Their First Date (FFXIII - Hope/Vanille)
Title: Their First Date
Characters: Hope/Vanille
Rating: Teen
Disclaimers: I do not own anyone/anything from the forum Final Fantasy. Square Soft/Enix owns Final Fantasy and its characters. There is no copyright infringement intended. I do not make any profit/money or take any credit.
Summary: He was nervous...very nervous and why won't Snow just shut up?
A/N: Prompt for September 12th - Hope/Vanille - First Date - 'He is nervous and Snow isn't making the situation any better!'
Timeline: AU
Word Count: 1,358Betaed: Nope
Their First Date
Hope shifted from one foot to another. He had a bunch of flowers in his right hand while fussing with the collar with his left hand. He was dressed smartly in a pair of black trousers and a white shirt.
He was currently waiting for Vanille. He had finally worked up the courage to ask Vanille, the girl who he had a crush on since he met her, out and she accepted. He was still trying to wrap his head around the fact that she had accepted to go out on date with him.
"You look fine, Hope, stop fussing," Serah scolded as she pulled his hand away from the collar.
"Are you sure she still wants to go out on a date with me?" Hope asked. Serah rolled her eyes and nodded.
"Trust me, she is excited and she is nearly ready. Fang is taking forever to decide what shoes Vanille should wear with her dress," Serah promised. She glared at boyfriend, Noel, who snorted into his glass. He just waved it off before heading into the kitchen where they could hear him laughing.
Serah just rolled her eyes and turned to face her scared cousin. "Noel is laughing because Fang can take a while when it comes to deciding a pair of shoes. When I left, they had whittled it down to two pairs. Lightning is helping them."
"Ok," Hope nodded. Serah bit back her giggle at seeing how nervous her cousin was. She knew that he really cared about Vanille but what he didn't know, Vanille had liked him just as long.
She remembered when she had first met Vanille; she had started talking about a guy who had bumped into her. She said that he was cute and she wanted to know more about. After giving Serah the description, Serah laughingly told her that he was her cousin.
From that moment, she had hounded Serah for any information on Hope, wanting to know him better so she could talk to him. Serah just merely tricked them into spending time together while subtly encouraging Hope to ask Vanille out.
Her plan had worked out; Hope had finally asked Vanille out, who had shyly accepted before squealing and hugging Serah the moment Hope was out of ear-shot.
Serah knew the two of them were perfect for each other and she hoped Hope would be able to calm his fears so the date would go smoothly. Unfortunately for her, Snow had just walked into the living room.
"Hey, where's Lightning?" he asked, plopping himself onto couch.
"She's upstairs with Fang, helping Vanille get ready for her date with Hope," Serah informed him. Snow's eyes widen as he looked at the nervous kid before looking at Serah with a bright smile.
"You don't say!" he looked at Hope. "You are looking mighty spiffy tonight." Serah's smile slipped at the 'spiffy' part, arching an eyebrow while she heard Noel laugh even harder.
Hope stopped pacing and looked at Snow confused.
"What does 'spiffy' mean?" Hope asked. "Does it mean I smell? I showered and washed myself like five times!"
"He means you look very nice," Serah assured her cousin, glaring at Snow who was looking at the kid like he was a bomb waiting to go off.
"First date?" grunted Snow. Serah nodded and Snow leaned forward. "Okay, here's a few tip a guy needs to know when he goes out on a date with a girl." Hope looked like he was about to start taking notes. He was desperate for anything to help him out.
"Make sure you open the door for her and pull out her chair. Girls like that. Don't order their meal for them unless you want them to tip their drink over you," Snow advised. "And be careful regarding the first kiss. You can tell how a girl will be by the first kiss. Too passionate, she'll want you into her bed before you can say 'Hey'. Not enough passion, she's not that interested and is trying to let you down."
Hope stared at Snow and felt his nervousness double and he began to sweat. Was Vanille expecting him to kiss her tonight? He had never kissed a girl before! What if he screwed it up? What if it turned out he is a horrible kisser and she decided she didn't want to date him again?
"And watch out where you put hands. The last thing you want is to be slapped because you accidently brushed her arse when you were actually reaching for her back." Sweat began to drip down the back of Hope's neck.
He was already nervous enough, everything that was coming out of Snow's mouth was making him doubt himself and he could feel his palms becoming clammy. His stomach tightened and he thinks he might be sick due to the nervousness. No-one had ever told him that dating was so nerve-racking!
Lightning came into the living room only to stop when she spotted Hope looking pale and she instantly knew who had made him look that way. Especially when the guy was still going on about what a guy should or should not do during a date.
"Snow!" hissed Lightning as she stormed over to the hulk and slapped him up the back of his head. "Will you shut up? You are making him feel worse!"
"I'm just warning the kid!" Snow defended himself.
"You are making him more nervous," Lightning corrected him before she turned to face Hope and gave him a bright smile. "Vanille is ready." Noel came out of the kitchen, having calmed down from his laughing jag and was looking at Snow like he had lost his mind. He had heard the list and knew that the list was only for people who had dated before, not someone who was starting out.
Lightning took Hope by the arm and led him over to the stairs when Vanille came down with Fang right behind her. Hope stopped breathing as he stared at the sight. Vanille was dressed in a light pink dress that stopped at her knees. The straps rounded her shoulders and her hair, usually pulled back in a pig-tails, were down and curled. She wore silver strappy shoes and she gave Hope a shy smile.
"Breathe kid," Snow called from the living room, wincing when Serah smacked him on the shoulder while Noel snickered, shaking his head at the older man.
"You look amazing," Hope managed to get out and Vanille's smile brightened at the compliment. He remembered that he had flowers and he brought them up. Vanille's eyes lit up as she took the bouquet and breathed deeply.
"You remembered my favourite flowers," she told him, her voice soft. Hope just gave her a shy smile return. Fang stepped forward, plucking the flowers from Vanille.
"I'll put them in a vase for you, they'll be in your room when you get home," she assured them before shooing them over to the door. "Don't you have a date to get to?"
Vanille giggled as she stepped closer to Hope, taking his hand in hers. She frowned briefly when she noticed his palms were clammy and smiled inwardly as she realised he was really nervous.
"Yeah, we should," Hope managed to stammer out before he helped Vanille out the door, remembering to open it for her before he followed her out into the cool air.
He closed the door behind them, stopping people from watching them but he had a feeling they went over to the window instead. He ignored them and turned to Vanille.
"I er…made reservation," he told her, feeling like an idiot. "Sorry, I'm just really nervous."
Vanille giggled as she leaned in and kissed Hope's cheek. He looked at her, startled.
"Just be you," she told him with a bright smile. "That's who I agreed to date." Hope felt his nervousness fade away and a relaxed smile crossed his face as he held up his arm. Vanille slipped her arm into his and he led her over to the car.
He had a feeling the date was going to fine now.
The End
Sorry Snow, you're kinda easy…