We walked in silence all the way down Coronation Street on our way to our dinner date at the bistro, not stopping to talk, to look back, to do anything except walk, a physical exclamation point to the defiant words we'd both just now delivered to Ken. It wasn't until we were safely inside the front door of the bistro, in the relative privacy of the small foyer, that we felt safe to relax, to breathe, and to debrief each other.

"That was…" I began, followed up by a sharp exhale as I thought back to the scene on the doorstep of number one.

"Brilliant." Adam was smiling.

"Brilliant?"

"The way you let him have it."

"It wasn't my intention to 'let him have it' as you so crudely put it, I was just being honest."

"Whatever you were doing, I wasn't expecting it."

"What were you expecting?"

"For you to agree with him."

"Are you serious?"

"Yeah, I thought you would, I dunno, respect his wishes."

"And give up on you, on us, just like that?"

"Yeah."

I looked at him in earnest, and could tell that he was serious, that he truly believed I would ditch him at the first sign of trouble. If I did that, I reflected, I would've given up on life – and love – a long time ago, the way trouble seemed to follow me round.

"Look, Adam, I thought it was important that we were upfront and honest with everyone about what we were doing, which we were. That's all that's in our power to do. We can't force anyone to be happy about us, to accept us."

"And what if grandad never does accept us?"

"Give him time," I reassured him, both with my words and with a gentle touch on his arm, "once he realises this isn't a flash in the pan he'll come round."

"I really hope so," he said, forcing a half smile, before turning serious again, "which reminds me, how did your talk with Sarah go?"

I sighed. "As good as I could've hoped for. I mean, it's not realistic to expect her to be happy for us, but basically, she said as long as she doesn't have to see it, to see us, then she was fine with it."

"It's not like I was planning on rubbing her nose in it, I know I wouldn't like it if the roles were reversed."

"So… good result overall."

"Good?" Adam laughed wryly, "that's a bit of a reach, don't you think?"

"Well, everything's out in the open now, and you and me, we're good, right?"

"Right." He confirmed his agreement with a kiss.

"Like I said, good result."

"Okay, you win," he kissed me again, "good result. Shall we?"

He held the door leading into the dining room open for me and, as I passed him by, he placed his hand gently on my back and followed me into the restaurant.

"What do we have here then?"

Leanne. Of course it was Leanne. I didn't expect any support from Leanne given our history. Not to mention the connection with Sarah through Nick.

Speaking of Nick. "Don't tell me, you two? Really?"

"Yes, really." Adam jumped to our defence before I could loose from my tongue the acidic words I longed to speak. "Do you have a problem with that?"

"Whoa!" Nick held his hands up, palms outward in mock surrender. "Call off the dogs. Whatever this is, it's nothing to do with me. Just don't let Sarah see you, okay?"

After we assured Nick that his sister was safe from being a forced observer of our relationship, Leanne undertook the task of showing us to our table. I would've preferred one of the tables up against the wall, somewhere out of sight for this, our first ever public date, but Leanne took great pleasure informing us that those tables were reserved.

"All of them?" I questioned her, one eyebrow raised in disbelief.

"Every last one," Leanne replied, the grin on her face betraying her obvious enjoyment as she showed us to a table smack bang in the centre of the dining room. Here we would be in full view of every table, of everyone sat at the bar, of everyone walking in the door. Everyone. "Can I get you a drink while you peruse the menu?"

"Red wine," I didn't hesitate to order. "Merlot. Large." And hurry, but this last of course was only in my head.

"I'll have the same."

Leanne practically danced her way back to the bar to prepare our drinks.

"She's enjoying this way too much."

"Enjoying what?" Adam was genuinely confused.

"This!" I spat the word out aggressively. "Sitting us at this table for everyone to gawk at. She did it on purpose."

"Let me get this straight, you're…" Adam struggled to understand what I was saying, "you're worried that people are gonna look at us because we're sat here, at this particular table?"

"Yes!"

"Wow, I didn't take you for the shy, retiring type."

"That's not–" I sighed with exasperation, "look, I know I've had plenty of experience being the subject of general gossip on this god-forsaken street, but I do try not to encourage it."

"Hey, it's okay, we've got nothing to be ashamed of. Unless of course, you're ashamed to be seen with me?"

"What? No," I reassured him, reaching out and placing my hand over his, "it's not that, it's… it's nothing, I'm being silly, just ignore me."

"I could never ignore you."

"Oh, aren't you sweet."

"Yeah, you'd whack me with your handbag if I ever tried."

"Oi!" I did whack him for that, not with my handbag, just my hand, softly, playfully. If Adam's intention had been to make me forget about Leanne and the table and everyone else in the bistro, in the world, he'd been successful. I was smiling, he was smiling. Not even Leanne returning with our drinks could dampen my mood.

"Ta," I thanked her without relinquishing my eye contact with Adam, secretly enjoying the thought that Leanne would retreat without the satisfaction of winding me up. Not this time.

"I think this calls for a toast," Adam said as he raised his glass of wine in salute.

"And what are we toasting, hmm?" I asked, cheekily adding, "me successfully ignoring Leanne?"

"While that is a worthy cause, I was thinking more along the lines of…"

"Yes?"

"Us. The future."

"To us," I said, raising my glass and gently tapping it against Adam's.

"To the future," he completed the toast and we both drank.

Finally, we were able to relax, to enjoy whatever this was between us. We still hadn't defined it; we just knew it was there and that we wanted to explore it. That was enough for me, for now. I didn't expect smooth sailing, it never was when it came to my love life, but I expected more than a few moments of calm before trouble inserted itself.

Adam was the first to notice trouble. "Oh no," he murmured, the dismay he was feeling obvious in his tone.

He wasn't looking at me anymore, his gaze was beyond me to where I knew the dining room door was located. All I could do was twist my body around in my seat and look, to see for myself what form of trouble had entered the room.

Adam had been right to speak with such dismay in his voice. Standing at the entrance to the dining room, a beaming smile on her perfectly made up face, was Sarah. By her side stood her date. I recognised him immediately and knew peace for me and Adam that night was over. It was Damon.