How Green Becomes Wood

Alec grinned and hugged Dark quickly. "Thanks, Ba. Love you!" Then he turned and followed Xander out to the van. He fidgeted with his vest and the seatbelt the whole drive there.

"I'll be back in an hour and a half to get you to work," Xander said as they pulled into the mall. "I'm going to have to start charging you fare for this."

Alec took a deep breath. "Okay. This is going to be fun. Right?"

"Yes." Xander glanced at him and relented. "She's a good kid. You've liked her for a while. This is no different then if you were meeting your friends. So go have fun and tell me how the boboa is later."

Alec smiled at him. "Thanks." Then he hopped out and headed in to meet Claire.
 
Having made it there first, Claire stood waiting outside the mall, nervously fiddling with the ends of her hair. She kept telling herself what Sloan, her sister Amelia, and her mom kept telling her: that this was totally fine and she didn't need to worry. But she was. And had changed probably three times. Ultimately, she had landed on a purple plaid pinafore which reached about mid-thigh worn over a white sweater with a heart-shaped cut-out over her manubrium. Her sister had suggested it might be a bit much to wear something heart-shaped on a first date, but her Mom and Sloan said it was cute. Through the cut-out, a silver necklace with a "C" charm was visible, and she paired the whole outfit with sheer white tights, also decorated with tiny hearts. Maybe it was too much, she worried, smoothing the lace at the hem of her skirt.

Upon seeking Alec, she waved excitedly to him, which made the ribbons in her hair bounce, and as she walked over to him, she realized she had absolutely no idea how to greet him. Was it too soon to hug him? Handshakes were what old people did. She wasn't enough of a bro to successfully dap anyone up. But Alec didn't seem like he'd know how to do that either, so that probably wasn't it.
 
Alec's face lit up, and his heart fluttered when he saw Claire. She was excited to see him! Genuinely happy to see him! That made his heart do a tiny flip. That was quickly followed by noticing how ridiculously cute she looked, and now he worried he'd overdressed. Was it okay to tell her she looked cute? He did that sometimes at school, but that was when they were friends. If he told her now, on a first date, would that be taken as suggestive? Oh dear, should he not have mentioned things like that at school? No, he was certain she would have made it clear or Sloan would have said so if it wasn't okay. He should tell her. He thought. Wait. How was he supposed to greet her? Was a hug okay? He normally hugged. Alec wished for half of a second that Xander was there to smack the back of his head for him.

"Hi!" he chirped, his voice coming out squeaky and far higher than he meant. He blushed and cleared his throat. "I mean, Hi, hey there, how's it going?" he said with a grin, deliberately pitching his voice deeper to turn the squeak into a joke.
 
"Hi," She replied, giggling good naturedly, "I'm okay. You look great! I'm, um," she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, "glad that you changed after school too. I wasn't sure if I was being silly."
 
"You look really cute. I mean! Good," he stammered. "I like your hair ribbons. And purple looks really nice on you." He blushed a little. "Is it okay to say stuff like that? I'm sorry, I'm not very experienced."
 
"I think it's okay," Claire told him, his obvious nervousness making her feel a bit better about her own nerves, "I'm not really all that experienced either, but... I don't mind, when you say stuff like that. Purple is my favourite colour, anyway."
 
Alec smiled shyly at her. Then he straightened and tried to brush away his worries. Whatever else this was, Claire was his friend, a delightful friend, and he hoped it would always stay that way. He stepped up and offered her his arm. "Shall we waltz our way to bubbly drinks and other adventures, My Lady?"
 
Normally, she had a poor opinion of men who called her 'my lady', and generally found it to be a bit cringe, but Alec was so sweet and earnest he managed to make it endearing. So, taking his arm, she tried not to look like she wanted to scream from joy, and walked with him into the mall and said, "Boba isn't actually bubbly, though, I hope you won't be disappointed."
 
Alec grinned in delight when she took his arm. He walked with her to the door and quickly opened it for her to go through first. "I kind of knew that, but I won't be disappointed. So! Which way?" He took her arm again when they were through the door but did not try to lead her. For one thing, he had no idea where he was going.
 
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