Second First Date

“Can I remove the blindfold yet?” I ask as I feel the car come to a slow stop and hear the car get turned off. I hear a chuckle from next to me before I feel my seatbelt get unbuckled and then pushed off me. I smile as my driver and other half places a quick kiss on my cheek.

“Not quite yet. I promise you can soon. Let us just get out of the car and in position first,” Steven, my lifelong partner, says as he climbs out of the car. It is not long before I hear my door being opened and feel Steven take my hand to help me out. I smile as I let him help me out, and of course, I end up somehow tripping and just about fall out of the car. Steven laughs as he steadies me, and I cannot help but laugh along with him.

“I told you a blindfold would be dangerous. You know how clumsy I am,” I say, straightening and smiling in the direction I think Steven is in.

“I know, Edward, but it was a necessity for today. I want everything to be perfect,” Steven says, making me smile fondly.

“It won’t be perfect if we have to make another trip to the emergency room,” I say, smiling as Steven pulls me forwards slowly before letting go of me after stopping. I frown when I no longer feel him and jump slightly when I suddenly feel him grab a hold of my shoulders from behind.

“Sorry, I should have warned you. I am going to remove the blindfold now,” Steven says, making me smile and get excited. I can feel my never-ending energy kicking into gear as my excitement grows as I feel the blindfold being loosened before slipping off completely. I cannot hold back the gasp as I take in the building in front of me.

“The aquarium? You brought me to the aquarium?” I say, turning to look at Steven, who has a big smile on his face.

“Well, I wanted to have a special date with you while we were here visiting your uncle. I know love aquariums,” Steven says, pulling me into a side hug, which I quickly return.

“I love aquariums because of you. You brought me here on our first-ever date,” I say, looking up at the sign on the building.

“Well, you said you had never been before, and I know you love animals. Back then I wanted to take you to the zoo, but I did not have enough money.”

“You know money has never mattered to me. Besides, that was the best first date I had ever had. I just wish we could have acted like we were on a date.”

“Well, that is why I brought you today. I thought maybe we could have a second first date.” Hearing Steven say this makes me panic and quickly turn to fully face him.

“You know I was not complaining about the date and enjoyed myself back then, right?”

“Yes, I know you did. I just wanted to be able to come to the first place that we ever went to by ourselves and revisit it now that we do not have to hide anymore.” I smile at that and lean in to steal a kiss before smiling at Steven.

“Lead the way, love.” Steven smiles and grabs my hand before leading the way into the aquarium. I frown when I do not see anyone around and Steven just walks right past the front desk where we had to pay for entrance into the main part of the aquarium. Steven must have noticed my hesitance because he turns to look at me and stops at the door leading to the main section.

“I rented out the aquarium for us. I wanted to be able to spend plenty of personal time with you in this very special place.” Steven pushes open the door to reveal the aquarium completely devoid of any other person.

“You did not have to go to such extremes, Steven.”

“I know I did not. I wanted to though. I wanted to make this anniversary a special one.”

“Just being with you and getting to visit this place and our loved ones make it a special one. Sometimes I miss living in this town we tried so hard to get out of.”

“I know you do, love. I do too sometimes.” Steven walks over to me and pulls me into a tight hug, tucking my head into his neck.

“I am so sorry. I did not mean to make this depressing.”

“It is alright, Edward. I understand. Let us start this date now.” I smile and follow Steven as he leads me into the main part of the aquarium.

No matter how many different aquariums we go to, I am always still overjoyed when I get to see all the different fish swimming around in their tanks. Over the years and during our travels with my band, Steven has taken me to many different aquariums, from big and famous ones to small-town ones just like the one we are in now. Ever since that first date, even though it was not much of one, I have loved aquariums. Our first date took place during a time when gays like us would have been attacked, so we had to pretend to just be a couple of friends hanging out.

While it was hard to not touch Steven while enjoying the wonder around us, it was still my favorite date out of the many we have been on. There was a school field trip happening that day, so there were a bunch of very loud young kids running all around. Steven would use the kids running around to his advantage and sneak in little touches whenever he could though they were always small touches to make sure a kid did not run into me.

“I do not think I will ever tire of looking at all the fish,” I say, looking into one of the larger tanks that has a wide variety of different fish.

“Have you spotted your stingray yet?” Steven asks, pulling my hand up and kissing the inside of my wrist where I have a stingray tattoo. I had gotten shortly after that first date because of how much I fell in love with them. I could feel a connection with stingrays because they were strong fish but would usually run and hide when confronted to protect themselves. Back then I felt like I was always running, but Steven is the one who showed me I did not have to run anymore.

“Not yet. Sadly we do not always get to see them,” I say, watching the sand along the bottom of the tank closely.

“Well, maybe there will be one inside the next tank,” Steven says, pulling lightly on my hand and slowly leading me over to the next tank. It is similar to the last tank but has some differences in fish because some species cannot be put into the same tank for the risk of them trying to kill each other. I look around at all the fish before quickly looking towards the bottom of the tank. I see some slight movement in the sand, so I quickly tug on Steven’s hand and move closer to that spot.

“There is one,” I say, pointing at the spot. Steven looks over just in time for the stingray to come out of the sand and slowly swim by us. I lay my hand gently against the glass as if to touch it as it swims by.

“I am glad you got to see your favorite animal,” Steven says. Something in his tone makes me turn towards him. He is standing there with a large and fond smile on his face as he stares at me.

“I would have enjoyed today even if I did not get to see one. Seeing one is just the icing on the cake,” I say, smiling at him before moving in to hug him. He steps back away from me though, which makes me frown. “Is there something wrong?”

“No, of course not, love,” Steven says, taking my hand and giving it a quick squeeze before suddenly dropping down onto one knee in front of me. “I have been in love with you since that day you attacked me.”

“You surprised me,” I say, laying a hand against my heart.

“I know. I did not mean to startle you that day. Now, as I was saying, I have loved you for a very long time and have hated how long we had to stay in hiding, but as you know, they passed the new bill this past month. So, I guess what I am saying is that I want to continue being with you for the rest of my life, and would you marry me?” Steven says, pulling out a little black box and revealing a simple black band with a small red ruby inlaid into the center of the band.

“Of course, I would, Steven,” I say, nodding frantically and he grabs my hand and slides the ring into place. As soon as he is standing again, I launch myself into his arms and bury my head into his neck. “Man, my uncle is going to be mad he missed this.”