How had Hanna gotten her into this? Emily huffed as she waved the waitress away for the third time since she'd entered the restaurant, reassuring the tall brunette woman that her date would be there soon enough. The waitress had smiled politely, if not a bit pitifully, but clearly didn't believe Emily.

Stirring the straw in her tall glass of water, Emily checked the time once again, annoyed to see that her date was now a half-hour late. She shouldn't have even bothered with this, Emily thought, but somehow Hanna had convinced her that Emily and some friend of Hanna's would be the perfect fit for each other, and, now that her and Paige were no longer together, Emily had relented on the basis that maybe it would be fun.

So far, it wasn't very fun.

Looking up, she saw a gorgeous blonde walk through the doors, glancing over the restaurant uncertainly. Hanna had never shown Emily a picture of the girl she was being set up with, and Emily couldn't remember her name, but figured the blonde had to be her date. Granted, she did look a bit older than Emily, perhaps by a few years, but Emily was in awe at the way her golden locks bounced when she walked and her smile was absolutely radiant.

Standing up as the blonde woman seemed to be walking in her direction, Emily was suddenly nervous.

"Hi," she greeted, catching the attention of the pretty blonde who smiled curiously back at her. "I'm Emily."

"CeCe," she replied, though confusion seemed to glimmer in her blue-grey eyes.

"You're my blind date, right?" Emily asked uncertainly, realizing how stupid she'd look if CeCe wasn't her date at all. "Hanna Marin set us up."

Something flashed in the blonde's eyes, but she smiled playfully. "That's right," she said, as if remembering suddenly.

Emily offered her the seat across from her and they both sat. Emily flashed a smirk at the waitress that said 'I-told-you-so' as they ordered. CeCe, politely choosing to just have whatever Emily was having, seemed appeased at the order of steak and potatoes, and was the first to strike up conversation.

"It's my first time eating at one of these places," CeCe commented passively, her gaze drifting around the room and lingering with awe at the elegant chandelier hanging above them.

"Really?" Emily was surprised. CeCe had come off as the type to eat at fancy restaurants nearly every day, what with the stunning, and not to mention very form-fitting, yellow dress she had on. Emily had taken her for the formal, elegant type, and yet the blonde seemed enthralled by the rather mediocre restaurant they were sat in.

"Really," CeCe affirmed with a chuckle. "I was a pretty sheltered child,"

The blonde spoke with a smile, but Emily could've sworn she saw, even if only for a second, a flicker of sadness in her eyes. Emily wondered if there was more to that than CeCe was sharing, but knew it definitely wasn't her place to ask.

"Is this your first blind date?" CeCe asked, her head tilting a bit to the side. Clearly she'd noticed Emily's nervousness.

Emily nodded and CeCe's eyes were soft. "Don't be nervous," she said reassuringly. "You're in great company," CeCe winked playfully, and Emily blushed slightly, earning an amused grin from the blonde.

"I guess I just wasn't sure what to expect," Emily said honestly, trying to relax around the friendly blonde. It was true, Emily had been pretty terrified going into this date. Despite reassurances from Hanna that her friend was super sweet and all, Emily had felt a bit uncertain about going on a date with someone she'd never met.

"I don't live up to your expectations?" CeCe asked amusedly, though her gaze was genuinely curious.

"Oh, I didn't mean it like that," Emily clarified hastily, annoyed at herself for giving CeCe such an impression. To her relief, though, CeCe laughed it off.

"I was kidding, Emily," the brunette watched intently as CeCe's hand moved tentatively towards her own. The blonde cast a glance up at her as if to ensure that she wasn't overstepping her bounds before she placed her hand gently on top of Emily's, attempting to relax the anxious younger girl.

Emily smiled sheepishly up at her, and the blonde smiled back. Emily felt much more relaxed than she had earlier, incredibly relieved at the kindness of her date, who gazed at her warmly. Hanna had been right, this woman was fantastic.

CeCe pulled her hand back as the food was served, and she looked down at her steak hungrily, though seemed uncertain as she began to cut at it with the knife.

"What's wrong?" Emily asked, hoping she didn't order something CeCe didn't like.

CeCe smiled up at her. "I just hope I'm doing this right," she admitted, cutting a piece of steak unceremoniously as she spoke. "It's my first time, remember?" despite her uncertainty, CeCe retained a cool and confident demeanour.

"You're doing fine," Emily assured her, and CeCe smiled gratefully at the reassurance as she considered to poke at the steak, eventually getting the hang of the best techniques for slicing it up.

They ate without the exchange of many words, aside from a few tidbits about themselves. Emily learned through casual discussion that CeCe worked at the boutique across from her own workplace and, to her surprise, that CeCe was incredibly talented with maths. Emily talked about herself as well, though with less modesty. She spoke of her time on the swim team primarily, and also talked a bit about her family. She asked once about CeCe's family, but the blonde became suddenly passive and seemed uninterested in the subject, so Emily quickly dropped it, hoping she could ask again another time.

"Dessert?" CeCe offered when they had finished.

Emily declined apologetically, aware that she was supposed to be joining her friends on another 'A' hunt tonight, though she found herself really not wanting the date to end. She had enjoyed her time with CeCe a lot, and would definitely have to thank Hanna, and probably endure an 'I-told-you-so' from her because of the initial hesitancy.

"I should probably get going.." Emily said reluctantly, trying to come up with a valid reason considering she couldn't add 'because I have to go track down 'A' with my friends'.

CeCe nodded understandingly and began to fish through her purse, eventually coming up with her wallet. Emily was surprised when CeCe put onto the table more than enough money to cover the food, and found herself objecting.

"Let me pay half," Emily said, retrieving her own wallet from her coat pocket.

CeCe shook her head, tilting it to the side again in a way that Emily couldn't help but find incredibly attractive. "Consider it my way of saying thanks," she said kindly.

Emily found herself confused. CeCe didn't need to thank her, it wasn't like Emily had even come up with the idea to take CeCe out for the night, if anything, they should both be thanking their mutual matchmaker. Emily was about to speak again when her phone buzzed in her pocket. Retrieving it, she saw that the text was from Hanna.

Sorry Em, your date cancelled. Another time?

Cancelled? Emily was suddenly even more confused. Her date was right in front of her, right? Emily sent a text back informing Hanna that she was with CeCe, and received another text only moments later.

I don't even know a CeCe.

Emily's gaze snapped up to CeCe, who was paying the waitress. As the brunette woman walked away, she cast a concerned look at Emily, who was clearly even more agitated than she'd been earlier.

"Who are you?" Emily asked suspiciously.

"Still CeCe," the blonde replied amusedly, but Emily just narrowed her eyes.

"You don't even know Hanna," Emily stated, and CeCe seemed to realize what this was about.

"Oh," she said, a slight smile playing at her lips. "Right, that."

"That's all?" Emily asked, visibly annoyed.

"You offered me the seat," CeCe said, still not dropping her sense of humour.

"Because I thought you were my date. Why didn't you just tell me you weren't?" Emily, though she was annoyed that CeCe had lied, was genuinely curious as to why she'd bothered to eat with Emily if she wasn't her blind date.

"I didn't want to eat alone," CeCe shrugged, but continued when she saw that Emily thought that was a pretty lame answer. "Okay, look, it was pretty clear that whoever your date was wasn't showing up, and it didn't seem fair to just leave you to eat by yourself. Besides, I wasn't lying when I said this was my first restaurant. I was pretty nervous, too."

"So, you did all this just because you felt bad for me?" Emily asked, still unsure about the blonde.

"Well, I also thought you were cute, so that helped too," she smiled at Emily, whose cheeks turned red at the compliment.

"I'm sorry I lied, Emily, but I really did have a good time," CeCe said, and Emily smiled back at her.

"I did too," she admitted, unable to hold a grudge while looking into the genuinely apologetic eyes of the gorgeous blonde in front of her.

"Maybe we could go on a real first date some time?" CeCe offered hopefully, and Emily couldn't help but grin at the eager expression on CeCe's face.

"This was a real first date," CeCe's eyes seemed to light up at that. "Even if it did end with a bit of a twist."

CeCe looked elated, and her enthusiasm was contagious.

"Whatever it was, it was way better than eating alone. Besides, I bet you wouldn't have had nearly as much fun with your real date, " CeCe said flippantly, and Emily couldn't help but chuckle.

"I did have fun," Emily admitted with a grin.

"In that case," CeCe began, cocking her head with a playful smile. "When's our second date?"