Principessa Diana

Chapter Seven: Diana

I started our date a complete nervous wreck. Dave's kiss, while amazing, also served as a reminder of all that I stood to lose if this relationship didn't work out. Dave had been correct when he said that I was feeling things that I had never felt before. Being with him felt freeing but it also felt like coming home. I wasn't used to either one of those feelings.

Dave had put up with my standoffish behavior right up until we finished touring JFK's Beals Street birthplace. He slipped his arm around my waist and pulled me to his side as we made our way over to the group that was waiting for the North End Kennedy-themed walking tour to begin. "You know, dolcezza, this is a date, not a hostage situation... relax."

Easy for him to say. He hadn't been born with a chemical imbalance that made relaxing next to impossible. I hated it when people told me to relax. It was like they thought I was anxious and socially awkward because I wanted to be. If I had a choice in the matter did they really think I'd choose to feel this way? It was maddening. Who purposefully made themselves emotionally unstable?

To his credit, Dave seemed to realize that he'd said something stupid almost as soon as the words had left his mouth. "Forget what I just said, cara mia. I know better than to ask you to do that." He gave my waist a light squeeze and laid a kiss on my cheek.

"It's okay," I smiled, instantly forgiving him. There weren't a lot of people willing to put up with someone like me and I cherished the few who did. I didn't expect the people in my life to get it right all of the time when it came to my anxiety. I just expected them to try and that's exactly what Dave was doing.

Our tour guide appeared before us and I suddenly found myself disinterested in taking the tour. "Do you want to blow this off and go and do something else?" I asked, looking up at him. I hadn't planned this outing knowing that it would turn into a date and I found myself disliking the group atmosphere even more than I normally did.

"Sure, sweetheart." He pulled me a few steps back, onto the sidewalk, as the tour group departed minus us. "What would you like to do?"

I took a moment and wracked my brain, thinking of all the things in Boston that I either enjoyed doing or still wanted to do. The Red Sox weren't playing so Fenway Park was out. "How about we do the aquarium and then get lunch?" I suggested. "It will be easier for me to relax and enjoy our date if I'm not stuck around a bunch of people. We can go at our pace at the aquarium and get to know each other better." Was I babbling? It sure sounded like I was babbling.

Dave smiled and pulled me into his arms. "Time alone with you sounds like heaven, dolcezza." He used the palm of his hand to rub soothing little circles on the base of my back.

Even though my heart was beating so fast that I thought I could hear it in my ears, I leaned up on the tip of my toes and placed a soft kiss on his lips.