“Oh come on, Ian. Don't be so eager to leave. So, Levy, tell me about yourself.” I open my mouth but Ian groans and interupts me.

“His name is Levy Newark, he was born in the 90's, can we go?” Ian whines and I chuckle, noticing that he isn't rambling, though he still has that quick pace to his words, making them sound slightly jumbled at times. His dad laughs, his eyes sparkling with amusement. He pats Ian on the back before nodding.

“You can go, calm down. We should have dinner sometime though, I'd love to get to better know Levy.” Mr. Kelly explains and Ian rolls his eyes.

“Yeah, yeah. Now we're leaving. Come on, Levy.” I expect him to pull me out of the room but first he gives his dad a hug. Then he grabs hold of my wrist once more and drags me through the house, passing a doorway that I assume leads to the kitchen. We get in my car and after I put on some music I drive towards the restaurant.

“Your dad is pretty cool.” I state but can't help but wonder where his stepmother is, he did say his dad got remarried so you would think she would want to meet me. Or maybe she's at work, that might be. I make a note to ask him about her later.

“He's my dad, dad's aren't cool. But yeah he's pretty cool considering he's a dad. You know, he's great, I love him and all. But enough of the mushy stuff. Where are we going? And who are we going with? Who's your friend? Is she nice?” he asks and I chuckle.

“We're going to a small restaurant. With my friend, Lydia, and she's really nice.” I reply honestly and he nods in understanding. It goes silent but it's comfortable with the music. What makes me really smile though is when I feel his hand cover my own on the gear shift. It's an unexpected move from him since he doesn't seem like the type that would make a move like that but I like it.

The rest of the drive is silent save for the music playing in the background. And all through the drive Ian keeps his hand over mine. It's a simple gesture but it keeps the smile on my face the whole time.

I park the car and get out with Ian following suite. I lock my car real quick before walking over to Ian and taking his hand in mine. I notice a small smile twitching at his lips and it makes me happy to know the small gesture is appreciated. We walk through the doors and I immediately spot Lydia. Mainly because her bright blue hair is a bit of a dead giveaway.

I make my way towards her with Ian in tow and slide into the seat in front of her. Ian sits next to me; in front of Victoria. After we order our drinks we all seem to slip into a slightly awkward silence. I glance at the table before I move my eyes to Lydia, silently prompting her to say something, anything.

“So, Ian, tell me about yourself. How old are you? Do you live around here? Have you come out to your parents?” she asks. I don't bother to get mad at her for asking about his parents, mostly because Ian doesn't seem bothered by the questions; partly because she didn't know and she already asked.

“Well, I'm seventeen, I live over on Birch. I came out to my dad when I knew for sure I wasn't straight three years ago.” He explains and I open my mouth to change the subject because I know Lydia is going to ask about his mom, I can just see it in her eyes. Unfortunately she speaks before I can even think of a subject change.

“What about your mom?”

“Lydia,” I cut in sharply but Ian just waves me off.

“My mom passed away when I was younger so I never got to tell her.” He explains with a shrug. The table slips into an awkward silence once more, because how are you even supposed to respond to that? But apparently Lydia knows how to respond because she breaks the silence.

“How many relationships have you been in before you met Levy?” she probes.

“Oh, uh, one.” He replies. We all seem to stop to look at him in confused surprise, even Victoria seems surprised, surprised enough to add to the conversation since being silent the past few minutes.

“One? What happened?” she asks, seeming to forget about the napkin she was previously folding into origami as she had already done with two other napkins.

“It ended.” Ian replies, his eyes dropping from Victoria's slightly. I notice his body tense slightly after answering, and his fist clenched under the table. It makes me wonder if the relationship ended on a bad note, or if he wasn't over it. Oh hell, of course it ended badly. Why else would he seem so upset if it hadn't ended badly?

“How did it end?” Lydia pipes in but I glare at her.

“Alright, that's enough interrogating my boyfriend. Especially since I haven't gotten to ask Victoria a single question.” I add in amusement but truthfully I want to get the attention away from Ian because it's obvious the question bothered him.

“Oh come on,” Lydia whines. “I wasn't done asking him questions.”

I roll my eyes at that but continue on with questioning Victoria anyway. While I ask her pointless questions, I slip my hand under the table to entwine my finger with Ian's. He relaxes a bit at that and the rest of the dinner consists of the four of us asking each other questions and sharing funny or embarrassing stories.

“And he cried all night, it was hilarious.” Lydia finishes telling her story about when I first slept over at her house and then started crying because she didn't have a nightlight.

“Oh that's not that bad, I think all kids go through that phase when they need a light on.” Victoria replies and I hang my head because I know what Lydia's going to say next.

“Oh I know, all *children go through that phase. But he was almost thirteen.” She adds and I can tell Victoria is trying to hide her laughter by finishing the last few bites of her piece of cheesecake. While Ian on the other hand just laughs, not bothering to cover it. I huff as I feel heat rise to my cheeks in embarrassment but I don't mind in all honesty, it's nice that we're all comfortable around each other. I'm also grateful that Ian's past relationship wasn't brought up again.

When the bill comes we split it to avoid us staying there for another ten minutes deciding who gets to pay. After we pay we all walk out together, still laughing at some joke Lydia made. Me and Ian walk the girls over to their car and after we all say goodbye, promising to do this again, we both get in my own car.

“That was nice.” Ian comments and I nod in agreement. A silence falls over us as I drive towards the park in the middle of town that I'm sure is deserted by now since it's already eleven. I park and Ian seems to glance around in slight confusion.

“What are we doing?” he asks, not seeming all that bothered about not going home since he called his dad around nine to tell him he'd be home late.

“I want to talk.” I reply with a shrug. I get out and when he doesn't follow I go over to his door to open it. He looks up at me with slight fear in his eyes, causing confusion to wash through me.

“Did I do something wrong? I'm sorry if I said something that embarrassed you, I didn't mean to.” He adds, looking even more scared by the minute. I furrow my brows in confusion at that, wondering why he's so scared.

“No of course not. Ian I just want to talk, it's okay.” I add, smiling reassuringly before I extend my hand for him to take. He hesitantly takes it and after I close the door I lead him through the grass to a bench in front of a fountain. Of course it's not going right now but I couldn't care less about the silent water in the fountain right now.

“What happened with your last relationship?” I finally force myself to ask, turning my gaze from the still fountain to him. He fidgets with the sleeve of his jacket for a minute and I feel bad for asking but I need to know what happened.

“It was nothing. It doesn't matter anymore, it ended, it's over.” He adds, not looking at me. I know he's lying though, it's obvious it had a negative effect on him and though I know I should leave it be I have to know what happened.

“Ian,” I start and he glances at me. “Please.” I reach over and take his hand in mine to comfort him.

“Nothing, he just wasn't...nice.” He replies in an uncharacteristic whisper. I want to push the subject but instead I merely nod, knowing he'll tell me the whole story when he's ready. With that thought in mind I stay quiet and let the comfortable silence wash over us once again so we can enjoy a little more time with each other before I take him home.