Luke picked me up on Saturday night right at 6 o'clock, exactly when he said he would. I was excited for this little date, even though Luke and I had been on plenty of adventures that I would consider dates. The fact that Luke was actually wanting to put so much effort in this was what got me really excited, and he seemed happy about it too.

Luke didn't come to the door to pick me up like he normally liked to, which I found a little odd considering that he always insisted on coming to the door. Instead, he texted me when he arrived at my apartment building and told me to come out. I was pleasantly surprised when I came out of the apartment, however, because right on the side of the street was Luke, leaning up against the hood of a car.

"You have a car?" I questioned as I approached Luke.

"It's my mom's actually, but yeah." Luke smiled. He grabbed my hand in his and laced our fingers together, instantly warming it up from the cold.

"She's really letting you borrow her car?" I asked. Luke laughed under his breath and pulled his beanie further down to cover up his ears.

"I told her that I was going on a date and she offered to let me use it." Luke shrugged.

"That seems oddly nice of her." I said, raising an eyebrow. It was rare that Luke told me about something kind that his mom had done for him. I guess he just seemed to focus on the bad things.

"She's okay sometimes." Luke gave me yet another shrug, still holding my hand.

"You never told me you could drive!" I exclaimed suddenly, wondering why we were always taking the subway when Luke was perfectly capable of driving us places.

"I never had a car to drive!" Luke laughed.

"I didn't even know that you had your license, you've never mentioned it." I said, taking a small step closer to Luke.

"Are we seriously going to sit here and talk about my car all night?" Luke questioned. "This is a date, you know."

"I know, I know. I was just curious." I shrugged. I let go of Luke's hands and walked around to the other side of the car, letting myself in.

"You're always curious, Stel." Luke remarked as he climbed into the car himself.

"I just have a lot of questions that need to be asked." I laughed, turning on the radio.

"You're just going to make yourself at home, aren't you?" Luke asked, staring at me as I flipped through radio stations until I was satisfied.

"I guess I'm good at that." I finally stopped on a station that was playing a decent song. "You know, it's a shame they don't really play songs from Disney movies on the radio. I know how much you would like that."

"I would like it more if you just left me alone about that. Jesus, Stel. You're being extra annoying tonight." Luke chuckled. By this time he had started driving, but I couldn't figure out where he was taking me just yet.

"I'm excited."

"So am I." Luke smiled. He reached over and changed the radio station, obviously not impressed by the song I had chosen.

"So, where are we going?" I asked as I played with the sleeves of my jacket. Playing with my clothes like that had seemed to be a nervous habit of mine, since I only did it in certain situations, like this.

"Somewhere." Luke smirked.

I sat back in my seat and admired Luke as he drove. He had on a plain black shirt - which actually surprised me because lately he'd only been wearing white - and a red flannel, a color that I had always loved on him. I was glad that he was dressed casual as well, or else I would have felt out of place in my baggy sweater and jeans. Also because going somewhere on a first date was something that I would not enjoy.

"What's your favorite animal?" Luke broke our uneasy silence with a question. An odd question, but a question.

"Um," I paused. "I think giraffes are cool."

"Giraffes have tongues that are so long they can lick their eyeballs." Luke blurted out.

"I didn't know that." I said quietly.

"And they have, like, super long eyelashes." Luke said, then laughed at himself like he was embarrassed that he had just decided to say that. I let out a small laugh as well, I had known that Luke was smart but I didn't think he would take the time to memorize facts about giraffes.

"That's..interesting." I sighed.

"I'm sorry. I'm, like, really nervous and I was just thinking about animals." Luke continued laughing.

"It's fine. What's your favorite animal?" I asked, figuring that if Luke knew mine I should know his.

"I think penguins are cool because sometimes the females will have sex with other males in exchange for these stones that they need to make nests and stuff." Luke glanced at me quickly before turning back to the road.

"Penguin prostitution." I noted.

"Exactly." Luke chuckled. "Dolphins are also the only other mammal besides humans that have sex for pleasure."

"So now you're just thinking about animals having sex." I gently slapped Luke on the arm, laughing at him for being such a boy.

"Kind of." Luke blushed.

"Do you have a secret fetish for animal sex that I should know about?" I raised an eyebrow at him, ignoring the protests coming out of his mouth while he talked.

"Yes, and you should be worried." Luke nodded, changing the radio station yet again.

"Where are we going?" I asked for a second time, hoping that Luke would finally give in and tell me.

"Why won't you just let me surprise you?" Luke groaned. "Surprises are nice, Stel. You should just let me surprise you."

"I just want to know. I'm anxious." I laughed. Luke shook his head at me and adjusted his beanie again.

"How much would you hate me if I decided to turn around and take you to a movie?" Luke said as he stopped the car at a red light. He turned to me and gave me a big smile, clearly trying his best not to get so aggravated with me.

"Movies make bad first dates." I said simply, leaning back in my seat and crossing my arms.

"That's exactly why I would take you there." Luke smirked.

"You're such a jerk." I rolled my eyes playfully at him. Luke started the car again, but this time he only drove a couple more blocks before finally parking on the side of a street and getting out of the car without saying a word to me.

"Are we here?" I called after Luke - who was already a few feet ahead of me - as I slammed my car door shut.

"Obviously not, Stel." Luke yelled over his shoulder, not bothering to wait for me to catch up.

I finally reached Luke and walked beside him, watching as he kicked at the ground as he walked. He shoved his hands deep into his pockets and looked down, looking like he was scared of being seen by someone.

"I'm coming off as a real asshole right now, aren't I?" Luke's head shot up suddenly.

"Just a little." I said honestly, even though it didn't bother me that much considering the way Luke had acted when we first met.

"I'm actually kind of nervous, Stel, because the last time I took a girl on a date it was my ex-girlfriend. And she ruined my life." Luke chuckled. He stopped walking and faced me.

"She ruined your life?" I asked.

"Yeah." Luke nodded, "You see, I live in my own little world and sometimes the tiniest things - like my girlfriend cheating on me - can totally tear it apart. I'd rather not have that happen again."

"I won't ruin your life." I smiled, reaching up and tucking a piece of hair behind my ear.

"If you're going to break my heart please write me a notice about 3 days in advance so I can prepare." Luke said. This time he took my hand and surrounded it with his as he turned and began pulling me down the street.

"How did you even meet this crazy ex-girlfriend anyway?" I asked, trying hard to keep up with Luke.

"It's a funny story, actually. But you aren't supposed to talk about past relationships on first days." Luke smirked.

"Oh, shut up." I said, letting out a groan.

"Basically Heather was at the movie theater waiting for this guy who eventually stood her up, and we ended up talking all night. Then after a couple months of us being friends we just kind of...happened." Luke shrugged. I could tell that he was feeling a little uncomfortable talking about this, especially because he and I both knew about his feelings for me. But I didn't really mind, it was me who asked the question in the first place.

"Then she cheated." I said blankly.

"Then she cheated." Luke repeated. He played with the zipper of his jacket, zipping and unzipping it over and over again.

"You really liked her, didn't you?" I asked.

"I did, but it doesn't matter now because I like you and you aren't her." Luke shrugged, giving my hand a small squeeze.

"Is that a good or bad thing?" I sighed. It always bothered me how Luke could be so complicated sometimes, not saying exactly what he means. Sometimes I wish he would just come out and say exactly what he meant.

"It's good." Luke nodded.

A few more minutes we arrived to this secret place Luke was taking me, which turned out to be the Central Park Zoo. Luke must know me almost better than I know myself, because I had always wanted to go to the zoo but never have. I had of course been to other zoos before, but never this one.

"Is this why you were thinking about animals?" I asked Luke, who was currently looking at a map of the zoo.

"Yeah." Luke nodded. "Wanna go to the giraffes first?"

"Whatever you want, I don't care." I shrugged.

"We can go to the giraffes and then the penguins and then we can get cotton candy at that place there." Luke said, pointing to a small stand selling cotton candy and a few other things.

"Don't tell me you have a creepy obsession with cotton candy too." I rolled my eyes, laughing at how wide Luke's eyes were while he stared at the stand.

"My love for popcorn isn't a creepy obsession, I appreciate it. And yes, I appreciate cotton candy too." Luke turned away from the cotton candy stand and grabbed my hand, leading me off into the direction of the giraffes.

-

"Do you want to know a secret?" I asked, ripping of a piece of the cotton candy we were sharing.

"Yes." Luke nodded. We were sitting on a bench in front of the penguin enclosure. Luke was desperately waiting for this penguin-prostitution to occur, even though I had already told him that it would only happen in the wild.

"I've never even been here before." I said. I held out the cotton candy so Luke could take a piece. He placed the small chunk of it in his mouth, licking his fingers quickly to get all the sugar off of them.

"To the zoo? Are you serious?" Luke chuckled, still not taking his eyes off the penguins.

"I went to this zoo in Indiana with my family when we went on vacation once, but I've never been to this zoo." I shrugged. In my opinion zoos could be kind of boring if the animals weren't doing anything exciting, so I figured that I wasn't missing out on much.

"Who the hell goes on a vacation to Indiana?" Luke laughed loudly, causing a few people to stare.

"It was more of a business trip for my dad than a vacation, I guess." I said quietly. I took another bite of the cotton candy.

"You've never been to Times Square on New Year's Eve, you've never been to the Central Park Zoo, what else, Stel?" Luke finally turned away from the penguins and faced me.

I thought for a moment before saying anything. "The Statue of Liberty." That was another place that I had always wanted to go but was never able to. I had no idea why I wanted to go so bad, it just seemed interesting to me. I figured that Luke would find it boring.

"Are you serious?" Luke stared back at me blankly. "You live in New York and you've never seen the Statue of Liberty?"

Luke sat up straight and turned back to the penguins, who were now being fed. He fixed up the hair that was sticking out of his beanie and let out a big sigh. "I'll take you."

"Really?" I questioned. At first I had thought that Luke thought it was stupid that I wanted to go, judging from the way he was acting.

"I'd take you anywhere you wanted, Stel." Luke smiled. He reached across my lap and grabbed my hand, lacing our fingers together.

We sat in silence for a few minutes after that, neither of us knowing exactly what to say. I was still so amazed by Luke and how he continued to treat me, like I was so precious to him. When I was with Luke I felt like I was the most important thing in the world, like there was no one that was loved more than me.

"I've been keeping my promise, you know." Luke said, breaking up my thoughts.

"And what was that?" I asked, not being able to recall what promises Luke had made me.

"I've been working hard on getting better for you." Luke said quietly. He looked down at the ground, away from me.

"That's good." I nodded. I was glad to be seen as some form of motivation for Luke to help himself get better. I couldn't stand seeing Luke when he got upset, and I hoped that he would soon be able to function without being so worried that there was something wrong with him.

"It's hard." Luke looked up at me. At first I didn't really understand why Luke was deciding to talk about this now considering that we were on a date, but I guess I had known Luke long enough by now that we didn't have to go through all this first date shit.

"You can do it." I assured him.

"Sorry, I kind of just killed the mood. I just needed to tell you." Luke chuckled under his breath. He reached up and touched his lip piercing with his fingers, like he had forgotten he had it.

"It's okay, I'm just happy that you're getting better." I smiled at him.

I leaned back on the bench and watched Luke as he watched the penguins and the people passing by us. From the outside he looked like a typical teenage boy that was kind of an asshole, but inside he was so much more. He was caring and witty and he sometimes thought a little too much about what other people thought of him, but that's just who he was. He was like no one I had ever met before, and that's why I liked him so much.

"I have to tell you something." Luke said, stirring me out of my thoughts.

"Yeah?"

"I had this huge thing for you in freshman year." Luke laughed softy.

"Are you serious?" I asked. Luke had told me before that he noticed me when we were younger, but never that he had a crush on me.

"Yeah, it was one of those weird things, like, I admired you from afar but never said anything. Basically I just thought you were really cute." Luke shrugged.

"I had braces!" I laughed, remembering how unhappy I always was back then with my appearance.

"So did every other girl in the grade!" Luke countered. "I actually thought you were dating Michael, that's why I never tried to talk to you."

"You're serious? You thought I was dating Michael?" I laughed even harder.

"You guys always walked home together!" Luke shouted, laughing as well.

"We live in the same apartment building!" I continued to laugh, not being able to handle the thought of Michael and I dating.

"How was I supposed to know? I never talked to either of you!" Luke said. His laugh was fading now, but every once and a while he would let out another loud chuckle.

"So you never said anything to me because you were afraid that I was dating Michael?" I asked, just to clarify.

"Yes, pretty much. And the fact that I was going through this phase where I hated everything." Luke shrugged. He shook his leg up and down in attempt to warm himself up.

"You're still going through that phase." I joked, handing Luke the very last of the cotton candy.

"There are a few things that I like!" Luke argued. He took his lip ring in between his teeth and wiggled it around for a second.

"Popcorn, Disney, and penguin prostitution." I listed off a few things that Luke had admitted to liking, excluding me.

"I think a lot of boys my age would enjoy penguin prostitution." Luke shot back.

"Boys your age like anything that has to do with sex!" I laughed. Luke rolled his eyes and leaned in, quickly kissing me on the lips.

"Sorry." Luke said shyly, as if this was the first time he had ever kissed me.

"You just couldn't wait, could you?" I said sarcastically, though I wished that Luke had kissed me for a little longer.

"I was doing that thing you see in movies where the girl won't stop talking about prostitution so the guy kisses her to shut her up." Luke laughed hard, a wide smile growing on his face.

"If never seen that movie." I said, biting back a smile.

"Well maybe if they make a movie about us this scene will be in there." Luke sighed, looking up at the sky.

-

"Isn't this weird?" I asked, breaking the long silence between us. We were on our way back to the car now after spending another couple hours at the zoo.

"Isn't what weird?" Luke turned to me and smiled.

"Like, us. We practically hated each other at the beginning of the year and now look at us." I said, gesturing down to our intertwined hands.

"Well, I had this plan at the beginning of the year." Luke said slowly.

"And what was that?" I asked, realizing that Luke just seemed to have a plan for everything.

"I thought that maybe if I acted like I was miserable around you it would stop you from liking me." Luke bit his lip and stared down at the ground as we walked.

"Why would you want that?" I asked, clearly confused.

"I was terrified." Luke chuckled softly, rubbing over his face with his hands.

"Of what?" I asked.

"I was terrified that I would actually fall for you, and that I would end up hurt." Luke licked his lips, smiling softy at me.

"Do you still feel that way?" I bit my lip, awaiting Luke's answer.

"Yes." He whispered. We had stopped walking by now and were just standing in front of the car but neither of us bothered to make the move to get inside, even though we were freezing.

"You have to stop thinking that everyone's out to get you." I sighed. "I'm not going to hurt you."

Luke pulled me into a hug and kissed me on the forehead. "I know."

I wrapped my arms around Luke's neck and pulled him down to my level, connecting his lips to mine. Luke seemed stunned at first but eventually molded into the kiss, immediately letting his hands find their place on the small of my back, pulling me even closer to him.

"So I take it this was a good first date?" Luke asked as he pulled slightly away from me. He wore a silly smirk on his face, already knowing my answer.

"Yes." I nodded. Luke leaned in and kissed me again, harder this time. His tongue entered my mouth and my hands went up to his hair, messing up the beanie that Luke had placed so perfectly on top of his head. Just as he started to heat up the kiss even more, I stopped him.

"We're still in public." I laughed, pulling away.

"So you're saying we should go back to my house?" Luke questioned, replacing his beanie on his head. I shrugged.

I guess Luke took that as a yes because he quickly turned around and got into the car without saying anything else. He waited patiently while I got in the car, crossing and uncrossing his arms while I put on my seatbelt.

"You don't seem excited at all." I said sarcastically as Luke finally stared up the car.

He turned to me, a big smile plastered across his face. "That was the end of step 2."

THIS WAS KIND OF BORING BECAUSE ALL THEY DID WAS TALK BUT ITS CUTE SO WHATEVER I HOPE YOU ALL LIKE IT GOODBYE I LOVE YOU