"How do I look?"

Aurora peeped over her shoulder at him, fluffing her hair one last time before swiveling to completely face. She smiled, sauntering towards where he nervously stood and reached up to arrange the bow tie around his collar,


"I think you look splendid," He cocked his head to the side and she chuckled, "What?"

Ryan shook his head, the curls bouncing with the effect, "Nothing, it's just that I wasn't quite looking for that word. What's splendid supposed to mean?"

She knew he was joking with her because a devious smile had begun crawling up his lips. Aurora smacked his chest and rolled her eyes, moving to grab her purse from the counter,


"Let's go now or else we'll be late."

Ryan breathed out but nodded and linked his fingers with hers as they walked out the door. The night's air was quite chilly, she was grateful that she'd decided to wear the cashmere overcoat like Rosa advised.


"Why do you think your dad wants dinner with me?" He asked as they slipped into the car with him at the driver's seat and her at the passengers side.

Aurora shrugged, "It wasn't his idea actually, Matt and Lou wanted dinner with us. I guess after warming up to you, he wants to see you there too."

The ignition came to life and Ryan smoothly drove them out of the driveway. Aurora clicked on her seatbelt, resting the back of her head against the headrest,

"Yeah, he really likes me," He replied smugly and she chuckled.

"Soak up the moment, sweetie," She shot back in a singsong voice, he laughed in amusement.

The ride took a dreadful twenty minutes but it was mostly because Ryan didn't know where the restaurant was, although he kept claiming that he did. She advised him to use the map or maybe they could call her father but he proved stubborn, rambling on about how she should learn to trust him more. They argued on and on until finally, she gave up and after a few more minutes of turning around, they finally found the place,

"See," Ryan quipped, smiling brightly, "I told you that we didn't have to bother your dad."

Aurora scoffed, moving to unlatch the seatbelt, "Yeah and now we're late. I hope my dad like you enough to excuse our tardiness."

The door from her side was pulled open for her and she stepped down with the help of a valet. Ryan followed suit, handing over the keys to one of them. She came to stand at his side and he held out his arm for her, Aurora took the arm smiling warmly as they proceeded to walk into the bright building.

She told the hostess that they'd reserved a group table under the name 'Traynor' and the smiling blonde led them towards their table. Louisa was the first to spot them, rising to her feet and raising a hand in greeting. Her father and Matt seemed to be in some sort of conversation but after seeing Lou stand, they followed her line of sight.

"We're so sorry for coming at this time," She apologized quickly and thankfully, Ryan nodded along with her.

Lou chuckled, waving their apology off, "Don't worry, I'm just glad you tow are here," She then proceeded to hug Aurora first and then Ryan.

Aurora greeted her father with a kiss on the cheek and fist bumped Matt. She watched as Ryan shook the hands of the two men, settling down beside her. Their table was arranged in such a way that Lou and Matt sat side by side while facing she and Ryan who was sitting by her side and then her father took the head of the table.

"My parents would've joined but mom is still not over our break up," Matt announced with a soft chuckle but she could tell that it felt forced.

Aurora sympathized with him knowing what he was currently facing. After all, her mother was now completelt ignoring her as though she didn't exist.

Ryan cleared his throat, clinking his spoon against the glass of water by his hand, "Alright, enough about the people who aren't here. Let's celebrate with the ones who are."

They all fell into fits of laughter, Harry raising his own glass and nodded with a bright smile etched on his lips,

"Ryan is right, here, to the ones who are here."

We all followed suit, lifting our glasses in the air and repeating,

"To the ones who are here."

Soon after, they made their order and the whole ordeal was quite funny. Ryan kept ordering the same thing that she picked and at first, it was cute until it wasn't. She advised him to pick his own dish but he wouldn't even look at the menu, claiming that he already knew they would put some kind of fancy dish that he wouldn't recognize so he was taking a saw bet by taking whatever I would eat.

She didn't even know what to say to that, however the rest of their companions found it funny. Louisa had went on to coo about how cute it was,

The dinner went on smoothly, even more better than she'd expected. Ryan was asked a lot of questions and he didn't hold back on any of them, he answered each one thrown at him with pride and she couldn't help but wonder how much more amazing he could get.

"So you're saying you live in a one room apartment, your whole life?" Matt queried wide-eyed and Ryan nodded, taking a small sip of his wine.

Her father was quite invested in the topic too while she and Louisa whispered about how the institute had gone quiet after she left. But of course, she was still listening to the men's conversation.

Matt shook his head in disbelief, "B-But how did you manage staying in a place that small?"

Ryan shrugged, "I can't imagine it being that hard, I mean Aurora enjoyed the place too. Especially my bed, said it was the most comfortable place in the entire room," He added in the most innocent way possible.

Her father raised a brow, Matt coughed and Louisa's brows shot to her forehead. She spit out her drink so fast, it splashed on Louisa as well.

"Oh my god," She sputtered, leaning over the table to wipe Lou's face but she only stained her dress with the cream on the table.

Aurors hastily jerked back, almost toppling over but Ryan was quick on his feet, wrapping his arms around her waist and stabling her.

"Are you okay?" He asked and she would've been fooled by the concern in his tone but he was the one who'd caused this.

She yanked herself away from him, shooting him her best death glare while he smiled. Aurora faced Louisa with a sorry look,

"I really apologize-"

"No, it's fine."

She shook her head adamantly, "It's not, come let's get you cleaned up."

Louisa rose a brow, pointing at the greasy stain on her dress, "You also need some cleaning."

She winced but nodded, excusing them both from the table. The moment they got into the bathroom, which was empty to her satisfaction, she took some wipes, dabbed it in a bit of water and began cleaning the top of Lou's dress that had begun blooming red from the wine she spat.

Louisa also moved to do the same but to her dress and they worked in silence.

"You're really lucky," Lou suddenly muttered and Aurora frowned, snapping her head up in confusion.

"What?"

Louisa shrugged, "I said you're lucky, Ryan truly loves you, a whole lot than you know.

She couldn't help it, a small scoff slipped past her lips, "That's a funny way of showing your love, I can't believe he embarrassed me like that," She grimaced, adding more pressure as she wiped the dress, "And in front of my dad too."

Louisa chucked softly, grabbing her wrist and halting her hand motion, "Trust me, for him to tease you like that means a lot. He's saying that he's not ashamed of you nor how the two of you managed to fall in love. He's proud of your relationship and that's more than I can say for Matt."

Aurora couldn't move and Lou smiled again, patting the back of her palm and stepping back.

"I think most of the stain is gone," She said referring to her gown, "You should come out when you're ready."

She bobbed her head absentmindedly and Lou threw her another knowing grin before walking away and leaving her in the silence of the bathroom.