7x16

Piper had never been nervous to go out with Finn before. They had gone to the movies together plenty of times, but only as friends – never on a date. As she triple-checked her appearance in the mirror, straightening her top again and ensuring her make-up looked perfect, the doorbell rang downstairs. She let out a shaky breath, spritzing a bit of perfume and running her fingers through her hair a couple of times.

It's just Finn. There's no need to be nervous. It can't be that different from going to the movies as friends.

She grabbed her purse and slung it over her shoulder, but on her way out of her bedroom, she paused and turned back to grab a jacket. The theater was always cold, and she had to make sure all of her bases were covered tonight. This was her very first date, and it was with Finn. It had to be perfect.

"Piper!"

Her mother's voice called to her from downstairs, and she called back that she was coming, pausing to check her appearance in the mirror one last time before hurrying down the stairs two at a time. Finn was standing in the entryway, chatting away with both of her parents.

"Dancemania, eh? Piper said you're a big fan. You must be excited," her dad was saying.

"Oh, I'm stoked! It's the opportunity of a lifetime for sure." Finn's enthusing about the show came to a halt when his gaze fell on Piper. "Oh, hey. You look beautiful."

The words made Piper's heart flutter, and a blush crept up her cheeks as she reached the bottom of the stairs. Finn had complimented her appearance in the past, but he had never called her beautiful before. It meant a lot to her coming from him, but it also felt so foreign to hear such a sentiment coming from her best friend.

This whole dating thing was certainly going to be an adjustment.

"Thank you." Piper bashfully pushed a strand of hair behind her ear as she forced herself to meet his eye. "Um, you look nice too."

Finn was dressed in a short-sleeved button-up shirt over a t-shirt with jeans, and Piper immediately felt better about her decision to wear her white crop top with jeans. She and Amy had spent forty-five minutes on FaceTime earlier, debating what she should wear and ultimately coming to the conclusion that all of her dresses seemed too fancy for a movie.

"What time does your movie start?" her mother asked curiously, hands on her hips as she looked between Piper and Finn.

"At 7, so we should really get going if we don't want to miss the previews," Piper answered quickly, already pulling the front door open. The sooner they could escape, the less she had to worry about her parents embarrassing her in front of Finn.

"Be home by midnight," her dad instructed as she and Finn walked outside, and Piper simply nodded, grateful for the fact that they were extending her curfew by an hour and a half for her first date. They must have liked Finn if they were willing to let her stay out that late with him.

"And keep your hands to yourselves!" her mother called as an afterthought, earning a groan from Piper and a chuckle from Finn.

"She lives to embarrass me," Piper grumbled as they walked to his car.

"Pretty sure that's, like, the first rule of being a mom," Finn replied lightly.

He sped ahead of her, unlocking his car and pulling the passenger door open for her. He held his hand out to her with a cheesy grin as he said, "M'lady."

Piper rolled her eyes at the cheesy gesture, but there was a smile on her face as she took his hand and stepped down from her sloping front yard into his car. She checked the time on her phone as he ran around to the other side and climbed into the driver's seat.

As he started the car, she told him, "We really should get going. We'll miss the previews if we don't."

"We've still got thirty minutes. We'll be fine," Finn replied confidently. Even still, he shifted the car into drive and pulled away from the curb.

"But we could hit traffic," Piper countered, "And it's a Friday night, so the lines will probably be long."

Finn rolled his eyes, but there was an endearing smile on his lips. "I'm actually on time picking you up though. I don't know if you noticed, but..."

"I did. I'm very proud of you. That's a big deal for you."

"It's a special night, so..."

Piper smiled softly as he glanced at her with a charming grin. Even still, the butterflies in her stomach felt like they were throwing a party. She chewed on her lip, her mind going blank as she watched the familiar streets of Toronto pass by through the window. Finn had begun telling her all about his little sister's new frog over his music playing lowly in the background.

For the first time that Piper could ever recall, she wasn't sure what to talk about with Finn, hence the rambled frog story as he tried to fill the silence with something. What was happening to her? She'd been on a date a handful of minutes, and she was already making it awkward. But what was proper first date conversation material? Everything she had read on Google had been for dates with people you didn't already know, but that wasn't helpful because she already knew Finn. This shouldn't be that hard.

Less than ten minutes in and she was already overthinking everything. This was destined to be a disaster. Finn was going to realize by the end of the night that she wasn't the one after all and that he'd made a major mistake in choosing her over Amy. Oh no.

When there was a break in Finn's rambling, Piper took a deep breath, willing herself to say something, anything. The first thing that came to mind was, "Um, so, what's your theory on the hotel again?"

"Oh, it's so crazy! So you know how at the end of the last one, that reporter guy said there was no hotel on Dystopian Road, right?"

His complex theory about how the viewer was actually Hotel Dystopia was indeed mind-blowing, but Piper was barely following it. Finn's arm rested on the console between them, and she wasn't sure if she was supposed to hold his hand or not. Was he trying to hint that he wanted her to? But he always drove like that, even before they were dating, so unless he'd been wanting her to hold his hand every time he'd given her a ride somewhere, she was going to assume that wasn't his intention. She kept her hands firmly in her lap, fidgeting with the ring on her right hand nervously.

When they finally arrived at the theater ten minutes before the movie started, Piper was pleased to find that the lines for the ticket booths weren't too long. As they waited, Finn asked, "Isn't there a way to get tickets online?"

"I think so," Piper muttered distractedly as she searched through her wallet to see how much cash she had. She'd been so nervous all day that she hadn't even thought to check that afternoon like she normally would have.

As she moved a receipt around in her wallet, her chapstick rolled out and onto the ground. Julia had advised to make sure she had plenty of that, and Piper wasn't entirely sure what her sister had been implying with that piece of advice, but she'd brought it along anyway.

Finn leaned down to pick it up and handed it back to her without a second thought as he continued to say, "You should ask Amy what website she used. When we saw The Nightmare, she bought them online so we could skip the line."

The comment slipped out of his mouth without him seeming to think anything of it, but it sent a pang to Piper's heart. He was thinking about Amy? What was she supposed to make of that?

When they finally reached the front of the line, Finn ordered their tickets. Piper's heart sank as she realized that she only had enough money for her movie ticket, but before she could slide her money to the usher, Finn was paying for both of them. The usher slid him the tickets, and he took them, grabbing Piper's hand as they moved out of line and towards the door. She was too distracted by the fact that he had just paid for her to focus on the fact that he was holding her hand like it was the most natural thing in the world.

"Wait, you paid for my ticket," she said in surprise, pausing a few steps from the doors.

Finn paused as well and looked down at her. "Yeah?"

She frowned up at him. "You don't have to do that."

"Yeah, but I wanted to." She was still frowning up at him, and he sighed, tilting his head to the side as he told her, "Pipes, it's a date. The guy's supposed to pay."

"That's an outdated tradition."

"Okay, but it's how my mom raised me." They stared at each other for a moment then Finn's eyes rolled upward as he said with just a hint of joking in his tone, "Let me do this just this once, and then you can pay for every date after."

The corners of Piper's lips twitched at that, and she relented, letting him pull her towards the door of the theater. "That doesn't seem like a fair trade-off," she noted as they went.

He grinned at her as he held the door open for her and the large group of people who were walking in behind them. Piper stepped to the side to let the other group pass. While she waited, she couldn't help thinking about the last movie she and Finn had seen together, and when he finally joined her inside, she asked him, "Hey, did you ever pay me back for the spy movie?"

His lips formed a tight line as he avoided her gaze and moved towards the snack line. Finally, he said, "Okay, so maybe I'm paying for tonight and the next movie – to make it up to you."

Piper inclined her head towards him and shrugged. "Whatever works for you."

"I'm either going to need a bigger allowance, or we may have to start going on cheaper dates though," was his response, and she smiled in spite of herself.

The snack lines were moving slower than the ticket line, and Piper kept subtly checking the time on her phone. Their showing had started at 7:00, and it was only a few minutes past, but she couldn't help tapping her foot impatiently and wondering why the hell it was taking so long to give people their popcorn. All they had to do was scoop it into a bucket. What was the big deal?

Finn glanced down at her and must have noticed the annoyed look on her face. He wordlessly tore her ticket apart from his and handed it to her. "You should go find our seats."

"Are you sure?" she asked as she took the ticket from him. She was dying to see the previews before she missed them all for the second time in a row, but she felt bad leaving him alone in the snack line.

Finn nodded, completely unperturbed, however. "You've probably only missed a couple of the previews."

Piper smiled up at him, clutching her ticket tightly and feeling flattered that he remembered the previews were her favorite part. "Get me the cookie dough bites?"

"And a red ICEE?" She nodded, and he tapped the side of his head. "Got it."

With that, she left the snack line, rushing to give her ticker to the usher before she could miss any more previews. Their seats were located in the middle of the theater towards the end of the row. As she settled into her seat, she watched the trailer for the newest Marvel superhero movie, thinking that was one that Finn would definitely want to see.

As the next trailer started, Piper's attention was drawn away from it by a couple who had just found their seats two rows in front of her. Their heads were close together as they completely ignored what was happening onscreen, and then they started blatantly making out. In the middle of the theater. For everyone to see.

Piper glanced around uncomfortably, wondering if anyone else was bothered by the extreme show of PDA going on in row H. Her gaze traveled unwittingly back to the couple as she turned back to the screen and gulped. Was that normal behavior for couples during a movie, or was she just hyper aware of it tonight because she was nervous about being on a real date? Would Finn want to do that?

She didn't think she was ready for that kind of thing. Not now. Or maybe ever. The reasonable part of her, however, assured her that Finn would be too into the movie to even think about something like that, especially since he'd been talking about this movie non-stop since the final trailer was released last month.

Finn arrived during the second to last preview with their snacks. Piper had saved him the aisle seat, knowing that if he had to climb over her to get to his seat, there was a very good chance the snacks would end up all over the floor. A few pieces of popcorn rained down on her as it was as he plopped down next to her. She gave him a nervous smile as he handed her snacks to her.

"Did I miss any good previews?" he asked in a whisper that was too loud to really be considered a whisper.

Piper simply shrugged and shook her head. "Not really."

He didn't respond, having turned his attention to the popcorn in his lap. He tossed a piece up in the air and caught it in his mouth as if they were watching a movie in his basement instead of in the middle of the movie theater. Piper would never do something like that in public, but it was so Finn that she couldn't help but smile endearingly at him.

Hotel Dystopia: Do Not Disturb, like most sequels, failed to live up to its predecessor in Piper's opinion. The plot twist seemed like a reach, and there was a new character that she found annoying, but judging by Finn's face every time she glanced over at him, it seemed to be everything he had wanted it to be. To be fair, however, Piper was distracted by the way Finn constantly bounced his knee throughout the movie and by the unashamed couple in row H who continued to show an extreme amount of PDA, so there was a very good chance she may have missed some pivotal plot points.

When the movie was over, they exited the theater with the rest of the moviegoers. Finn enthused about the movie the whole way out to the car, and Piper simply listened, gripping her box of cookie dough bites in her hands tightly. She was already thinking about the drive home. Was he going to kiss her when he dropped her off? And why was she so nervous thinking about it when they'd already kissed a few times now?

Gosh, what she would give to have the natural confidence of her older siblings right about now.

"I can't believe the concierge was the one behind everything the whole time! I never saw it coming," Finn said, shaking his head as he unlocked his car.

"But what was the deal with the death scene?" Piper asked, trying to keep her mind off the nerves in her stomach as she climbed into the passenger seat. "Why kill him if they were just going to bring him back for the big reveal at the end?"

"But they didn't kill him, remember? It was all an illusion."

"Oh, right. Duh."

Finn glanced at her as he started to reverse out of the parking spot. "Are you okay tonight?"

She didn't want to tell him how nervous she'd been feeling all night lest she somehow offend him, so she gave her go-to response instead. "Yeah, I'm fine."

He frowned at her, unconvinced, and she sighed, resting her cheek against her fist as she told him, "I was just a little distracted, I guess. I don't think I enjoyed it as much as I would have if I'd been able to focus better."

"Why were you distracted?"

"Did you not see the couple making out in front of us the whole time?"

"Wait, what?" Finn looked at her in surprise before immediately turning his gaze back to the road. "What couple?"

"They were two rows ahead of us," Piper said, her eyebrows furrowing. "How did you not notice them? They were all over each other."

Finn shrugged. "I guess I never saw them."

"Well, it was gross."

"Why would you go see Hotel Dystopia and not even watch the movie? What's the point?"

"I know. Who does that?"

Piper shook her head exasperatedly and pulled her phone out of her pocket. It was nearing 10 o'clock, so they still had two hours before she had to be home. She half expected Finn to take her home anyway since they had rarely hung out after seeing a movie in the past, so he surprised her when he passed the freeway exit for her house.

"Um, where are we going?" she asked hesitantly.

"Oh, I figured we'd get yogurt or something. Is that okay with you?"

"Oh. Yeah, of course."

"Do you think the place downtown is open?"

"Second Cup?"

He nodded, and Piper looked up the times to find that her favorite frozen yogurt place was open for another hour. As they exited off the freeway, she wondered if it was just a coincidence, or if Finn somehow knew that Second Cup was her favorite yogurt place.

When they arrived, the yogurt shop wasn't very busy. They both filled up their cups, and Piper let Finn pay for hers without putting up a fight about it. They found a table against the wall and sat down. Piper dug into her chocolate and mocha yogurt and smiled contently.

"This is the best fro-yo place in town," she said happily, and Finn smiled slightly at her, nodding along.

"Yeah, Amy said it was your favorite."

"Oh. Yeah." Piper nodded stiffly, averting her gaze and taking a smaller bite of her yogurt. This was the second time he'd mentioned Amy tonight, and normally, she wouldn't mind, but considering it had only been a handful of days since Finn and Amy had broken up...

Well, it bothered her.

She turned her attention to shoveling down her yogurt while Finn devoured his own, repeatedly glancing around the store and then to her. They kept making awkward eye contact, and every time, Piper averted her gaze.

"So... How are you feeling about Dancemania?" Finn asked, shifting uncomfortably in his seat. The awkward silence had to be driving him crazy, but Piper couldn't for the life of her think of anything to say. She was sure he had to be thinking about how his first date with Amy had gone so much better than this.

"Um, I think it'll be fun," she answered weakly.

"Kind of crazy to think we'll be on TV, eh?"

Piper nodded, her lips forming a tight line. "Yeah."

Finn let out a long breath, crossing his arms on top of the table and staring at the poster above them like it was the most interesting thing in the world. "Yep." The table shook as he started bouncing his knee again.

Piper bit down on the inside of her cheek, trying to ignore the uncomfortable feeling in her stomach. She had been on cloud 9 after Finn had kissed her in Studio A the day before, but now everything just felt awkward. Being with Finn always relaxed her, but tonight she just felt on edge.

This shift from best friends to more than friends felt a lot harder than Piper thought it should be.

The uncomfortable feeling in her stomach was only getting worse, and it didn't feel like nerves anymore. Her stomach actually hurt. Her discomfort must have shown on her face because Finn's brows had knit together in concern as he asked, "Are you okay? What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Piper mumbled automatically, rubbing a hand over her stomach as if that would help somehow. She pushed her chair back from the table and stood up. "I'll be right back."

She hurried to the bathroom at the back of the shop and locked the door behind her. It had probably been a mistake to eat her yogurt as quickly as she had, especially after snacking on junk food all night. This was not the way she'd dreamed of tonight going.

As always, her anxiety was ruining this for her.