Author's Note: What's up people?! I'm finally back with a freaking update to this, as my PC (and this website) has been acting really stupid these past few days! :( Anyways, let's see how Thomas and CJ's first official date goes! I'm EXTREMELY PROUD of this chapter too. Enjoy! :D UPDATE: I changed the ending, thanks to an idea from JessieLover. Thank you for the feedback!

The next morning, Thomas was awoken, loudly, by his phone going off on his nightstand. He fumbled for it and hit the "Answer" button. "He-hello?", he yawned, groggily rubbing his eyes.

"Thomas, this is your mother. I'm having car troubles this morning, so you're going to have to hoof it to work today. I'm sorry, sweetie."

"It's alright Mom. Maybe someone else could take me, as the park is a long walk from here. I could be late even if I ran, and I don't want my boss going crazy."

"Okay, honey. Have a good day at work and good luck on your date tonight Tommy!" she finished, hanging up.

"Aw crap. I forgot today is Friday! I'm so stressed out from school..." he groaned, setting his phone down.

He stood up and ran into the bathroom. After getting ready for the workday, he quickly downed some cereal his roommate had left out, and sat down to check his contacts on his cell.

'Hmm. Now who could I ask to take me? Mordecai? No, he's probably sleeping in, along with Rigby. Pops? Maybe, but he is kind of bizarre. Definitely not Benson, as I don't want to get scolded during the whole car ride. Skips is probably already working, so I shouldn't bother him. That leaves...oh no.'

He looked in horror at his final contact: Muscle Man.

He decided to try Pops. The jolly old man happily waltzed over to his old-timey telephone and picked up the receiver.

"Hello?" Pops cheerily asked.

"Hey Pops. It's me, Thomas."

"Oh! Why good morning Thomas! You sound troubled. What's seems to be the matter?"

"Well, my mom's car broke down this morning and she can't take me to the park. I was wondering if you could?" he asked, then thought, 'Please say 'Yes!'

"I'm dreadfully sorry Thomas, but I can't. My father took the car for renewal of the plates and repair to it's engine at the automobile establishment."

'Damn it!', he groaned in his mind. "Okay. Thanks anyways, Pops."

"You're welcome, my good man! Have a jolly good day! A-HA-HA-HA!" he laughed.

"Un-huh. You too Pops." he said, awkwardly hanging up.

"Ugh!" he sighed, then hesitantly called Mitch.

Inside his trailer, Muscle Man fell out of his bed onto the floor after his phone started ringing. He picked the handle up from the table and essentially barked into it, "WHO IS CALLING AT THIS HOUR?!"

On the other end, Thomas held the phone away from his ear out of fear of going deaf. He nervously replied, "Uh, Mitch? It's Thomas. I was-"

"THOMAS?! YOU'RE THE ONE WHO WOKE ME UP?! WHAT THE HECK DO YOU WANT?!" he shouted.

Thomas slapped his forehead in annoyance, 'Oh my God...' He sighed and spoke, "Look, man: I need someone to pick me up and take me to work, now. No one else is available, so I was hoping you could do it?"

Muscle Man rubbed his chin in thought, "Well, I guess I can pick you up. But you owe me for this, bro."

Thomas smiled, "Thanks so much Mitch. What do I owe you?"

"Oh, it's not right now. You just be ready outside, and when the time comes, I'll let you know what you'll have to do for me." he grinned mischievously.

"Uh, okay? I'll be down in ten minutes."

"Alright bro. See ya soon!" he laughed, slamming the phone down on it's base.

Thomas groaned. He probably wouldn't like what Muscle Man had in mind.

Across town, CJ was extremely nervous for her date tonight. She paced back and forth in her hotel room, all the while getting ready for the day. She had been looking for a job since being back here for a few weeks, but nothing had panned out. Except for her few friends back in her own hometown, no one in her family really cared about how she was, or what she had accomplished. So, that's one reason why she had such trouble finding someone to be in a relationship with, in addition to handling her anger over something she can't control.

She sat down to catch her breath for a moment and sighed, "At least I found someone who I can relate to, someone who seems alone in this world, needing companionship. Thomas is such a sweet guy...I really hope things work out between us." Then, she stood up and looked at herself in the mirror next to the hotel's TV and smiled, determinedly. "Just be confident, CJ. You can do this. You've finally found a cool guy, so don't screw this up!"

At the park, Thomas arrived and walked into the house, ready for work. He went up the stairs to Benson's office, when Mordecai came out and bumped into him, knocking him into the wall and to the floor.

"Oh crap! Sorry Thomas." Mordecai said, helping him back up.

"It's cool. I was just going to see Benson. What were you doing in there?"

As if on cue, Benson poked his head out, whispering, "Thanks for the advice Mordecai. If it goes over smoothly with Audrey, you can expect a small pay raise for your help."

Mordecai smiled, "Wow. Thanks Benson! Oh, and Thomas wanted to talk to you."

Benson frowned slightly and said in a deadpan tone, "Oh, really?"

"Um, it's about my date tonight." he said.

Benson sighed and gestured him into his office. Thomas stood in front of him while he sat back down and stared at his paperwork on his desk, "What's the problem?"

"I-I need to take the rest of the day off after my lunch break, sir."

"Why?"

"Um, to get ready...and mentally prepare myself."

Benson looked up at him. He has a similar problem with Audrey, so he actually felt sympathetic towards the intern. Plus, he didn't want to have to go through another depressed employee break up fiasco.

He smiled, "Ya know, Thomas, that's perfectly fine with me. Go ahead and take the whole day off if you want. You've been working harder here lately, so I feel you deserve some time off."

"Are you serious?" he asked, surprised.

Benson just nodded and returned to his work, "Now, get going 'Romeo', or I'll fire you for disobeying your boss."

"Thank you so much Benson!" he grinned.

Thomas ran down the stairs, stepping in front of Mordecai and Rigby who were sitting on the couch, watching TV.

"Mordecai, I-"

"Dude! Get out of the way! I'm watching my favorite show!" Rigby whined, which Mordecai responded to with a punch. "OW! Fine, I'm going to get some chips!" he grumbled, throwing his hands up.

"What's wrong Thomas?" Mordecai asked.

"Dude, I need your help to prepare for the date. I'll have your tips on a piece of paper, but I need to decide where to go and what to do!" he said, panicking.

Mordecai put his hands up, "Whoa man, just slow down. Take a deep breath, we have all day to get you ready."

Thomas sighed in relief, "Yeah, you're right. What should we worry about first?"

Mordecai thought for a moment, "Hmm. Well, how about going to a movie?"

"Nah. There's nothing out now that's interesting."

"Okay. How about a picnic here in the park?"

"What if it gets attacked or something? That happens like, every week, mostly on Mondays around 6:00 or 7:00 at night."

"Yeah, good point. I never noticed the time we get attacked before..." he then snapped his finger, "Oh! How about a nice restaurant? We'll try to find someplace that's nice, but not too expensive."

"Okay, that sounds perfect man!"

Mordecai sat down, "Good, we've got the tips, the place, now all we need is..." he looked back up at Thomas, "making you into a stud."

"Huh?"

Mordecai jumped up, put on his shades, and put an arm around Thomas, "Don't worry man. I've got you covered with looking cool."

They headed to the mall, stepping into the only clothing store. Ironically, CJ was there as well in the women's section, looking for a dress to wear.

She held up a blue dress with golden earrings, 'Hmm. No, I don't like the colors clashing with my red heels.' Then, she tried on a red dress with pink earrings, 'Nope. Too much of a similar color. Ugh! I can't find anything!'

She then spotted a dark purple dress and paired that with black earrings, "Ooooooh. This is perfect!" she cheered, almost shouting it, which made her blush.

She then bought her clothes and walked out of the mall smiling, 'This will really impress Thomas!'

Mordecai sat there, getting a little bored. He got up and knocked on Thomas' changing room, "Dude? What's taking so long? Haven't you worn a tux before?"

Inside, Thomas was having trouble even getting his shirt buttoned! "Um, no. Not since I was little for my aunt's wedding."

Mordecai sighed, "Do you want me to help?"

"No-no I'm good dude! I'll be- AUGH!"

"What happened?!"

"My tux is choking me!"

Mordecai just slapped his forehead and sat back down, "Ugh!"

Suddenly, he heard a woman across the store squeal in excitement. "Hey Thomas? Did you hear that?"

"Yeah? What was it?"

"I don't know...you ready?"

"Yep." he grinned, stepping out of the room. "How do I look?"

Thomas was looking smooth. The tux fit him a little snug, but he was otherwise comfortable.

"Dude...you look awesome!" Mordecai smiled, giving him a high-five.

"Thanks man! Now what?"

"Now, you take these mints I took the liberty of bringing and my tips."

"Oh, I already have the tips. But, I do have another problem."

"What?"

"I...kinda sweat...a lot."

"Oh that's easy! Here, take this super-extra-strength deodorant dude."

Thomas looked at him quizzically, "You carry deodorant with you?"

"No, but I knew you sweat a lot anyways because Muscle Man told us, so I brought it to give you."

Thomas groaned in embarrassment, 'Seriously?!'

A few hours later, CJ and Thomas were ready for their date. Thomas sent CJ a text that evening.

- Hi CJ! Is it good if we go out to eat? I was thinking a restaurant?

- Sure! I actually picked out a dress for our date, so that works perfectly! ;)

- Awesome! See ya soon!

They arrived at the restaurant, with Benson allowing Thomas to use his car for the night to get there. When they saw each other before heading inside, their jaws almost simultaneously dropped.

"CJ...you-you look...beautiful." he gasped, choking out the words.

CJ blushed, "Thanks Thomas! You're not too bad looking yourself."

She walked up and put her arm through his, "Shall we head in?"

Thomas almost lost his voice, "Uh, sure! Let's eat!"

They arrived to their table, with Thomas following all of Mordecai's tips to a 'T'. Dinner went very smoothly, with them chatting about life, their artwork and CJ's poems, and past tries at relationships. By the time dinner was over, they were still talking! Thomas and CJ both knew they'd found, without a doubt in their minds, their soulmate. They walked out, hand in hand, to the front of the restaurant.

They stepped off to the side alley, hoping to become more "acquainted".

"Wasn't that salmon amazing Thomas?!" CJ laughed.

"Yeah, but my pasta with that sauce was perfect...like you." he grinned.

She narrowed her eyes, "Oh, how long did that corny line take to surface?"

"Hey, I'm trying! It's not everyday I meet someone like you!" he chuckled.

Thomas pulled out some mints and popped a few in his mouth, "You want a mint?"

She took some in her hand, "Thanks. I feel we'll need these..."

"Oh yeah? Well I-" he was interrupted by a crash further down the alleyway.

"Hello? Is someone there?" Thomas shouted.

Suddenly, a whimpering was heard by them, almost a crying sound.

"I wonder what that is?" CJ asked.

"Maybe it's a kid in danger? I'll check." Thomas offered.

"Shouldn't I go with you?"

"No, just stay here. It could also be a trap, you never know these days..." he ordered, walking past her down the alley.

When he got into the darkness, he saw a small dog, it's leg trapped in the fence. He bent down to try and help, but the dog barked and snapped it's jaw at him.

He stood up and yelled back down the alley, "CJ, COME HERE!"

She ran down the alley, "What is it? What did you-" When she spotted the wounded dog, she gasped and put her hand to her mouth in shock.

"What can we do to help him?" Thomas asked.

"I-I don't know." She thought for a second, "Did you try to pull the fence up and slide his leg out?"

"Yeah, but he snapped and barked at me. I'm kind of weary around dogs."

She looked at him funny, "Even this little cutie?"

"No, but bigger dogs, I'm careful with. When I was little, I had a traumatic experience with my grandpa's hunting dogs. They jumped on me to play, and with me being a toddler, I thought they were trying to hurt me. I guess it stuck with me."

"Aw. I'm sorry Thomas. Well, let's help this one...together." she smiled.

They both reached down to help the puppy. CJ distracted the dog by waving her phone in front of it like a chew toy and making little cooing sounds, while Thomas was able to successfully free it from the fence. When they pulled him out, CJ held him in her arms and they both ran back down the alley.

"What should we do with him?" she asked, stroking his fur.

"Um, ok, set him down," he took off his black tie and wrapped it around the dog's leg, "it should help for a little while."

CJ picked him back up, "Now what? It's late."

"Can you take him back to your hotel?"

"No, they don't allow pets."

"Hmm. Neither does my dorm. That leaves...the park house."

"It seems we don't have any other options."

"Yeah, I'll take him in Benson's car. Just set him in the back so he can sleep."

CJ did as she was told, closing the car door. When she came back, she put her arms around Thomas, pulling him into a hug.

"Thomas, you did great back there. I'm proud of you." she smiled.

"Thanks CJ. You did good, uh, too." he smiled back, but started sweating, again.

"You're really cute when you're nervous." she giggled, looking into his eyes.

"Yeah...I-I think you're cute too. I-"

She stopped him mid-sentence by pulling him into a full-on kiss. It felt better than either of them could've imagined. They were in complete bliss for a good 30 seconds, finally pulling back to catch their breath.

"CJ..."

She put a finger to his lips, "Shhhh. Thomas, you don't need to say anything. I'll see you tomorrow at the park and to check in on the dog. Be safe." she pecked him on the cheek and walked away to her car.

"Al-alright then...I-I guess I'll see you tomorrow CJ!" he stuttered, still in shock from the kiss.

They both got in their cars and went their separate ways, marking a perfect end to a perfect night.