Love of Autism

Katie entered the apartment and immediately sat down next to Liz on the couch. "Tell me what is going on!"

Liz was shocked and confused by Katie's demands...especially because she didn't know what she wanted to know. "Going on with what?"

"With Scott!" Katie demanded.

Liz motioned with her arms to slow down. "Hold on. You think something is going on with Scott?"

"Yes! He's been acting different for like the past month and I can't figure out why."

"Katie, Scott isn't acting different. He's just been working a lot of shifts lately and you know this."

"Then why isn't he at work right now?"

That made Liz do a double take and now she understood why Katie was pissed. "What do you mean he isn't at work?"

"I mean I went there to get some food and see my boyfriend, but they informed me that he wasn't scheduled to work today."

Liz couldn't believe what she was hearing. None of this was making any sense to her. "Why would Scott tell you...hell, tell all of us that he was working today when he is not?"

"I'm going to call him," Katie said pulling out her phone.

"You know he won't answer if he is supposed to be at work," Liz pointed out.

Katie paused when she realized Liz was right. "Then I'm going to send him a text asking him where he is since he isn't at work."

Liz didn't like the sound of that and got up to try to stop Katie. "Don't do that. Wait until he gets home so we can ask him why he lied to us."

Katie didn't wait as she typed out and sent the text. "There! Now let's see how long it takes him to respond if he has the courage."

"Katie, please take a deep breath," Liz pleaded.

"Do you actually know what is going on or don't you?" Katie asked angrily.

"No I don't but..."

"Then you're of no help to me right now until..." Katie's phone started to ring and she saw that it is Scott. "Well, I guess he wants to get it over with," she answers and is ready to tell him off. "Where the fuck are you?"

"He's out with your mother."

All the anger that Katie had built up quickly left, replaced with stunned shock as to why her mother was calling her from Scott's phone. "Uh...hi Mom. What's going on?"

Jillian let out a little laugh. "Well, your boyfriend and I are running some errands and these specific errands are on a need to know basis."

"Ok, but why can't I know?"

"You'll find out soon enough, but until then, just know Scott needs to keep some secrets from you. He isn't cheating on you or doing anything to endanger your relationship."

"That still doesn't give me peace of..." a sudden thought came to Katie... "Mom...what are you not telling me?"

"I can't tell you that. Just trust Scott and know he is only hiding secrets that won't remain secret for long."

"Um...ok Mom," Katie said still shaken by her realization.

"Ok. Scott will be home soon."

"Ok. I guess I'll talk to you later Mom."

"Enjoy the rest of your evening Katie." With that Jillian hung up and Katie stood where she was speechless.

"Are you ok Katie?" Liz asked concerned for her friend.

"Liz...what are some good legit reasons our boyfriends would be hiding secrets from us?"

That question confused Liz even more. "Wait, is Andy?"

"No no," Katie said waving her hand. "I meant just in general."

"I mean if they were planning something special that would require us to be shocked...wait...you don't think Scott is..."

"What else could it be?" Katie exclaimed. "I mean...he's with my mom and they never do anything together."

"Do you know if he has your dad's blessing?"

Katie became deflated with that question. "Shit, I don't think he does. At least he never told me he was planning on asking my dad for his blessing."

"Would he tell you if he was going to ask for your dad's blessing?"

Katie thought about it for a moment before answering, "No, he wouldn't but he also hasn't really had the chance to ask my father at all."

"Was he with your dad at all Labor Day weekend? Just the two of them?"

Katie thought long and hard before answering, only to feel even more confused, "No, they were never alone with each other." Frustration finally took over as she slapped the couch cushion.

*********************************************

Scott wasn't looking forward to getting back to the apartment. He knew he got caught in his lie about going to work and that he would have to somehow spin it to keep Katie from finding out the actual truth. It was already hard enough to find time for Katie's mom and him to meet up, but then to lie to his girlfriend made him feel worse.

Ever since Labor Day weekend, he wanted to put a plan into motion and getting the blessing from Katie's dad motivated him even more so, especially after he promised to pay for the ring once he found one. The one problem was he didn't want to take Liz ring shopping with him because he knew she wouldn't be able to keep a secret for long from Katie and even with things getting better between him and Alyssa he didn't want to risk it. That left only one other person that Scott could trust to help find the perfect ring and still keep it a secret from Katie. It was still hard for him to believe that he and Katie's mom were actually getting long.

Slowly he opened the door to the apartment and walked in. Katie was sitting at the kitchen table waiting for him with a worried look on her face and he couldn't blame her. He was lying to her. The reason for the lie was a good one and some would argue in the end to be worth it, but that still didn't make him feel any better about the situation considering it was a lie of sorts almost made tore them apart forever.

"I'm sorry that I'm lying to you," he said to her quietly, guilt evident in his voice.

"Why are you lying to me?" Katie asked, desperate for the truth.

Scott closed his, feeling even worse than he thought he would. "I can't tell you."

Katie raised her hand ready to slap down on the kitchen table as hard as she could but stopped herself when her hand reached its height. She slowly lowered it and tried to compose herself. "What can you tell me?" she asked ready to burst into tears.

Scott hated seeing her like this. He wanted nothing more than to just tell her the fucking truth and end this lie, but he couldn't. The one thing he would do now though was start telling her bits and pieces of the truth. "I've been planning a date night for us."

That caused Katie to pause. "You've been secretly planning a date?"

"Yes," Scott admitted, "and I was hoping for it to be a nice surprise for you. We haven't really gone out on a date in a long time and I wanted to make it special. To do that, I needed the help of the one person who knows you better than anyone."

"So that's where my mom comes into play and why you were with her today."

"Yes," Scott said feeling some relief that he was finally able to tell some of the truth to Katie.

But something still wasn't adding up for Katie. "Why did my mom say you and her were running errands?"

'Great, more half-truths I have to tell her,' Scott thought to himself. "Because we were running some errands that involved the date."

More and more this was sounding like no just normal date to Katie. All the secrecy and planning was leading her to believe that Scott was planning on proposing, but she knew at the same time that he didn't have the money even for a cheap ring. That led her though to her next question. "How actually are you paying for this date night? All this planning kinda makes it sound like this won't be some cheap date."

Scott smiled knowing full well he could tell a lot more truths with that question she asked. "Lots and lots of ramen for dinners and lunches when I'm not getting my free meals from McDonald's. I basically haven't eaten anything other than that for my meals just to save every little bit of money for this. It has been a long time since we've had a real date and I want to take you on one."

This explanation just confused Katie even more. "You were lying about going to work today to spend time with my mother all to plan a date?"

Scott's face contorted several times as he tried to think of a way to explain everything to her without explaining everything. "Look...I know this is really hard for you to believe and it seems like I'm hiding a lot, but I need you to trust me."

'Trust him?' Katie thought to herself. After everything she had been feeling the past few hours and the fact that Scott was lying to her about something made it still hard for her to trust him. And yet she still had plenty of reason to trust him. "Can you at least tell me when this date is supposed to be so I can make sure I have the night off of work?"

"Well...I may have already talked to your boss and asked her to not schedule you to come into work next Saturday."

That statement caused Katie to glare at him. "You asked my boss to not schedule me on a perfectly good evening where I can make a lot in tips that helps us pay for this apartment and the food?"

Scott knew Katie was about to kill him, figuratively speaking, but that still didn't stop him from shrinking as she glared at him. "I promise it will be worth it."

Katie continued to glare before she looked away and shook her head. "Just answer this question truthfully for me." She looked at Scott out of the corner of her eye and gave a faint smile. "How much have you been overthinking this date?"

Scott didn't know where Katie was going with this question but he could answer it with one hundred percent honesty. "Non-stop for quite a while now."

Katie turned her head more to look at Scott but tilted her head. "So much so that you needed my mother's help and not Liz's?

"Yes because your mom knows you better than Liz."

Katie wasn't sure why Scott gave that answer unless it meant something her mom knew her better on a specific subject...but even then, what would her mom know about her more than what Liz knew about her? Either way, Katie figured she was done grilling Scott and if anything, she didn't want to spoil the surprise he had for her.

"Ok."

"Ok?" Scott asked confused

"Yeah," Katie said nodding her head. "I could ask you more questions but you're trying really hard to plan something special and honestly," she said as she looked at Scott and smiled in a way that helped him know she wasn't mad at him. "I'm interested to see what you have planned."

******************************************************

There Katie was, in her bedroom that she grew up in, putting on the dress that Scott and her mom picked out for her. What actually surprised her the most was that it was Scott that found it and asked her mom what she thought, not the other way around. In the end, he made a great choice as she looked at herself in the mirror. She was wearing a strapless blue dress that went down to her knees and showed off her womanly curves in all the right ways. As much as she had been self-conscious about her breasts in the past, she to admit the dress made them look really good with just the right amount of cleavage that showed. 'I wonder if Scottie knew how my boobs would be showing?' she thought to herself.

She put on the necklace and earrings that her mom had picked out for her. While Katie could easily admit Scott had decent fashion taste when it came to her and dresses, accessories would forever be the one thing she would ask either her mom or Liz about.

The only thing she did with her hair was put it in a bun. As much as she wanted to do something more with it, she knew she didn't have the time plus she knew that Scott loved it when he could see her whole face and neck without her hair hiding any of it.

She only applied a little makeup as she knew she didn't have to impress Scott with it. That was probably one of the things she loved most about him was that he made her feel very beautiful when she wore no makeup. Others might say she should still put on more to impress others but she didn't care about what others thought, only what her Scottie thought.

Once she put her shoes, she walked out of her bedroom and down the hall to see her mom and Scott talking with each other in the family room. It was still hard for her to believe that nearly two years ago her mom hated Scott and his father. She wanted nothing to do with them and scoffed at the mere thought Katie and Scott would actually want do date each other. Now she was talking with Scott and not just being nice, but treating him with the respect he should have gotten from the very beginning.

A few seconds went by before Scott noticed her walking down the hallway and the look on his face told her everything that she already knew, but still couldn't wait for him to say it out loud.

"You look absolutely beautiful and every man will be jealous when I walk in the restaurant with you," he said with a big smile on his face.

Katie blushed at the compliment. "And every woman should be jealous that I have such an amazing boyfriend."

"Since you two have gotten dressed up so nicely, I think some pictures are in order," Jillian said with her phone ready.

Katie was ready to complain but before she could say anything Scott stood right next to her, put his arm around her and smiled at the phone. "Scott, we don't need her to take pictures of us."

Scott turned his head to give Katie a kiss on her head. "Well your mom is right. We are dressed pretty nicely and this will only take a few minutes."

Katie rolled her eyes but knew this wasn't worth fighting over so she turned to face her mother and also smiled.

*********************************************

"I still can't believe you got us a reservation here," Katie said as they sat down at their table.

"I had to call two months in advance just to get the reservation," Scott said.

Once Katie took her seat she looked around and admired the beautiful Italian restaurant. "This is really nice Scott," she said as she turned to face him, but with a worried look on her face. "Are you sure you'll find something you like to eat here?"

Scott couldn't help but chuckle. Katie knew full well that because of his autism he was a very picky eater and they generally only went to certain restaurants where they knew he would find something to eat. "I appreciate the concern, but I looked at the menu ahead of time and found some dishes I know I like and will indeed eat."

That made Katie curious so she picked up the menu and scanned it for a few seconds before finding what she believed was the item Scott was going to order. "Sometimes Scott, you are a little too predictable."

"If I'm so predictable then you would have known that it was my idea that your mom take pictures of us," Scott pointed out with a big grin on his face.

Katie stopped, looked at the appetizer part of the menu and looked at him with confusion. "You suggested that to mom?"

Scott nodded his head. "Yes. All a part of my master plan."

Katie was now even more confused but before she could say anything their waitress came and introduced herself and asked them for their drink order. When asked if they wanted any appetizers Scott suggested that he and Katie share the breadsticks which Katie more than happily agreed with as she was eyeing the breadsticks on the menu as well. Once their waitress wrote down their drinks and appetizers she left to go put them in.

"Master plan?" Katie asked now feeling more confused than ever. "Did you book a hotel room for us to go to after dinner that you haven't told me about?"

Scott continued to smile and loved the fact that he had Katie guessing. "You know me better than that. I am far from being that cliché."

As much as she hated to admit it, that was the one thing she liked about Scott but right now she disliked him for it. All of his acts of love for her were because he wanted to do them and there was much thought put behind them. He didn't do the stereotypical and cliché things most boyfriends did. The only cliché thing about their dating story was their first date, dinner and a movie. Other than that, all the rest of the dates or times they hung out were very unique to them and she loved that about their relationship. But now she really wished things were more cliché so she could figure what Scott had been planning for so long.

"Yes," Katie admitted through a somewhat forced smile, "you are far from being cliché."

Scott's smile which had remained quite big since they sat down at the table, took on something of a more serious smile, but yet...seemingly understanding of Katie's confusion. "Just enjoy yourself, the food, and your time with your amazing boyfriend who sometimes drives you crazy."

Katie smiled at the part where Scott said he sometimes drove her crazy. She had hoped that he would know that even during those times when he had driven her crazy, whether it be because his few autistics needs sometimes required lots of accommodations or that his logic was stupidly usually more often right than wrong, she would not change a single thing about him.

****************************************

"I still can't believe I guessed wrong," Katie said shaking her head.

"I don't blame you for guessing that I would gotten the NY strip as my entrée," Scott said as he got that last bit of his rice on his fork.

Katie looked at him with a big grin on her face, trying very hard not to laugh. "Still knowing how much you like foods with bold flavors, I should have guessed you would have ordered the salmon. Especially since we are at a very nice restaurant."

After Scott got the last bit of the rice he set his fork down onto the plate. "I still have to keep you guessing once in a while. Besides," Scott started as he looked seriously at Katie, "I wouldn't have guessed you would have gotten garlic shrimp angel hair pasta."

Katie couldn't help but lightly laugh at that for a few seconds before responding, "Well, I guess you haven't seen me eat a lot of pasta in high school or while we've been living together."

She was right. Scott had not seen her eat many pasta dishes at all in the time he had known her. Sure, they had made stir fry dishes together before, but no one would really call those pasta dishes. "Maybe we'll have to find a recipe online and cook a pasta dish together."

"I would love that," Katie said with smile on her, thinking about Scottie and her making dinner together.

Scott decided to just look at Katie as she smiled back at him and reminisced about the past two years. Homecoming their senior year, the two of them starting to become friends, him trying to deny his feelings for Katie, him asking her on a date and that same night asking her to be his girlfriend, their arguments that could have very well ended their relationship...her miscarriage that almost permanently ruined their relationship and friendship, and the slow healing the two of them had gone through to not only get back to where they were but become even stronger in their relationship.

"What are you thinking about Scottie?" Katie asked as she noticed him staring at her.

Scott knew he was staring for a good while without saying anything. He just wanted to soak up everything about this night, especially how beautiful Katie looked right now as his girlfriend. "Just everything we've been through and how much..." Scott stopped himself to think about his next words carefully, "I can't wait to see what our future has in store for us."

"Our future?" Katie asked with a smile that lit up the room.

Scott simply nodded his head. "Yes, our future."

Katie's smile went away as she eyed Scott suspiciously for a second before remembering the one thing she knew about Scott. He was anything but cliché and would not be proposing this night. Her thoughts were confirmed when their waitress came back with the bill and nothing else. No surprise dessert, no special dish out of nowhere, nothing that would cause a scene in the most romantic way possible because that is not who Scott was or is. In the end...she wouldn't expect anything less and knew that when Scott finally did decide to propose it would be memorable.