Eli slept through breakfast. I considered waking him when everyone sat at the table because sleeping in a chair must be uncomfortable, especially for someone his size. I decided against it because I am still a little mad and because he needs to sleep. I'm fairly certain he wouldn't have gone back to sleep if I had woken him up.

Tommy was the first to leave for work. Thank God for that. Bennett told me I could let Eli sleep and to tell him he can come into work whenever he's ready. Now it's just Tess and me in the kitchen, nursing our oat chai lattes. She looks at me with a calculating gaze.

"Are you and Eli still going to dinner tonight?" Tess suddenly asks. I look up from my cup furrowing my brows.

"I totally forgot about that," I admit. "I don't know, we haven't talked about it."

"You haven't talked to him at all yet?"

"We talked last night a little bit."

"Yeah, I figured when you weren't in bed with me this morning. How did it go?"

"Not good," I mumble.

"Ugh, come on, spill girly. I haven't got all day," Tess jests and I smile a little at her attitude.

"I don't know. I told him he chose her side over mine and he said that it was complicated and not true and that I don't have to protect him or some bullshit. Then he had the audacity to tell me he punched Tommy for me when I told him to just walk away and not start anything with him! Can you believe that?"

"I can," Tess retorts, surprising me. My mouth falls open but I quickly snap it shut and I look at her with narrowed eyes.

"What the hell, Tess? You're also not taking my side?"

"Of course, I am on your side, babes. But I think I know what's going on," she goes on in a calm voice.

"Enlighten me," I grumble and take a sip of my drink.

"I'm pretty sure his ego is hurt. Badly hurt."

"I don't think so," I snort. "That man is the most confident person I know."

"You really don't see it, don't you?" Tess asks, looking bewildered.

I shake my head and frown. "See what?"

"That must've been a tough situation for him yesterday, Romy. First, he has to listen to Tommy insult you and him and you scold him for defending you. Then his ex-wife shows up, putting him in his place in front of the new woman he's seeing, and after all that, the two of you get in a fight. Don't get me wrong, I know he didn't act perfect, by all means, but don't be too hard on him."

My frown deepens as I think about what she said.

"And when he said the situation was complicated, I think he's telling the truth. There has to be so much going on behind the scenes of a divorce that we all know nothing about. He's probably confused as hell, too. Poor bloke," she finishes.

"Why confused?" I ask her.

"He tried to be there for you when Tommy was being an ass and you told him not to but when his wife was being nasty, you wanted him to defend you."

Tess comes to stand next to me at the counter, takes my cup from me, and both of my hands in hers. She then looks deeply into my eyes, a soft look in them.

"Listen, most men like to feel needed and they also like to protect those they care about. I know you don't like to hear that and I know you can protect yourself most of the time but I think if you are being honest, you do feel safe with him and if that's the case you need to show him that. Let him know that you need him, hm?" she suggests.

"I still think he shouldn't have punched Tommy," I mumble.

"Maybe not, but honestly, that fucker had it coming and you know it."

I can't help but burst out laughing. She's right. Still not a fan of violence, though.

"Thanks, Tessy," I give her a hug. "Thanks for giving me another angle to look at this shitshow," I whisper in her ear. She slaps my butt and breaks the hug.

"Your welcome, babes."

"How do you know all this?"

"You learn with each relationship," she shrugs. "Oh, and what you mentioned about him saying it's not your job to protect him was a dead giveaway to his feelings. He feels like he let you down because he didn't protect you but you protected him. Also, good job on that. He should be proud of you for that, I was ready to call the cops on that bitch, not talk to her about boundaries."

"I was only saying how it is. She clearly wasn't respecting his boundaries at all."

"You're right. No idea what he saw in her. But I don't need to worry since you'll tell me all about it when you talked to him, right?" she grins at me.

I laugh. "Some of it, maybe. Depends on if I think he would be okay with me sharing it."

"Right, boundaries." Tess winks at me and clicks her tongue.

"Exactly." I nod my head once.

Tess went off to the lake shortly after that to tan and to facetime Simon. I hope she'll get to see him again soon. She texts me that Eli is still asleep in the chair outside, having passed him on her way to the lake. I finish cleaning up the rest of the kitchen before walking outside to wake Eli.

A light breeze greets me as I open the backdoor. The sun creates nice shapes on the green grass and on Eli's sleeping form, shining through the trees in the backyard. I make my way over to my little mystery man and stop only inches away. His chest softly rises and falls with each deep breath he's taking. I reach out my hand and gently caress his cheek - the slight stubble scratching my skin. His head rests on his shoulder at an awkward angle. That will hurt later, I think, and trace the top of his nose with my finger. I lean down a little and plant a kiss on his forehead before placing my hand on the side of his face that lays on his shoulder. I slowly push his head upright. This wakes him up, his eyelids flutter before he opens his eyes fully and looks at me. A confused look on his face. Cute.

"Hey there, sleepyhead," I greet him.

He clears his throat and sits up straighter, cracking his neck in the process. Ouch.

"Hey," he mumbles out before he yawns. "I fell asleep?"

"Yeah, you did. You missed breakfast but I saved you some if you like. Also, Bennett said to come into work whenever you're ready, no rush."

He tilts his head up at me while I speak and nods when I'm done. I chuckle a little, thinking about how he is always the tall one that I have to look up to and now I tower over him. Just because he's sitting Romy, you're not actually taller than him in any way, my brain feels the need to remind me.

"What's funny?" he asks, referring to my chuckle. I just shake my head.

"Are you still mad at me?"

I purse my lips and bite the inside of my cheek. "Maybe a little," I tell him quietly.

"Okay, maybe a little is better than fucking mad, so I'll take it," he says as he gets up from the chair, once again being the tall one. Sigh.

"Are we still going to dinner later?" I ask.

"Of course, if you want to. I just thought that... never mind. Yes, we'll go to dinner. Does 7 work for you?"

"Yep. We can talk then?" I suggest.

"Can we talk before that? I wanted that dinner to be a nice date, not for us to settle our differences."

"Sorry, yes sure. We can talk before, silly me," I laugh to hide my minor embarrassment.

"You're not silly," Eli assures me. "I'll be home from work at 5, then we talk?"

"Sounds good," I confirm and smile at him.

"Now I need a hot fucking shower to sort out my damn neck," he grumbles and rubs the back of it with his hand.

"I can imagine," I giggle and he looks at me in a not-so amused way.

"You could've woken me and saved me the pain, you know?" he grunts.

"I know," I innocently say before kissing his T-shirt-clad shoulder and making my way to Tess and the lake. "A plate with breakfast is in the fridge," I yell over my shoulder, seeing him shake his head as he makes his way inside.

I set one foot in front of the other, watching as my bare feet flatten the green grass underneath me. It tickles my toes in a nice way. I take a look over at Eli who is walking next to me around the lake. He looks deep in thought but I know he knows I'm watching him by the way his eyes flicker in my direction ever so often. After a few minutes, he fully turns his head and looks at me.

"Should I start?" he asks a bit unsurely.

"Actually, I would like to go first if that's okay," I answer.

"Yeah, of course, go ahead," he makes a motion with his head.

"Can we sit, maybe? So we can look at each other when we talk?"

He nods and walks us over to some trees, sitting down in the soft grass. One of his legs bent and one sprawled out next to him. He rests his elbow on his propped-up knee and looks up at me. I sit down opposite him, crossing my legs.

"Okay," I take a deep breath before I continue. "First off, I wanted to say thank you." I see his eyes widen slightly in confusion but he doesn't interrupt me. "For defending me when Tommy verbally attacked me, attacked us. You were right, I wasn't being totally fair. I cannot tell you not to defend me and then get mad if you don't do it. I know that now. So, thank you." I look at Eli to give him the chance to say something.

"Don't worry about it."

"Alright. Although I have to add, I'm still not a fan of you, or anyone for that matter, going around and punching people." I raise my finger and point it at him in a joking way.

"He had it long coming," he grunts and I decide to ignore it. He and Tess would really get along.

"And I want to apologize. I shouldn't have said some of the things I said last night. It was uncalled for," I apologize.

"We both said and did things we shouldn't have, I'm sorry, too," Eli adds. I nod and smile at him before thinking about my next question. Without pondering for too long, it has already escaped me.

"I want to know what you did when you went with Janet. Did you kiss her? Sleep with her?" My voice is clear but quiet. I'm afraid of the answer. Eli, for just a second, looks at me like I've just sucker-punched him in the face before he bursts out laughing, the sound coming from deep within his belly and chest. I don't think I've ever seen him laugh like that. He's thrown his head back into his neck and his body shakes with laughter. His Adam's apple is prominent in his throat due to his stretched neck. God, he looks gorgeous when he laughs.

Okay, enough of ogling the sexy man in front of you, Romy. Get it together, this is a serious situation.

"This is not funny, Eli," I nearly whine but it causes him to calm down his laughter a little.

"Yes, it fucking is funny," he wipes at his eyes. I can't believe he thinks this is funny. I cross my arms in front of my chest and look away to the side.

"Hey," I hear him say.

"No, if you can't take this serious then our conversation is over," I huff.

He gently grabs my chin and forces me to look at him. "Listen, I would never ever kiss that woman again, let alone sleep with her. You hear me?" his tone is serious but the ghost of a smile is still present on his lips. I let out a small sigh of relief.

"Yes," I whisper.

"Good." He lets go of my face and nods for me to continue.

"What did you do then?" I ask, my curiosity, of course, getting the better of me.

"We fought, mostly. She does this thing of showing up without notice at the house or the garage. It's been a few weeks since she's done it last. She picks some bullshit excuse as to why she needs to come over and then just... well you saw what she did." He is the one to look off to the side now.

"Why did you drive her?"

"She wasn't in any state to drive," he simply states. I nod. "I know what you're thinking," he continues, "she wasn't always like this. We were happily married for almost three years and we've known each other for almost 8. At one point things changed and now it's like she's a different person. I was so in love with her," I can hear the pain lacing his voice. "She was the first woman I ever truly fell in love with and I thought she was it, you know," he looks at me and I almost start to cry when my eyes meet his. So much pain.

"What changed?" I timidly ask.

"A lot of things. What ultimately made me leave was, uh.. she cheated on me. Five times to be exact," his voice a whisper.

"I'm so sorry you had to go through that. She has no idea what she's missing out on when she chose to fail you. You are such a great person, Eli. Don't let her make you think otherwise."

He's still looking at me, his eyes keeping my own locked in.

I decide to ask another question. "Do you think you'll ever fall in love again?"

He seems a little taken aback by this. He looks up in thought before finding my eyes again.

"Who knows?" is all he says.

"Well, that's not a no," I smile at him.

He smiles back. "No, it's not," he confirms. "And I hated this, by the way; us fighting."

"Me too," I whisper.