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[juststopped]

She knows that Ellis won't be expecting anything fancy, but that doesn't mean she hasn't made an effort. She's baked, she's cooked, she's cleaned her apartment. She's put on a new dress, which is soft and grey and cut in an extremely flattering way. She's barefoot, because she's at home, but she doesn't think that he'll begrudge her that. Everything smells delicious. She's got Miles Davis playing low.

Everything's perfect.
All she needs is Ellis.

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[justletgo]

Ellis arrives at the time they agreed on. He'd spent some time agonizing over what to wear before finally settling on a nice shirt and dark jeans. They said casual, right? But he wants to look good for her. Who wouldn't want that? She's always been so poised, so put together, no matter what she's wearing or what she's doing. It's one of the things about her he's in love with.

He arrives with two bottles of wine (one red, one white, just in case), and a small bouquet of fresh-cut sunflowers and wild flowers. A smile lights his face when she answers the door.

[juststopped]

"Oh!" Adaline grins at the flowers and the wine. "You didn't have to bring me anything." She steps aside to let him into the apartment, ignoring the flutter that she feels of having him in her space.

[justletgo]

"I know, but I wanted to," he says. He offers her the flowers first, then leans to kiss her cheek. "And I didn't know what you were making so I grabbed one of each, just in case. You look amazing."

He feels all sorts of warm, then leans to kiss her lips.

[juststopped]

Kisses so far have been relatively chaste, but he's in her space now, and Adaline feels warmth flood through her face. She smiles, touching his face lightly with one palm. "Oh, nothing complicated. Burgers, home-made sides." She takes the flowers. "I'll put these in water if you see to the wine?"

[justletgo]

"You know me so well." He kisses her again before he moves to open the wine - red. In the kitchen he finds a bottle opener and glasses. And he sneaks looks at Adaline as she takes care of the flowers. It feels new again, but it also feels comfortable.

"How was your day?"

[juststopped]

"Quiet," says Adaline, setting the flowers in the middle of the table and then moving back into the kitchen. "I worked for a little while. Spent time with a friend. You met him, I think - Krem?" She glances over her shoulder. She wants to have that discussion with Ellis, about what Krem means to her. "How about you?"

[justletgo]

"Yeah! I met him while I was doing my research out in public." He smiles. "He told me about where he comes from, mentioned that a friend of his works where you do."

Ellis offers Adaline her glass of wine.

"I started looking for jobs. There's a position open at the university that might be promising."

[juststopped]

"We were...very close. We still are." She pauses for a moment, her hands busy with chopping. "We were sleeping together until you arrived." She adds a handful of herbs to the pan. "What kind of position?"

[justletgo]

Ellis pauses, eyebrows sliding up when Adaline, in the stream of conversation, mentions that she'd been sleeping with Krem. Which-- well she's been here for months, and he assumes she thought she might never see him again, or never be able to leave, so trying to build a life is perfectly reasonable.

But it just kind of startles him the way she sandwiches it between much more inane topics. He laughs a bit.

"Do we... want to talk about me applying to a professorship first or that other part?" There's no anger, no jealousy, only curiosity.

[juststopped]

"I just want to tell you," she says, feeling a little foolish. She takes a sip of her wine. "It's important to me to keep him in my life, one way or another. We're close and he doesn't deserve to be hurt just because fate has interceded." She huffs out a breath. "So we need to talk about it, I suppose."

[justletgo]

"We can absolutely talk about it. Just kinda caught me off guard there." He leans on the counter near her, holding his glass. Ellis feels a little bit like he shouldn't have assumed so much on his arrival, it had just been... difficult not to. Not given where he left off. But Adaline had told him she'd been here for months. Maybe he should have thought to ask.

"Are you--" He tries to think about how to ask. Then he gestures to her. "Better idea - you start." Hopefully that avoids him sticking his foot in his mouth.

[juststopped]

Adaline leaves cooking for a moment and leans against the counter next to him, thinking it over in her head.

"Am I in love with him?" she asks, her head tilted to one side. "No. But I care about him very, very deeply. And if you hadn't arrived here, I'd have been happy with that."

[justletgo]

Ellis hadn't been about to ask that, but it's answered anyway. "You had - have - every right to make a life for yourself here. I mean, who would've expected me to show up?" He's not bitter, he's not even upset.

"What do you want for us?" he asks, a little more nervous on that front. He's in love with her, he's told her that. Part of that means wanting her happy, though, whatever that means for him.

[juststopped]

"I want us to be together," she says, immediately, without hesitation. "I'm sorry that I ran, Ellis. I'm sorry that I was scared." She sighs a little. "I owed you so much more than I gave you." She sets down her wine glass and turns towards him. "I love you too. I'm sorry I didn't admit that to myself sooner."

[justletgo]

Ellis can't help but smile. "You don't have to apologize for being scared, Adaline. After everything you told me... I understand. But I'm glad you decided to stop for me." He pulls her a bit closer so he can kiss her.

"I love you."

[juststopped]

Suddenly, Adaline finds herself totally uninterested in dinner. She curls one arm around Ellis' neck, holding him to the kiss for a moment and then gently disengaged.

"Let's eat," she says. "Before we get too distracted."

[justletgo]

It's easy to slide his arm around her waist, to hold her close to him. Their chemistry had never, never been a problem, and he is abruptly reminded of that. But he doesn't try to trap her when she so gently pulls away.

"Dinner," he agrees. He picks up the bottle of wine to bring it to the table, and he laughs, delighted, when he sees everything Adaline prepared.

"You're the best," he says fondly, turning his head to give her a tender, almost chaste kiss before they sit.

[juststopped]

"I've had plenty of time to practice," says Adaline, sliding into her own seat, helping Ellis to a burger and trimmings before she serves herself. "Also, you should try it before you praise me too highly. You don't know what you're getting yourself into yet."

[justletgo]

"I have faith. And the music is good." He smiles at her - he can't stop smiling at her. "Alright, I'll try. For ceremony." He holds up his hands a bit after setting his glass down. He gives Adaline a look, full of teasing scrutiny, then takes a bite. He tries to imitate the faces he's seen sommeliers make when tasting wine.

And when he swallows, he winks at her.

"Perfect burger."

[juststopped]

Adaline can't help but look incredibly proud of herself then. She beams broadly.

"I'm glad you're pleased."

[justletgo]

"Seriously, well done." He happily nudges her leg under the table. "How have you been doing?" he asks after his next bite. "I mean, since you've been here. A couple've people - including you - have told me this place can pull some weird stuff."

[juststopped]

The nudge makes her smile broader. Her head dips a little and she brushes a strand of fair hair back from her face. "Yes, it can. From time to time. I spent...oh, about a week with my age written on my back? My real age." She sighs. "I didn't enjoy it, but other people had it far, far worse."

[justletgo]

Ellis frowns. That sounds awful, especially if she hadn't been ready to tell anyone. "Did you-- had you told anyone, before that happened?"

[juststopped]

"Not a soul," she says, shaking her head. "Before I came here, I'd only told one person the whole truth. I slipped and told your father my real name, obviously, but other than that..." She shrugs.

[justletgo]

He looked at her, wondering how it felt to hide everything for so long. He reached across the table. "I'm so sorry you had to hide so long. I can't imagine how hard, how frightening it was. And thank you for telling me... for wanting to tell me before Darrow happened."