Rachel wanted to go out. That wasn’t a big surprise to Lee. It wasn’t even a surprise that she wanted Lee to go out with her.

What was a surprise was that she wanted Tarin to come out with them. And, as Rachel very blatantly pointed out, Lee had no excuses because Kevin was on the other side of the county and so she didn’t need a babysitter. Which cancelled out most of Lee’s arguments.

Though, the last time, when Rachel had signed her up for open mic night and made arrangements for Tarin to take her to the bar as a ‘surprise’, had actually turned out to be a decent night out.

And a very interesting night after leaving the bar.

So, as Tarin was up for going out, even on a busy Saturday night, Lee had curled her hair slightly more than it did naturally after her shower. And, since she wasn’t sporting any major bruises this time, her entire wardrobe was available.

Finally, Lee settled on a red corset top, a black pencil skirt, and red heels that laced up. Finishing up her makeup, Lee made her way to the living room.

Rachel wanted to go out. That, in and of itself wasn’t all that outlandish. It seemed like Rachel loved an opportunity to get Lee out and when Lee had mentioned that Rachel wanted to go out, Tarin had figured it would be good for Lee to have some time with her sister…especially considering the little rocky patch the two had gone through.

What was surprising was that Rachel had wanted him to join. For some reason, that made Tarin nervous, but how was he supposed to say no? He and Lee had rarely gone out and he was almost completely better.

Lee had been getting ready for quite a while and Tarin was starting to wonder if he’d underestimated how much he was supposed to dress up. Where were they going?

As usual when they went out, he’d opted for his nice jeans and a button up. It was summer, after all, and too much else was going to be hot if it was crowded. So here he waited, standing in the living room because ten minutes ago it had seemed silly to sit down.

Speaking of hot.

Lee made her way into the living room and Tarin just stared for a minute.

”Uh…” he said suavely, while taking in the whole outfit. A couple of times.

”You may be overestimating my self control Lee.” he said softly, shaking his head.

”Where are we going anyway, am I underdressed?”

”Uh…”

Lee smiled as she watched Tarin take in her outfit. a smile that widened into a full grin as Tarin continued speaking. ”I’m guessing that means you like my outfit?” Lee asked as she walked over to Tarin, stretching up to give him a quick kiss.

When Tarin asked if he was underdressed Lee stepped back and made a point of looking him over. ”No, you definitely look good,” she told him. ”And as far as I know, the plan is to just go to the same bar we went to last time, just meeting Rachel there.

“Why? Am I too dressed up?”

”Mmhmm” Tarin said as Lee leaned up for that kiss and stepped back to let him know that he passed muster. They were just going to the same bar they’d gone to the last time.

So that meant Lee was being just plain mean. Why else would she have dressed like that just to go to the bar. Maybe they could do like they had last time and only stay a very short while before they left to come back home. Then again, maybe they could just tell Rachel that they’d changed their minds and decided to stay in, if she was at the bar Matt would be there.

Oh. Lee was talking. She was asking if she was overdressed?

”Yes, completely overdressed, take it off immediately…” he said and stepped forward for another kiss.

Lee giggled as Tarin told her that she was indeed overdressed. And what she should do about it.

Before she was able to comment or do as requested, Tarin was stepping forward to give her another kiss. The grin still on her face from earlier, Lee returned Tarin’s kiss as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

”But Tarin,” Lee said when they pulled away enough to be able to speak. ”If I take this off, what will I wear to the bar?”

Not that Lee was actually worried about that; even if she ended up not wearing this to the bar, Lee had lots of other outfits she could wear.

Plus, Rachel and the bar would be there all night.

Oh man, that giggle wasn’t helping matters, not at all.

Now they were kissing too and that really wasn’t getting them out the door. Lee’s arms reached up around his neck and Tarin sighed into the kiss. Had they been planning to go somewhere?

Eventually though, Lee pulled away and Tarin shook his head as she spoke.

”You take that off and we won’t be going to the bar Lee.” Tarin said, the promise clear in his words.

Taking a deep breath and stepping back, Tarin smiled, ”So I guess we’d better go.”

Besides, it was the weekend and they’d have to come home sometime.

Tarin was probably right; if she took this off, they most likely wouldn’t end up getting to the bar at all that night. And if they get going and out of the apartment soon, they likely wouldn’t make it to the bar, either.

”You’re probably right,” Lee said as she let her arms fall back down to her sides.

As she made her way to the door, passing her purse on the table, Lee realized another advantage of going out with Tarin: she didn’t need to always take her purse or even keys with her, which was very good as her current outfit didn’t have pockets.

”Should we walk, or grab a cab?” Lee asked, making her way into the hallway and toward the stairwell.

If Tarin was being honest with himself, he’d been hoping that Lee would call his bluff. It hadn’t really been a bluff though and Tarin would have happily stayed right where they were for the duration of the evening.

Still. They’d promised that they’d meet Rachel at the bar, and so they would.

Lee immediately veered towards the stairs instead of the elevator as they exited the apartment and Tarin couldn’t help but be grateful. They hadn’t talked about it but Tarin knew he was going to have to find someone who could help him with the claustrophobia, he couldn’t avoid elevators forever.

”I'm good to walk if you are, might help clear the head a bit, so I can think about something other than leaving.” he said as they made their way down the stairs and into the lobby of the apartment building.

It didn’t take long for them to make it down the stairs and through the lobby. ”You’re right, walking would probably be good,” Lee agreed as she took Tarin’s hand.

The walk to the bar wasn’t really all that long and it was a nice night out, cooler than it had been recently, but not so much so that Lee was uncomfortable walking with nothing covering her arms or shoulders.

”You really do look good tonight,” Lee said looking up at Tarin as they turned onto the street the bar was on. ”That colour looks really good on you.”

They way they were walking down the street holding hands had Tarin drawing parallels to the last time they’d made this trip. That time they had taken a cab and there hadn’t been any hand holding. Tarin had also been an absolute wreck and trying to figure out if they were on a date.

Lee spoke, pulling Tarin from the memory with her compliment and he had to chuckle a bit, ”This old thing?” he said, with a quick grin in Lee’s direction as he squeezed her hand a little.

Now that they were outside in public and Tarin was forced to think about something other than all of that exposed skin across Lee’s arms and shoulders he found that he was excited to be going out.

”Maybe we should do this more often.” he said. They were making good time and would be at the bar soon. Knowing Rachel she was already waiting.

Lee laughed softly as she smiled back at Tarin. ”Yes, that old thing,” she confirmed. Lee honestly couldn’t care less about whether it was something that Tarin had had for years or if he had just bought it specifically to go out that night. He looked damn good in it. Plus, Lee really couldn’t judge. Her own shirt that night was at least as old as her son.

As they continued walking, Tarin commented that they should probably go out like this more often. ”Yeah?” Lee asked, pausing for a moment. ”You know, I think I’d like that.”

“Fair warning, though. Most of my clothes for going out are closer to this than what I wore last time to the bar.”

Well, if Lee liked his outfit then that was what mattered, Tarin thought as they continued to make their way down the street and towards the bar. For his part, Tarin hadn’t really thought a whole lot about what he was going to wear because, well, he kind of wore the same kind of thing all the time.

Lee though…sure she wore skirts and stuff a lot, but this outfit was a whole other thing.

That line of thinking was not conducive to a night staying out though, and Lee was already agreeing with his comment that they should do this more.

Lee pointed out that her ‘going out’ wardrobe tended more towards what she was currently wearing and Tarin laughed, ”Is that supposed to be discouraging?” he asked. ”Though, I’d think you’d know by now that when it comes down to it, it really doesn’t matter what you’re wearing.”

They were approaching the bar now and Tarin smiled over at Lee, she was taller in those heels but still short enough that he had to look down. ”Oh good, we’re here.”

No turning back now.

”No, not to discourage,” Lee replied with a shake of her head and grin. ”Just a fair warning based on your reaction when I walked out tonight.”

As Tarin continued speaking, Lee couldn’t help the slight flush that crossed her cheeks. The very obvious, full look over her entire outfit that night had just resulted in a grin from her because that was exactly what she was trying to get from Tarin. But even though he had told and shown her multiple times that it really didn’t matter to him what she was wearing. Even workout clothes after she’d been at the gym or running. Apparently even then Tarin thought she was hot, good looking, and that still caused her to blush. A lot.

Walking up to the bar, Lee heard Tarin speak again, and she turned to look up at him. ”Oh good?” she questioned with a knowing smile. ”What, are you eager to get the night over or something?”

Tarin supposed it was a fair warning when all things were considered.

”Where was the warning tonight if we’re being fair?” he teased, ” ‘Cause I think you knew exactly what was going to happen.” A thought occurred to Tarin, ”Did I spoil your attempt to not have to go out?” he added with a grin as they approached the doors to the bar.

Was Tarin eager to get the night over and done with? ”You bet.” he said, ”Though somehow I doubt with Rachel here we’re going to be able to get away with what we did last time.” .

Still, it was going to be a good night. Even if it looked like the bar was pretty darn crowded.

Lee shrugged innocently. ”I was hoping to get a reaction along those lines,” she told him. ”But I didn’t know how you would react, so didn’t know I had to give warning.” That was completely reasonable, even if it wasn’t entirely true.

”And no,” Lee continued. ”I had every intention of us still going out tonight. I just wasn’t really bothered by the idea of being late.”

As they reached the doors, Tarin mentioned he didn’t think they’d be able to get away with the same thing this time. ”What, you mean leaving before we even finish our second beers so we don’t end up making out in the middle of the bar? But you’re right, this probably won’t be an early night.”