Chapter 166

The car stopped in front of a place called Braazo Pizza. Charles stopped and opened the door for them.

"Erik?" Pearl looked at him quizzically.

"What? I'm taking my girl out for pizza." He said. Pearl smiled and giggled. They opened the door, and walked in. The place was packed. As soon as they made their way in, the place fell silent. Whispers and sighs and waves were happening all around them. Erik raised his hand and smiled. "Hello then, nice to see you all." He said. Everyone clapped and waved and said hello. It was glorious. They walked to the counter and the clerk almost fell over. "Alright then, how do we order?" Erik asked in his perfectly British accent. The girl handed him a pencil and a menu and pointed to the check marks on it. She barely made a sound when she said "You mark what you want." Erik smiled at her and checked off a large pizza. "What do you like on your pizza?" He asked Pearl. "I'll eat anything on my pizza. It's got to have extra cheese, though." She said, smiling.

"Extra cheese it is." He said. He checked off pepperoni and sausage and mushrooms and extra cheese. "Look alright?" He asked.

"Perfect." Pearl said.

He handed the girl the menu and paid with cash, giving her a 100 dollar tip. She smiled and thanked him. They sat down, and everyone was still staring and smiling at them. A waitress came and asked what they wanted to drink. Erik looked at Pearl.

"A pitcher of beer please, Blue Moon if you have it on draft." Pearl said. "And two oranges in our glass, please." She said. The waitress smiled and nodded.

"An orange, fruit, in our beer?" Erik asked.

"Yep!" Pearl said. The waitress returned and Pearl poured their beers. She watched Erik take a drink.

"That's bloody fantastic." He said.

"Yay!" Pearl said, clapping. Their pizza arrived and Pearl served him the first piece. She had not had a good pizza in months and was so excited to eat it. Erik was enjoying his pizza and beer while a few brave souls came up and asked for pictures with him. He was courteous every single time, even with a mouth full of pizza.

They asked for a to go box and Erik finished the last of the beer. "I am stuffed. I can't move." Erik said. "I'm going to have to loosen my trousers when we get to the car."

Pearl belly laughed and grabbed his hand. "Come on, my little stuffed Turkey." She teased. He smiled and followed her to the car. Everyone waved goodbye and so did Erik.

"That was so good. Let's have pizza tomorrow, too. With the oranges in our beer." Erik said.

"We have enough left over to do that." Pearl said.

Charles drove them across town and pulled into a movie theater. "What are we doing here?" Pearl asked.

"Dinner and a movie." Erik said.

"Really?" Pearl asked.

They walked in and Erik bought tickets. The young man behind the glass was oblivious to who they were, which was nice and made them feel normal for a moment. They walked to the concession stand and Pearl ordered a large popcorn and M&Ms and large drink. "How can you even think about food right now?" Erik asked. Pearl laughed and followed him into the theater.

"What in god's name are you doing?" Erik asked Pearl as she dumped the entire bag of M&Ms into the popcorn.

"What? It's good. Try it." She said. He shook his head.

"Try it, please." She asked nicely.

He took a handful and ate it. "It's not bad, actually. I'm not disappointed at all." He said. Pearl laughed and kissed his cheek.

"No funny business. The chaperones are watching." Erik said, motioning behind them. Pearl turned to see Charles and Jim sitting a few seats away, looking less than thrilled to be there.

"This was seriously the best date I've ever had." Pearl said, reaching down to take off her shoes when they got back to the house.

"It was the first date I've ever had." Erik said.

"You've never been on a date before?" Pearl asked.

"No." Erik said, shyly. "Not like that."

Pearl wanted to say she was glad she was his first but she kissed him instead. They barely made it to the bedroom before Erik had her out of her dress and into his arms.