“Well, it’s what you asked for, Pat,” Dara sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose as I watched him argue with one of our elderly regulars who was never happy with a single haircut he was given, but still came back once a month.

“I know, but I hate it,” Pat grumbled.

“I can’t glue the hair back,” Dara threw his hands up, and I popped a pretzel into my mouth.

“I’ll give you half off today if you stop being an ass, Pat,” I called with a laugh, “But just today, don’t expect it next time.”

“Hm. Fine,” Pat nodded, letting Dara finish up and coming to the counter.

“10 today,” I turned the tablet I used for the register, and he handed over a 20-dollar bill, “Here’s your change.”

“Give the other 10 to Dara. I was being a bit of dick,” Pat waved and I held the ten dollar bill over my shoulder, Dara plucking it from my fingers as Pat left.

“Nice,” Dara laughed, “Man, tips have been so much better with you running the place.”

“People like me, what can I say?” I shrugged, “Yo, Halley.”

“Sup, Captain?” Halley popped her gum as she swept the shop.

“If I buy it, can you go to the boba place and get one for everyone? Or even lunch from the sandwich stop next-”

My words were cut off by a sudden surge, and then every light went out along with the air conditioning. Dara ran outside and looked down the block before sighing and propping the door open, the heat suddenly rushing in.

“It’s the entire block. I bet some idiot hit a transformer or something,” He threw his hands up.

“We can’t run this place without power, so go ahead and gather all your stuff and head out. I’ll make a sign for the door and contact anyone who had an appointment to let them know we lost power. I’ll just give them 20 percent off if they want to reschedule,” I sighed, tapping my pen on the appointment book, “Go on, guys. I’ll come by early tomorrow and see if the power is back on. If not, you get an extra day off. I won’t be able to cover full pay, but maybe half if that’s cool with everyone?”

“Don’t pay me,” Mario said, shaking his head and grabbing his motorcycle helmet from the breakroom, “I don’t mind two days off if we can swing it.”

“Same,” Halley giggled, “Just make sure you text Nick since he’s not here. He’ll be real confused if he shows up tomorrow to find the place shut down.”

“Ah, right. Dara, can you take Fern? I really don’t want her here with the heat.”

“Why don’t you just bring the appointment book home? I can take care of Fern while you make calls in your office. I don’t want you stuck here either,” Dara pulled my hair gently, and I smiled.

“I hadn’t even considered that. Alright. Get your shit together and let’s get out of here.”

We all left the shop twenty minutes later, a sign sitting on the door to apologize for the inconvenience of the sudden power outage. Dara and I made a change of plans and went to see his parents, and I went to my old bedroom to make over 30 phone calls from the cell phone I used as the business line, apologizing for needing to reschedule appointments and offering a discount if they agreed, putting the discount next to their name in my calendar. I ended this long endeavor by texting Nick, letting him know to look out for a group text I would send if the power was back on tomorrow morning. I also congratulated him on his upcoming wedding and confirmed he’d received my gift, a set of crystal wine glasses to share with his soon-to-be wife, Crystal.

“Ugh,” I groaned, popping my back as I joined everyone in the backyard, “I should have had you help, Day. That was exhausting.”

“You’re way nicer than I am, and people love you. Makes more sense for you to call,” Dara laughed, Fern toddling around the backyard with Clara, “We didn’t go see Eddie this year,” he whispered, and I looked at the ground, “Not that we had to! It was Fern’s birthday, too. I just thought we might.”

“I went by myself for a bit. Mostly to clean his headstone and replace the flowers. I don’t think I was the last one there, though. I think his parents finally stopped by.”

“Have they called you? Regarding Fern?” Rian looked up from his newspaper as I sat next to Dara, throwing my legs onto his lap.

“They don’t even know she exists, and I don’t want them to. Fern has grandparents. She has you two. That’s all that matters.”

“As long as you’re happy. It’s nice to have you three here on a random day for once instead of our weekend dinners,” Clara smiled, stopping Fern from eating a flower.

“Between the shop, Fern, and getting things for the house, we’re always so busy. We’ll make more of an effort,” Dara smiled, rubbing my shins gently as I soaked in the sunshine.

“So what happened at the shop? Forget to pay your bills?” Rian teased, and I rolled my eyes.

“No. I always do. The entire block went down. We weren’t the only business closing up,” I shrugged before poking Dara, “Day. Day. Day.”

“Oh my god, what?” He laughed.

“I’m thirsty. Can you get me lemonade?”

“Sure. Move.”

I swung my legs off his lap, and Dara headed inside after cleaning his glasses.

“The world only makes sense when the two of you get along,” Clara sighed happily, sitting in the grass with Fern to play with a ball I had brought.

“It’s why I fought so hard to have him back,” I smiled, taking my glass when Dara brought it out, “Thank you.”

“Always. Oh! Mom, Dad!”

“Dara!” Rian yelled back with a laugh.

“Stop it. They’re showing a movie Ren really wanted to see at a drive-in down in Atlanta. Can you keep Fern for the night? Since we’re closed, we can actually take my truck and go see it.”

“Wait, really?” I gasped, grabbing his arm, “Dara, you don’t have to do that.”

“I want to.”

“Sure, it’s been a while since we had a Grandma, Granda, and Fern sleepover,” Clara clapped happily, “We still have all her things, and I bought new stuff, so don’t even worry. Why don’t we have some lunch before you two go?”

“I’d love that,” I smiled, my cheeks a bit warm.

“We’ll get a bunch of blankets, pillows, and snacks. Set up a bed in the back of my truck instead of being uncomfortable in the front of your car. It’ll be like when we were little, and mom and dad would set up the projector so we could watch movies out here in my tent.”

“Aw, I forgot about that! Yes! I’d love it; that sounds so fun. Make sure to bring a sweater though. It’s warm right now, but it’ll get cold tonight.”

“It’s so cute to think of you two going to the drive-in. That’s where we had our first date,” Rian smiled, folding his newspaper and setting it on the table.

“It’s not a date,” Dara and I said at the same time, and I peeked over to find his face as red as I knew mine was.

“Well, sure. Here,” Clara handed Fern to Rian and ran inside, “I’m making a simple lunch, no complaints!”

“I never complain about your food, Mum!” I yelled back, taking a sip of lemonade.

We ate the lunch she had made, turkey sandwiches and a garden salad, before Dara and I said our goodbyes to Fern and headed home. We both ran off to change and gather what we needed for the movie. The sun finally started to set as we packed everything into the backseat of his trunk. I had giggled a bit when we first met up in the living room, both wearing gray jogging sweats and red sweaters to be comfortable. It was fun to go do things with Dara, reminding me of the simple things we had done before, and we stopped at a convenience store when we reached Atlanta to get snacks and drinks, hiding them under our blankets.

Dara paid for our movie tickets, and we found a good spot that he backed into, the screen just a bit off-centered. I helped him get all the blankets and pillows set up in the truck bed, and he lifted me in before climbing over the tailgate and flopping next to me, both of us cuddled under my comforter to stay warm as the temperature had plummeted.

“Thank you,” I wiggled happily, “This is so fun!”

“It hasn’t even started yet, but you’re welcome,” he laughed, lying on his back with his hands folded on his stomach, “I’m just glad you agreed.”

“Duh.”

The next fifteen minutes were premieres for movies that we criticized or got excited over before the movie truly started. It was a horror movie that I had shown Dara the ads for about a family living in a rural farmhouse and being stalked by the ghost of an old woman who could only enter their home at night. It was making me jump from time to time as I clung to the blanket, entirely enamored with the film. Dara slowly slid his arm under the back of my neck, and I scooted closer, my heart racing either from him or the movie.

“You okay?” he whispered in my ear, and I nodded rapidly, refusing to look over, “Too scary.”

“Y-Yeah,” I stuttered out.

“We can leave. We can watch it at home on streaming if you want.”

“No! We aren’t leaving,” I pouted.

“Fine, fine,” he laughed, pressing his forehead to my temple, and I pulled his free arm over my chest, clinging to him, “Ren…”

“Shh,” I shushed him as we got to the climax of the movie.

It finally reached the end, and we lay there quietly, the credits rolling past. Dara pinched my side, and I turned my head to smile at him.

“This was fun,” he rubbed his nose on mine, and I felt my breath hitch, “We haven’t done anything just us two in a long time. Can we make it a habit? Maybe twice a month, we go out and do something fun.”

“S-Sure,” I nodded, the warmth of his breath spilling across my lips, “Whatever you want, and we can make more time at home when Fern is asleep.”

“Okay,” he ran his fingers through my hair, and I pressed closer, “Ren…”

“Hmm?”

“Nothing. We have to head out now.”

“Oh… right.”

We quickly packed up and left the drive-in, Dara stopping to get us milkshakes before we made the journey home. It was already late at that point, and I curled up on the couch to drink my milkshake, putting on a show I regularly watched. Dara joined me, lifting my legs to rest them in his lap, both of us enjoying the quiet.

“So… not this weekend but the weekend after… the Georgia Aquarium is doing Sips Under the Sea. Wanna go?” he poked my stomach, and I giggled before nodding.

“Oh, I had an idea for two things we can do! Bowling and go-karting.”

“I’d love that! That takes care of three weekends.”

“Plus, Gem and Jett wanted to take us on a brewery tasting next month. Gem’s sister is going to come watch their kids for a few hours, so we can leave Fern with your parents. They’re already watching her for an entire weekend, so we can go to Nick’s wedding in October.”

“God, the next four months seem so fun.”

“We’ll make it that way. The rest of the weekends we aren’t planning things, we can still take Fern out to have fun.”

“I’d love that.”

We watched a few episodes of our show before heading to our own rooms. I suddenly bolted out when I came to a realization, and Dara did the same, the couches separating us.

“We were planning dates. We went on a date tonight,” I whispered.

“Yeah,” he whispered back, his eyes wide behind his glasses.

“Um… So do we cancel or…”

“Do you want to?”

“No.”

“Me either,” he took a few steps closer, and I came around the couch, looking up at him, “I… loved our first date tonight.”

“Me too. Long overdue.”

“That it was,” he reached out and gently cradled my cheek, making me smile, “Goodnight, Ren. Thank you for going out on a date with me.”

“It was the easiest thing to do. Dating you is easy,” I turned my head and softly kissed his palm.

Dara bent down and pressed a lingering kiss to my forehead, his hand laced in my hair as he held me close. I gripped the front of his sweater, smiling at the warmth that flooded through me, and he pulled back, a bright smile on his face.

“You were my first crush. I guess I’m lucky I finally noticed the man you really are. Took me too damn long,” he laughed at himself and I hugged him tightly, laying my head on his chest.

“You were mine too, but it got lost because of Eddie and then Kipling. Are you… sure you want to go on dates with me? We can just have friend outings. I dated your brother after all.”

“Did you fuck him?”

“No, but he uh… did touch me a lot.”

“Hm. Yes. Nothing changes for me. I still want to date you, Ren.”

“Good. Me too. Goodnight. Sweet dreams.”

“They’re always sweet.”

“Really? Why?”

“I dream of you,” he shrugged, kissing my forehead again and heading to his room.

“I dream about you, too,” I whispered to the empty living room, my heart filled with peace and hope.