here I go again

“I–no. I mean… I don’t know.” Olivia furrowed her brows as she kept staring at her cup of coffee, trying to remember more accurately her train of thoughts prior to her date with him. “Holly—” The blonde began again, after a brief pause and then looked up from her coffee to meet Lucas’ gaze. She felt like she owed him that much. “–can be very mean when she wants to.” And Olivia hated to be the one saying that because it did feel like she was trash talking a friend, but it wasn’t her fault that it was the truth. It could have been worse… she could’ve said that Holly was a bitch (which wouldn’t be a lie either). “She managed to get some pictures of you from your mutual friend and said you looked boring. That she didn’t want to waste her time and that she was going to stand you up.” Shit, maybe she shouldn’t have said those words about Lucas. Liv thought about it as she sipped on her coffee. It was bad enough that she had lied, now her honesty might offend him. Great. 

“I… honestly don’t know what made me go to the bar that night. I don’t really go on dates, so maybe that was a way for me to go on one without actually going on one? I don’t know… but I promise I didn’t do it because I wanted to hurt you or anything. I even thought about telling you right away, but I didn’t want you to be upset. Then, my plan became to pretend to be her and sort of let you down easy?” She admitted with an apologetic shrug. “But… you were so fun and nice and interesting… the conversation flowed easily and before I knew, it was too late to say something, so I panicked.” Liv chuckled nervously. “I was going for a hug, but my hand got in the way and that’s how the handshake happened.” His proposal caught her off guard though, which was what caused Olivia to stare at Lucas like a deer in headlights, but there was a small smile on her lips because yes, she would love that! She kept thinking about him and reprimanding herself… now she could actually give it a try. “Su–sure? Sure, she’d love that. I’d love that.” The Lucas part of it was still undecided because she didn’t want for her son to get to know a guy and get attached to them only to be left alone like his father would do. “That really is a pretty great name, I have to admit. And he’s a great kid, too. He’s my buddy, I’m really lucky to have him. He can be a little handful sometimes, but all kids are handful.”

While this whole turn of events had been interesting, it seemed to become even more so. Did people really not meet up anymore? Holly saw pictures of him and bailed? Uh, yikes. So, naturally, Lucas couldn’t help giving a nervous chuckle. “I don’t know if I should be offended or relieved. I think I wanna lean towards the latter, though. If we’re being honest... I didn’t think the date would go well. And I think the only reason it did go well was because, well... you’re not her.” Maybe it was a little harsh for him to say since he couldn’t really say he knew Holly. But their personalities seemed pretty different just in what conversations he’d had with her, and Olivia seemed to understand based on her honesty.

The more she spoke and the more she explained that night and her actions, the more enamored Lucas sort of felt. It was endearing. Olivia had wanted to help him out when she didn’t even know him. She wanted to have some fun, but felt bad for doing so. All of this probably should have scared him off but honestly? It only intrigued Lucas that much more. “Fun and nice and interesting. My ego feels a little better now, thank you.” He laughed. “That handshake had me a little nervous. I could tell something was going on, you know? But I didn’t know what. So, I was... a little hesitant to swing by here. I’m glad everything’s okay.” Watching Olivia’s reaction and getting her response, Lucas smiled. “They certainly can be. Not that I have any of my own, of course, but sometimes I feel like I might as well have. A couple of my friends can be a handful. Which you’ll probably meet sometime soon, then.” Lucas took a sip of his coffee before pulling his phone from his pocket and unlocking the screen. “I know you’re here with your son, and it’s work, so I don’t want to hold you here or anything. But yeah. We can try a real date? And I’m pretty sure we don’t have each other’s real number?” He brought up a blank text message for her to put her number in, slipping his phone across the table to her. 

After having him accept her coffee offer, Liv felt relieved. Now she could think of how to explain everything to him. It gave her some time to think while standing in line to get them coffee and something to munch on, which she did. Olivia placed his latte in front of him and a plate with two muffins on the table, before sitting down with her own macchiato. “I… yeah.” She nodded looking down at her coffee while holding the cup with both hands. The petite blonde paused for a moment, gathering enough courage to continue talking. “I really am sorry for lying to you, Lucas.” She sighed, running her fingers through her short, blonde hair and then looked up at him. “I’m not like that… throughout the night, I wanted to tell you the truth… but you had gone there for Holly and I was selfish… I wanted to enjoy the night a little more. Before I knew, it was too late to say anything… I left suddenly because I knew it wasn’t right to continue tricking you like that.” Would it be right to say she had liked him? It felt like it was too much. Better not say anything. “But my name is Olivia. I do know Holly. She’s… a friend. I don’t have any siblings… Holly does. I have a seven year old called Lucas… who is my roommate… and everything else I told you was true. Still, I am sorry for lying to you. You didn’t deserve that. You’re way too nice to be tricked like that.”

Lucas had already had plenty of time to think about things while waiting for her shift to end, but he tried not to think. Thinking created biases and he wanted to give her the chance to explain before he could confuse himself anymore by everything that happened. When she returned to their table, he thanked her for the coffee, a little surprised by the addition of muffins. “Honestly? I’m not really one for holding grudges or anything like that. It was just a little unexpected. That’s all.” So, she did know Holly. That made sense. It explained how she ended up in her place. Well, sort of. “I guess I’m still a little confused...? Was this planned? Why pretend to be someone else?” Lucas shook his head. Maybe that didn’t matter. “I didn’t really talk to Holly that much. We were just going to go out on a date and see what happened. But if everything else was true, I mean... As awkward as it turned out to be, I... I’m glad that it did?” He smiled, holding back a laugh. How crazy did he sound right about now? He had been lied to and it made him feel a bit paranoid. Especially since he hadn’t really dated in so long. But he enjoyed their little date. He liked her. He liked Olivia. “Did I mention I have an eerie amount of patience? It gets on my friends’ nerves all the time. But don’t worry about it. There are more important things.” Lucas took a sip of his coffee before lacing his fingers around it. Everything else was true. Yeah, he could take her word on that because she didn’t lie about where she worked. That was... refreshing. “Can we start over? No apologies necessary. I think I’d rather get to know Olivia better. If she’s okay with that. And Lucas... That’s a pretty great name.” He chuckled. 

Olivia didn’t only feel bad… no… she felt awful. Even worse than that particular night where she had lied to him, simply because she wasn’t expecting to run into him again. Yet, here she was… But she focused on her task at hand, finishing some emails and that one phone call in her office before turning off her computer, grabbing her things and then heading outside to meet Lucas at the cafe. Her own Lucas was still at the kids section according to Jenna, which easied up Liv’s mind as she stepped into the cafe and waved back at Lucas, then approaching him. “It was good. I managed to finish everything on time, which is a miracle, so I’d say it was good.” She pressed her lips together for a moment, before offering him a small smile as she set her coat down on her seat and adjusted her shirt. “Again, thanks for waiting and for letting me explain everything–I was kind of expecting you not to be here. What can I get you? My treat.”

“That’s always a good feeling. Getting everything accomplished on time.” She was expecting for him not to be there. Well, Lucas would say that would be pretty typical to assume. Perhaps most people would have taken off. But he didn’t see the harm in staying. He was already there. Why not talk? Lucas shrugged, returning a small smile. “It’s no big deal. I’m already here, and it’s nice to see you again.” Which was true. Because even if she lied about who she was, Lucas had to assume she wasn’t faking everything. Plus, yeah, he didn’t have any other plans and the commute back home would feel even longer if he would have just left everything as it was. He wanted to shake his head at her offer since it honestly wasn’t necessary but decided to cave. “Uh, a small latte is fine?” Once she was comfortably seated, Lucas provided another small smile. “So... Olivia, and Lucas? Your... son?”

😈 Jump out of the shadows to scare/startle my muse

“Because it’s Jin and Taemin, you know? They’re always up to something. And part of me wouldn’t be surprised if you were in on it too. Olivia?” It had gone awfully quiet all of a sudden, and when Lucas glanced out towards the living area, he didn’t see her. Stepping out of the kitchen, Olivia jumped in front of him from behind the wall. And… yup, Lucas jumped. Even screamed a little. Which had both of them cracking up and Lucas tried to hide behind his hands. “This is why I shouldn’t have been born in October. I wasn’t built for Halloween and jump scares. Please don’t let either of them set something up like that.” 

🐶 Nuzzle my muse with their nose [specify a location]

“Oof—” Lucas laughed as Olivia climbed on top of him, having been comfortably situated on the couch. His hands rested on her back as she nuzzled against his neck, and he couldn’t help but smile. “We should have had Jumanji movie night forever ago. Have you already watched it, Lucas? Because if you have, no spoilers. My old brain doesn’t remember any of it from years ago.” Little Lucas was setting everything up and he ran to get the lights once it started playing. Lucas planted a soft kiss on Olivia’s head after the fact, playing with her hair a moment. What neither of them anticipated though, was the little man climbing on top of both of them, the added weight making them groan but laugh, nevertheless.

🖕 Flip my muse the bird/a similar gesture

They were just walking down the sidewalk, casually chatting when Ivy seemed to suddenly trip. Seeing it from his periphery, Lucas moved to catch her if she needed it but she caught her balance pretty quick. “Wait, did you just trip over the sidewalk? Are we trading places?” Ivy barely looked at him, flashing him the finger as she kept walking. “Oh, come on! It’s kinda funny.” Lucas chuckled, jogging a bit to catch up with her.