Love would never leave us alone

Nick and Ella found themselves in quite a predicament. They both recognized the value of trying to give this date their best, and they both honestly wanted this date to work out for the both of them. And that was certainly not going to be easy.

The problem, however, was the fact that this date was not looking like it would go the way either of them wanted it to.

Both parties had set out with the purpose of having fun, but after the confrontation in the cat café, there was an understandable awkward tension hanging over the air. The sort of thing that neither one of them were adequately equipped to handle.

Ella had never had to account for a situation like this before, where she was dealing with a boy and the possibility of being loved, and Nick had never dealt with a girl who had to face the issues that Ella had to deal with every day of her life.

So for the two of them, things were understandably tense. It was just a matter of whether or not they could move past that tension and try to have a good time or not.

Nick wanted to believe it was possible, he really did.

So he took a deep breath, then exhaled, and set his mind towards starting things in the right direction, as tricky as that would be.

“Okay,” he said, seizing his opportunity once they exited the cat café. The way Ella jumped wasn’t a good sign, but then she looked at him with hopeful eyes and he had a gut feeling that maybe, just maybe, things could go the way he was hoping.

“Y-yes?” Ella looked at him expectantly and bit her lip. “What is it?”

“It’s almost time for lunch, don’t you think?” Nick rubbed his stomach, feeling a gnawing hunger in his belly. He’d been avoiding it up until this point, because of how heavy the situation had been, but now that the air had cleared, he was hungry again.

Ella looked pretty hungry herself. She contemplated it for just a fraction of a second before nodding quickly in agreement.

“Yeah,” she agreed, biting her lip. “I’m hungry, too.”

That was really all that needed to be said between them. They shared an awkward, tense look, and then they laughed. Neither party really understood why they were laughing, or what they could possibly be laughing about, but it definitely took the edge off the situation and they were both very grateful for that, at least.

Now the only question was what they should get to eat.

“You like burgers, right?” Nick suggested. “I remembered from our dream date how you really wanted to eat a hamburger.”

Ella nodded. “Burgers are good,” she agreed. “But actually, I was wondering if maybe we could get something else, instead?”

Nick was fine with that. “Something else? Like what?”

She shrugged. “I don’t really know,” she admitted. “But when we had those burgers on the beach… they were kind of messy. I didn’t realize that burgers were so… sloppy!”

Nick thought that had more to do with how ravenously Ella had devoured her food (she clearly hadn’t learned the finer points of table etiquette) but he didn’t exactly want to put her on the spot, so he agreed.

“I just don’t want to get any stains on these clothes,” Ella added, looking down at the nice outfit that she had on. “After Vivian went to all the trouble to loan it to me, well… I guess I just… you know what I mean, right?”

Nick had a pretty good idea what she meant, but he didn’t exactly know what to say about it. So he just nodded obediently.

“So if not burgers, what else can we get that wouldn’t cause a mess… you like bread?” He joked instead. “Shouldn’t stain anything with that!”

Ella nodded. “Yes, bread would be just fine,” she agreed. “I like that quite a lot!”

Nick stared at her.

“…I was kidding,” he replied. “That was meant to be a joke.”

“Oh… um, I didn’t know… sorry…” Ella scratched her head and gave him a sheepish smile, not sure what to say to that. Nick just laughed and shook his head.

“Don’t worry, it’s fine,” he assured her. “Bread works. But I think I have a better idea. Instead of bread, how about a subway sandwich?”

Ella blinked. “…What’s that?”

“This is nice!” Ella bit into her turkey sandwich and smiled at the flavor. “It doesn’t stand out as much as a hamburger, but it’s not as juicy or leaky, either. Which is very good! I’m glad it’s not going to make as much of a mess.”

“Yeah, I think that’s definitely something to be happy about,” Nick agreed. “The trick is to not get any condiments or anything that would stain.”

Ella devoured her sandwich without much thought for how that looked, but Nick didn’t mind. He actually liked how honest she was about the things she wanted, especially food.

That was one thing about Ella that he was noticing, one of her good qualities. Her honesty. It took a while to get her to fully open up and be honest, but when she did, she didn’t hold back, and she shared exactly how she felt.

About pretty much everything.

It was good. He was glad that he got to talk to her in a setting like this.

“I’m glad you’re enjoying your food,” he continued. “So what do you want to do after we finish eating, then?”

Ella looked up at him, surprised. She set down the remains of her sandwich, suddenly finding herself put on the defensive.

“…What do you mean?” She asked warily.

Nick shrugged. “I mean, you said you didn’t want me to be coming up with things to do just to make you happy, right?”

Ella nodded slowly. She had said something like that, hadn’t she?

“So I figured,” he continued, “the best thing to do would be to give you the freedom to choose what we do for yourself, don’t you think? That way, you can do whatever you like, and I won’t have a thing to say about it!”

He flashed her a charming smile, and Ella felt a strange churning in her stomach. Suddenly she was wondering if maybe this was the best idea.

“I… I don’t know,” she admitted, looking down sheepishly. “I don’t know what I want to do… or what a good date is supposed to look like…”

That sounded really pathetic, didn’t it? But then, Ella was pretty pathetic. She’d worked so hard to get Nick to accept that she could do her own things and didn’t need to be pandered to, and she’d resolved herself to be more active.

But now that she was put on the spot, she was finding that was easier said than done.

She quickly looked back through all her ideal date plans, and considered her options. She didn’t even know what was available!

“…What would you suggest?” She asked finally, surrendering to the tide. Nick had spent a lot more time here than her, he would know what to do that would be fun.

Maybe it would be best if she just agreed with his decisions and went with the flow.

Nick could sense the hesitation in her voice and see the doubt in her eyes, and he was rightfully wary about pushing too hard. Fortunately, he had a few positive ideas that they could implement, which would be good for Ella hopefully.

The first idea he had, was to take things in a direction that she would enjoy, without pushing too many of his own thoughts onto her.

“How about this?” He suggested. “How about I suggest a few things, and you pick what you think would be the most fun?”

Nick had experienced a lot of what this island and the shopping district had to offer, so he hoped he could come up with some good ideas. And thankfully, Ella seemed to be open to it, at least for right now anyway.

She nodded slowly, and leaned in, curious to hear what he had to say.

The first thing Nick suggested was a walk through the Botanical Garden.

“There’s a garden here?” Ella questioned.

He nodded. “I’m sure you must have seen it. It’s right outside the shopping center,” he said, pointing far down the street. Conveniently, some of the buildings shifted out of the way to make the Botanical Garden easier to see.

“Oh, my!” Ella marveled. “Hmm… that could be good.”

Nick wasn’t done yet, though.

“We could also go to the Amusement Park,” he suggested. “But I’d be a little careful about that one, if I’m being honest. After all, there are a lot of rides that are fun, but some things could still go a little wrong…”

Ella cautiously agreed. “I… I wasn’t there, but Cinder went to the Amusement Park, I think,” she murmured, recalling what she’d heard through second-hand accounts. “And she touched one of those mirrors…”

If other attractions could do things like that, she didn’t want to risk it. The garden still sounded like a better choice.

Nick was undaunted, though.

“We could always catch a movie,” he suggested next, remembering that Ella had wanted to go to a movie theater on their dream date. “That could be a lot of fun.”

Ella almost agreed, but she hesitated. Yes, she’d wanted to watch a movie last time, but that hadn’t exactly worked out for the best, had it?

So she shook her head.

“…Maybe later,” she replied. “Any other ideas?”

Nick had several. But the next one he really hoped would win the other girl over.

“How about the Aquarium?” He asked.

Ella blinked. “…An Aquarium? You mean, a place where we could go and look at fish? Do they even have one of those?”

Technically they did not. The only one Nick had managed to find on the island was the one from his memories, accessed through Dream Alley. But that shouldn’t be a problem!

“All we’d have to do is ask Dakota if we could use Dream Alley to go to the Aquarium there,” he pointed out. “And I’m sure that she’d let us do that! Even if you didn’t pay for it with BP, it wouldn’t be like we’d be spending the whole day there or anything, just a couple of hours. It wouldn’t be the first time I did something like that!”

Plus, he was the master. Wasn’t the whole point of the show for him to get what he wanted and to spend time with the girls the way he wanted?

Of course Dakota would go along with that.

Ella stared at him for a moment, contemplating.

Nick quickly pivoted. “O-of course, if you don’t want to go to the Aquarium then we don’t have to!” He said hastily. “It’s probably not going to be something you’d enjoy anyway…”

Apparently coming to a decision, Ella quickly shook her head. “No, actually, I would like that,” she replied. “The Aquarium sounds just fine!”

Nick looked surprised. “R-really?”

She nodded. “If you’re okay with it, of course. I wouldn’t want to do it if you don’t actually want to go or anything.”

“No, of course I want to go!” Nick said. “I think you’ll have a lot of fun seeing all the different fish, Ella! It’ll be a great experience!”

Ella smiled back at him. “In that case, then I want to go!” She asserted.

And that was that.

It was only a matter of getting in contact with Dakota, which shouldn’t be difficult at all given that the host was always watching. So Nick looked around, wondering what was keeping her from popping in, before eventually realizing that he would probably have to ask for her himself.

He sighed and shook his head.

“Alright then,” he grumbled. “Dakota, I know you’re listening. Would you mind?”

“Why of course I wouldn’t mind,” Dakota purred, popping up right in front of the two. Ella was startled momentarily but Nick was used to it at this point. He just gave her a pointed look.

“From what I gather, the date is going well?” Dakota asked, batting her eyelashes innocently. She knew of course that it wasn’t, given all the tension in the air, and Nick wasn’t exactly in the mood to humor her.

So he decided to try bullshitting instead.

“It’s going great actually!” He said. “Ella and I are getting along good. Don’t you think so, Ella?” He flashed her a smile.

“Uh… yeah, sure?” Ella wasn’t entirely sure what mindgames were going on between the two of them, but she was okay with playing along, so long as the results wouldn’t have any negative repercussions for her.

She really did want this to work out.

Dakota made a sour face, but her smile quickly returned. “Well, you wouldn’t be here if you didn’t need my help with anything,” she said, drumming her fingers along her cane. “So how can I be of assistance, master?”

She gave an exaggerated bow, acting as though she would like nothing better than to help Nick out with all his problems.

Nick wasn’t buying it. But he did need her help.

“Actually, I was hoping Ella and I could go to Dream Alley on our date today,” he said. “For a stop in the Aquarium? You know the one.”

Dakota raised her eyebrow. She glanced over at Ella, who nodded tentatively before shying behind Nick’s back.

“…Really… she can’t pay for it herself if that’s what she wants?” Dakota crossed her arms over her chest. “You realize, Nick, there’s a new sheriff in town, right? No more free rides and host subsidies for Latinas anymore.”

Nick sighed in exasperation and pinched the bridge of his nose as Dakota laughed in amusement at her own joke. He knew damn well she wasn’t racist, she was just being a piece of shit to troll him, but he really didn’t have the patience for it now.

“Come on, Dakota, even Sylvia let the girls take me on dates to Dream Alley,” he reminded her. “Can’t you give me that?”

Yup, that did it. He knew he was playing dirty pool, but if it worked, it worked. And judging by the look of outrage on Dakota’s face, it worked.

“…Fine then,” she said, as the anger drained away from her pale face to be replaced with a diplomatic smile, the kind she always wore when she was trying to mask her true feelings. “How about an hour in Dream Alley for the two of you? But only an hour. You’ll have to come up with something else to pass the time.”

Only an hour? That was barely enough! Nick could spend the whole day showing Ella all the fish on display. But he understood that Dakota was trying to keep things fair, and relented with a nod.

“That works,” he agreed. “And that way, we can do something else afterwards! Maybe even go to the garden,” he suggested, looking back at Ella, who answered him with a hesitant shrug. It was pretty clear she wasn’t that invested either way.

He could live with that though. After all, he was pretty sure that the Aquarium would completely blow her away!

It wasn’t like she would have ever seen anything like it before.

“Well then, enjoy your quick little trip!” Dakota purred, twirling her cane. “Don’t fall in now, you hear?” She warned with a laugh, and Nick rolled his eyes.

The tip of Dakota’s cane flashed, and the world around them started to shift and churn. Nick felt Ella’s nails dig into his side, and he realized she was clinging to him for dear life.

He couldn’t blame her. Traveling this way always made him feel a little sick to his stomach himself. But it was a necessary sacrifice.

A few seconds later, the two of them were standing outside a very familiar sight, the Aquarium he always used to go to back before he shut himself out from the world.

“Come on!” He urged Ella, looking eagerly her way. “We’ve only gotten an hour, and there’s so much I want to show you!”

“R-right!” Ella nodded, chasing after him. She was a little flustered and confused, and still regaining her bearings from that sudden warp. But she wanted to see what Nick had to show her.

That’s the whole reason I agreed to come here, after all.

Nick had an agenda of getting Ella to have a good time. Well, Ella had an agenda too, a brand new one she’d just developed when she saw how passionate Nick was about this place.

Whoever’s agenda won out in the end, well… hopefully they both could get what they wanted, right?

The first thing Nick wanted to show her was the shark tank. He knew it might not be the most romantic thing to see, but he wanted to start off with something impressive to get her intrigued.

“Whoa!” Ella looked at the sharks swimming through the large tank in front of her with wide eyes. “These are really sharks?”

“That’s right,” Nick nodded, smiling with pride. Almost like he was taking credit for the Aquarium’s choice of display.

Ella scrunched up her face in confusion as she watched the striped fish swim through the water. “I… I thought they’d be bigger,” she admitted. “Aren’t they supposed to be like… bwooooowwww?”

She held out her arms really wide for emphasis and Nick laughed before shaking his head. “No, you’re thinking great white sharks. This place isn’t big enough for something like that! You’d have to go to a really major aquarium somewhere if you wanted a display like that. Even then, they tend to not last long in captivity.”

Ella blinked. “So… there are different kinds? Of sharks, I mean.”

“There are,” Nick confirmed. “See, these are zebra sharks. You can tell by the spots on their scales. They’re a lot smaller than many other breeds of shark, meaning they’re good for aquarium displays in smaller places. But they’re still really cool and dangerous.”

“Oh, I see,” Ella nodded, stroking her chin thoughtfully. She took another look at the zebra sharks and nodded in approval. “And hammerheads, those are another kind, right? I think I’ve heard of those ones, too.”

Nick nodded back. “Yep, but you won’t find any of those here, either. Unless you wanted to go swimming in the ocean, of course.” Great white sharks and hammerhead sharks were the two most famous kinds. But there were lots of other species that many people didn’t know about!

Ella blanched for a second, then she laughed. “How could I? We never did get around to that swimming lesson,” she pointed out. “…Unless you were looking to do that now, of course?”

Now it was Nick’s turn to laugh. “Uh… yeah, let’s not do that,” he replied, shaking his head. “Not exactly the best place.”

Ella giggled as well. “Well, you’re right about that. Anything else you want to show me?” She asked curiously.

Nick’s eyes shined with excitement. “Oh, so much!” He said. “Come on, you’ll love this next display!”

He had a lot to show, and only an hour to do it. They couldn’t watch the zebra sharks forever, there were plenty of other fish in the sea!