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Celeste and Lincoln's First Date

"How was the date with Gary?" Celeste asked.

Lincoln glanced down at her from the couch. While she had been having a phone call with her friend, Charlotte, Lincoln sat beside Celeste, flipping through his contracts. The old Celeste would've never asked such a question, but she began to pick up on normal inquiries when it came to friends and their activities.

"He bought me flowers," Charlotte answered on speaker. "He's such a softy."

"You didn't like it?"

"No." Her friend reluctantly admitted, "I loved it."

Celeste chuckled, and Lincoln, too, smiled at the sound.

"We hadn't gone on a proper date since high school, so it was nice," Charlotte continued. "But I think I prefer at-home dates. Sitting on the couch, sharing a bowl of popcorn, and watching a movie is way easier than dressing up and eating out at a restaurant."

In response, Celeste murmured, a sound used to acknowledge her friend speaking.

"What about you, Celeste?" she asked. "When's the last time you went on a date?"

"Never."

The answer came easily and with no bitterness, but it still shocked Lincoln at the truth. Charlotte, too, was surprised.

"Never?" she repeated. "You're telling me you've never gone on a date with that older guy?"

Lincoln's lips twitched into a sneer. Celeste's friends liked to occasionally refer to him as the older guy since they couldn't actually speak his name due to precautions. However, they could've done a better job at choosing his nickname. He and Celeste were only ten years apart. They spoke as if the gap were twenty.

Worst of all, Celeste never bothered to correct them or make them change it.

"No," Celeste answered, a distracted tone in her voice. "Not outside at least. Technically, we've had plenty of at-home dates."

Charlotte was silent for a second. "You've never wanted to have an outside date?"

"Not really." Again, Celeste spoke without much emotion behind her voice. Lincoln still found it difficult to read her at times, and at this moment, he couldn't tell if she genuinely didn't mind or if she was curious and just playing it off.

"You should try it out once at least," Charlotte declared. "He's rich isn't he? Go to a restaurant together. Let him spoil you with good food."

Celeste chuckled. "He's a busy man."

"Too busy to spare just one night?"

Lincoln twitched and Celeste glanced at him before leaning her head against his knee. With a smile on her lips, she said, "It's already enough that we get to spend our nights together."

He heard it in her voice. She spoke with the truth. They had gone through hell to be together, and Lincoln never failed to show Celeste just how much he truly loved her. Dates were for those who had gone through the normal stages in building a relationship. The two of them never had that luxury.

However...perhaps they did now.