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Ever since the day they first met, Clarisse has always been head over heels in love with Silena Beauregard. She hadn't realized that fact back then, but in retrospect, it was painfully obvious.
Despite all of that, and then finally getting together, they still hadn't gone on an official date yet.
Between Silena nearly dying, ending up in a wheelchair, and then Clarisse's own health taking a nosedive, neither of them had the time.
In Clarisse's opinion, it was her responsibility to rectify that as soon as she could.
Did it matter that she had never been on a date before, and that she had absolutely no clue how a date worked?
She sure hoped not.
To add insult to injury, the primary person that she went to for advice was Silena, and Clarisse really wanted for this date to be a surprise.
So, she was just going to have to wing it.
…
It turns out, keeping a secret from the person you spent almost all of your time with is ridiculously hard.
But finally, after two weeks of planning, she was loading up Silena's wheelchair into the back of one of the camp vans, and then piling into the driver's seat.
The sun was just starting to set, painting the sky a myriad of shades of red and orange.
"So, where are we going, sweetheart?"
Silena's voice was silky smooth, and she batted her eyelashes at Clarisse.
"You can't sweet talk your way into knowing where we're going, Silena. You can be patient for the forty minutes its gonna take to get there."
By some miracles from the gods, Clarisse somehow managed to not hit anyone else on the road, or crash into a ditch, while driving. She nearly did, a couple times, but she ended up blaming it on the other drivers on the road. They were the bad drivers, not her.
She drove the van into a driveway at the end of a dark road, lined by tall old trees, into a large field. Clarisse paid with a man at a ticket booth up ahead of them, and pulled up towards a large white screen, and parked the van
They were at a drive in movie theater.
Silena broke out into the widest of grins.
"Oh, a movie! Clarisse, you're the best, you know that?!"
She leant over the center console of the van to hug Clarisse.
Clarisse let out a huff of air as Silena squished the air out of her lungs with her hug.
"Well, we needed a proper first date, and I didn't want to take you to a nice restaurant and have to worry about if it was accessible, so I hope this is good enough."
"Love, this is perfect!"
Clarisse got out of the van, and pulled out blankets and pillows out of the trunk, along with a bag of snacks. She set up a nest of pillows and blankets on the ground, and walked over to the passenger side of the van.
Silena opened door of the van, and Clarisse scooped her up in a princess carry, kissing her on the forehead.
She knew that Silena could just use her wheelchair, but Clarisse wanted to make this date perfect, and grand shows of affection were things that Silena always got a kick out of, especially because Clarisse rarely was the type to do them.
She sat down with Silena on the pile of blankets, and wrapped the pair of them in them. She nestled Silena into her side. Clarisse heart swelled with love at the sight of seeing Silena, a girl who she thought she could never have, curled up in her arms and in love.
If Clarisse's heart filled with even a single drop more of affection for her girlfriend, she might just die.
"So, what are we seeing?"
Silena asked, her face half cuddled into Clarisse's side.
"Some new rom-com. Seemed interesting enough. I think it's about lesbians?"
Silena laughed.
"It's on theme for us, then."
Clarisse pulled out a bag of popcorn, and set it down on Silena's lap.
"You want to start with this? The movie should start soon."
Silena's face flushed bashfully,
"You spoil me, Clarisse. You know that?"
"You're my girlfriend, spoiling you is my job. I love you, and you deserve to know that in all the ways I can show it."
"Oh, shut up, you sap. Who knew the fearless Clarisse La Rue could be such a sweetheart."
Putting on a fake facade of anger, Clarisse joked,
"Yeah, well, don't tell anyone. Can't let the secret slip that I'm not all mean, or I'll have to kill the people who know."
More people filed in around them, some setting up shop on the grass, others on trunks of vehicles. A couple moments after the last truck entered, the movie started.
Throughout the movie,, Clarisse alternated between hugging Silena a little tighter, eating some popcorn, and gazing at her girlfriend. She was so beautiful, even when she was crying over sad parts of the movie, or exhausted with bags under her eyes.
The movie was quite good, even though Clarisse wasn't a particular fan of romance movies. About halfway through the evening, the temperature started to drop, and the two of them had to cuddle closer, with Silena eventually ending up in Clarisse's lap.
By the time that the credits began to roll, Silena and Clarisse had eaten their way through most of the popcorn, and were cuddled close to each other.
Clarisse's hand was nestled into Silena's hair, stroking it slowly.
Around them, people started to pack up and leave, but Clarisse didn't want this quiet moment to end.
Silena fell asleep in her lap once the last of the cars had left, and Clarisse couldn't bring herself to move. Silena looked so peaceful, so happy, that she wanted to preserve this expression on her face forever.
Eventually, they had to leave, but Clarisse was careful not to wake her girlfriend. She set her in the passenger seat, and gave her a kiss goodnight, before she packed up and began to drive them back to camp.
This night was so incredibly special to Clarisse. She got to spend several hours, just her and her love, and make the best memories together.
Despite all odds, they were together, and Clarisse would never change these moments for anything.