Knocking on Eliza's front door I wait for someone to open it. From the second floor, I hear Eliza's voice yelling. "Can someone get the door?"

Then there are footsteps walking down the stairs. The front door opens and Mr Donoghue stands in front of me. "Hello, Austin." He greets politely, but I hear a distinct distaste in his words.

I'm going to have to prove myself to him and his wife.

Mr Donoghue leads me to the living and sits on one of the couches.

While I sit on the other. He starts giving me a lecture. The same one he did almost fourteen years ago.

A throat clears behind us. "Hey, Aus."

Letting out a whistle I say. "You look beautiful, Lizzie. I'm one lucky son of a bitch."

She's wearing a beautiful red dress that's strapless, with a lace bodice and crystal beads that line the bodice and hem-lace.

Mrs Donoghue walks into the room at that moment and she chastises me. "Austin, I don't want that language brought into my house. Have you forgotten your manners? Or did you leave it in the Big City?"

"Sorry, Mrs Donoghue," she makes me feel like a child and I look at the ground. "I'll remember not to say those words in your presence or in front of any female again."

Eliza grabs my arm and says. "Are you ready to go?"

"Sure," I let her lead me out of the house. Before we reach the door I turn to her parents and say. "I'll have her home by 11 pm."

"Sure, you will..." Mr Donoghue mutter, but low enough for us to ignore it. He looks his daughter in the eyes and says. "Have a fun night."

"Bye," Eliza opens the door and I follow her. As we make it to my car we see Ronnie with folded arms and his wife behind him.

Not this shit again. I'm sick of him being around every corner I take. To say something about whom I'm with.

Ronnie takes a picture of us. His face screws up in distaste as he looks at Eliza. "You're ruining a perfectly good relationship by going out with him." He takes another picture of her. "I'm going to send these to Casey. She needs to know what you're doing behind her back."

I'm not doing anything behind her back. She knows I broke up with her and she's making Ronnie believe something else.

Walking over to Ronnie I knock his phone out of his hands. It lands on the concrete shattering the screen. I smash it with my foot and then takes the sim out of the phone. "I'm not going to have you threaten me, Ronnie. I broke up with her this morning, so I can be with Eliza. She's the one I truly love and not Casey."

"Bullshit, you broke up with her," Ronnie says. He takes a step forward. "I spoke to her half an hour ago and she doesn't recall talking to you today."

He's trying to make Eliza turn against me. I'm going to have to prove to her that it did happen.

I don't want her to believe the lies Ronnie is sprouting.

Pulling my phone out of my pocket I show him the calls and it's listed that I spoke to her for twenty minutes.

Eliza doesn't look too happy knowing I spoke to her for that long.

"Sis," Nina steps towards her and reached out to her sister.  She moves away from Nina before she can wrap her fingers around her arm. "We're looking out for you. Casey has a lot of friends in high places and at the moment she can have one of them ruin your life. I've seen it happen with my own eyes."

Eliza screws her face up as she looks at the two people in front of her. "Get out of the way. We're going on our date and you can't stop us." She walks over to the car and waits for me to join her.

Climbing into the car I put my seatbelt on. Turning the car in I put it in reverse and I peel out of the driveway. Heading in the direction of the restaurant.

***

Climbing out of the car I round it and open the door, Eliza. She steps out and a smile spreads across her face. "Thanks, Austin."

Taking her we enter the local five-star restaurant called S.H.I.E.L.D.

It's one of the best restaurants in town. I may not know too much about it, but a few people recommended it to me and I have a feeling she's going to love it.

Opening the door I hold it open for her. She looks around the restaurant and a smile spreads across her face.

I knew she was going to love this place.

Walking over to the podium a woman is standing behind it and recognition appears on her face. She smiles at Eliza.

Do they know each other?

"Ah, Eliza. It's great to see you after all this time." She hugs Eliza. "If I knew you were coming I would have given you your usual tab..." she cuts herself off as she spots me standing behind her. "You have a date? Excellent. I have the perfect table for you." She leads us through the restaurant and towards the VIP section.

Is she going to put us in the VIP area? I've never been to one in our home town before.

She stops at a table in the back of the VIP area. Giving us privacy from prying eyes. "You two can have your privacy up here. Nobody needs to know what you're up to, Eliza. It's bad enough that your ex-classmates are trying to catch you doing something wrong and reporting it to a girl that he was engaged to."

How does she know about all of this? Are people coming to the restaurant gossiping about us?

The woman looks at us before saying. "Can I get you anything to drink while you look over the menu?"

"Yes, please," Eliza says. "Can we get one of your finest wines? Top shelf stuff would be great."

She nods. "I'll be right back with the bottle." She walks away from us.

Eliza and I have a light conversation until the waitress returns with our drinks and she places them on the table in front of us.

She puts the bottle in a silver tin that's filled with ice. "I'll give you fifteen minutes to overlook the menu." She walks away, leaving the VIP area and us alone.