"So I really hope you and Staton are free tonight!" Julia jumps up and down with excitement. Staton and I were sitting on the couch in the living room.

"We should be, I don't think we have anything going on?" I ask, searching Staton's face for an answer.

"Okay good, because you know how the other day at the beach we were talking about how I don't have a boy blah blah blah..." Julia pauses for a moment, as if she was waiting for us to respond.

"Uh, yeah?" I question.

"Well glad you do, because I got asked out today at work and I told him only if it could be a double date with you two." She was shaking with excitement. "He is so cute and I can't wait to see him again. So we are going to dinner tonight!"

"I guess a double date sounds fine. I'd love to take you out, sweetheart." Staton whispered, leaning over to kiss me on the cheek.

"Okay, yeah gross, stop that. The only reason you guys are invited is because I'm terrified of being drugged again, so I need someone there that can make sure he is safe, and I am safe."

"That's smart of you, I'll go get ready. When do we need to leave?" I stood from the couch before realizing I had no idea what to wear. "Actually why don't you come help me get dressed and we can talk all about it." I smiled.

"Yes! I would love that. Let me grab my things as well." Julia rushed off to her room to gather whatever she needed to get ready.

"Are we really going on a double date with her?" Staton chuckled.

"I guess we are." I smiled back, leaning down to kiss him before Julia swirled back into the room, grabbing my arm, and rushing me off to my bedroom so we could get ready.

~*~

"When is he supposed to show up?" Staton questions, looking around the restaurant nervously. I wasn't sure why he was so worried. It wasn't him going on a date with a stranger.

"He said he was going to be here around six." Julia checked the watch on her wrist. It was ten minutes shy of six, so we had a few minutes to waste.

"Maybe we sat down a little too early." I tried to comfort Staton, grabbing his hand that was resting on the table.

"What's his name?" Staton asked, filling the awkward void of silence with questions.

"Tony!" Isn't that cute? Julia beamed, her entire face lighting up just at the sound of his name. This was going to be bad if he never showed up.

"I guess that's a cute name." Staton mumbled while shaking his head.

"Do you feel ready to see him?" I smiled, reaching across the table to add any comfort to Julia I could. Everyone seemed to be so nervous and I couldn't figure out why.

"Yeah, I'm really excited. I'm a little nervous since this is my first proper date. I've never had someone ask me out before. We've always just ended up hanging out. But this time felt like he was actually interested in me. It felt good to have the typical 'would you like to go on a date with me' conversation."

"It'll be fun, even if he sucks. You've just got to allow yourself to have fun." I smiled.

"He just needs to show up first. Then we will get to work on having fun." I wanted to elbow Staton for what he had said. Julia was already nervous enough. She didn't need to be extra worried about him not showing up. Maybe that's why Staton was nervous. He didn't want to have to deal with the crying girl afterwards when Tony broke her heart over a first date.

"It's okay Maple, I'm fully aware that he may not show up. That's the only reason I'm nervous." Julia looked me directly in the eyes, and suddenly it was like she knew every single thought I was having. "Anyway, I have my friends if he doesn't show up. I don't need a man to prove to me I have value."

"That's right, let's keep that mindset throughout this whole thing." I felt like I needed to redeem myself. Staton and Julia had called me out for trying to be the mother again. I was sitting here, so worried about how everyone else felt that I didn't even take the time to think about myself. Taking charge of my own feelings, I realized I was getting really hungry.

Picking up the menu, I started skimming, looking for anything that would satisfy the craving in my stomach. A small scratch was forming in the back of my throat, so I took a sip of my water, waiting for me on the table.

"Oh, he just texted me, said he will be here in five minutes." Julia beamed, holding her phone out for us to read the message.

"So far, he gets points for communications." I teased, finally deciding on what I was going to order. I put the menu down and watched the crowd of people flowing through the front door. Any ‌of them could be him.

"Julia, you never told us what he looked like." I added, realizing as I watched all these strangers come in that I wouldn't be able to point him out anyways.

"I don't need to, he's right there!" She jumped from the table and rushed over to where he had been standing. He opened his arms for a hug, pulling her in when she agreed. When they pulled away from each other she pointed towards the table.

"It's game time." Staton muttered, and I gave them a little wave to match my awkward smile.

"Apparently it is." I said through gritted teeth, trying my best to hide my comment.

"Maple, Staton, this is Tony." Julia seemed so genuinely happy, which was shocking considering she had no clue who this guy even was. I was impressed that she remembered his name.

"Hello Maple and Staton, it's very nice to meet you guys. How do you know Julia?" He smiled, his brown hair slicked back perfectly. His skin was kissed by the sun, leaving him with a darker complexion. He had green eyes that were bright and welcoming, just like his voice. No wonder Julia was excited for this date.

"Nice to meet you as well, we know Julia from our home town, she's my best friend's cousin, and over the last few months we've gotten pretty close."

"We don't need to talk about all of that, Maple is one of the best people I know, and I'd trust her with anything. She's the mom of our friend group so she does pretty good at taking care of me as well." I felt happy tears forming in my eyes, getting any sense of validation that I wasn't the most horrible friend in the world was inspiring. It filled me up with a happiness I couldn't describe.

"She really is something special isn't she?" Staton grabbed my hand, giving it a few squeezes as he smiled at me.

"Yeah you'll have to get used to those lovebirds. They never go anywhere without each other, and I'm still trying to wrap my head around the fact that they are married. You see here, we all live in the same house and they snuck off a little over a week ago and got married without telling anyone else. Oh boy were people pissed at them. We all just wanted to be included in their life, considering we all uprooted ou--"

"That's enough. We don't need to talk about all of that either." I didn't mean to cut Julia off, but the more she started rambling with that bright bubbly personality, the more of our secrets were going to be shared.

Not that they were secrets, but it wasn't information you disclosed to strangers on the side of the road.

"Yeah, I guess you are right." Julia muttered.

"Anyway, Tony, what do you do for a living?" Staton decided he would step in to pull the conversation back to a more normal first date conversation. I found it weird to watch Staton commenting as if we had been adults for years, and this was a normal conversation we had with anyone on the street. We've only had jobs for about a month now and here we were, already acting like we were the most domesticated couple out there.

"My family owns a restaurant, so I'm the manager, as well as a few of my brothers." He smiled, making sure to make eye contact with us as he spoke. Oh god, now I really did feel like a parent.

"Oh, does that make me horrible for suggesting this restaurant? We could have gone to the one your parents own?" Julia covered her mouth, her eyes growing wide at the realization of the situation.

"No, absolutely not. Why would I want to go on a first date at my workplace? That would be like me asking if you wanted to go on a date and then just hanging around the plant shop. It's nice to get away from the business, even if it's just for a short little while." He took her hand, trying to comfort her. I couldn't help but stare at Tony. Was he too charming for his own good or did he really have genuine intentions? I could see the blush rising on Julia's face from over a mile away. She was really eating it all up. I couldn't blame her, if I wasn't married I would be too.

"Seems like you have things figured out. Do you ask girls out while they are at work often?" I asked.

"Uh, no, that's not something that's common. I actually don't think I've ever done that before." Tony seemed to be stumbling over his words.

"Maple, seriously." Julia seethed through her teeth, kicking me from under the table.

"What? It's a serious question. I'm just trying to look out for you, Julia."

She rolled her eyes, obviously not buying my comment.

"I completely get it. You don't need to feel weird about it. I'm not on any of these dating apps. They are all too flimsy. Nor have I been in a serious relationship in a while. I've been focused more on the restaurant and haven't had much time to get out and date. I saw Julia today at the plant shop when I was looking to buy some fresh basil and I couldn't get over how cute she was. Like stopped me in my tracks and made me forget what I was there to buy cute." The blush that had been on Julia's cheeks now looked like the world's worst sunburn.

"Oh, my gosh, stop." She muttered, obviously embarrassed by the compliments.

"Soak it up, Julia. If you find yourself a good one, it never stops." I leaned into Staton, and he pretended to not know what was going on.

"Can we talk about football or something?" He mumbled, searching the TVs to see if there were any games on tonight. Julia had picked a sports bar that wasn't too far from our house. I couldn't blame her, I had wanted to try this place as well.

"It seemed like everything is going well over here. What would you guys like to order?" The pretty server interrupted us, pulling me from my thoughts. Once she took our orders she rushed away, heading for the kitchen. My stomach growled at the thought of my delicious meal that would be coming out soon. It felt good to be sitting here, in the world, away from the house where all the fighting had taken place. It was nice to get to know someone new as well.

This was one of the moments I was hoping for when I left my mother's house.