'Hey, apparently you have to walk out to the bus stop. He's very romantic.' Jess said, her eyes sparkling as she read my new text message. We were back in the lounge room, and Jessica was brushing my newly straightened hair.

'I'll be home...' I paused, not knowing what time I was going to be home.

'Whenever, Diana, I trust you.' My mum said, kissing my cheek. I picked up my bag and slung it over my shoulder.

'Let's go then, hey Jess?' Jess smiled at me and nodded. We walked out and down the road to the bus stop, chatting about nothing in particular. We showed up and waited for a few minutes before the bus pulled up. We were about to wave to signal that it should move on, but we saw Alan waving at us through the window, signaling that we get on. We did and Jess sat at the front of the bus, winking at me and tucking a stray piece of hair behind my ear.

'Go get 'em.' She said, teasing. I laughed before going up the back to Alan.

'Hey, Diana.' He said, wrapping an arm around me as I sat down.

'Hey Alan,' I replied, nervously re-tucking the hair behind my ear, 'do I get to know where we're going on our date?'

'Just Applebee's,' Alan said, rubbing my arm.

- - -

We hopped off the bus and waved goodbye to Jessica, before trekking up the sidewalk to Applebee's. It was nice and homey, with light wood furnishings everywhere. We were led to a table by a waitress and given menus. I frequented Applebee's with Jay, so I knew the menu back to front. Alan took his time reading through all the options, a look of concentration on his face.

'You're cute when you're being serious.' I said, smiling. Alan glanced up at me and gave me a half-smile.

'But not all the time? That's harsh.' I rolled my eyes at him. The waitress walked back over,

'Hello, are there any drinks I can get you?' She was tall and had long blonde hair, which was up in a messy bun. She addressed this question more to Alan than me specifically.

'Frozen wildberry lemonade, please.' I answered, before aiming a swift kick in Alan's general direction. He had been staring at her the entire time.

'Sorry, same, please.' Alan looked away and I raised an eyebrow. He shrugged as an apology.
The drinks came back a few minutes later, the red flavouring mixing in with the ice and lemonade to create a smooth and even taste.

'Are you ready to order?' The waitress asked, once again posing this question more at Ashby. This time, he kept his eyes locked with mine and I gave him a small smile

'Chicken tenders, please,' he said, 'what about you, Diana?'

'Quesadilla burger, thanks.' Our meals arrived about fifteen minutes later. We had talked about a vast majority of things, such as our love of music. Alan was a huge fan of Pink Floyd and The Backstreet Boys. I, on the other hand, preferred some of the new music such as We Came As Romans and Memphis May Fire. We both found common ground with Mayday Parade and agreed that Shakira was our guilty pleasure.

Our food arrived and we ate slowly, the topic merging from music we liked to our own.

'What other instruments do you play, beside the guitar, I mean.' I said, taking a bite into my burger.

'None,' Alan laughed, biting into his chicken, 'I only have one musical expertise and the guitar is it.'

'Really?'

'Well, I can play a bass guitar too, but it's not that different. Same actions. Just different positions on the neck and stuff.' Alan shrugged, smiling. 'What about you?'

'Just a singer.'

'Really?' Alan mimicked, raising his eyebrows and trying to put on a high voice.

'Yes, wait, I can scream actually.' I said, trying to keep a straight face.

'Really?' Alan said, his eyes full of awe. He took a pause in eating while he waited for my response. I snorted, shaking my head.

'Of course not.' I continued eating my burger while Alan reached over and gave me a slight push. I laughed and took a sip of my drink instead.

'Do you plan on doing anything with your talent?' I asked.

Alan, once again, shrugged. 'I don't know. Maybe. It would be cool to be in a band. You?' I blushed.

'When we did the performance in music, it was the only time I've actually sung in front of people.'

'You were amazing. Hey, we should start a band.' Alan wriggled his eyebrows at me and I laughed.

'No way! We need at least two other people, and where would we get them from?' Alan shrugged.

'Acoustic set?'

- - -

We walked out of Applebee's and Alan led me to a park not far from it. We sat on the swings and watched as the last sunrays disappeared beneath the horizon. Alan had retrieved his iPod and Sleeping With Siren's acoustic songs were playing softly. He leaned over and kissed me softly on the mouth; as Kellin's voice sang sweetly in the background.

Notes

Title cred: Shadow Moses - Bring Me The Horizon