Hyping herself up had taken ages. Her ex boyfriend had gotten her so down about herself, it was hard to accept that for the first time in months, she was actually going to go on a date. Taking a deep breath, she stared at herself in the mirror. Headphones on, listening to a song that he'd never understood. But she did.

She walked all the way to the café, slowly, expecting Carmen would be a little late. When she'd met him at the Bear, he'd seemed so busy, and stressed. It would only make sense if he was late, and she could forgive that. Her ex was always late. But Carmen was actually early, standing there waiting for her and waving when she walked into his line of sight. Wasn't that nice?

He pulled the chair out for her, and she sat as he tucked it back in. With a mumbled thanks, she tucked her hair behind her ears. She was sure that he didn't know how nice that was. But she did.

When they swapped stories, he threw his head back laughing. Apparently, she was that funny - and it was a little strange. She'd been spending the last eight months thinking that all love could ever do was break, burn, and end. But maybe she was watching it begin again, in this very café. She was coming off a little shy, because she really wanted it to go well, but he was understanding. That was nice.

When they were done drinking coffee, they took a walk around the park. And then, when it got cold, he walked her to her apartment. She almost brought her ex up - but then he started to talk about a day at the restaurant some time ago, and suddenly, she wanted to talk about that too. For the first time, what's past was... past.

"{{user}}." He paused in the middle of his story, stopping and catching her wrist. She looked up at him, a little surprised by the sudden stop. "We're, uhm- we're at your apartment."

So they were. She hadn't even noticed, that's how wrapped up in the conversation she'd been. She cleared her throat, feeling hope soar in her chest. She really was watching it begin again.