They ordered pizza for lunch and ate it sitting on the couch while listening to music.

'I thought Italians don't like pizzas with all kinds of fancy toppings on them,' Robert mentioned.

'I thought Britons only eat fish and chips with beans,' answered Jenna rolling her eyes.

'Fair enough,' nodded Robert. 'Listen, not like I'm not going to be grateful until the grave because you taught me how to do magic again, mind you, but did you happen to learn another Rune by any chance?'

Jenna swallowed the bite she was working on and took a sip of coke to help it down, then nodded.

'I did learn one more, actually. But I think for that we are gonna need to go to a park or somewhere,' she saw Robert's puzzled face so she added: 'It's the name of the Rune of Fire. I'm not saying that I'm not gonna be a fiery girlfriend but it would be a little bit of an overkill to burn your apartment down on the first day...'

'I know a place,' said Robert grinning. 'I wanted to show you anyway.'

Jenna was amazed to hear that. Men usually wanted to show her only one thing and that wasn't their favourite park.

So they got dressed (Jenna kept Robert's white shirt, it looked surprisingly good tucked into her black skinny jeans). Robert himself wore another shirt, a black one with a pair of blue jeans and a knitted jumper.

He was different now, Jenna thought, or she just started to get to know him better. Yes, the expensive suits, trendy yet classy haircuts and all of that smugness and confidence were kind of appealing to her before, but she liked this new Robert much better. He was still very clever and funny, but also kind and caring. Those were things Jenna had very little experience with.

Also, the beard made him go from attractive to fucking hot in Jenna's eyes.

'I thought professors make good money,' she said when settled in the passenger seat of Robert's car. She looked around critically. 'I'm sure Marcus wouldn't notice if you were to borrow one of his cars. Just saying.'

Robert laughed and tapped the black plastic dashboard.

'I have owned this car since I was 20… The first thing I ever bought myself with my own money.'

'That's nice,' nodded Jenna. 'The problem is that the car was at the same age as you when you bought it…'

'I'm sorry, and what do you drive? Besides me crazy?'

Jenna poked him in the ribs with her elbow and smiled.

'Just drive, Professor.'

They almost immediately stuck behind a big red bus on a two-lined road. The bus refused to go faster than a walking man for some reason. It wasn't peak traffic time, but the driver apparently thought he better keep the illusion of it for the authentical London-experience.

'So where are we going?' Jenna asked.

'Hempstead Heath,' answered Robert. 'Given that we will ever get there…'

'What's there?' Jenna opened the glove department and found one of Robert's sketchbooks.

'Those are just… Ah, you are looking at it already, never mind then.'

'Have you drew something other than me in the past month, Montgomery?' she asked with a smile.

'Well… Rarely,' he admitted.

Jenna sighed.

'You are very lucky that we are in a moving car right now… Although, I could…'

'No you could not,' said Robert quickly. 'There are kids around, Jenna.'

The girl looked out of the windshield and she saw a little family walking by on the pavement.

'Well, maybe later then. So why are we going to Hempstead Heath? What's special about it?'

'Not much,' shrugged Robert. 'A lot of woods, some animals, a nice terrace-like thing… Benjamin would know what to call it. You will see. I like to go out there when I need some fresh air or just being away a bit.'

Jenna's phone rang before she could answer. The girl just looked at the screen, groaned and denied the call.

'Magda?' asked Robert. His face went terrifyingly dark in a second. Jenna nodded.

'I blocked her in every possible way but she keeps buying disposable phones to call me. Also, she managed to find out my address, I got letters from her and they haven't gone through any postal service. I think I only avoided her because I spent most of my time in the hospital.'

After they saved Benjamin, Marcus told the whole thing to his uncle but the Commissioner didn't seem to be particularly interested. Sure, he ordered an investigation but the Met was spread so thin already that they simply just didn't have the manpower to handle another major case. Kidnapping, stalking and threatening was bad, but while murderers and ancient gods were on the loose, those things weren't a top priority.

Robert was thinking about something, Jenna could see that on his face. It was still grim.

'Maybe you should stay with me. Temporary, until we find a solution,' he said casually.

Jenna blinked. Now that was way too weird.

'I'm a big girl, Montgomery, I can take care of my problems on my own.'

'You don't have to anymore, though,' Robert said and Jenna had no answer for that except for reaching out and taking the man's hand for a moment. It's not like she didn't plan to spend the next few nights with him already, so what's the difference?

The bus finally got out of their way and the car sped up.

'You know, I don't get you, Montgomery,' Jenna said after a few minutes.

'I'm an enigma,' he nodded. 'But feel free to explain, please.'

'It's just… I'm constantly trying to freak you out, I told you that I did a ton of dirty stuff, I slept with a lot of men and women and sometimes both of them at the same time, and now one of them came back to bite me in the ass, both literally and metaphorically, and you are like "okay, well, that's quite unfortunate, I believe I want to live with you". Like, what the hell, man?'

She imitated Robert's posh British accent so well that the man had to laugh.

'I always thought that you were the kind of woman who doesn't get much happiness out of her life and needs to take every drop of it she can grab. I'm not talking about sex only, mind you, I believe your love for a good whiskey, a decent meal, a good fight or for music belongs here as well. There must be a reason why you chose to lead your life like this, which is not my place to determine or judge. What I can do is, as they say, take it or leave it and I decided to take it.'

Jenna, naturally, didn't know what to say for that. She felt her throat scratch a little so she cleared it. Robert looked at her from the corner of his eye.

'Are you okay? I apologise if I was overstepping my…'

'I hope there will be a quiet little corner or something where we are going,' she cut in. 'I'm gonna need you to do me, like, real hard, as soon as possible.'

Robert swallowed.

'Or you can just say "thank you",' he said.

'That's how I say "thank you",' grinned Jenna.

They left the city behind and now the car ran on a road with trees on both sides. Soon enough it turned into a dirt road then they stopped at an almost empty parking lot. A whole forest laid ahead of them. Jenna didn't know what was so weird for a few seconds when she got out of the car, then she realised: the background noises, murmur of the traffic, sirens, someone's too loud TV, they were all missing.

'I still don't understand how there can be a freaking forest from like what, fifteen minutes from Camden Town? How come people don't know about it?'

Robert closed the car and took Jenna's hand. It felt weird at first.

'Some of them do,' he said. 'But it's not that popular, fortunately.'

There was a footpath between the woods, leading deep into the forest. Jenna had no idea what kind of trees were around apart from tall and probably very old; she was a city girl, born and raised.

The sky was low and grey, promising rain later on. Annoyingly, they weren't alone: there were just enough people jogging in their path or walking dogs in the woods for not to do what Jenna planned back in the car.

'So where did we land on your housing problem, after all?' asked Robert in a fake casual voice. Jenna sighed.

'Are you sure it's a good idea?'

'Time will tell,' shrugged Robert. 'It's certainly a better idea than you staying at your flat.'

Jenna let Robert's hand go, snuggled closer and hugged his waist instead. He did the same.

'You are right, I guess. Let's give it a go and we will see.'

'That's the spirit,' grinned Robert and kissed the top of Jenna's head. That was one of the very few spots Jenna wasn't kissed before, but she liked it.

After a while, the trees rarefied and the path turned. They were out of the forest and in front of them laid a couple of run-down buildings. Or more like one long building: it looked like a wall of a palace (the palace, which in reality was only a bigger manor, laid a little further away and behind an actual fence) with a row of overgrown pergolas on the top. There was a little dome at the other end of the wall and a small garden full of flowers at the bottom of it.

'This way,' said Robert and showed Jenna to a spiral staircase inside the round end of the wall near them. The girl ran up and Robert climbed after her.

'What is this place?' Jenna asked when Robert caught up. Her eyes were shining as she was looking at the red and golden leaves covering the pergolas ahead.

'It's called Hills Garden and Pergola or Hempstead Pergola,' he answered, taking her hand again, 'There was a ridiculously rich guy back around the turn of the 20th century who woke up one morning with the idea that he needed a garden terrace for his mansion to have parties.'

Jenna looked at the huge house then back at Robert.

'Was that guy a Montgomery?' she asked.

'Sadly, no,' he said then added: 'Now it's a property of the city, which you can tell by its shameful state.'

The place was worn-down indeed, but that somehow just made it better for Jenna.

'It's beautiful anyway,' she said.

'It is, isn't it? And peaceful. People are having weddings here sometimes but it looks like we are in luck today.'

'Weddings?' lifted her eyebrow Jenna, 'What's in your weird mind now, Montgomery?'

'Asked the girl who brought me to a ghoul infected cemetery on our first date,' he replied.

'You insisted that you wanted to come,' pointed out Jenna. 'And I didn't know I'm gonna kiss you, so I didn't know it was going to be a date.'

'Fair enough,' nodded Robert. 'Yet somehow I have a feeling that a planned date wouldn't go down that much differently…'

Jenna just shrugged, mostly because he was right but she didn't feel like telling him that. The both of them walked around, exploring the place. There were stairs and little nooks perfect for a quick kiss (they would be good for something other than kissing too, but there were other people around), and even a little pool, presumably for ducks.

Jenna could understand people that wanted to say "I do" right there easily. It was… Different. Peaceful and stunningly beautiful with all the colours of the autumn. If she ever would have gone that far, this garden looked as good of a spot as any, if not better.

They stopped under the little dome Jenna saw earlier. It didn't have walls, only four columns to hold it up.

'This looks good,' said Jenna and wrapped her arms around Robert's neck to kiss him. He placed his hands on her waist. They kissed for a long time, but it wasn't passionate now. Jenna didn't want to tear the other's clothes off, she just wanted him to be close. Another new and strange feeling.

'So…' she said then, still slightly panting, 'I promised you something…'

'Yes, but can we at least do it in the car? There are people around…'

'I meant another Rune, you moron,' she grinned. 'Although, it isn't a bad idea…'

Robert laughed.

'Let's see that Rune first.'

'Buzzkill,' shook her head Jenna, then she reached out, palm open, and said a word. Nothing happened. 'I haven't quite got the hang of it yet myself,' she said and tried again. This time sparks leapt from nothing and then a small flame appeared above her palm.

Robert followed her lead and raised his hand. At the first attempt, he managed to make a few sparks. Then a big ball of flames so hot Jenna could feel it from metres away. The third time he formed a burning, shabby dog, not unlike Jenna's shadowy one and made it run around on the stone floor, leaving little black footprints behind. It leapt over the edge of the wall and exploded into a firework of million sparks. Robert closed his fingers into a fist and the sparks died out.

'That was… Wow,' said Jenna deeply impressed and a little turned on by the sight of Robert's skills.

He smiled and shrugged.

'Once you understand how it works, it's really easy. Don't want to sound pompous but I can teach you a few tricks if you want. That's my job after all.'

Jenna took his hand and led him towards a staircase that went down to the dirt road.

'I'm in, but first I will teach you a thing or two in the car, about things that are supposed to be "in",' she said with a mischievous smile and that was exactly what happened. Twice.