The Valentines Date

Aaron paced back and forth in his apartment. He tried desperately to keep his fingers busy, though they wanted to tear through his newly cut and styled blond hair. He had tried tapping his fingers together, flexing them, and even cracking his knuckles to the point that they ached. His hands hovered over his wine-red pressed dress shirt. They opened and closed, wanting to grab at the fabric, but he fought against the urge. His clothes felt too tight. Heck, even his slacks and shoes felt like they were too small. He would have much rather worn comfier, looser clothes, but he wanted to tough it out and make it special. As much as he wanted to regulate, he pushed through. 

For her. 

It was Valentine's for crying out loud. He could push away his own struggles of sensory overstimulation for a few hours. Enough to get dinner, watch a show, and then go to their favorite bar if she wanted a drink, and then come home. But gosh, did he want to get out of these clothes. Everything was too tight for his already flaring body. 

He had taken his meds so the pain of his condition would be numbed during the date, but it didn't help his body, which was already buzzing like a live wire. His fingers still trembled, and even though he knew she liked him with his glasses on and a bit of facial hair, he had compromised by shaving himself clean and not wearing the glasses. It killed him to do it because he wanted to be her favorite appearance of him for their special night, but he just couldn't do it. His body was just too oversensitive. 

He glanced at the clock and noticed the time. Any minute now, his Uber would be here to pick him up, then drive to her apartment to pick her up. He grabbed his wallet and phone, noticing then how sweaty his hands were. He went to rub his hands on his clothes, but stopped himself with a frustrated growl. "Oh, for the love of-" he sighed and grabbed a handkerchief, wiping his hands and then shoving it into his pocket. "Pull yourself together, Aaron," he muttered under his breath, "It's just a date!" With that, he spritzed some cologne on -her favorite scent- and grabbed his keys, moving to the door. 

As he went to close and lock it behind him, he froze. He barged back inside, realizing he had almost forgotten her gifts on the dining room table. As he made his way over, he glanced at the clock; he had to make this quick. As he reached the table, he scanned the gifts. A bouquet of fresh roses, a box of her favorite chocolates, which he had hunted three stores for, a handwritten letter, and the slender black rectangular box holding the gift he had spent his last paycheck on. He quickly picked them up and rushed towards the door, trying his best to look composed so that the driver, already in the parking lot, wouldn't think he was an absolute disorganized wreck. 

He locked the door, pausing and taking several deep breaths. In and Out. Breathe, Aaron. It's just a date. Just like any other date. Breathe. 

---

The Uber driver pulled up to her apartment complex. The parking lot was already pretty bare, and Aaron assumed it must have been because the couples had already gone out to get dinner. He climbed out of the parked car and told the driver he would be right back. 

He hurried up the steps to her door. She only lived on the second floor, but the trip might as well have been the Great Wall of China. He prayed as he reached the top that he wasn't sweating through his clothes. As he made his way down the hallway, his mind raced with outcomes. What if she had forgotten or didn't want to go? What if she didn't like his letter and gift? What if she thought he was dressed up too much? His mind raced until he caught himself knocking at her door. 

She opened the door moments later, and heat immediately coursed through him. She was always beautiful to his eyes, but tonight she was gorgeous. Her brunette hair was styled, her eyes, always bright, sparkled through the glittery eyeshadow that matched her gold earrings. Her makeup was done simply but perfectly, and he noticed she even wore his favorite lip gloss, the cherry-flavored one that matched the color of her already perfect lips. 

His eyes fixed on her frame in a stunning deep-red dress with a V-cut and spaghetti straps. She wore a loose cardigan hooked over her arms, and to top it off, she wore the black heels she said gave her just the right amount of height so she didn't have to tiptoe to give him a kiss. 

And her perfume. Gosh, he loved her perfume. 

She smiled, leaning casually against the doorframe. "You know, typically the man says hello to his date."

That had snapped him back to reality, and he realized his eyes had been on her chest this entire time. He cleared his throat and forced himself to look at her eyes. "Oh, right. Sorry. Hello." He said with a wave, then dropped it immediately. Why did he wave? He wrapped one arm around himself, and with the other hand, he used to cover his face that burned red with embarrassment. "Oh my word, I'm a mess tonight, I'm sorry."

She kissed him on the cheek, her manicured hand drifting up his arm, "It's okay. I love you either way, my handsome mess of a man."

His hand lifted from his eyes, and he smiled at her.

As they approached the car, the driver whistled out the window as his eyes landed on her. "You got yourself a fine woman, mister!" As they climbed in, the older man's glasses flashed in the car's dim light as he looked through the rearview mirror. "Very lucky man you are indeed."

Aaron blushed at the compliment, and his girlfriend smiled. 

---

He waited until they had finished dinner before giving her the gift. The food had been amazing, and the restaurant was beautiful. He had spent weeks saving up to afford the reservation. She had always wanted to come here, she had told him upon several occasions since it had opened. Any other person would have thought that for Aaron, this was too much, but he didn't care. Serenity, his girlfriend of three years, deserved it. 

Serenity sat back in her chair, looking around the restaurant as she sipped her wine, before they drifted back to her boyfriend across from her, who had love-sick puppy eyes on her, chin resting in hand. She smiled at his admiration, "It's rude to stare," she teased as she put the glass down. 

Aaron grinned, "Can't help it." At that moment, he reached into his pocket and pulled out his gift, reaching across and handing it to her. Serenity secretly sighed in relief, seeing it was sleek and rectangular, not a square. She had had anxiety when he told her he reserved the restaurant, worried he was going to propose. Especially considering they had been dating for three years now, her anxiety had only been magnified. She thought they had both agreed to wait another year. But this definitely was not a ring. "Something a little extra," Aaron said as she took it from him. 

Her fingers grazed the box before carefully flipping it open. In the dim light of the restaurant, the gems on the gold necklace sparkled, reflecting across her face and highlighting the surprise in her eyes. 

"Oh, Aaron." She breathed. She placed a hand over her mouth before reaching down to delicately brush a finger over the necklace. The way she touched it so lightly could have made one think it would have disintegrated like ash under his fingertips. It was the most precious gift Aaron had ever given her. "You didn't have to do this. You've done so much for me already, Aaron." She said. 

He only smiled at that and stood up, taking the necklace off and putting the cool gold around her neck, clasping it on. He leaned down and kissed her softly, "You deserve it," he whispered softly in her ear.

She smiled and watched him sit down. He picked up his glass of wine and lifted it in a silent toast before taking a sip and looking around. There was a new confidence in his shoulders. As if he were proud to show off his woman and what he'd done for her. A silent declaration of, she's mine. 

---

They sat on his couch that evening, cuddled up. Aaron hadn't waited long once they got to his apartment to strip out of the dress clothes and into something more loose - his hoodie and sweat pants. Serenity, also craving something more comfortable, had borrowed his already too-big shirt that now swallowed her entire frame. 

The flowers he had gotten her sat in a vase on the kitchen table, with his handwritten letter lying open beside it. Her tears from his sappy love letter were still drying on the pages. The way he had poured his soul into the letters that dotted the pages still made her heart swell as she thought of them. The chocolates lay on the coffee table in front of them, with half of them already devoured by both of them. 

They cuddled on the couch, watching TV. Well, Aaron was watching the TV. Serenity was listening to his heart as she stared at his hand that rested on her waist. Her head rested on his chest, and her hand rested over his collarbone as she curled up under his protective and possessive arm that was wrapped around her. She knew he had tried so hard today to look so handsome for her, though really, even without the flair, he was still handsome. It was comforting to know now that, after all that stress, his heart was beating steadily. 

Her hand drifted from his collarbone to the necklace, her fingers brushing over the cool gold chain and stones that decorated it. Her lips curled into a content smile as her hand went back to his collarbone, tightening her grip just slightly. Aaron responded with a gentle kiss to her head and rested there, taking in the scent of her shampoo and perfume. 

"I love you, Serenity. Happy Valentine's." He whispered.

She curled up even more, lifting her head to kiss him back. When they broke apart, she didn't look away, her eyes admiringly studying his face. She kissed him again, to which he hummed in response and welcomed. "I love you too, Aaron," she whispered back.