"So, you two want to head to the bar? Play some pool? Watch me and Carlos get wasted while you two monsters laugh at our feeble human livers?" Victor suggested as they left.

Greg glanced at Tessa, before shaking his head. "Not tonight I think. Tessa and I have some… catching up to do." They really needed to sit down and discuss just where they were in their relationship. After what happened in the morning, they hadn't had the chance to really talk things out.

Tessa flushed, before nodding in agreement. "Yeah, we need to talk."

"Ooh, less than a day in and you're already in trouble? Red flag, my dude, red flag." Victor sighed, patting Greg on the shoulder.

Greg rolled his eyes, shrugging Victor off. "Knock it off. We'll see you guys later."

"Yeah, yeah. Go have your fight, we'll be fine by ourselves." Victor chuckled, waving as he turned to go, followed by Carlos.

Greg shook his head, before turning to Tessa. "So… where do you want to go?"

"Food?" She suggested. "We haven't eaten anything yet today. Not that it would particularly affect either of us…"

Greg paused. "That's actually a good point… why do we eat? I'm not even sure I can mutate with the smoke, and you can just reverse anything that happens to you."

Tessa flushed. "I like food… you weren't the only one to put on a few pounds before all this happened."

Greg turned to her, wide eyed. "You were fat?"

"No!" Tessa protested immediately. "It was only a little excess weight!"

"Awww, come on! I'm sure you would look adorable with a little pudge." Greg teased.

Tessa raised an eyebrow at him. "Are you suggesting I'm not adorable now?" She asked in a dangerous tone. Greg froze, before Tessa snorted, nudging him with her shoulder. "Come on, let's go get some food."

It took a moment before Greg realized she had been kidding, following after her, shaking his head. "Oh you are gonna get it later." He chuckled dangerously, causing Tessa to flush deeply.

The two continued to tease each other as they headed towards the restaurant, until Tessa couldn't stop flushing and Greg was getting a bit too eager to get somewhere private. Fortunately, they had to settle down once they got there, quickly ordering their food, before focusing on each other. "So… us." Greg began.

"Yeah…" Tessa nodded.

"Well, we're obviously together, so there's that." Greg continued. "And apparently we're getting physical, which-"

"Stop before you get yourself in trouble." Tessa interrupted him with a look.

"Fair enough." Greg nodded, taking a sip of his drink, looking away. "Still… where does that leave us? I'm not exactly a relationship guru, but I feel like we've skipped a few steps. Not that I'm complaining, but… I mean, I don't even know what your last name is! There are basic questions I have no answer to! Not- not that I'm saying we barely know each other. We just haven't had a reason to talk about certain things, and once we did… we kind of immediately jumped into something else."

Tessa flushed. "Yeah… that… I don't know what happened there."

"Well, hormones are a bitch, you're sexy as fuck, and I've honestly liked you pretty much from the moment we met, so… that." Greg commented.

"That explains you. I- I'm usually more controlled than that." Tessa groaned. "I just- there's something about you. I feel so comfortable around you, and… it's like all my alarms get turned off. Things that I'd normally hesitate to do, suddenly don't seem so bad." She paused. "You- you really liked me for that long?"

"Well, yeah. I mean, don't get me wrong, at first it was just the whole 'well she's hot' effect, but… I dunno. You're just kinda awesome." Greg shrugged.

Tessa rolled her eyes. "All I do is yell at you. How is that awesome?"

"First, a woman who isn't afraid to speak her mind is literally the most attractive thing in this world." Greg replied in a serious tone, raising a finger. "Secondly, it isn't about what you say, but what you do. Everything you do is to take care of the people around you, even when you don't have to. You don't need to look after Jen, Sarah, or Tina, you didn't need to look after me, hell, you don't need to do anything you do! You're literally the princess of this safe zone! You could sit around and do nothing all day and be fine. How could I not like someone like that?"

Tessa flushed. "I- I don't do that much… Plus, my dad would never let me do nothing."

"Sure, but you could probably do something safer than the scavenger squads." Greg replied. "I mean, I'm sure your dad wasn't happy to send you out into the city to fight ferals."

"He was okay with the scavenger squads… though he may have tried to force me to join one of the top five instead." Tessa muttered in embarrassment.

"See? You're awesome." Greg chuckled, grinning at her.

Tessa rolled her eyes, flushing adorably. "Shut up."

"Still, this hasn't exactly helped clarify our relationship." Greg sighed. "I mean, we already knew we liked each other. Kind of obvious at this point."

Tessa hesitated. "Actually… I- you'd never actually said you like me… we just- and then I remembered what you said about Meredith, and- I- I was worried you just went along with it because you wanted sex." She explained nervously.

Greg's eyes widened. "That- Tessa, no. I would never use someone's feelings to sleep with them. That's so… dishonest. No, the reason Meredith is tempting is because I know it'd mean nothing. I wouldn't do anything with a girl who actually liked me that I didn't have any feelings for."

"Dishonest?" Tessa asked with a frown as she noted the disgust with which Greg had spat the word.

"I don't like dishonesty… it's either meaningless or completely despicable. Like, why lie about whether you like something or not? No one cares if you don't like the same things. Just be yourself! On the other hand, why lie to trick someone into bed? There are so many people willing to sleep around! You don't need to trick anyone! All you're doing is hurting people for no reason!" Greg ranted, getting weirdly worked up over it.

Tessa gave him a look. "You sound like you have a story behind that."

Greg sighed. "Not really, no… it's more- look, I'm not a good person. My moral compass just spins in circles, telling me to go wherever. I had to learn how to treat people, how to be a decent person. So, when people do things that are so meaninglessly cruel, things that even I can recognize are pointless, it just bothers me. There are just so many ways to get what you want without hurting people, often more easily, that it just doesn't make sense to me! How can people who should be better than me be so stupid? Why am I stopping myself for a world that clearly doesn't get it?" Greg explained, frustration clear in his tone, tinged with a hint of resignation.

Tessa looked concerned as she reached forward, grabbing Greg's hands. "Greg, you can't focus on the bad. There are good people out there, doing their best. Maybe- maybe we're fighting a losing battle, but that doesn't mean we can give up. Because the people we do help are worth it."

Greg gave her a small smile, squeezing her hands back. "Thanks." He thanked her in a small voice, before sighing and shaking his head. "This still isn't what we're here to talk about though. Seriously, where do we stand, relationship wise? Like, should we move in together? I mean, as much as I move in anywhere at least… pretty much just a question of whether we're regularly having sex or not."

Tessa flushed. "Do- do you want to move in?" She asked nervously.

Greg paused, cocking his head. "Huh… Well, short answer, yes. Long answer… I don't think I conceptually get the importance of moving in or not. Like, I get that it's supposed to be this huge step, but… if you like a person well enough to sleep with them, what's the big deal about living with them? Oh… wait, I suppose it might have more to do with the level at which you tie your lives together? I mean, if moving in means you now financially depend on each other… that would be kind of a big deal. I don't think we have to deal with that though, so… eh? Of course, even if that was the case, I still think I'd be down… being closer to you matters more to me than financial independence."

Tessa blinked at him a few times. "Has anyone ever told you how romantic you are?"

Greg cocked his head, frowning slightly. "No?"

"Well, on a scale of one to ten, I'd give you a four." Tessa continued, rolling her eyes.

Greg let out a short laugh. "Yeah, sorry, I'm not great on the emotional side of things… it's just… for me, the world makes sense. You do things because they're right, or they make you happy. If something makes you happy, and it isn't wrong, why not do it? There's nothing wrong with moving in with you, and I know it'd make me happy, so… why not?"

"You aren't worried we're moving too fast?" Tessa asked hesitantly. "I-I like you, but… as you said, there's so much we don't know about each other."

Greg nodded. "That's true, but… most of that is surface level stuff. Stuff that doesn't truly matter for whether or not we like each other. What I do know about you is the stuff that counts. How you react in the face of danger. How you treat people when they're in need. The lengths you'll go to help someone. Your favorite flavor of ice cream isn't going to change any of that." He explained, causing Tessa to flush. "Plus… Well, we already kind of shot ourselves in the foot here. If we suddenly start taking steps back to do things 'the right way' we're just going to frustrate ourselves." He added with a shrug.

"So close." Tessa sighed, shaking her head, before fixing Greg with a serious look. "So, we're doing this? Going all in? Living together, sleeping together, all that?"

"Two steps from married with children." Greg nodded with a grin.

Tessa raised an eyebrow at him. "Excuse me?"

"It's something my uncle says." Greg shrugged. "He used it to describe those couples that do everything like a married couple, living together, doing everything with each other, to the point where all they're missing is getting married, and having kids. Of course, he always followed it with 'three steps from a messy divorce'... my uncle wasn't a huge believer in the institution of marriage."

"He sounds like an interesting man." Tessa commented.

"Yeah, Uncle Jonathan is great." Greg nodded. "He's the one who raised me, after my parents died."

Tessa's eyes widened. "Your- your parents died?"

"Yeah, when I was four." Greg nodded. "And one… my birth parents died, then I was adopted, and my adoptive parents died. I ended up being raised by my adoptive uncle, Uncle Jonathan."

Tessa blinked at him a few times. "You were orphaned… twice?" She asked in a tone that suggested she wasn't sure if he was joking or not.

"Yup." Greg nodded. "My grandparents thought I was cursed, the adoptive ones. I don't know what was up with my birth grandparents, either side… Uncle Jonathan was the only one willing to take me in, and we don't talk to the extended family."

"Greg that's- that's horrible!" Tessa exclaimed.

Greg shrugged. "It's life. People suck sometimes. I barely remember them anyways, so I don't have any hard feelings about it. They're just… not family. That's on them, not me."

"Greg-" Tessa began, giving him a concerned, caring look.

"It's fine, really." Greg interrupted, shaking his head. "I've had most of my life to get used to it. I went through an entire angry phase when I hit puberty. Still, Uncle Jonathan was there for me through all of it, even when I hated him for it. He's the only family I need or want."

Tessa just stared at him for a moment, before sliding out from her side of the table and scooting into his, wrapping her arms around him and resting her head on his shoulder. "I'm sorry you had to go through that…"

"Tessa-" Greg began in a helpless tone.

"I know, you're not hurt anymore. But… you were, and I- I have to feel what I feel about that." Tessa stopped him, tightening her hug. "Even- even if this doesn't fix anything, even if you don't need it… I have to express it."

Greg paused, before reaching over and pulling her closer. He could let his girlfriend hug him, if it made her feel better. The two sat like that for a long moment, until their food came. As they ate, the conversation turned to lighter things as they tried to play catch up on the things they'd missed. They learned each other's full names, their favorite foods, favorite movies, favorite music, everything they could think of, spending hours just sitting there and talking, until the sky turned dark.