left cheek, and took the lizard completely by surprise. The other monster laughed;

"…you need to cool down a little, Randall..!"

"Oh, you think so..?" Randall grinned in reply;

"Be careful Sullivan, you don`t know what you`re getting yourself into here..!"

Without another word, Randall turned invisible. Sulley was still laughing; this was a playful side of the other monster he had never seen before. He heard Randall`s voice somewhere near, but couldn`t figure out exactly where it came from;

"A snowball-fight with someone you can`t see, someone who`s got four hands – not the wisest thing you can do, you big troll..!"

Smack! Two snowballs hit Sulley in the back of the head. The blue monster fumbled around, a little shocked from the attack, and tried to catch the lizard-monster. When he realized he was no longer behind him, he scooped up some more snow from the ground, ready to make another snowball; but when he was down on his knees, two other snow-missiles hit him - once again in the back of the head. Sulley quickly got up, turned around, and received another one in the face;

"Okay, now you`re dead..!" He threw his own snowball in the direction of which he thought Randall was located, but didn`t hit anything. He heard the other monster laugh at his left side, turned his head - and noticed footprints being made in the snow, apparently by themselves.

First, Sulley pretended not to see them; he just continued laughing and pretended he was looking for Randall. But suddenly, without warning, he quickly reached out towards the space above the footprints and grabbed hold of what appeared to be air, but turned out to be a living body;

"Gotcha!"

The invisible creature tried putting up a fight, and wasn`t easy to hold on to – there were arms and legs everywhere, and the tail didn`t make it easier. All of Randall`s movements eventually caused Sulley to lose his balance, and he fell to the ground with the invisible lizard in his arms. Randall re-appeared as they hit the snow-covered grass, and Sulley was pleased to see that his face was boiling over with laugher as he shouted out his curses;

"Screw you..!"

"Nice colours..!"

Randall took a glimpse of his own body and noticed that he had taken on Sullivan`s colours – he changed back to his normal shades of purple immediately, but the smile still remained on his face.

"Do you give?" Sulley`s arms were still wrapped around the smaller monster, and he showed no signs of letting go.

"Yeah, give…"

Randall sighed and allowed his body to relax – he felt tired from the fight, and right now, it felt amazing to relax in Sullivan`s arms like this. Sullivan made him feel…safe. When Randall had been crying last week, the feeling of the blue monster`s arms around him had been enough to make him feel better, and he had remembered the touch, the softness of the fur and the warmth for days to come. And he had actually been missing it. He had been missing it, and had also found himself longing for Sullivan to touch him again.

He didn`t quite understand his own desires, though; was it just because he was starving when it came to contact with others, and was drawn towards the first monster who had been kind to him in years? Or was it because of…something else..?

Randall didn`t know. All he knew was that he didn`t want this moment to end, and leaned closer to Sullivan`s chest. He could feel the bigger monster`s heartbeats, and noticed that they were beating a little faster than what was considered normal. But then again, so were his own…

"Randall…"

The sound of Sullivan`s voice caused the lizard to look up at his face and meet his eyes; they reflected his own questioning. He glanced into them for what felt like hours, and could feel himself being drawn towards them as his heart gained speed and his breathing went up – he felt the other monster`s hands on his back – his upper left hand closed around incredibly soft, blue fur –

The sound of a phone ringing had never seemed so loud before. Both of the monsters jumped, fumbled around and eventually made it back up at their feet, and after the fourth or fifth ring, Sulley was calm enough to answer;

"H-hello..?"

"Hello? Who is this?"

The voice on the line was unfamiliar, and Sulley wanted to throw the phone into the pond – if this was someone who had dialled the wrong number, he would personally murder them…

"This is James Sullivan, who is this..?"

"I`m calling from Upper Monstropolis Hospital… Are you a relative of Miss Sophie Boggs?"

"We`re friends..!"

The monster on the line fell silent for a little while. Sulley felt a little chill travel up his spine, and looked over at Randall, who glanced back with a questioning expression.

"…I`m afraid there`s been an accident…" The voice started talking again, but Sulley wished there was a way he could keep it from doing so;

"…I think you should come down to the hospital as soon as possible…"

For the second time that evening, Sulley shivered; the first time had been when he had been cuddled up with Randall in the snow - this time, it felt far more unpleasant.

OMG, you must all hate me! XD I swear, I HATED to disturb Sulley and Randy like that, but I had to; it`s important for the story, and I PROMISE that the kiss will come soon! I`m so sorry!

What do you think of the chapter? And most importantly, how did you like the somewhat romantic parts? Since I`ve never been on a date, I`ve never really been in love either, so for all I know, I suck at writing about that kinda stuff. Despite that, I`m actually looking forward to write about the upcoming relationship, the kissing, and…we`ll have to see what happens between them;)

In the next chapter, Randall and Sophie will meet again. Are you excited about it? I don`t know when it will be ready, though. I think maybe by the middle of next week.

Take care everyone, enjoy your weekend, and please take the time to leave behind a review or a PM! :)