As you have probably already figured out, I have never been on a date with anyone. Not surprising either, judging by my looks and popularity.

Because of this, I was in shock when Jason requested that I go to dinner with him, and not somewhere like Arby's. No, this place where we are going, the way he described it made it seem elegant and expensive. And of course, I have nothing to wear that falls under that category.

So, Haley and I are currently at the mall trying to find something halfway suitable for me to wear.

"Charlie, would you do something for me?" Haley asks out of nowhere. She sounds almost desperate. I furrow my eyebrows in confusion, but nod, signaling her to continue. "Well, as you probably already know, Emily and I are getting married in a few weeks, and..." she trails off, her cheeks fired up in embarrassment.

"And I was wondering if you would help us plan it," she finally continues. "And, in return, you can be a bridesmaid. We need a few more." My eyebrows shoot up. I had not even thought of that before. However, the idea of standing in front of a big crowd, or any crowd, in a dress does not sound too appealing to me.

"I'll be happy to help you," I reply, and Haley lets out a sigh of relief. "But, I'm not sure about the bridesmaid thing." Her face falls, and I suddenly feel guilty.

"Oh," she says, sounding disappointed. "That's okay, I understand." I shake my head as if waving a white flag.

"No, Haley," I argue. "I mean, I would love to. But I can't stand in front of crowds. I have issues with that." I say quietly. She sighs again in relief, as if understanding.

"Why didn't you just say so?" She asks, her face lighting up as she pulls a dress off the rack. She gasps, feeling the fabric. "Oh, please wear this tonight! It's beautiful! Jason will love it." I smile a little and take the snow white dress from her and head for the dressing room.

Well, Haley was not wrong. This dress is beautiful, soft, and really comfortable. The length is perfect; it falls directly to my knees. The sleeves are practically spaghetti straps, which I have never liked, but since the rest of the dress is flawless, I'm willing to look past it.

I step out of the dressing room slowly and hesitantly, keeping my head low. Normally when I feel this good about something, my ideas and opinions get shot down.

But the corners of Haley's mouth turn upwards and her eyes light up, letting me know that this dress is the one. "You look spectacular," she says, sighing. "If I wasn't engaged..." her sentence trails off and she smiles bigger, throwing a wink at me. I raise my eyebrows and blush.

Did she just hit on me?

"Thanks?" I reply, trying to shake off what she just said. I bet she has said things like that to other girls before. "You really think Jason will like it?" I ask, disbelief flooding my voice as I try to steer the conversation in another direction.

"Of course he will." As I step back into the dressing room and get out of the dress, I ask Haley a question through the door, something I've been wondering since Jason asked me to dinner.

"So, what's this dinner date all about?" I ask. "He almost sounded urgent. Is something on his mind, do you know?" I'm met with silence, but eventually she speaks up.

"Um, I promised I wouldn't tell," she responds. "But I promise it's nothing bad," she comments, and I can almost hear her giggle afterwards.

If it's nothing bad, then why did he sound urgent?

Before Jason arrives, I decide that maybe tonight would be the night that I tell him about my little problem. Even if this does not work out to my benefit, it would be better if he knew the truth. He deserves to know that his girlfriend is self-loathing and constantly stressed out.

Speaking of the truth, I am almost completely sure that Jared knows now. I'm not sure how he found out, but he has been giving me pitiful and sympathetic looks right and left. I thought it may have been because tomorrow is the first day of shooting the fourth episode, which I will be in, but now I know that is not the case.

Jason will get here at eight thirty. I still have fifteen minutes to waste, so I take a basketball out of my closet and head downstairs.

"Hey," I greet upon entering the kitchen, where the Padaleckis are currently finishing up their dinner. Thomas is already finished, he is just sitting next to his brother and poking him. I roll my eyes at the sight.

I catch a glance at Jared as he stands and walks over to the sink. Expectedly, he gives me another sympathetic look. I brush it off and act like it doesn't bother me at all.

"So, Jared," I say, catching his attention. I smile a little and turn the basketball around in my hands. "I'm not leaving for a few minutes. You want to go shoot some hoops?" He raises his eyebrows, a shocked expression on his face. He exchanges a quick glance with Gen before nodding hesitantly.

"Uh, yeah, okay," he responds. I smile as he follows me outside and closes the door. It is dark outside already, but the porch light glows on everything else, allowing us to see.

"Are you mad at me?" I wonder aloud as I shoot the ball, easily getting it through the hoop. I catch it as it bounces off the ground and turn to Jared. He furrows his eyebrows.

"No," he replies. I hum in wonder and toss the ball to him. "You excited for your date?" He asks, changing the topic as he takes a turn at shooting. He misses, but I say nothing of it.

"I guess," I say, taking the ball and sitting down on the porch step. Jared stays standing though. "He sounded urgent, like he has something important to tell me." I look up at Jared for a response, and find that he isn't looking directly at me, instead he's eyeing my wrists. I look away and pull the sleeves of my sweatshirt down over the bandages.

"Plus, I've never been on a date before," I add, trying to keep the conversation from derailing. But he just keeps looking at my arms. I sigh and rub a hand across my face. "How the hell did you find out?" I ask, my voice faltering.

"You're not that great at hiding it," he remarks softly, his voice quiet. My heart drops to my stomach and I fight to keep the tears from falling. "Why didn't you come to me? I would have helped." I don't meet his gaze, just look at the ground.

A truck pulling up in the driveway pulls me out of my trance, and I force myself to forget what we were talking about. I stand up and dribble the ball to Jared, smiling a little as I start walking towards the truck.

"See you later, Bullwinkle," I say, trying to lighten the tension, but of course, it doesn't work. I turn away from him in defeat and head for Jason's truck, not looking back.

"Hey," the British accent greets me as he kisses my cheek and opens the door for me. I bow in mockery, causing him to laugh.

It does not take very long to get to the restaurant, maybe twenty minutes or so. It's a taller building than I expected, with lights hanging from the edge of the roof, illuminating the sidewalk and the people strolling down it.

"Wow," I marvel at how beautiful it is as we step inside. "This is so beautiful, Jason." He smiles a little, taking me gently by the arm and heading towards our table.

"Of course, it is," he agrees. "You're in it." I smile shyly and look away, a blush spreading through my cheeks. Jason pulls my chair out for me and then sits at his own.

"You're champagne, sir," I raise my eyebrows as a waiter comes over with a bottle of champagne and fills two glasses half full. I look at Jason questioningly, but he just smiles, revealing his pearly white teeth.

"How did you manage to pull this off?" I ask, accepting the glass from Jason. He smiles.

"Two and a half months worth of allowance and help from Haley and Emily," he explains, clinking his glass against mine. I feel flattered that Jason used all of his saved up money on me. "You look beautiful," he adds, taking a sip of the bubbly liquid.

"Thank you," I reply, though I'm sure I don't look beautiful. Exceptional, maybe, but nothing more. "You don't look too bad yourself." He chuckles, his eyes sparkling.

"Are you nervous about tomorrow?" He asks, referring to the first day of shooting of the fourth episode in season twelve of Supernatural. I nod, for I am terrified of all the possible ways I could mess it up.

"Jason, what's this all about?" I ask, wanting to know what it was that Haley was talking about earlier. She made it sound like he had some sort of surprise for me. "This dinner-date? What's the deal here?" He sighs deeply, and sets his glass down. He seems to compose himself a little more.

"I need to tell you something," Jason starts, and my heartbeat quickens automatically. "It's kind of important, I think."

"Okay," I reply, preparing for anything bad he could say. "Lay it on me." I tense up, as I wait for the oncoming damage. Evidently, nothing can prepare me for what he is about to say.

"I love you."

My heart leaps into my throat. I clench my jaw and look at him in disbelief. I'm sure my eyes went cold then. But I don't want him to get the wrong idea.

"You what?" I ask, my voice suddenly scratchy and my throat dry. When did that happen? Jason smiles softly at me. I half expect him to say he was just kidding, but to my surprise, he doesn't.

"I love you, Charlie," he begins. "And I know, that probably doesn't sound right because we've only known each other for a short period of time. But I have never felt this way about anyone, and no one has ever made me feel this way about myself. And I can tell by your expression that you probably don't believe me.

"But I will spend every second I can to trying to show you how much I need you and how much I love you—"

"Okay, okay," I say in barely a whisper, successfully cutting him off. My breathing has intensifying and I feel like I probably have heartburn. Knots are forming right and left in my stomach, ones that will probably be stuck in there forever. I hold my face in my hands, trying to properly digest this.

Jason loves me. Or so he says. How am I to know what's a lie and what isn't? How am I to know, that even if he is telling the truth, how long would we last in a serious relationship? How long would it take for him to see just how screwed up I am and leave me for someone more functional?