I'm back again. It took a while, again, but not as much as the last time. This time it wasn't because I didn't feel inspired, but because I've been working my ass off in my job. It sucks being an adult that pays bills.

But anyhow, here's the next part of the story. I hope you enjoy it!

Chapter 11 – Popcorn

Amanda was walking to the backstage while putting on her costume again. That had been one of the best shows she had given in the pole and she was proud of herself, she would be getting a lot of money that day, for sure.

"Hey, Amanda. A guy is asking for you in table 4, he's young but seems like he's loaded and he's with a bunch of dudes." Chariot told her while she entered one of the rooms to get a towel for her sweat.

"Nice. I'll be there in a second." Fuck yeah, it was her night. She was sure she could get at least a hundred just with that dude in less than an hour, so she got out and started walking towards the table. There was a lot of people there, girls and boys, they looked young, probably her age and they all looked like they had a lot of daddy's money that wanted to fly out of their pockets. Things were getting better and better. She got to the table and the boys started getting crazy, yelling things and whistling at her. They were assholes, apparently, but if they could pay her good, she could suck it up. "Hey, I heard you asked for me. You have good taste." She touched one of the boys' chest with just one finger and moved it up to his chin, grabbing him by the cheeks and then letting go to look at all the other people in the table, who were barking like dogs and yelling again.

"What can you do?" One of the boys asked her after they stopped yelling.

"That depends. How much are you looking to spend tonight?" She leaned on the table while looking at the rich dude, who took a lot of bills out of his wallet and left them on the table.

"That's about ten grand. That should buy me some private time with you, right?" Jesus fucking Christ! Ten grand in cash for a private dance? Not even in her wildest dream had she ever thought about charging that much for that! But if the boy was willing to pay, she was willing to comply. But before she could said anything, another dude yelled.

"That's bullshit girl, I'll double that!" Everyone in the table looked at him, surprised, and then started to yell again while he took out a credit card out of his walled. "You can charge it first." He gave her the card and was about to walk back to the changing room to find Chariot and ask her if she could pay a private dance with a credit card (she has done that before, but never one for twenty grand), but stopped when a better idea came up on her head.

"Is that the final offer?" She asked to all the other boys in the table and they all looked at each other with a smile, as if they were having fun just by thinking about who would be stupid enough to pay even more, but no one said anything. "Okay then. I'll be back once I confirm you have the money, boy." She got closer to him and whispered in his ear. "Don't go anywhere. Be ready." And as she started to leave with a huge smile, everyone in the table started yelling and barking again.

"It wasn't that bad, actually." Akko and Diana where in the back of a taxi, chatting about the opera they just saw, all nervousness lost, replaced by a comfy feeling. "I mean, I didn't understand much, but it was pretty good."

"Is that so? I thought you wanted me to come with you since you like it so much. You barely spoke before we got into the theater, as if you were just anxious to see one of your old time favorites." Akko laughed loudly with the blonde's comment, so loud that the driver saw her through the rearview mirror as if he was annoyed.

"I was just nervous because I wanted everything to go perfect since I'm on a date with a perfect girl." Oh damn, she had a knack for making awkward comments, right? She saw the blonde smile shyly for the second time today and thought that maybe her comments weren't so bad.

The taxi stopped in the middle of a street, announcing its arrival to the place they were going.

"Well, it was entertaining. Thank you for that, but you know, I cannot let you pay for everything this evening. It doesn't feel right, so I'm paying for dinner." She took out her wallet and payed the driver before getting out of the taxi. "And for the drive." Akko was about to say something but she interrupted her. "And it's not because I feel like I have to, it's because I want to." The brunette giggled a little and closed the taxi's door behind her. It was as if the blonde had read her mind.

"Okay, I get it. We're both strong, independent women, but at least let's split this one. I've heard it's pretty expensive here." They started to walk towards the restaurant together.

"'Giancarlo's'. I didn't know you liked Italian food." They walked into the restaurant and got into the line that was waiting for their table.

"I do. You know; spaghetti, pizza, calzone. It's good." A man dressed in a suit approached them with a couple menus.

"Buona sera, hanno prenotazioni?" The brunette looked at him confused. She never in her life imagined that someone would approach her speaking a language that wasn't English or Japanese, so she didn't know what to do.

"Did you make reservations, Akko?" Diana asked her. She could understand that? Did she know Italian or was that just her mind playing games and the man actually spoke English but since she didn't expected his arrival she thought he spoke a different language?

"Oh… yeah. I have reservation for Akko Kagari. I made it over the phone." The man started searching on his list until he found something similar to her name.

"A-coke All-Gary?" Of course she was used to people getting her name wrong since it was kind of weird to pronounce for an English speaker, but she had never heard that one before.

"Ah… sure." She saw Diana taking her hand to her mouth as if she was trying not to laugh and she felt like laughing just by seeing her, but the man spoke again before she could, taking her out of her thoughts.

"Sou tavolo é per qui." He started walking inside the restaurant and she just stood there, feeling confused again until Diana grabbed her by the arm and started walking.

"He said he's taking us to our table." Oh, ok. That made sense. She started walking too.

"Do you know Italian or is he speaking English but my brain just melted with the opera and now I'm completely stupid?" Diana laughed softly and Akko felt a little embarrassed, but also good because she made her girl laugh.

"I know Italian. But the second option doesn't sound far from the truth." The brunette gasped playfully and looked at the blonde with surprise.

"You're such a bully." She said dramatically, making the other girl laugh again. That sound was priceless.

They arrived at the table and the man left a couple menus on the table.

"Torneró in su secondi. Chiamami se hanno bisogno di me." The man left and she looked puzzled at Diana, who chuckled a little.

"He said that he would be back in a second, we can call him if we need him." She opened her mouth in surprise again, making a sound as if she was astonished by the answer, which made the other girl laugh again.

Even if she didn't know anything about Italian and felt a little bad because of it, she was having a lot of fun. It felt good to be with Diana and she hoped that the other girl thought the same about her, because she expected this to be the first of many dates after her fuck-up, even if the next one had to be at an extreme metal concert. What does it matter? As long as she could be with the blonde.

"Does she know Italian? I've heard about that place; the whole service is in Italian." Barbara was sitting in a couch with the TV controller on her hand, pointing it at the wall where said object was.

"Really? She can barely speak English, I doubt she knows anything about Italian." Lotte came out of the kitchen with a bowl of popcorn and sat beside her.

"Well, good thing Diana knows. What do you want to watch?" She put her arm around the blonde's shoulders and the other girl rested her head on her.

"Is there a thing Diana doesn't know?" Barbara laughed a little by that comment. Lotte was not the kind of people to talk about others like that, but she did when she was with her and it felt good, because it made her feel special. Like, watching a side no one else knows, it was lovely. "We haven't finished Daredevil. You said you would see it with me 'till the end." Oh, and her girlfriend was also a geek. Hardcore geek. She liked some stuff, but the little blonde was deep into it, which was okay, even if sometimes she had to see some weird shows she didn't like because they were targeted for "geeker" people.

"Weren't there just two seasons? We watched them already." She felt her phone vibrating in her pocket but she ignored it. It had been a little while since she was alone with her girl without any problem and she wanted it to last.

"Actually, there are three seasons, but I told you there were only two because I knew you wouldn't have watched it otherwise." The dark haired girl looked at the little one with a surprised face. "'It's too long, babe. Each chapter is like an hour long!'" The blonde imitated her voice playfully and Barbara laughed out loud.

"I don't sound like a retard". Lotte laughed too and left the bowl of popcorn in the table in front of them.

"So you are saying I do?" They both giggled and kissed until Barbara's phone started to ring again, threatening to never stop, so she decided to take it out and answer. She saw it was Hanna, so she thought for a second that it was going to be a one minute call about where did she put something again.

"Hey, what did I misplaced now?" She heard sobbing and the sound of an ambulance before she could hear the redhead speak. She got worried and looked at the blonde with a worried look.

"Hey, Barbs, I'm in the hospital. You're not going to believe this." And that was the moment her hopes for a quiet night with her girl died for good.

Diana was having a great time. All her worries went away the second she saw the Japanese girl and everything was replaced by a feeling of curiosity, which then was replaced by happiness.

The night was going great. She felt as if everything that happened before had been just a bad dream and that she had woken up into the real life again. Or maybe this was the dream, because it was too good to be true, according to her life experience.

Either way, she was enjoying her time with Akko, with the Akko she missed. The silly, beautiful brunette girl she couldn't help but feel attracted to, even if it didn't make sense sometimes. But everything had to end, even if she didn't want to, so she just hoped that the waiter took a long time bringing them the check.

"You know, for a place where I couldn't understand a single word, the food is really good. If it weren't this expensive I would have dinner here every day." She chuckled a little and was about to say something but she saw the brunette taking out her phone, which was ringing. "It's Chariot. Can you give me a second?" She nodded and saw the other girl answering the phone. "Hey, Chariot. What's up?" She stood in silence for a while but her face started to get angry by the second. "What the hell!? Is she okay? Where is he? I'm gonna cut his balls off!" Oh God, what was happening? Who was she? Did something happened in the club? Is her date over? What a selfish thought, but she couldn't help it. In that moment, the waiter came with the check and she didn't even listened to what he said. "Yeah, I'll be there shortly. Bye." She looked at the brunette with worry, and when the girl hung up, she looked back at her with sadness. "I'm sorry Diana, Amanda got into a fight and she's in the hospital. I have to go." What was it with her life lately that a fight had to be present every week or so?

"I'll go with you. I'm sure Hanna's going to be there." They both left the money in the table and took off in a taxi, and Diana couldn't feel guiltier because she kept thinking that her night had been ruined instead of thinking about the wellbeing of her friend and her girlfriend. She could only hope that this date would be only the first of many… or maybe the second of many, but anyway…

"I'm telling you I'm fine, you don't have to be so mad, princess." Oh, she was mad. Really mad. Everything made her mad right now.

"Of course you're fine! You just have a concussion and a broken rib. Everything is fine! You know what? Why don't we find that lad and go have some drinks with him!? After all, everything is fine! You don't have to press charges, you can just be friends! Let's go on a double date once he gets a girlfriend. I'm sure it would be lovely. Bloody hell Amanda! I do have to be mad! I'm going to find that lad and I'm going to rip his bloody penis with a spoon! A plastic spoon!" Amanda looked at her in a mix of feelings; worried and scared. She just couldn't stop. She felt so angry right now that she wanted to punch something. She had never felt so angry in her life. How could this happen?

Her phone started ringing and she took it out, answering it.

"Barbs, we're in the emergency wing of the building. I will go out, I don't know if they allow so much people in here." She hung up and looked at Amanda with an angry look that terrified the other girl. "If a nurse comes and tells you that you need to sleep, to pee, to do whatever, you take your phone and call me, okay?" She demanded more than asked and the other girl just nodded nervously. Hanna sighed and kissed the girl on the forehead. "I will be back in a few seconds."

She went to the waiting area and saw that the redhead that worked with Amanda was not there, but Barbara and her girlfriend where sitting in the chairs, the little one talking over the phone with someone, but she hung up as soon as she saw her. She went and sat with them, sighing again when she sat.

"What happened?" Barbara asked, concerned. She knew she had to go back to her girl so she tried to explain it as quick as she could.

"Some rich lad payed her a lot for a private dance. He thought that a private was sex so, when Amanda refused, he punched her in the face and she fell, when she was on the ground, he kicked her in the stomach and… Fucking piece of shit!" She took a deep breath before continuing. "She yelled and then everyone ran to help her. Apparently her boss, Chariot I think it was, went all out on the lad and punched him a lot even though he tried to defend himself, but still, she's here with a concussion and a broken rib and I can't help but hope that he's somewhere else dying of an aneurism or some shit!" She started to cry with anger and Barbara put a hand on her back, trying to calm her. Everyone got silent and only the far noise of chat coming from other people outside could be heard.

Now she was one hundred percent sure that she needed to take those boxing classes. She really needed to punch something to death, even if it was a sack of sand. But for now, she needed to go back to her girl and be there for her. That was everything she could do now. She would deal with her anger later.

When Diana and she arrived at the hospital, they saw an unusual image for her. Chariot was outside of the building, still in her costume and smoking a cigarette. She didn't even know that Chariot smoked and they were kind of close.

She approached her running as soon as she got out of the taxi, without even thinking about paying the driver first until she was halfway there, she got back and saw the taxi driving off.

"It is fine, I paid him. Let's go." She nodded thankfully to the blonde and ran again towards the redhead.

"Chariot! What the hell happened?" The redhead threw her cigarette to the floor and stepped on it. The blonde got to them too and took Akko's hand when she saw she was trembling.

"A boy wanted to pay her to have sex but she refused, so he punched her and kicked her. I was passing by the room when it happened and I went in as soon as I could, but it had already happened." She saw the redhead crying and she felt an anger she hadn't felt in a long time. She squeezed Diana's hand without thinking and took a deep breath.

"Is she okay? How is she?" Diana asked, trying to keep her head cool to help Akko, since it seemed like she was about to collapse under her anger.

"She's okay. Well, she has a concussion and a broken rib, but the doctor thinks that's it. We're waiting for the x-ray to confirm it, but it seems like that's it." Everything went silent for a second until the brunette spoke again.

"What about that dude? He is in a cell right now, right?" An ambulance passed right by them, breaking the silence of the street.

"He's right now, but she needs to press charges if we want to keep it that way." Akko nodded and breathed deeply again, trying to calm herself, knowing that she couldn't be of any help if she was just running crazily in the hospital.

In all the time she had been working as a stripper there, nothing that crazy had ever happened. A slap on the cheeks? Yeah, she had seen that once or twice, but nothing this extreme. She couldn't help but feel guilty, even though she knew it was stupid.

Amanda owed her a shift and she took it today, but it could have happened any day. But… would that have happened if she were there instead of her? How could she know? It didn't matter anyway. It happened and nothing could change it now. She had to live with it. Right now she just needed to make sure that her friend was okay and be there for her. She would worry about kicking that dude on the nuts after Amanda is okay. And of course, she would worry about her date later too.

It was selfish of her to think that, but everything was amazing until the bad news came. She couldn't help it, but she needed to put that aside for now. Not only it didn't help, it also made her feel a little bit bad about herself.

For now, Amanda was top priority. Of course Diana would understand and maybe a third date would be possible. After all, it seemed like the blonde was having a great time too.

Now this the telenovela-twist I was talking about!

What's going to happen next? To be honest, I don't know myself, but I'll do my best.

Thank you for your support with this story. Honestly, I never even thought I wanted to write more than 10 chapters, but with all the support I just want to keep going as long as I have an idea that is good.

Read you later, guys!