We finish up at the police station and Alex offers to take me out to lunch.

"Since I'm driving, doesn't that mean I'm taking you?" I tease.

Alex grimaces. "Technically, but I'm paying."

"Okay, fair enough. Where to?" I ask.

"I'll give you the directions."

He directs me to a little Italian restaurant. It's a cute place with a firebrick oven and checkered tablecloths, but they layered it with a white piece of paper on top.

The server comes over and impressively writes his name in cursive upside down so we can read it. When he looks up at me, he can't help but stare. I keep forgetting what I look like.

"Rollerblading incident," I offer, and he cringes.

"Wiped out, huh?"

"Yeah, something like that."

Aaron, the server, gives us a chance to look at the menu while he grabs my water and Alex's iced tea.

"So, have you ever eaten here before?" I ask, loving everything I see on the menu. I just adore Italian food.

"No, but I always thought if I were dating someone, I would like to bring them here," Alex admits almost shyly and I'm shocked when I see that telltale blush flood his cheeks.

"Oh. So we're dating now?" I can't help teasing him. 

"Well, we are going about this a little backward since we've been sleeping together for some time, living together for even longer, and already confessed we love one another. I just thought it might be nice to... you know, go out on our first date." He grins and I laugh.

"We really have made a muddle of things, haven't we?"

"I like to think of us as non-traditional," Alex replies with a hearty chuckle. I love that the light has come back to his eyes.

"Whatever you say, Bright Eyes!"

"Bright Eyes!" Alex rolls those beautiful orbs. "Don't tell me your brother's nickname for me has stuck?"

"Why, don't you like it? I think it suits you!"

Alex shrugs. "I guess it's not too bad."

"What would you rather I call you?"

"Oh, I don't know, Huggy Bear, Hot Lips, Love Muffin?"

I bite the inside of my cheeks to keep from smiling. "Huggy Bear?"

"What? You love to cuddle me and don't you dare deny it," he accuses, pointing a finger at me.

I slap it away. "Okay, I love cuddling you, but then why not Snuggle Bunny or Cuddle Bug. Ooh! I got it... Snookums!!!" I declare, laughing harder with each name I utter.

"Don't you dare, EVER, call me Snookums!" he warns, but he's laughing just as hard as I am.

The server joins us and takes our order. When he walks away, Alex ponders, "Does it ever bother you they don't write the order down?"

I snicker. "What are you afraid of?"

"Besides not getting anything that I actually want to eat, you mean?" Alex smirks and I nod my head.

"I don't know. I have a hard time recalling the notes I've spent all week studying and that guy just heard a list which took him seconds to memorize and reiterate. Imagine having that skill and going to college. I'd be a genius."

"Whatever you say, Snookums!"

Alex groans out loud. "I think I prefer Bright Eyes!"

I giggle. "I knew you'd see things my way." 

As we wait for our meal, Alex takes the dessert menu and puts it up between us. He then grabs the pencils and crayons that are on the table which I hadn't noticed before. Now the paper makes more sense, other than just a way to keep the tablecloth cleaner longer and for Aaron to have a way of identifying himself to us.

"What are you doing?"

"Drawing."

"What?" I ask, reaching for the menu, but he smacks my hand.

"Ow!"

"No peeking!" 

"You're weird, you know that, right?"

"You like weird," he counters.

I shrug. He has me there. I do like weird. "Come on, can't you at least give me a hint?"

"Nope." He shakes his head no, and I sigh.

"Can I ask you something, then?"

"Ask away," he agrees, without looking up at me.

"How did you learn to dance as you did... you know, at the club?"

He pauses and meets my eyes. Looking back down, he responds, "Aiden and I had a lot of repairing to do on our relationship when he came to live with me. My parents always looked at me, as the son they always wanted and Aiden as a reject. They weren't exactly... nice about it."

I remember what William told me about them kicking Aiden out and frown, still wondering how any parent could be so mean.

"When he came to live with me, I tried to show an interest in what he liked to do. So, we took a pole dancing class together. Since the genre is mostly women and gay men, Aiden got a real kick out of the idea that I was the one completely out of my element for a change."

"Thankfully, William took pity on me and I soon became assimilated into the gay community. With us all spending so much time together, I became quite the advocate."

"The Aids Walks and Pride Fest Parades," I add, recalling the discussion of when we all went to the restaurant together.

"Yes," Alex confirms. "I still can't believe you thought I was gay and sleeping with William."

"Hey, I had just cause," I defended.

"Well, the joke was on Aiden, as I actually enjoyed dancing. Pole dancing is rather physically challenging, and together we made quite a team. Rarely do you see two identical twin males pole dancing."

"I imagine not." It is difficult not to reminisce about how exceptional Alex was at it, especially how sexy and sensual he made the dance. I look over at him and I see his eyes smiling at me from behind the menu and I know he knows what I'm thinking.

"Jerk!"

Alex laughs. "I have to admit, I'm kinda glad you got to see me dance. You may never have known that part of me otherwise. Of course, there's the bonus of knowing I am now a part of your most intimate sexual fantasies."

Aaron, the server, pretended not to hear that comment when he drops off our drinks and quickly leaves to check on our meal.

"Oh please, like I needed to see you pole dancing for that to happen," I tell him, but my timing is poor as Alex took a large swig of his iced tea and nearly chokes to death on it.

"Good to know," he gasps as he pounds his fist on his chest to clear his lungs.

"Aiden and I would work on routines together and one of them was to be a mirror image of one another, copying one another's moves in perfect sync. We had been working for weeks on that routine for a competition we had entered, but unfortunately, we never got to go."

The sadness returns to his eyes, and I regret bringing it up. "I'm sorry. I can't imagine what that must feel like. It would devastate me to lose Dillion, but Aiden was your twin, your other half."

Alex reaches out, taking my hand in his. "You are my other half. Aiden was my brother and my twin. We were driven apart most of our lives, but yes, it was devastating to lose him. I think what got to me most about it though was the senselessness of it all."

"He didn't die of old age, some sort of disease, or a tragic accident. He was violently taken from this world because someone deemed him unworthy to keep living in it. I just wanted to see that person pay."

"They will pay, Alex. You may never get to see it, but it is my firm belief that people like that pay dearly for choosing to act that way against others."

Alex squeezes my hand. "I hope you're right." He then goes back to drawing.

I am quiet for a second or two before asking, "Would you ever consider doing a competition again?"

"What?" Alex glances up at me in surprise.

"Well, you're obviously good at it. To watch you dance it's clear that you enjoy it, and it's a way of keeping something you and your brother had together alive. I don't know..." I suddenly feel foolish for saying anything, believing I should leave well enough alone.

Alex is staring at me. "You'd be... okay with that?"

I look away for only a second before deciding. "Yes, I would. Look, Alex, there is a big difference between you pole dancing for sport, or physical fitness and you dancing in some seedy club."

"The club wasn't that bad, Cat."

"Okay, maybe it wasn't, but you know what I'm getting at, don't you?"

"I think so." He looks introspective for a moment. "I'll think about it. Any chance of me getting you to join me?"

"Me?! Pole dance?" I vehemently shake my head no. 

"Why not?" I can't believe he is seriously asking this question. 

"You mean, despite the fact, that I'm currently pregnant and soon to be a mom." I feel the smile slowly spread across my face. "Um... you've seen for yourself how klutzy I can be sometimes. I'm not the world's most coordinated person."

"Hmm... the whole mom thing aside, what if it was just you and me? No one else would see. Would you trust me enough to guide you?"

I don't even hesitate. "Yes." His smile is all the reward I needed, but then he knocks down the menu between us and the drawing on the table's paper is a Manga character that looks like... 

"Is that supposed to be me?"

He smiling ear to ear and nods his head yes.

"Wow!"

"Here is your Four-Cheese Ravioli." Aaron, the server, is about to put the dish down at Alex's place until he hears me scream. "NO!" He stops and looks at me as if I've lost my mind. Alex too is looking at me like I'm crazy.

"You can't put that sauce ridden plate on that work of art I won't let you," I say in a panic.

Aaron looks down and sees the drawing to which I'm referring. "Damn, did you just draw that?" 

"What this?" I see the mischief in Alex's eyes. "No, that was already here when I sat down." It takes the server a second or two to realize he is joking.

"It looks like her," Aaron comments, looking over at me. "Well her, if she were a super hot Anime chick I mean."

"Whose to say she isn't?" Alex taunts, grinning at me, and I kick him under the table, eliciting a grunt of pain.

"May we PLEASE have a fresh piece of paper on the table before you serve us?" I implore. "I would love to keep it."

"I don't blame you." Aaron puts his serving tray down on a recently cleared table to swap out our paper with another empty table. Quickly, he jots his name again and serves us as I drool over my Manga Avatar, which Alex just drew of me.

"Thank you," I say to Aaron, and he nods before walking away. "And thank you, too." I express to Alex, who is positively beaming at me.

"So you like it?" 

"I love it! How did you... how did you draw this so fast?"

"I've been working on it for some time. Drawing and redrawing it over and over until I felt I got it just right. Now I can pretty much draw it from heart."

"You've been practicing drawing me as a Manga Character?" To say I'm shocked, dumbfounded, well it be an understatement. 

"What can I say? You inspire me," Alex declares.

"You're amazing. You know that, don't you?"

"No, but I'm starting to believe it, thanks to you."

We enjoy our meal together and share a dessert. It is the best date I've ever been on. As we leave the restaurant, Alex grabs my hand and pulls me into a jewelry store that was down the street from the restaurant. "You have that necklace?" he asks.

I nod my head and hand him the envelope from my pocket. He pours it out into his hand and pulls off the chain as he walks up to the counter.

"Can you fix this?" he requests of the girl behind the counter. She gives Alex a once over that makes me want to flatten her where she stands, but he's completely oblivious to it.

"Absolutely!" She pulls out a little notebook to write up the order. She tears off the slip and hands him a copy, putting the chain in one of those little plastic baggies and stapling it to the paper.

"Anything else I can help you with?" The counter girl is smiling at Alex in such a feline way I almost expect her to pounce. Her words obviously meant to carry the full weight of a double entendre.

I link my arm in Alex's and she frowns. "Nope, that's all. Thank you!" I state, and I'm about to pull Alex out of the store when he stops me. "Not just yet, Tiger."

"I'll take that chain there." He points to a chain that looks identical to the one he just gave the girl.

"Are you certain?" the girl questions. "We will fix the chain you broke in just a few days?"

"I'm sure," he tells her and pays for the chain. She hands it to him and he immediately puts the 'I love you' charm on the chain and makes a motion with his finger for me to turn around.

I smile and instantly oblige. He puts the necklace back around my neck and I look down at the words.

"Hey now." When he turns me around, he sees my eyes filled with unshed tears. I know because they are burning my eyes. "No more tears. Happy moment," Alex teases.

I swipe at my cheek as one tear falls. "Good, because these are happy tears."