We sat out front of the Seafood restaurant that Phillip had suggested taking us to the night before. It was only about forty minutes away from my apartment and hadn't taken too long to find. I relaxed in the passenger seat of Lee's car as the radio played softly around us. Victoria and Phillip were running a little late, so Lee and I were just sitting in his car while we waited for them in the parking lot of the restaurant.

"Thanks for this," I said after awhile of sitting in silence. I shifted my eyes to Lee to see him typing something on his phone before turning it off and sitting it off to the side to look at me. I smiled. "I know it pretty much ruins whatever you had planned for us tonight, but I hope it doesn't take away from our first date if we can even still call it that." I said sheepishly.

Lee tapped his long fingers against the arm rest, the side of his hand gently brushed against mine. He stopped tapping his fingers and intertwined our hands together. "As long as I get to spend time with you, I'm happy," he replied, turning his dark eyes in my direction, amusement written all over his face, "besides, from what little I do know about Victoria, I know that she can be a little persistent, for a better lack of words."

I laughed a little, squeezing his hand in mine, finding that I liked the way that our hands fit together. "You're not wrong." I replied back, "She usually does have a way of getting people to do whatever she wants, whenever she wants."

"I guess I should thank her then."

"For what?" I asked, frowning.

Lee smiled. "For somehow convincing you to call me that night awhile back." He said, giving my hand a squeeze, "If i'm being honest, I was a little scared that you wouldn't want to have anything to do with me after you found out I had bought you that ring. I was afraid I had scared you off."

I felt my cheeks heat suddenly, causing me to turn my head to the side embarrassedly. "There's no way you waited for me to call." I said almost as if it was the most absurd thing I had ever heard.

Not even a second later, I felt Lee's hand gently grab the bottom of my chin as he pulled my head back around to face him. "Is it so hard to believe that you've had me within your grasp since the first day I saw you?" He said softly.

I felt my heart pounding as I opened my mouth. "At the bar?" I asked, already knowing that was probably what he was talking about. That had been the first time he had seen me.

Lee stared at me for a moment before he shook his head.

I frowned again. "Then where-" I started before I cut my own self off, directing all of my attention on him. "You, the concert-"

He beat me to it. "That night at the concert I looked out at the crowd of screaming fans like I always did, brushing over each and everyone of them, feeling the same way that I always do during a performance, emotionless...detached, but then," he stopped, "then I saw you."

"I didn't think you saw me. You looked right through me."

"No, I saw you," he replied, "It was by the grace of God that I ran into you in that bar. I really do like you, Simone."

I swallowed hardly. "I like you too."

Lee grinned. "You're nervous." he said, releasing my face and unlocking our hands.

"Am not." I said back immaturely, missing the warmth of his skin against my hand.

Lee gave me a look that told me that he thought otherwise, before letting out a yawn. "Sorry." he said.

I shifted some of my weight in my seat so that I could get a better look at him. I tilted my head slightly as I looked over at him. "You look like you're going to pass out at any moment." I pointed out, noticing how tired he looked, "Have you been sleeping okay?"

Lee stretched his hands out against the steering wheel. "I'm fine. I've just been up for awhile taking care of some things."

"We can always cancel for tonight and reschedule. I'm sure that Victoria and Phillip will understand." I said, not wanting him to have to be out and about when he obviously looked like he'd be better off at home sleeping.

Lee shook his head. "No, really, I'm fine. I just need to get up and stretch my legs, and I'll be wide eyed in no time." He assured me.

I glanced at him worriedly but took his word for it.

Almost five minutes later, Victoria and Phillip pulled up to the restaurant. We all got out of our vehicles and met up so that we could get seated inside. The waiter led us to a room outside that was seated around a corner. There was no one else seated outside but us, but the view was amazing.

The waiter seated us, then took our drink orders and hurried back to the kitchen. Lee turned to Phillip, stretching out his hand.

"I apologize for not doing this earlier, but the waiter was kind of rushing us," he said, taking Phillip's hand. "I'm Lee. It's nice to meet you."

Phillip shook his hand heartily. "Nice to meet you, I'm Phillip." He said, almost as if he were excited. "You know, when Victoria told me that I would be in for a surprise tonight, this definitely was not what I was expecting." He replied slowly, releasing Lee's hand as he turned to me with a warm smile on his face. "It's good to finally see you for longer than a brief second, Simone. All the other times we've met it's felt as though we were just two blurs passing each other by." He chuckled, reaching out his hand to take mine, "the two of us haven't been able to have an actual conversation and hopefully we can rectify that tonight." He said joyfully. His atmosphere was contagious, and I couldn't help but to feel just as happy as him.

"Yes, I'm glad as well. Thanks for having Lee and I tonight." I replied, "This place is really nice, and the view is amazing."

Phillip chuckled as he placed an arm around Victoria's shoulder, and squeezed it. "It's all thanks to this little lady here." He motioned to Victoria, "She asked me to make sure that whatever place I decided to choose that it had a closed off section, and well, this place was on the top of my list. Being that it has great food, and you can have your privacy if need be." He glanced over at Victoria, "At first I had no idea why she wanted a place with a closed off section, but now I'm pretty sure I know the reason." He finished, shifting his eyes to Lee. "Did I mention that I'm a huge fan?" He said.

Lee grinned, shrugging. "Well, you're bigger than most." He joked, causing everyone to laugh.

After the drinks were served, the waiter waited for us to order our food.

"I'll have the seafood pasta." Victoria said, being the first to order.

"And I'll have the lobster with rice on the side." Phillip followed shortly after.

The waiter turned to me, "and you ma'am?"

I glanced at the menu. "I'll have the shrimp Alfredo pasta."

"And for you, Sir?" The waiter asked Lee.

Lee handed him his menu. "I'll have the shrimp platter with a side of steamed broccoli and rice."

The waiter nodded. "Very well. I will put your orders in and be back shortly." He dismissed himself.

As we waited for the food to be served, Phillip asked me about work and how Victoria and I met, and how long Lee and I had known one another. After awhile, he and Lee had gotten drawn into a conversation of their own while Victoria and I filled each other in on the other's date. The night flew by fast as everyone laughed and talked about their interests and hobbies. When we had finished our food, Lee had insisted on paying for him and I, but Phillip wouldn't have any say in it and had declared that it was his treat.

When we finally made it back to my apartment, Lee turned his car off and walked me to my door just as he had done the other night, only this time there was no Summer.

Lee took both of my hands in his as we stopped in front of my door.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier, but you look beautiful tonight."

I smiled, "Well, thank you anyways."

We stood in silence for awhile.

"I don't want the night to end." He stated, "but I know I have to leave."

I dropped my head to look at my shoes, slightly disappointed that our time was coming to an end. "I know." I replied back. Lee must have heard the disappointment in my voice.

"Look at me." He urged.

I slowly lifted my head up, letting my eyes meet his.

He pushed a loose piece of hair behind my ear, letting his hand linger against the side of my face. "I really like you." He said for the second time tonight.

I couldn't help the smile that arose to my lips. "I know, I really like you too."

He nodded. "Good, then there's no need to be sad." He said, pinching the side of my cheek lightly, "I'll call you in the morning. If you're not doing anything tomorrow I'll come and pick you up." He offered.

"I'd like that."

Instead of replying, Lee bent down to kiss my forehead, slowly releasing my hands as he took a step back. "I'll see you tomorrow then, Goodnight, Simone." He said, heading back towards his car.

I waved after him. "Goodnight, Lee."