"This is a nice place." Avery said, sitting down and looking around at the little bistro. "I've never been here before."
"It's..." Spencer started, nodding before realizing he had no idea what to say "nice." he finished lamely.
Avery nodded, tapping a finger on the table as an awkward silence fell between them. Spencer fidgeted in his seat.
"So..." Avery began, with no clear thought to finish the sentence.
"So." Spencer repeated. "Hannah's court date has been set for sentencing-"
Avery winced at the name. Spencer stopped talking.
"I -" She started. "Would you mind... if we didn't talk about that."
Spencer tapped his finger on the table, nodding stiffly. "Sure. Sorry."
"It's just -"
"No," Spencer dismissed her, smiling. "No, I understand. Completely."
"Thanks." She said appreciatively.
The silence fell between them again. Spencer cleared his throat, consciously trying not to fidget in his seat. Avery took a breath.
"You seem nervous." She said empathetically, smiling gently.
Spencer nodded, "I'm not exactly... used to this." He tried to laugh his inexperience off, with little success. "You?"
Avery grinned, relieved she wasn't the only one with nerves. Spencer smiled, despite himself.
"It's been a while since I've been on a first date." She admitted.
"I'm not sure what you're supposed to talk about." He remarked, her admission making him feel less self-conscious.
"Um.." Avery thought, holding up her hands and counting a list off on her fingers. "Well, usually, you'd talk about what you do, and I'd talk about what I do, where we went to school... but we've already covered that. Then there's... favorite movies. Favorite shows. Favorite books. Art."
"Also covered." Spencer nodded.
"Favorite music?" She suggested.
"You like Marcel Mouloudji." The young doctor recalled.
"Right, and you collect vinyl." She grinned and shrugged. "That's it, that's all I've got. We've covered all first-date-approved topics."
"Are we moving too fast if we skip to second-date topics?" Spencer suggested, far more at ease.
"Well, I think this kind of counts as a second date." Avery said. "I mean, with dinner -."
"And the movie when we met." He said.
"Did that count?" She asked in mock seriousness. Spencer nodded.
"I think it did." He said gravely.
"Well, excellent." The woman said decidedly. "So we are officially past the awkward first date dinner, which means..."
"We don't have to sit here and make polite small talk while we push food around on our plates that neither of us is really hungry for in the first place." Spencer finished
"You wanna go for a walk?" Avery suggested, relieved at the idea.
"The park is nice this time of year." Spencer suggested.
The two stood, turning and heading toward the exit.
"Oh, you know what I got in the mail today?" Avery remembered as Spencer held the door for her. "The Life and Career of William Hartnell."
"You haven't read it?" He sounded surprised. "You'll like it. It's really well researched. You know his granddaughter wrote it."
"That's what I read." Avery nodded as they disappeared through the doors, walking comfortably down the street in the direction of the park as they talked.
Spencer had never been one for small talk. Topics that couldn't be covered in-depth didn't seem worth discussing, and his version of in-depth typically left everyone else vacant and glassy-eyed. It was a difference he noticed in Avery. She watched him as he spoke, her expression present and engaged. She smiled when he rambled, but didn't stop him, instead listening indulgently until he had finished his thought, and often commenting on something he said.
She laughed easily, and smiled often; warm and open, as though inviting the world to be the place she had decided it could be. Spencer found it hard not to smile as he talked to her, realizing the expression in her green eyes was nearly enough to carry a conversation. Somewhere in the back of his mind he wondered how long it would take to memorize and understand the glints and flecks and wordless messages they sent. He was a quick study. Did he want to be?
The hours slid swiftly and silently by like the sun over the treetops of the park. The cool of the evening began to settle and they slipped into a coffee shop long enough to get warm and order drinks, having exhausted the park and moved on to the city streets.
"Whoever invented the coffee date was brilliant." Avery remarked offhandedly, taking her tea from the barrista at the counter. "Give your hands something to hold so you're not wondering what to do with them all evening."
Spencer smirked as he took a long drag of his coffee, glad he wasn't the only one who became hyper-aware of his hands when he was nervous.
The breeze picked up in the late evening, sending leaves scudding in clumsy cartwheels down the street, in and out of the reach of the streetlights. Spencer and Avery walked slowly next to each other.
"It's getting late." Avery remarked casually, glancing at her watch. "We've been walking a while."
"Yeah, I guess so." Spencer sounded surprised as he checked his own watch.
"Just as well, I guess. We're getting close to my place." She said.
A half-awkward silence settled between them for a moment as they continued down the street.
"I had a really nice time." Avery glanced up at the man walking beside her, clutching a travel cup of coffee, his other hand in his pocket. He smiled.
"I did, too..." He looked down at her. "Thank you." He said sincerely.
"For what?" She sipped from her own to-go cup of tea.
"For agreeing to go out with me." He said, as though stating the obvious.
"It wasn't a favor." She laughed. He looked back down to his cup. Avery bit her lip. "To be honest," she admitted candidly, "After that night we had dinner... I was hoping you'd ask me for a real date."
"You asked me." Spencer laughed quietly, not sure what to say, but feeling he should say something.
Avery nodded, glancing away in mild embarrassment.
"I would have asked you." Spencer said. "That's actually why I called you, you just... got there first." He grinned. "Honestly."
"Well, then, in the spirit of honesty," Avery chuckled, a slight edge of nervousness in her voice "I'm really hoping you'll call me again."
Spencer smiled, licking his lips to say something, but succeeding only in smiling more.
"I - I think I will." He finally stammered.
Avery smiled, nodding in the direction of a large apartment building. "This is me."
They reached the front step and stopped, standing close to each other under the narrow stone eave outside the door. Silence once again fell between them, Avery seeming to wait for something and Spencer suddenly very aware of himself.
"Um...Hm" He cleared his throat. "To continue the theme, here..." he swallowed. "I'm not really sure how third dates are supposed to end."
Avery stifled a laugh, her face flushing.
"Um," She began "Well, I think that depends... on a bunch of things, but..." She took a breath, looking up at him earnestly. "I think, in this case... maybe something like this?"
She took a step closer, reaching her face and softly touching her lips against his.
Spencer kissed back. The feeling was electric, crinkling over every inch of skin. His hand instinctively grazed along the back of her neck while hers slid around his waist and up his back. The touch was light, but kept them each rooted in place. It was as though the kiss itself was gravitational, each of them pulled into it, molten cores spinning.
Time fell away. The streetlights, the people passing on the sidewalk, the sound of leaves rustling in the trees and falling to the ground all disappeared into an eternity that lasted only a few moments.
Avery broke the kiss first, stepping back with a heavy breath, her face still flushed. Spencer exhaled sharply and cleared his throat. Each tried to find something to say. Each failed.
"uh, G-goodnight." Spencer offered, his voice cracking.
Avery nodded, swallowing hard, taking a step back and reaching for the door handle of the building "Goodnight."