You have been talking for a few days. The messages were funny, the photos roughly match, and you ended up suggesting a drink. Then, somewhere between the moment it was settled and the moment you started getting ready, a small voice showed up. You do not know this person. Not really.
That voice is not paranoia. It is common sense looking for the right words. The vast majority of dates go perfectly well, and there is no reason to walk in with a knot in your stomach. But preparing is not expecting the worst. It is simply refusing to leave everything to chance.
Start with the place. Somewhere public, with people around, ideally somewhere you already know. Skip the charming "why not come to mine" on a first evening, and keep control of your journey in both directions. You arrive under your own steam, you leave under your own steam. That independence sounds like nothing, but it is exactly what leaves you free to go whenever you want.
Then tell someone where you are. A friend, a brother, your flatmate. Not to be monitored, to be accompanied from a distance. That is precisely what SHARIXY runs quietly in the background: the person you chose can follow how your evening is going without you having to text them every ten minutes. You answer a check-in with one tap and go back to your conversation.
Plan your exit too. Decide in advance what you will say if you feel like leaving, so you do not have to improvise an excuse while already uncomfortable. "I need to go" is a complete sentence. You owe nobody an explanation.
Above all, listen to that discomfort if it turns up. It is not shyness, it is raw information. When something is off and you cannot say what, your body has often understood before you have. Cutting an evening short costs nothing. Regret does.