Otabek woke up that day with the first thought in his mind being the 5 page long paper he had to finish before Monday, that he still did not have the will to finish the night before simply because he was preoccupied with other things. Specifically, those other things included Lei, their date, and well, it's really just those two; well, maybe also Phichit, who took up the rest of the night chatting him up about what happened, and what will be happening.

In a way, perhaps it's actually Lei who was first on his mind, and not his paper.

He'll never admit to that, though.

To be honest, Otabek was still on the fence about everything. He figured agreeing on a date (if it could really be called a date, maybe more like a dinner? Phichit had said it was a date though, but is it really?) with Lei will make things a bit less awkward considering the situation they were both in. The situation that was caused by himself, and his 1AM mistakes, and maybe Lei didn't even want anything to do with him. It had been Yuuri who brought up the idea of a date after all. He had agreed due to a rush of emotions in that certain situation.

Still. Lei had been extremely cheerful over the phone, and was really nice when they discussed the details of the date, and other stuff. Otabek rolled over on his bed as he contemplated the situation some more, debating with himself whether there was actually something going on or not. Lei could have just been really interested in making a new friend, and was excited about Otabek agreeing to get to know each other better. Maybe there was something about her that just exuded a friendly demeanor. Did he like Lei? Well...

There was no way Lei was actually interested in Otabek though, of all people. At least, that was the conclusion Otabek ended up with as he rolled around his bed some more, ending up staring at the ceiling. He had always been a regular guy. Sure, he can ice skate maybe a bit better than average but he's just... just Otabek. He liked keeping quiet; though he also knew how to speak up when he does have to, but overall attention really isn't his thing.

Meanwhile even if Otabek has only known the girl for a little more than a day, Lei just seemed different. (WRITER’S NOTE: I TRIED REALLY HARD NOT TO PULL THE ‘SHE’S NOT LIKE OTHER GIRLS THING’ BUT EH IT’S A CHEESY FANFIC SO WHATEVS.) She seemed like the type people were drawn to, whether by her rather attractive smile, or the way she laughs so warmly, like she has known you her whole life. She was easy to talk to, which was a good thing because often, Otabek found himself at a lost for what to say, or stuck with a bad case of stuttering (even if he is guilty of still stuttering around Lei).

His morning thoughts were interrupted by loud knocking on the door, and Phichit's head popping in.

"Are you awake? I don't know what to make for breakfast."

Otabek finally sat up, nodding his head, "I'll be out in a minute."

He figured thinking about Lei can wait.

 

 

Surprisingly, it took Otabek more than half of the day before Lei actually entered his mind again. He filled his day mostly with working on assignments, because they just never ended- honestly what is with university and papers? Though, there were also tidbits where he spent some time also figuring out what to eat for breakfast and lunch with Phichit. He also helped Phichit with his assignments on more than one occasion as long as the boy asked for it.

Lei entered his thoughts again when his roommate and he were debating over food (again) and were deciding what to eat as an afternoon snack. Otabek wanted chicken nuggets, because chicken, while Phichit said that as much as he liked chicken as well, he was in the mood for pizza.

Of course it had to be pizza.

"If you're going to order, I'm not calling," Otabek said solemnly. "Nor will I answer the door."

Phichit laughed, "why? Everything's already cool anyway. You're even going on a date with her."

"A what--- oh you're right."

Phichit gawked at him, "you're kidding me! Don't tell me you actually forgot your date with Lei. It's tonight!" He paused. "Which means we shouldn't get pizza this afternoon, just make sure to bring some home for me later."

Otabek gave an awkward smile and soon his thoughts were overrun with Lei again. The current time was 4PM, which meant he had roughly three more hours to go before he had to meet up with her. That also meant he had three more hours to spend constantly thinking about what could possibly happen later. He wasn't sure what to expect. He had never really been on a date before. It was just not his thing.

His thoughts were interrupted when he realized how quiet Phichit had been the past few minutes. They agreed on the nuggets, which arrived a few minutes later, and were now both eating on the sofa. Otabek glanced at him to find that the other was staring at him contemplatively, a hand his chin in a manner that meant he was thinking.

Otabek raised an eyebrow, "what are you looking at?"

"What will you wear?"

Otabek hadn't thought of that yet, but soon realized Phichit was right. What was he going to wear?

"I'm not sure," he said slowly, trying to think of which clothes he had best. "I'll just pick whatever."

"Whatever for your first date with Lei?" Phichit faked a gasp. "You need to look your best!"

Otabek lightly blushed because how many times has Phichit mentioned his date? He shook his head and bit on a nugget, "nah. I'm good."

"Are you saying you look good in anything?" Phichit teased.

Otabek found himself grinning back a little, "maybe."

That earned him a light punch on the shoulder, with Phichit chuckling to himself and muttering something like "sure, Otabek, sure."

 

 

The time was now 6:40PM. Otabek had showered and worn some pretty okay clothes if he had to judge- nothing fancy, just a regular shirt and jeans. He was ready to leave until Phichit stopped him at the door. After listening to Phichit panic over realizing that he will be left alone, will eat dinner alone, and probably spend the rest of the night alone, Otabek had agreed to walk with him over to Viktor's dorm and drop him off there for the night.

"Looking good, Otabek!" Viktor grinned widely, giving him a thumbs up when he met them at the door. Behind him, Guang Hong was also smiling and giving a double thumbs up, chanting 'so cool~' softly. Yuuko took a photo of Otabek and mentioned something about sending it for Leo to see so he can witness the moment too, before shooing Otabek away to make sure he wasn't late. Otabek sighed in response and wondered again how he got stuck with them.

With roughly 10 minutes remaining till 7PM, Otabek began his walk from their dorm over to Grand Prix Pizza. It was relatively near, so he hoped it wouldn't take him too long even with the little detour he had taken. He was only equipped with his wallet in one pocket, and his phone in another, but it was still pretty okay since the walk was still kind of within school campus, with the pizza place only being a few blocks away.

Just as he was getting the feel of the cool, night breeze, there was a slight rumbling in the distance.

"Oh no."

Another rumble.

Otabek tentatively stretched out his hand, palm facing upwards. Just as he expected, he soon felt light raindrops hit his skin and he groaned because he was most definitely not prepared. He had paused in the middle of a sidewalk, debating whether he should run the rest of the route before the rain got harder, which still had risks of getting him wet in case it did get harder, or wait somewhere for it to disappear. Maybe it was just a light drizzle and won't take very long- but that would mean being late for the date and he didn't want that either.

Surprisingly, a few seconds later the rain stopped.

At least, Otabek thought it stopped, because there was suddenly a low chuckle coming from behind him and the figure of an umbrella became clear above him.

"Were you really just planning to stand under the rain the entire time?"

Otabek whirled around, eyes wide in surprise, because Lei was standing there, that ever present smile on her face as she stared back at Otabek. Her smile grew wider, as she continued:

"You would have missed our date."