Being set up on a date with Karone’s sister had not immediately seemed like a very good idea; Laurence fully expected that somehow, something would go wrong, and he’d wind up with a vengeful sister hounding him.

He had been determined to do his best to try and give Gale a good night even before he’d met her, if only to ensure that he was still on Karone’s good side, but after his evening with her, Karone wasn’t the sister he was thinking about.

Laurence had dropped Gale off with a polite goodbye; there was no kiss, no hand holding, nothing like that. They’d had a good night and he wasn’t going to press his luck by doing anything other than what felt natural, and he might not have known what the kids were doing at the end of their first dates these days, but he knew that he’d had a good night, and waving goodbye to her from the car as she hurried inside to escape the cold was good enough for him.

Besides, she had his phone number and he had hers—and they’d already picked out a day next week to meet up again. He waited to make sure she made it inside before he left, if only because the fastest way to ruin a date was to freeze to death. A part of him wanted her to be locked out of the house, if only so he had an excuse to spend a little more time with her.

…Which sounded a little desperate, he realized, and he tried to dismiss the thought from his mind as he drove him. But, it was a nice feeling—wanting to meet up with her again. Naturally, he wanted to please her, and he liked the attention she’d given him, but it was more than that. He was an adult, and yet he felt like he was back to his first crush. As he drove home, he replayed the evening in his head. Her smiles, her laughs, her fondness for his seat warmer. Dinner had been delicious, and there hadn’t been an awkward moment after they really began speaking. He wasn’t sure if she enjoyed the gallery; it was hard to tell someone who was admiring art or being polite.

She hadn’t seemed bored or upset though, so considering that the evening had been thrown together almost entirely on the spot he had to give himself some credit. Thankfully, he’d been able to move her past the part of the gallery that contained his artwork. While he was used to trying to show off his accomplishments and things he was proud of, he couldn’t help but think it might have come across as incredibly vain to take her to a gallery where one of his pieces was on display.

Laurence was used to the silence, most days. He didn’t listen to the news or radio, he just liked to focus on driving, and getting where he needed to be safely. But, the conversation with Gale had been a pleasant break from the norm, and now that she was gone it was just too quiet.

He wanted to talk to someone about her.

With a pang of disappointment deep in his stomach, he realized he didn’t really have anyone to talk to.

There was Karone, but it seemed like a strange idea to call her and fawn over how well he thought the date had gone. He couldn’t call his mother; she might have been griping about how he was still single, but she was hardly actually invested in his love life and, if anything, she probably would have been annoyed that he was calling her so late.

…There was Tobias, of course, but their newfound relationship was still developing. He had just started being on good terms with his brother again and wasn’t sure if they were at the point where he should be calling him to talk about a girl—after only their first date. Maybe, after another date or two, he could find a way to bring it up to Tobias. Provided they were still on speaking terms, at least.

Laurence still needed to talk to him about their similar late-night hobbies and affiliation with the Negaverse, and he wasn’t quite sure they would be on such good terms after Tobias found out he was Amesite.

…He and Andalusite didn’t exactly have the healthiest of relationships, and it was one thing for Tobias and Laurence to reconcile, but Amesite and Andalusite had been at each other’s throats.

…And he was pretty sure Tobias might have tried to kill him at least once.

He tapped on the steering wheel contemplatively and kept his eyes on the road. The conversation with Tobias wasn’t one he was looking forward to, but he knew that it was necessary. Better to have that talk now instead of sometime down the road when it could bite him in the a**.

…But that wasn’t what he wanted to be thinking about right now. He wanted to be thinking about Gale and how much fun he’d had this evening, even if it had been off to a stressful start. With a heavy sigh, his eyes narrowed just slightly and he found himself chastising being so silly.

It was one date. Maybe it didn’t even mean anything. He wanted it to, though; even if he couldn’t quite admit it to himself. Fear and disappointment lingered in the shadows of his mind and the thought of being left down was a crushing pressure he didn’t want to face.

And yet, even with the risk of leaving himself emotionally vulnerable and humiliated if this didn’t work out…he wanted to try.

The idea of wanting to interact with someone on this different, more personal level, was new to him. He didn’t have time, between work and the Negaverse and trying to prove himself to his family, but…

Maybe, he could make time.

He deserved to be happy, at least some of the time and—according to the pounding of his heart in his chest—Gale seemed to make him happy.

He’d have to talk to Karone about how things went tomorrow; he just hoped Gale thought the night went as well as he did.

…Although, knowing Karone, he’d hear from her before the night was over if Gale didn’t think things went well.