Fade Away ↠ Paul Lahote

Four.

"So, what are you going to wear?" Jordan and Nelly are walking to the café again. She had texted him the very next day after Paul asked her out and Jordan completely freaked. He is probably more nervous about the date than Nelly, which is saying something because Nelly has never been on a date before.

"I don't know," Nelly shrugs. "Clothes?"

"Nelly!" Jordan exclaims. He looks offended. "You have to dress up nice! It's your first date; you can't just wear jeans and a sweater."

Damn, that was what Nelly had planned on wearing. She sighs and steps into the café, enjoying the gust of warm air it brings. Jordan goes to order them their drinks, a hot chocolate for Nelly and some complicated order for Jordan, while Nelly grabs a seat for them. She stares out the shop window and watches as people walk by in the street, not a care in the world. Nelly knows she's being dramatic, but she can remember when that was her just last week. And now Nelly has an appointment to determine whether or not she has cancer and everything in her life has changed.

Her upcoming date with Paul is both great and terrible. Paul seems like a great guy and genuinely seems to have feelings for Nelly. But if Nelly has cancer, she doesn't want to be getting into a relationship right when her world is crashing in on itself. She doesn't want to put the weight of having a girlfriend with limited time on Paul's shoulders. Her dad, Jacob, and Jordan will already have to deal with it if she does have cancer. It's too much to put on Paul.

"So how long have you liked Paul?" Jordan asks when he sits down with their drinks.

"Um, define like?" Nelly takes a sip of her hot chocolate.

"Wait, you don't like him?" Jordan looks scandalized. "Is this a pity date? Have you been letting me freak out over nothing the past few days?"

"Well, yes," Nelly admits. "But not because it's a pity date. I know that I can reciprocate the feelings he has toward me with time, but for right now they aren't really there."

"Does Paul know?"

"I think so. The first time he asked, I used the excuse that I was just too busy to go on a date and it really hurt his feelings. But we had something akin to a moment and I agreed to go on the date." Nelly feels terrible about not telling Jordan. He's her only friend and they have absolutely no secrets.

"That is adorable," Jordan gushes, taking a sip of his drink. "So where's he taking you?"

"I have no idea. Jacob gave him my number and he just told me to dress comfortably." Nelly sighs and lets her head fall back. "Why does it have to be a surprise? Why is that always the case? You always see movies where the guy makes the first date a surprise, only telling the girl what kind of outfit would fit the environment. It's boring and cliché and frustrating." Nelly takes a sip of her drink.

"I know how you feel," Jordan adds. "Quil did the same thing."

She spits her hot chocolate everywhere. "He WHAT?" Jordan laughs and laughs and laughs. Nelly glares and has to go grab napkins, her face flushed red. She wipes up the mess she made and hisses at Jordan, "You did that on purpose." He only shrugs and takes another drink, a smirk pulling at his lips.

When Nelly returns from throwing out the napkins, she gives Jordan a look. He gives her one back, but Nelly knows Jordan well enough that she knows he is going to break long before she does. And she's right.

"Alright, I'll tell you," he finally says. "Last weekend when Paul asked you out, Quil and I were having our very first date. He also made it a surprise, but he and I just went for dinner and a movie. Movie first and then dinner because he wanted to talk about the movie we saw while we were eating."