Watching Larissa cooking amazed me. She was so content, and the smile never left her face. She was only making pasta for us, but it looked as if she was making a three course meal in a five star restaurant.

"So Rob's moving in then?" She asked, as she diced some green peppers to add to the pasta.

"Yeah," I replied. "Well, he's gonna talk to Tom today. I don't know how Tom's gonna feel about it all, and I don't want to upset him, so I told Rob to square it with him first."

"I'm sure Tom won't mind, it's not like Rob's gonna be far away."

"Yeah, I guess. It's just that, it's always been the two of them, since Elaine left. What if he's lonely?" I said, and felt saddened by the thought.

Larissa looked at me and smiled. She put the pasta into a dish, and grated some cheese over the top, then placed it into the oven, along with some garlic bread that she had made.

"It's so nice of you to worry about Tom," she said, sitting at the table again. "But he's a grown man, and so is Rob. Tom's probably been waiting for this to happen. I mean, how old is Rob?"

"Twenty five," I answered.

"Really?" She asked, raising her eyebrows. "So you're only twenty five too?"

"Almost twenty five," I corrected. "Why?"

"I don't know, I guess I thought you guys were my age."

"So I look old?" I laughed.

"So I'm old?" She quipped.

I felt my face heat up, and I thought I had offended her. I started to apologise, but was interrupted by Larissa's musical laugh.

"I didn't mean it like that," I pouted.

"I know," she laughed. "And no, you don't look old, you just seem mature for your age."

"There's only four years between us. And believe me, if we keep hanging out, you'll change your mind about how mature I am."

"Then, I guess we'll see."

I smiled at her response. Larissa was really fun to be around, and I would like to hang out with her more. I was happy she wasn't completely opposed to spending more time with me.

Larissa's phone started to ring, and I saw the name Brandon on her screen before she answered.

"Hey baby," she said to Brandon. I looked away from her awkwardly as she spoke to her boyfriend, and realised I really disliked Brandon.

"I'm good, I'm just making some food for Ivy and me."

Larissa's face changed as Brandon spoke, and she stood from the table and walked out into the hallway. I could still hear what she was saying.

"You said you were coming on Thursday... I've been rushing around trying to get everything ready for you," she said, sounding upset. "So when? I haven't seen you for two weeks."

A few more seconds passed before she spoke, while Brandon answered her.

"Okay. Whatever," she replied, sounding more pissed off than upset now. "See you next week. Love you."

I waited for a moment for Larissa to come back into the kitchen, but she didn't. I stood up, and went to see if she was okay.

When I got to the hallway, she was sitting on the stairs with her head in her hands.

"Larissa...?" I said quietly.

She quickly wiped her eyes and looked up at me with her best fake smile. I sighed, and sat down next to her.

"Are you okay?" I asked. She replied only with a nod, trying to hold back the tears that formed in her eyes. "Come here."

I put my arm around her shoulder, and she turned to bury her face in my shoulder. I put my other arm around her, and hugged her tight. She cried on my t-shirt for a few minutes, before pulling away and wiping her eyes.

"I'm sorry," she sniffled.

"Don't be sorry," I said, putting my hand on her knee and squeezing it gently. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not right now. I need to get the pasta out of the oven."

She stood up, and walked into the kitchen, and I followed.

"Can I do anything?" I asked.

"No, it's okay, just take a seat," she said, taking the food from the oven.

She served our meal, and we ate in silence. It was the nicest pasta I had ever tasted, and I finished it quickly.

"Oh my God, that was amazing," I complimented. "Why aren't you a chef?"

"Well, that would take the fun out of it," she smiled.

She seemed to have forgotten why she was upset, and I didn't want to make her sad again, so I didn't ask her about it again.

Larissa and I got straight back to painting after we ate, and I was sure to keep the conversation light. I really didn't like seeing her upset, so I focused on making her laugh instead.

By the time we had finished the guest room, it was almost eight o'clock.

"I've got to work early tomorrow," I told her. "I finish at twelve, so i can come back to help again after if you want."

"That would be great, thank you," she smiled. "Alice is coming tomorrow too, so if you feel like inviting Rob, he's more than welcome to come."

"Yeah, I'm sure he'd be happy with that. So I'll see you tomorrow."

Larissa walked me to the door, and hugged me quickly before I left. I forced my heart back into my chest and got in my car.

When I got close to home, I saw that the lights were still on in the coffee shop, so I parked my car and let myself in the back entrance of the shop.

"Hello?" I shouted from the door, and heard Tom and Rob shout back to me.

I walked out of the kitchen to find them both sitting at a table laughing. They had a bottle of whiskey in front of them and three shot glasses.

"Sit down, Ivy. We're celebrating," Tom grinned.

"What are we celebrating?" I asked, laughing at how drunk they both were. Rob didn't even attempt to speak, he was concentrating on not falling from his chair

"Robert Matthew Stevens is finally moving out!"

I laughed at Tom's announcement, and joined them at the table. Tom poured us all a shot, and we all drank quickly. The whiskey burned as it ran down my throat.

"So you're okay with it?" I asked Tom.

"Okay with it?" He laughed loudly. "I can't fucking wait!"

"Thanks, dad," Rob slurred sarcastically.

"Ivy, you've done me a favour. I mean, I don't have to clean up after him anymore, he's not gonna be eating all my food, and I can finally have my snooker room."

Rob and I both laughed, and I poured us all another drink.

"I just need you to know that you won't be paying less rent though, Ivy. I don't charge you the going rate because you're family. Rob will just be paying the same as you."

"That's fine, Tom," I smiled. It made me feel happy that Tom considered me like family.

"Anyway, I need to get some sleep. You two can have tomorrow off to get Rob out of my house. I've asked Jack to come in tomorrow."

"Awesome, thanks dad. I'm not sure I'd be much use in the morning anyway," Rob laughed, taking another shot.

"Okay, that's enough," I laughed, closing the lid on the whiskey. "Where are you staying tonight?"

"In my new apartment," Rob answered, grinning.

I called Tom a taxi, locked up the coffee shop, and then helped Rob up the stairs to our apartment.

We sat on the sofa, watching TV, and I ordered a pizza.

"So, how's Larissa?" He asked, drinking a bottle of beer I gave to him.

"Okay, I think. She kind of argued with her boyfriend on the phone today," I said.

"Ooh, trouble in paradise. That's good," he laughed.

"Not really, she was really upset."

Rob just smiled at me, and kept drinking his beer.

"What?" I asked.

"You've got it bad," he laughed.

I shushed him, then went to answer the door, as the pizza delivery guy knocked.

I carried the pizza back to the sofa and started to eat a piece.

"It'll only get worse, you know, the more time you spend with her."

"I know," I admitted. "But I really like being around her, even if nothing's ever gonna happen. She's so nice, and funny, and-"

"Hot," Rob added.

"Yeah, that too," I laughed. "I'm going back tomorrow afternoon to help her decorate again. You wanna come?"

"I'm good thanks, I don't really want to get in the middle of whatever is going on in your head," he replied.

"Alice will be there."

"Fine, if you insist," he smiled.

"Good boy. I'm going to bed now."

I went to my room, and threw myself onto my bed, and was asleep within minutes.