Aiden was anxious as he pulled up to the Mansion gate. It made him uncomfortable since he had not been that way in a long time. Sure, he had fun when they had gone out dancing the other night but that didn't mean they would this night.

His nervousness had set him on edge causing the weretiger to become restless as well. It reminded him that he had to be in control at all times. He considered that seeing Arielle again might be too great a risk for him. But in the end, he couldn't make himself cancel their plans.

The feline mutant pressed the call button by the gate as he sat in his Jaguar XF. A response came from the other end. "State your business." Aiden responded promptly, "I'm here to take Arielle out dancing." A pause came from the other end before the response. "Alright then." After the voice was done talking the double gates swung open allowing Aiden to drive his car up to the front of the Mansion.

Aiden got out and walked to the front door, leaving his sunglasses in the car. He just let himself in and stood there examining the room while waiting for Arielle to come down the staircase.

Arielle's saturday had been a pretty long one. Half her day was spent at the salon getting herself done up. Something she hadn't done since senior prom, but this was a ball she was going to. She had to be flawless. With her nails painted gold, a new hair style and new dress, Arielle was well on her way to becoming the belle of the evening. All that was left was the jewelry, which she slipped on promptly. A gold necklace and two gold, diamond studded earrings to be exact. She slipped her feet into some gold heeled open toed shoes.

"Please, let this be as good as the last date," she spoke taking in a deep breath and exhaling slowly. She looked over herself one last time before grabbing her gold mini purse and exited her room. She slowly walked down the hall with as tall a posture as she could, even though she had some butterflies in her tummy that were attempting to slump her down. She couldn't let her nervousness show. Arielle paused when she reached the top of the stair case. There had to be a cliche' pause so he could glance at how beautiful she looked tonight. A light smile came across her crimson colored lips, thanks to the fresh coat of lipstick she had applied. Slowly, Arielle took a step down at a time, each one, her heart raced a little more, but she continued her front.

"Hello sir," she spoke finally reaching Aiden, and stood before him, giving him a quick look over. "Naturally you're looking lovely this evening, and you're filling that suit very well I might add," she laughed a bit.

Aiden had recognized her footsteps long before Arielle had even reached the staircase. Enhanced hearing was a benefit sometimes. But naturally, he continued looking around until she had stopped at the top of the staircase to look at her.

Even knowing she was standing there, Aiden's eyes widened at how beautiful Arielle looked at the moment. The shock soon wore off and was replaced by a boyish grin. The kind that gets you into trouble when you haven't even done anything wrong.

His suit was fine weave of black cloth and had been specifically tailored to fit him. He hoped that it looked good. "Oh that's just a roll of quarters. It was laundry day." Aiden then made a show of looking her over for a few seconds. "And you look beautiful. Too beautiful I'm afraid. Now every man there will want to dance with you and I'll have to beat them away with a stick."

"Are you ready then?"

"Roll of quarters?. I just hope that's not all the change you carry. If not, I'll have to invest in another guy. I like big money," Arielle winked.

"Ah, don't be the jealous type. I can't help it if others will want a piece of the beauty too," she laughed, "You beating up guys to keep them away is sweet though, but I promise. You are the only one I'm concerned about. And yes, I am ready to go," she grinned taking his arm.

"Well don't worry about that. I've got you covered."

Taking Arielle's arm, Aiden lead her out of the front door and to his car. He politely opened the door for her so she could get in. Having done that he got in on the other side and started the engine up. Aiden took one last look at the Mansion before he drove off.

The gate opened as they pulled up to it letting them pass without any trouble. As soon as they had left the Mansion, Aiden let his foot lean more on the gas then was necessary and the Jaguar shot of into the street. But after that he maintained the speed limit. They had plenty of time.

"So..how have you been?" Arielle asked in an attempt to strike up a conversation. "My day was pretty long. You guys are lucky you don't have to spend hours at a salon to get all glamored up. I got a feeling tonight will be worth it though. I've been looking forward to this night since the last time we went dancing," she said, looking out at the passenger window.

"Strange thing is I don't know exactly why I have so much. Not that I don't want to but, I'll just shut up now..." she sighed and went silent going into thought. Was she actually falling for this guy? She's never been this sprung on someone this much before. Let alone after only a lunch date and a night of dancing. There was something there, she knew that. Only time would tell if that something was worth acknowledging.

"I have been...distracted I guess you could say, over the past few days and I'm usually not this way. It has been rather intriging for the most part though." He thought about what she said, "You didn't have to do all that just for me."

Aiden laughed a little bit at her next comment. "I've been looking forward to this too. That's the reason I was distracted actually. Please, keep talking."

"Of course I had to. I can't go out looking a mess and embarrassing you. I'm doing you a favor. When the other guys see you with me they'll be like, 'wow, how'd he get her?' and they'll be all jealous and wanting to know your secret. You have to have more than a solid bod and a thick 'roll of quarters' to get a second date with me. If you're all looks and no personality, then sorry, you and I are done. Luckily you have looks and a personality so you have earned yourself another date with me," she smiled to Aiden.

"I've been distracting your mind? Is that right? Interesting...." she said. "You've been distracting to me as well. This is very interesting indeed."

The feline eyed mutant continued to drive while talking. "What do I need to get to the third date? If you don't mind letting me know." Yes, that was the right word. Interesting. She certainly is interesting but how is she making me feel this way? Aiden's right hand slipped off the steering wheel and onto Arielle's hand. He laced his fingers through hers hoping that she wouldn't mind.

"I guess we'll just have to see how the tonight goes if there's gonna be a third date. Then again if tonight were to become a wreck, I don't see a reason why we couldn't attempt another date. You never get anywhere if you quit something every time it fails and for some reason, I don't want us to fail. I'm hoping we can become stronger," she spoke.

Suddenly, she felt Aiden's hands, lacing his fingers through her own. "That was a bold move," she thought. She could deal with the hand holding, but lacing the fingers was something a couple would do. Weird thing was, she didn't object to it. Instead, a warm feeling came over her body, and a hint of red appeared in her cheeks as her hands closed a bit tighter around his.

"Here's a personal question..." she spoke after an awkward silence. "Have you ever fallen in love with anyone before?" she chuckled nervously, scratching her nose.

The shifter was kind of taken aback by the question. "You're right. That is a personal question." Aiden gave a nervous laugh to by him sometime. I guess I'll tell her the truth, he thought.

"Before, no. Now, I'm not really sure. I've never felt anything like what I'm feeling right now that's for certain. I'm going to have to get back to you on that one. How about you?"

Aiden pulled up infront of one of the nicest hotels in the city, the Grand Hyatt New York. He got out of the car and walked to the other side to help Arielle out. After that was done he threw the valet his keys. And held his arm out for Arielle to grasp.

"I see..." Arielle said, biting her lower lip as she heard Aiden's response. The Hotel was gorgeous, but she wasn't thinking about that. She was thinking about what he said. Now he was getting the feeling? And then he asked her the same question, to which she didn't respond as quickly. After getting out of the car, Arielle took Aiden's arm as they began to move towards the entrance.

"I've never been in love. I mean, I've had relationships before, where I cared for someone, but I don't think that what I felt in those relationships isn't what I feel now..."she finally responded. There was no way she was in love. Sure she liked the guy...a lot. However, love was something that takes time to grow. Then again, while it takes some people months of dating to fall in love, some fall in it sooner. All those fairy tales where the prince and princess fall in love at first sight were just sappy bedtime stories she heard. Then again, who was she to say that? She was literally living one of those stories by going out dancing with a guy who can turn into a beast.

After they entered the hotel, they quickly followed the crowd into the ballroom. Arielle's mouth dropped when she saw how gorgeous it was and smiled at the soft orchestral tune flowing through the air and the other couples who had already arrived dancing gracefully over the floor.

"Come on, lets go," she said pulling Aiden out onto the floor after they deposited their things at their table. Just in time too as the orchestra began to play a waltz. She smiled, putting her hands in his.

"Ready?"

Arielle's answer to the question satisfied him momentarily. He began to roll it around in his head. So, is that a good thing? was the thought that kept popping up in his head but he didn't say it.

Maybe also a product of what Arielle had said, the song "I'm a Believer" began to play in Aiden's head. I though love was only true in fairy tales. Meant for someone else but not for me...

Aiden walked out onto the floor with Arielle's urging. After she took his hands, he took her right hand in his left and placed her left hand on his shoulder. His free hand went to the small of her back. "Ready as I'll ever be," as the waltz began.

The pair of mutants danced quite well together. Aiden had a set of light feet when it came to things like that. And Arielle was no slouch either. When the song had finished he asked her, "Again?"

"Yep" Arielle replied happily and they began to waltz around the ballroom floor once again, this time the orchestra's selection was a tune to one of Arielle's child hood favorites.. "This is so great," she thought as they continued their dance, light on their feet. It was as if they really were dancing on clouds like at the end of that movie. It was a rather short song and the couple paused at the end of the selection.

"That was lovely," she laughed, though she paused as the lights began to dim and a slow tune began to play. She watched as all the other couples began to hold each other closer.

Arielle wasted no time, putting her hand back into Aiden's and placing her other on his shoulder. "This is dangerous..." Arielle thought to herself as they began to waltz slowly and she moved in closer to him. "Really dangerous...." she added looking up into his eyes. Whatever the feeling she had for him was seemingly growing the more they danced. The song, and dimmed lights weren't helping either. Still, she let the mood wash over her and pretty soon, she found herself waltzing across the floor, taking center stage as everyone else had formed a circle around the mutant couple.

"So close..." she whispered the lyric to the song, moving in even closer.

Aiden was delighted to find that Arielle wanted to dance again. And even a third time. The third song changed everything though. As they danced closer Aiden grew more uneasy. Not that it was unpleasant. Aiden was having the time of his life. The thought came into his head of kissing Arielle but there was something that held him back.

Aiden was so lost in the song and dancing with Arielle, that even with his enhanced senses he didn't know that everyone in the room had stopped and turned to watch them as they waltzed. The weretiger shifter wouldn't have liked that fact. He would rather have had a good time and gone unnoticed.

The song eventually ended and Aiden's senses started to work perfectly again. It was as rather unsettling experience to see him turning around to find hundreds of eyes starring back at him. He started to think it was a good thing he hadn't kissed her.

He acted as if dancing in a ball room with Arielle were an everyday occurence though and walked her back to their table. The gasps of the crowd from seeing his eyes were loud to his ears as they walked. Aiden hoped that Arielle couldn't hear their whispers.

"Let's take a break for now. How about we sit and talk some more?"