Chapter 50 First Date At Last

The evening they had sat down and had that heart to heart had gone extremely well and led them to organising their very much deserved first date.

Marcus had arranged for Joshua to look after Harrison and Tia.

It was almost that festive season, only two weeks away, and he had decided to take Julianna to the ice rink.

Of course the problems of Victor, Eric and the rest were still gonna be there afterwards, but this date was long overdue and he wasn't going to let anything ruin it.

Currently though, he was pacing back and forth through the downstairs hall, waiting for her to finish getting ready. Despite being beyond ready, he couldn't deny that he was nervous. He had been waiting for this day since the day they had first started dating, but he was so scared that something was gonna go wrong.

Finally, she came down the stairs. Walking at a slow pace, his smile could only widen as she got nearer and nearer to the bottom. Her fair blonde locks were curled, with two of her side strands being held together at the back by some kind of clip that he didn't understand. Her lashes looked longer and darker than ever against the wing she had made in the corner of her eyes using eyeliner.

But what caught Marcus' eyes the most, wasn't her make up. Instead it was what she was wearing, and the glowing smile on her face only adding to her beauty. She was wearing a velvet looking, wine red dress that had white fluff at the top and the hem. Her arms were covered with a thin slip, made of the same material as the fluff on the hem of the dress and on her feet she was wearing a pair of simple black heels.

As she stepped down from the bottom step, he offered his hand out, which she took gladly. A genuinely happy smile was on both their faces as he led her towards the door.

He stopped for a moment, leaving her? confused for only a second until he opened the door and made a motion with his hand for her to go through first. She nodded a thank you and stepped through onto the front porch. He followed behind and closed the door behind them.

His eyes remained on her as she looked ahead of them. Her mouth dropped open wide as she saw what was awaiting them.

"Oh! My! God! Marcus, tell me that you didn't hire a limo....do you know how much these things cost?" She half squealed.

"Yes I do but this is a freebie. Back last year I did some maintenance work for the company but there was a mix up and I didn't get paid much. They said they owed me big time and I never called them on it...until now." He explained to her.

She stopped in her tracks and turned to face him. He only just about managed to catch her as she leapt into his arms - almost knocking them both to the icey ground that was now full of snow, and kissed him.

"I can't believe you did that." She exclaimed.

"Well...it's because I know that you're worth it." He informed her and tucked his arm around her waist, leading her to the car.

*****

It didn't take long before they reached the ice rink.

Thanking the limo driver, Marcus got out and walked around to the other side to open the car door for Julianna.

She stepped out, her dress falling just above her knees as she did. He quickly closed the car door and took her hand, leading her to the front desk.

"Two please. Size seven and size five." He asked the cashier, handing over a twenty pound note.

"Coming right up." They responded with a smile and got to work finding the correct sizes out.

Once they returned with the skates and handed them over, the pair changed from their normal shoes into the skates and handed them over to the cashier who set them aside.

They then made their way over to the ice rink and began skating - shaking and wobbling all over the place at first, but slowly finding their footing. That was until Marcus got his feet tangled...

Slipping and sliding, he ended up losing his balance and falling to his butt. Julianna skidded to a stop and giggled at his mishap. She then offered out her hand to help him up, which he gladly took.

Once he was back on his feet, she still didn't let go of his hand. Instead, she planned something else.

"What are you doing?" He asked curiously over the music that was playing.

"Teaching you how it's done silly." She laughed.

He rolled his eyes and laughed. Little did she know that he already knew how to skate and that was a little trick he had used to get them to skate together.

After a while of skidding and almost slipping, they fell into a steady rhythm along with the music. It was almost as though they were dancing, but rather than a solid wooden floor and sensible shoes, they were on ice, in skates.

The song they were skating too soon came to an end though and Marcus stopped for a moment, before the next one came on. Julianna looked at him confused. When the last song had ended, they hadn't stopped.

He fumbled around in his pockets as though he was looking for something, only stopping once he had found it.

"Marcus...what are you?" She asked him curiously.

But he hushed her, bringing a finger to her lips. He then proceeded to pull something out of his pocket.

"Listen...I know things have been a little up and down recently but I got you a little something. It's something that you can carry with you and during our hard times, you can keep it close to your heart to remind you that I'm not going anywhere." He explained.

Before she could say anything else, he presented her with a necklace. It had a thin silver chain with little red gem stone in the shape of a heart.

"Oh my...Marcus, it's beautiful. You really shouldn't have though..." She began, completely surprised by this gesture.

"I wanted to." He told her as he reached behind her neck and clipped it on.

"Honestly...I have no idea what to even...thank you. It really means a lot to me." She stated happily.

After he straightened it out around her neck, they went back to skating. It was going to be an amazingly long night. One that neither of them would ever forget.

They must have spent at least an hour and a half on the ice rink and once they'd had enough, they decided that it would be a good idea to get something to eat.

Handing over the skates and changing back into their normal shoes, they headed over to cafe that was just a few doors down from the ice rink.

*******

"So, what do you guys like to do for fun?" Joshua asked the two newbie werewolves.

He was trying to fill the awkward silence that had taken over the room for the last couple of hours. Marcus was so much better at socialising than he was, even just the concept of sparking a conversation with people he didn't know too well just irked him.

"Not a clue in the world. See when you come from the kind of place that we do then the word fun doesn't really exist." Harrison explained.

Well that wasn't very helpful, he thought to himself. Though he would never bother to say it. He wanted to make friends, not enemies or frenemies, for once in his life he was done with all the petty drama.

"Ignore mister grumpy. He's just mad that he had to say goodbye to the dog in the care home." Tia told him.

"Ah I see. So what do you like to do for fun?" Joshua asked again, this time only aiming the question at her.

"Me?" Tia questioned surprised.

Joshua nodded, confirming the answer.

"Anything really. Except for shooting games or football." She answered.

"Then I think I have the perfect idea for us." Joshua informed.

"Cool. Harrison, you in?" Tia asked with a smile.

Harrison nodded. Although he was reluctant, he chose to join the two. He wasn't a big fan of the idea of them spending time alone. Tia meant a lot to him, and although she didn't know it, he didn't want Joshua getting his hooks in her.

******

Having got their order and found a table, Marcus and Julianna were only now sitting down to eat.

"This night has just been... pure magic." She told him with a smile as they both tucked into burgers.

"Something I will remember forever." He added.

Although it was mid-November, and outside felt colder than the artic, they couldn't deny that it was turning out perfectly.

It didn't take them long to finish eating, since both were quite hungry from all the skating and the chill in the air. Once they finished their drinks, they headed back out into the frosty air and began the walk back.

Half way down the street, Marcus began to notice her violent shivers as the air got colder and colder. He hadn't thought it through properly when planning the journey back and mentally kicked himself. Then he had an idea...

Taking off his jacket, he placed it around her shoulders. She nodded a thank you at him in appreciation and pulled the jacket around her to keep in what little warmth it brought to her.

"Won't you get sick?" She questioned in concern.

"Nah. The body heat that comes with being what I am means that I don't catch colds so easily." He explained.

He placed a hand around her waist and led her along the path as they walked. Of course, he could still feel the cold air and it made it harder for him to control his breathing, but at the same time he wasn't all that fussed since it wasn't a long walk home. It was a mystery to him as to whether or not kitsune could get sick but if they could feel the cold that much then it was highly likely.

"Do you think that we will ever be free of all the tragedy that comes with being what we are?" She asked him curiously.

This was a question that he wasn't too sure how to answer. If he said no, then it might leave her feeling trapped in this crazy life. But then again, if he said yes and it turned out not to be true then he would be giving her false hope and that was something that he didn't want to do. Moreover, he didn't believe for one second that they could get away from it all. If they left town it would follow them, but if they stayed then it would also always be there.

"Honestly speaking...I don't know. Though I do think that the danger that comes with being what we are isn't going anywhere. But at the moment we are still adjusting...one day it won't be so hard to deal with it all." He explained truthfully.

"It's a crazy life that we have been stuck with....crazy but epic." She added.

The rest of the walk back was spent laughing at cheesy jokes and sharing opinions on certain subjects. When they finally got back though, the house was quiet.

A little too quiet for Marcus' liking.

It wasn't until they headed up the stairs that they heard all of the commotion that was going on. It sounded as though someone was having an argument. As they got closer to Joshua's room, they could hear two male voices yelling back and forth, and another female voice trying to yell over the top but her words were coming out more like cries.

Opening the door, Marcus and Julianna couldn't believe what they were seeing.

Two people were arguing...and one was trying to split them up.