She got another cab home and walked in the shop apprehensively, knowing that they knew. Most of the girls were in the kitchen since they had only two customers and even they seemed to be just using the wifi.

“How was it?” Leanne asked when she got to the kitchen.

“Oh, you know, it was therapy,” Raine sighed.

“You know we are all here for you, anything you need,” Amber said. It was touching and Raine felt tears forming in her eyes.

“You guys are great employees, you all do more than enough so thank you, and Leanne thank you again for covering, do you guys need any help?” Raine said.

Brittney laughed, “have you seen it out there? We have been fighting over customers all day, and none of them have tipped yet, we got it covered.”

“Okay, well I’ll be upstairs if we get a rush, just come get me,” she told them and made her way up to her room. She felt so tired and it was only noon. She stripped her clothes off and changed into a pair of white lounge pants and threw on Elliot’s, now disgustingly dirty, tee shirt. She lay in bed looking at her phone but not really seeing anything. She threw it down and rolled the day over in her mind until she fell asleep. A couple hours later she woke up and went and got some coffee. When she got back, she decided she needed to paint some more so she stripped off Elliot’s shirt because she didn’t want to get paint on it. She wore her pants and a hot pink bra as she climbed up into the loft and began painting. Darlene texted her for a while about this guy who was bothering her at some club she went to for hackers. She told Raine she would be over later but didn’t say what time so Raine went back to painting. Sometime later she had lost track of what time it was, but she heard a knock. “Why is she knocking?” she wondered, Darlene had a key. She had made a copy the other day when she had it for her and Brandon. Raine jumped down onto her mattress and quickly went over and swung the door all the way open saying, “Darlene if you lost that…” she stopped talking when she saw Elliot, standing there holding a cardboard bowl of frozen yogurt, he grinned.

“Oh Elliot, what time is it, you’re off work already?” she said.

“Yea it’s five-thirty,” he said, he shifted his feet nervously and eyed her body.

She looked down and realized her very bright hot pink bra was all she was wearing on top, “Oh shit, I’m sorry I was so into painting I just…” she turned and frantically grabbed the shirt on her bed and put it on. Elliot stepped in and closed the door, “I wasn’t complaining.”

“I thought you were Darlene, what’s this?” she said pointing to the treat in his hand.

“Oh, I brought you something,” he said as though he’d forgotten he was even holding it, he handed it to her.

“It’s fro-yo, looks like it’s chocolate?” she said.

“Swirled with coffee, your favorite,” he said.

“How did you… Darlene?” she asked, hoping he hadn’t somehow hacked into her fro-yo orders.

“Yea,” he smiled.

“Thank you, what’s this for?” she asked sitting cross-legged on her mattress and taking a bite.

He lay down in front of her on his side, propping himself up on his elbow, “it’s a gift, as thanks for coming today.”

“You didn’t have to thank me, today was for both of us,” she said.

“Still, you deserve it for being brave,” he said.

She smiled at him, “you want to try it?” He nodded so she got a small spoonful and fed it to him. He made a little ‘mmm’ noise as he took a bite and she didn’t know how someone could make eating fro-yo so sexy. He licked the side of the spoon as she took it out of his mouth, and she felt her hand tremble from excitement. Elliot looked up at her and licked his top lip slowly. This was torture. He grinned and then laid on his back with his hands behind his head. He was still in his work clothes and hoodie.

“You’re wearing my shirt,” he said to the ceiling.

“I just grabbed the first thing I saw,” she lied.

He looked over at her suspiciously, so she said, “okay I wear it to bed every night, sorry I’m so obsessed with you,” she laughed.

He looked back at the ceiling and smiled to himself, “you can keep it, I like that.”

“You like that I’m obsessed with you?” she asked.

“I like you wearing my shirt every night because you miss me,” he said, “I don’t like this idea that people who like each other can’t do what they feel like doing because they are afraid the other person might find out they actually care about them.”

She smiled, “well I care about you a lot.”

He propped himself up again and said, “can I have some more?”

This time she handed him the bowl and let him feed himself, she didn’t want a repeat of last time because she was already on the verge of attacking him. He took two bites and looked at her, then took another, “this is really good.”

“I know, give it back,” she laughed, she reached for it and he pulled it back playfully so she would have to lay across him to reach it. She still couldn’t reach it, so she backed up a little to face him and pout. She hadn’t realized how close their faces would be and their noses were almost touching. She tilted her head a little and pouted her bottom lip out and whispered, “I want it.”

He looked at her mouth and bit his lip, “you do?” he said but his voice was trembling and came out so soft it was barely audible. She batted her eyelashes at him playfully and one side of his mouth went up into a sexy grin. He put his hand on the back of her head and started to pull her into a kiss, but the door flew open causing him to close his eyes and whisper, “fuck me,” to himself. Raine giggled as she backed off of Elliot to say hi to Darlene. Elliot gave her the fro-yo so he could lay back down and start rubbing his eyes with his palms, clearly frustrated. Darlene sat at the head of the bed so Raine turned to face her. They talked for a while as Elliot lay there trying to compose himself. Finally, he stopped pouting and got up and sat behind Raine draping one arm across the front of her as they took turns eating the fro-yo. Well, it was more like, if she left the spoon in the bowl, he would grab it and take a bite. She gave up protesting after the third time he did it. Darlene talked about the guy she had to kick out of the hacker club because security were a bunch of ‘dickless morons’ as she put it.

“He was seriously sexually harassing every girl there,” she said, “I mean who does that?”

“Assholes,” Elliot said.

“Exactly, I mean so what? We have a vagina, does that automatically mean we can’t just function in society and not be seen as sexual objects for men to do whatever they want to our bodies,” Darlene said.

“It’s not just about sex, it’s entitlement, they feel bad about themselves, so they want to make us feel powerless, usually because we are better at them at stuff, men honestly suck,” Raine said. Then patted Elliot’s arm, “not you, babe.”

Darlene smiled, “Elliot truly is one in a million, if I hadn’t grown up with him, I would think all men just can’t help themselves, but Elliot was proof that men can be feminists too if they care and can act like they have a dick.”

Raine laughed and turned and looked at Elliot, “thank you for acting like you have a dick.”

He grinned, “acting?”

She raised an eyebrow at him, and he kissed the tip of her nose. Darlene rolled her eyes but chuckled, “I don’t know if this is cute or disgusting.”

“We love you too,” Raine said.

“So, I take it couple’s counseling went well,” Darlene said, “I wouldn’t ask, but you two are acting like Mike and Carol Brady so I figured it was okay.”

“Mike and Carol wish,” Elliot scoffed.

Raine laughed, “It was… productive, she wants me to come see her on my own now, I guess my ‘pretend to be sane’ dress pants didn’t trick her into thinking I’m not crazy.”

“I really think this is good for you,” Darlene said.

“So, Darlene when are you going to therapy?” Elliot asked.

“I think I need to take off,” Darlene said, laughing.

“Oh, come on, everyone can benefit from talking to someone,” Raine said.

“That’s what I have you two for,” Darlene said, “therapy isn’t really my style.”

Raine rolled her eyes but didn’t push it, she knew how Darlene liked to let things build-up, and when she blew Raine would be there for her because it was the least she could do, who was she to judge how Darlene liked to deal with things? They convinced Darlene to stay and she agreed if Elliot would go get her some fro-yo. There was a place down the block, so he agreed. After he left Darlene was like, “Okay now you can tell me how bad you hated it.”

“Therapy? I really didn’t, I mean it was hard and emotional but all the stuff we talked about was stuff already in my head, so it was really freeing to say it to someone who can… like do something about it,” Raine said.

“Did you tell her about Elliot asking Mr. Robot to kiss you?” she asked.

“Oh, he said he told her Sunday at lunch, apparently she chewed him out pretty good about it, but he and I had already resolved it, so she didn’t bring it up, I guess why she didn’t bring it up,” Raine shrugged.

“I figured that would be a real issue,” Darlene said.

“Well this session was sort of focused on why Elliot can’t kiss me, and I think he gets now why it was a bad idea, plus I can kind of see his point if I were thinking strictly logically it makes some sense, he was just trying too…”

“Get you laid,” Darlene finished for her.

“Something like that,” Raine laughed.

“That’s Elliot, he’s all good intention and shitty outcomes,” Darlene said.

“I think that’s a good portion of humanity when you really think about it,” Raine said.

“With some truly evil people sprinkled in,” Darlene agreed, “speaking of, did you tell her about Luke?”

“Oh yea, she had Elliot leave for a while so I told her everything… and she thinks that I should do something,” Raine said.

“Obviously, but what? You won’t let us hack him, not even me or Mr. Robot.”

“She thinks… she thinks I should ask Dom for help,” Raine winced waiting on Darlene’s reaction.

“Well duh, I said that as soon as I found out,” she said.

“You’re not mad?”

“Are you kidding? Why would I be mad?”

Raine shrugged so Darlene took her hand, “Listen, babe, this is about your safety, it’s more important than some silly attempts to play it cool with Dom, besides this gives me a good excuse to talk to her more.”

Raine laughed, “so we’re doing this? Because I need to get this over with so I can stop hiding it from Elliot, it’s killing me feeling like I’m lying to him.”

“I got you, I’ll text her to meet me tonight, we have to do this all irl because of Elliot, he can’t know about this until that douchebag is in prison… where he is safe from Elliot… not that I don’t want Elliot to kill him but you know he’d go to jail for murder, you’d have to do conjugal visits,” Darlene said laughing.

Someone knocked on the door so Raine got up to answer it, it was Elliot holding a fro-yo so she said, “whoa déjà vu.”

“Yea but this time it's strawberry and you’re not in a bra,” he said.

“The bra is still there, it just has a shirt over it,” she laughed and he looked down at her chest like he was trying to see through the shirt.

“Can I have my fro-yo before you drool all over it staring at her tits?” Darlene said.

“She’s so eloquent,” Raine said.

“One thing about my sister, she’s classy,” he said grinning.

Darlene ripped her treat away from him and said, “whatever dudes, I got a date.”

“I just brought you that so you’d stay,” he said.

“And I did, you just took too long, I seriously have to meet someone,” she said.

“Who?” he asked.

“Dial it back and chill, it’s just a friend,” she said putting her sunglasses on and walking out past Elliot.

Raine shut the door and looked at him, he had a curious look like he somehow sensed a plot being formed behind his back. She needed to distract him, “so where were we before she got here?” She pulled his shirt off of herself and threw it at him. He grinned and said, “come here.”

She walked over and paused in front of him and put a hand on his chest for a second, then slowly walked to her mattress and laid down, “you come here.”

He let out a deep shaky breath and went over at sat beside her, “baby, my body wants nothing more than you right now.”

“So, what’s the problem?”

“I have plans for our first kiss, it’s not all worked out in detail yet but we have been talking about it today and I think it’s gonna be…” he sighed, “I know I almost kissed you earlier in a moment of weakness but I really want to make this special for you,” he said taking her hand.

She didn’t have to ask who he meant by ‘we’ so she smiled at him and said, “aww, Elliot.” It’s all she could say.

“I’m hungry,” he said, “you want to go out for dinner or order in?”

“Hmm, it’s up to you, I’d rather stay here because I don’t want to get dressed,” she said.

“Oh?”

“I mean I can put a shirt on if this bothers you.”

“Bothers? Nah, but,” he paused and glanced at her body, “I can’t even look at you because it physically hurts,” he said looking up and away from her as much as possible.

“Hurts?” she looked at him confused.

He let out a laugh, “yea like a… throbbing pain, ya know?”

“Oh, ohhh I’m sorry, hand me that shirt,” she said, he handed it to her, and she sat up and put it on, “I didn’t mean to be such a tease I didn’t know you had plans to wait.”

“You’re good,” he said, “after Friday it will be better.”

“Friday? Is that when we’re doing it” she blushed, “kissing I mean?”

“If that’s good for you?”

“Yea, I’m off by noon, what are we doing?”

“I’m working on it, but it will be a surprise,” he said.

“I can’t wait,” she said and put her hand on his shoulder and rested her chin on her hand, “thank you.”

“For what?”

“So many things,” she smiled, “but specifically for trying so hard to make me happy, no matter what it is, it will be the best thing ever because I know how much effort you’re going to just for our first kiss, I never thought someone would ever treat me like this.”

He looked at her and smiled shyly, like he was humbled by what she had said, “I’ve never done this before, not like this, but you’re worth it.”

She blushed, “well I don’t know about that, but I do think your stomach just growled so we should order some food.”

They ordered food and went downstairs to wait on it because they would only deliver to the shop because Raine’s apartment didn’t technically have an address.

“So, where do you get mail?” Elliot asked.

“The shop has a mailbox at the post office and packages just come here, the shop’s mail is mine too anyway so it’s just easier having one address,” she said.

“But the shop’s address is so… public,” he said.

“Well the physical address is but people don’t know the box number,” she said.

“Oh, so like if you wanted to shop to be listed somewhere you would only put the physical address?”

“Well yes, because then they would know where the coffee is,” she laughed.

“I’m just asking,” he said.

“Why are you asking so many questions about the shop?”

“Just curious,” he said but she knew he was hiding something, it seemed harmless, so she let it go. She looked around and realized the shop was dead, they had been all day. Even though she had all the e-coin and no debt, thanks Aldersons, she stressed when the shop wasn’t busy because it would kill her to close it. This was her life, she was raised here, her father and mother had worked here when both their families disowned them for marrying each other. Her father’s family was Italian and her mother’s had been native American and both families were racist against the other, it was a real Romeo and Juliet romance, except worse because it meant everyone living that she was related to by blood were horrible people. She had never met any of them and didn’t intend to try. Papi had taken them both in because he had no kids and no wife and he felt bad for them when he found out their situation, her mother was pregnant with her. Papi had a good bit of money back then when his shop was the only gourmet coffee place in the area. This was the oldest one in Little Italy, so it was special for lots of reasons. She told Elliot all of this on their first night together.

“What are you thinking about?” he asked her.

She looked around, “this place… just getting…nostalgic, I guess.”

“It’s really nice,” he said looking around.

“Yea but… sometimes I get nervous, it’s silly because it’s only once in a while, but when we have days this slow it makes me think about what it would mean if I had to close it.”

“I’m sure it’s fine,” he said.

“Oh it is, I know that but it still just makes me think, I mean I would be fine financially thanks to you, but just emotionally I would be… devastated, this place is a huge part of so much history, Papi has so many stories, mobsters meeting here, Frank Sinatra hanging out over there in that one booth, only that one.”

“That’s cool,” he said, “maybe he can tell me some stories someday, or you can,” he said.

“You’d rather hear them from him, I always mess them up,” she laughed, “he remembers every detail, he’ll say ‘ol blue eyes wore a pinstriped suit that night, and a fedora, he ordered…’ you get the point,” she said ridiculously imitating Papi and his accent when she quoted him. Elliot was watching her with laughter in his eyes, so she blushed. When the food came Elliot paid them because he insisted, and they carried it upstairs. They had gotten Chinese which she liked more for the little takeout boxes than the actual food, which Elliot said was ‘so like her’. They sat on her mattress and ate and Raine played music on her phone as they talked and played silly games with each other and their food.

“You have rice in your hair,” Elliot said. She started looking down at her hair and didn’t see anything, so Elliot picked it off the top of her head.

“All the way up there?” she laughed.

“How do you get rice on the top of your head?” he laughed.

“I don’t know I always find weird things in my hair, especially food.”

“That’s cause you are the messiest eater on earth,” he said.

“I just have too much hair, I’m not messy,” she huffed.

“Yes you are, and it’s so ironic because you take so much time to prepare everything exactly how you want it before you even start eating, and then it takes you forever to actually eat it, how you get food everywhere when you eat so slow is beyond me,” he said shrugging.

“I don’t get food everywhere.”

“You had rice on the top of your head.”

She laughed, “shut up.”

“Nah, I think it’s cute,” he said.

“How is that cute?”

He just grinned at her, and she knew everything he didn’t need to say. He thought it was cute because it was something she did, a part of her that made her who she was.

“I don’t want to tell you because then you’ll be aware you’re doing it, but I love when you take your hood off and then fix your hair,” she said.

“Why?”

“Just do, I remember the first time I saw you do it and I was so jealous because I wanted to do it,” she said.

“Fix my hair?”

“Just run my fingers through it.”

“Well you can, anytime you want… except right now because you’ll probably get rice in it,” he said. She laughed and threw a little rice at him.

They were sitting cross-legged facing each other, when they were done eating Elliot gathered the boxes and sat them in the floor. Raine stretched her legs out and wiggled her hot pink painted toes, wondering if she should change the color. Elliot grabbed her feet and put them in his lap and began massaging them. Raine laughed.

“Ticklish?” he asked.

“No… it’s you,” she said.

“Me what?”

“I don’t know how to be a good boyfriend’ he says,” she mocked him, even changing her voice to a more manly tone.

“You have sexy feet,” he said.

“Oh? Foot fetish?” she asked.

“Nah, I just like yours.”

That’s when she knew she wanted to be with this guy the rest of her life, not just as his girlfriend or even his wife, it felt like more than that. Like there was no word big enough to hold the connection they had and what she felt inside for him. And they hadn’t even kissed yet. She wondered if they would be this compatible in their sex life. She didn’t tell him all this but he looked up at her and she knew he was thinking it too. She didn’t know how she knew but she did.

“Tell me something,” she said.

“Like what?”

“What are you thinking about?”

“You…us,” he said candidly.

“Me too,” she said, he smiled and went back to watching his hands massage her feet. He stopped and put her feet on either side of his body and crawled up her bed and hovered over her, he grabbed her around the waist and pulled her down to a laying position.

“I thought you wanted to wait,” she teased.

“I just want to be close to you,” he whispered. He kissed her forehead then her nose, then he laid his head down on her chest and nuzzled his hair against her chin. She put her arms around him and began running a hand through his hair.

“I like that,” he whispered against her neck.

“What if I get rice in it?” she asked.

“Doesn’t matter,” he said.

They lay there like that for a long time and she heard Elliot snoring softly. She hated to wake him up, but she knew he had work in the morning, and flipper needed to go out. Why couldn’t there be a place people could go when they fall in love where the world stops around them, and they don’t have responsibilities for a while. Couldn’t the rest of the world feel this? That something was happening like this, in this tiny one-room apartment in the middle of a busy city. She felt it, it was like the whole city was buzzing around them, but they were calm, like the eye of a hurricane. Maybe this was what love was supposed to feel like, a safe place even when everything else was out of control.

“Elliot,” she said shaking him lightly.

“Shh…” he said making her giggle softly.

“I know you want to sleep but you have to walk flipper,” she said.

“Okay, bring her to me,” he mumbled.

“We’re at my place,” she giggled. He made some noises as he tried to wake himself up. She knew he was still half asleep when he said, “your tits are the best pillows.”

“Elliot, wake up,” she laughed.

“What? oh fuck… I’m awake, what time is it?”

“Like ten,” she said.

“Did I just call your tits, pillows?”

“Yes.”

“Damn, I thought I was dreaming.”

“About that?”

“I usually do,” he teased, at least she thought he was teasing, then he said, “I don’t want to leave, but flipper needs me.”

“I know, and you have that date to plan for Friday,” she knew giving him a project that involved her would help him leave less sad. She wondered if they were starting to grow co-dependent, or maybe Krista was still in her head. Or maybe this was normal for couples that actually liked each other, she had never been in a couple like that before.

“Want me to walk you out?” she asked.

“Nah, you stay in bed baby, get some sleep,” he said as he kissed her forehead and got up and stretched before leaving, locking the door behind him.