Date With Hubert (Part 1)

Monica's doorbell rang. She opened it, and there was Hubert standing on the doorstep with a bouquet of flowers.

"Hi, Monica." Hubert smiled, his stutter, non-existent. He was still wearing the work clothes he normally wears, but it looks like he went through the effort of ironing them. They were less baggy than normal, and he looked a bit more put together.

"Hubert, you look handsome. You even got rid of your glasses." Monica smiled.

"Oh that," He scratches the back of his head. "I can wear contacts, but they're such a pain, but for you, I'm willing to suffer a bit. These are for you." Hubert hands her the flowers, and chuckles a bit.

"Oh, Hubert, you shouldn't have." She smelled the flowers, they were daffodils, and they were lovely. They weren't roses, but they were nice nonetheless.

"Shall we get going?" He asked, his confidence brimming.

"Sure." Monica put the flowers in a vase, and headed out the door,

They both started walking to the park. They made small talk and laughed, and joked a bit. The entire walk, she couldn't stop noticing how his shirt seemed tighter. It fit him much better, and it was showing off his frame. He had a pretty decent body, why was he hiding it before?

"I have a question." Monica said, looking at Hubert.

"You can ask me anything, Monica."

"You're not, well, normally this confident. What's gotten into you?"

Hubert tugged at his arm, "I told you earlier. You make me stronger."

The question obviously troubled him a little bit, but she couldn't pinpoint why. There was no reason to ruin a perfectly good date night over an overly inquisitive interrogation, so Monica dropped it, but not before commenting.

"You don't have to be strong for me, Hubert." She looked away from him for a moment.

Hubert smiled and they both went silent.

The sun was setting, and the stars were beginning to shine. There was a bench near a small pond, and the two of them sat down and watched the ducks float across the water. Despite Hubert's confidence increase from the bracelet, he couldn't dare to make a move, it was just nice being where he was right now with her. Monica, as well, impressed by his new demeanor couldn't bring herself to be 'that kind of girl'. They just sat quietly watching the ducks. Monica eventually said something first.

"Normally dates have more talking. You haven't said anything for a few minutes." She nudged him in the shoulder.

"Heh, sorry. I just don't want to ruin a good moment, y'know?" Hubert contemplated.

"Yeah, but, it's a date. It's supposed to have talking. If it didn't, then why would it be a date?" Monica was teasing him a bit, but it was true.

"I suppose you're right. But, um, where should we start?"

"How about what your favorite animal is?" Monica threw out the random topic, and pointed at him finger-gun style.

"Oh, that's an easy one. Penguins." Hubert glanced up, pleased with the question.

"Penguins? Really?" Monica couldn't believe Hubert would choose a flightless bird.

"Yes. Penguins are so awesome, when I was a kid, I wanted to be a penguin, actually."

"That's sweet." Her face reddened a bit, it was a very cute thing to say.

"And what's yours?"

"Well, mine's a little cliché, but horses. They're so pretty."

"You know, that's not cliché at all, they're great animals. My parents had one when I was growing up, his name was Chevy, like the car."

"Oh, I didn't know that. You still have him?"

The air got a little bit colder, and heavy. It was not a good question to ask.

"He died a long time ago." Hubert looked away.

"Oh. I'm sorry, I didn't know."

"No, no. It's alright. You couldn't have known." Hubert smiled.

Monica felt a little awkward after that, so she tried to change the subject. He brought up his parents, maybe that was a good transition?

"So, your parents, what do they do?" Monica asked, trying not to sound too nosy.

"..."

"Hubert?" Monica looked at him, he was in a trance.

"Hm, oh, yeah. Uh, sorry. What did you ask again?" The question had obviously shook him up, but Monica figured it'd be rude if she didn't repeat what she asked.

She swallowed, the air feeling heavy again, "Oh, I asked about your parents."

"They're... dead too." Hubert was blunt.

"Oh." The date got a little more awkward.

Hubert noticed Monica was ashamed, and figured this shouldn't turn into an awkward silence.

"It shouldn't bother me, I didn't really have that long to get to love them, or the horse. I was five at the time. What really bothered me is that I was in a position from that point on where I didn't have a family that loved me, I got the house, and the state mandated my grandmother to take care of me. She abandoned me and the house when I became an adult, and for all my life I've never had friends or people to tell me they love me." His face became a bit teary-eyed.

Monica looked at Hubert, she didn't know what to say, so she just hugged him, and held him close. He hugged her back and they sat like that for a little bit more, embracing each other in their warmth.

"Do you really think that's the case anymore?" Monica asked, breaking the hug and looking into his eyes.

"What?" Hubert asked.

"Not having anyone that loves you."

"I...well, I guess not, but I'm still not so sure." He smiled weakly.

Monica leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.

"There, now you know someone loves you." Monica's heart was beating quickly, she couldn't believe she just did that, but it felt right. This guy deserved a win.

"I...thank you." Hubert was blushing and smiling.

"No problem." She said, and she leaned back over and they both stared up at the night sky.