Third Degree

chapter three.

Thalia's POV

I bite my lip and look over my outfit once more. It's simple, a beige, comfortable knit long sleeve, black jeans and black flats. It looks decent and casual, but I wonder if it'll be appropriate for the date with Grayson. He wanted to go to the movies and then surprise me with something.

Soon enough, there's a knock on the door, and my mother goes to answer it. I stand in the middle of the stairs, listening, only because he might tell my mom the surprise and I'll know if my outfit is appropriate.

"Oh, hello Grayson!" My mom says.

"Hello Mrs. Garrett. I'm here to pick up Lia for our date." Grayson sounds a little nervous, which is strange because he met my mom almost four years ago.

"She told me about that," my mom pauses, "Also, please remember, since it's Friday, her curfew is 12. Please be careful and don't do anything reckless." The suggesting tone in her voice causes me to blush.  Then I hear her take a couple steps towards the stairs.

"Of course, Mrs. Garrett, I'll have her home by then." Grayson chuckles, hiding the nerves well. That same conversation has happened countless times.

"Lia! Grayson's here." And with that I take a deep breath and quickly rush down the stairs. When I see Grayson, my heart melts. He's holding flowers.

"Gray! You didn't have to!" I blush as I walk over to him and my mother. He chuckles and blushes, scratching the back of his neck.

"I didn't have to, but I wanted to." He smiles as he extends them towards me.

"Let me put these in a vase for you, yeah?" My mom asks. I nod and hand them to her.

"Ready to go?" Grayson smiles. I nod as my mom returns.

"Bye mom, I'll see you tonight." I hug her tightly and smile.

"Stay safe."

And with that, Grayson and I head to the car. As I get closer, I notice it's the new one he told me about.

"Woah! You picked up the new car!" I grin as I look it over. It looks even better than what he had excitedly described less than 2 hours before.

"Yeah," he chuckles, "I thought it'd be awesome if you were the first person I drove in it. Especially on a date." He smiles confidently. I smile back and pull him into a hug.

"It's beautiful, I love it and you're too sweet." I giggle. "Very thoughtful of you." He smiles and kisses my hair.

"Not quite as beautiful as you." He winks. I can't help the blush creeping into my cheeks as we head off to the movies.

The movie we watched was action packed, funny, romantic and overall a wonderful movie, and now, we proceed to the part Grayson had planned.

After picking up some food, we drive out to our favorite little cliff, and take in the view of the setting sun.

We begin to eat and I smile at Grayson.

"You know, moments like these are what I think life is all about." Grayson looks over and smiles.

"What do you mean?" I ask, sensing one of his cheesy and romantic little speeches.

He smiles, "Like, I'm sitting here, with the love of my life, eating my favorite food, sitting in my new car and it couldn't be more perfect." He sighs with content. "I love you."

My heart speeds up. This isn't the first time he's said it, but it seems like the first time every single time. It happens every time and it usually has a cute little speech before it, like right now.

"And I love you." I smile. He kisses me softly and smiles.

"Let's finish eating."