The water of my shower comes as a soothing cascade. With a warm and steady hug, it awakens my skin in all the right ways. When I step out, I no longer feel weak or disoriented. It was as if the shower had washed my hangover away.

For today's attire, I choose comfy. Putting my hair up in a messy bun and throwing on an over-sized graphic tee, black high-waisted biker shorts, and white knee socks — the usual getup for when it's that time of the month. After I got dressed, I went to the kitchen where I was meant to meet Brahms. And surely enough, there he was. Standing behind the kitchen counter facing towards the stove with his back to me. I look on the table and notice he had put most of the groceries away, aside for a carton of eggs, bacon, onion, bread, and a few spices.

" Brahms," I speak.

He turns around, " Hello, Y/n," he greets.

I point to all the stuff he had left on the table and ask, " Are you making something with those?"

Brahms nods, " I thought I'd make us some breakfast now that we've got more ingredients to work with. Is that okay?"

" Yeah, that's fine," I respond.

" I wanna make up for the raw fish we almost had that one night," He says.

" From what we've seen of Hell's Kitchen together, I'm sure you learned a few tips and tricks."

He nods, " I'm going to attempt to make a dish from one of the episodes."

" Do you need any help?" I offer.

He shakes his head, " I want to see if I can do it on my own."

" Oh, okay..." I say disappointingly, " Well then, if you need any help, let me know."

I was just about to turn around to leave the kitchen until Brahms tells me not to go, " Wait, Y/n. Don't go," He says, " You can sit and watch me if you'd like," he suggests, walking over to the table to pull up a chair by the kitchen island for me.

" Sure, I guess I could stay and watch," I say, taking a seat, " You do need a taste tester after all," I smile.

" That's true," He agrees, taking out a cutting board and knife.

The knife he would be using was the same one he had threatened me with when we first met. And boy, have we come a long way from then. Here I was, in the same room as him while he had a weapon in his grip. Not used to harm me but, to cook us a breakfast. It's crazy to think about, really. I still can't wrap my head around it.

After rinsing the onion, he begins slicing it on the opposite side of the island so that he's across from me. I spectate closely at the placement of his hands. How his knuckles are pushed against the knife. How he makes symmetrical cuts using the blade of the knife to do the work instead of putting pressure down on it. It seems as though watching that cooking show has helped him out quite a bit. He looks like a natural.

After he's finished up the onion, he cuts up the bacon and then, Brahms turns around to take a few pans out from one of the bottom shelves. To get a better look at him, I put my hands on the countertop and push with my elbows to prop myself up. As he reaches for the knobs to turn on the stove's fire, he stops suddenly. When I saw how hesitant he was, I tried to encourage him.

" It's okay, Brahms," I reassure him, " You can do it."

Brahms wiggles his fingertips and looks as though he was gonna go for it but, at the last second he would pull his hand away.

Feeling bad, I scoot off the chair to help him out. I come beside him and he turns to look at me, puppy-eyed.

" I can't do it, Y/n," he doubts himself, voice shaking as much as his hands were.

" C'mon, Brahms. I know it's hard but, you've got to try...Here," I say as I take his hand.

I put mine on top of his, squeezing and rubbing my thumb gently to try and calm him. After his trembling subsides, I move his hand over the dial.

" Okay, now," I began, " When we push down, we're going to turn the dial. And when we do, you'll hear a few clicking noises and then the fire will turn on," I explain, " Are you ready?"

Brahms takes a deep breath in, nodding his head reluctantly.

I place my fingers over his long, slender ones. Together, we push down on the dial, turning it to medium heat. With three clicks, a brightly colored orange and blue flame emerges.

Brahms immediately stumbles back, knocking into me.

Quickly, I put my hand on his back to stop him from backing away further, " It's okay, Brahms. You did it!" I said, proudly.

It takes him a minute to process what he had just done before his head falls back and I see his chest rising and falling as he takes deep breaths in and out. He seems relieved. Brahms then looks down at me, giving me a breathy, " Thank you."

I smile at him and nod. That was a big step for him. He couldn't even be less than 6 feet in front of fire before. Now, he's able to start one up himself.

" That wasn't so bad, huh Brahms? Do you wanna keep using the stove or do you want me to take over?" I ask.

" I think I can do it," he says.

I nod and stay at his side while he continues cooking. I decide to take this time to bring up what happened last night and, after finding out Brahms had pulled away from me when I tried to kiss him, I don't even try to hide my disappointment.

" Y/n," He says, stirring the contents in the pan with a spatula, " What's wrong? You seem upset."

Feeling frustrated, I turn my whole body towards him. He puts down the spatula and faces me, giving me his full attention.

" You know what, I am upset," I admit, " I've been so confused lately about why I'm still here. When the taxi came to pick me up earlier today, I was tempted to go straight to the police. But, I didn't."

Brahms tilts his head upon hearing this.

" And then," I continue, " I was met with another chance at the supermarket, but, again, I didn't do or say anything."

" And," he says, " Why didn't you?"

" Because of you!" I blurt out, " I didn't want anything bad to happen to you. Brahms, you wanted to give me a reason to stay, remember. And now, I have one. I'm choosing to stay here because..." I pause, " I want to be with you, Brahms."

" Y/n... I-."

"— But, I'm not so sure you want the same anymore," I cut him off, " Why didn't you kiss me back?" I ask.

Brahms shakes his head, " It's not that I didn't want to. You were so intoxicated that, it would've felt wrong if I had. And, I wouldn't want you to think that I was taking advantage of you. On top of that, back when Greta was here, we kissed and... I ended up with a screwdriver to the abdomen."

" Oh my god," I exclaim, " She stabbed you?!"

He nods.

" And, wait... You two kissed?"

" Yes but, she had betrayed me. Greta only did so to save Malcolm."

" Save Malcolm?" I repeated, " Look, Brahms... I don't know what else happened that day but, I am not Greta. I wouldn't turn my back on you like that."

" I know," Brahms says, " After that incident, I thought I could never trust again. That was until I met you. And that's why I don't want to mess this up. You make me want to become a better person. And, I'm trying. For the first time... I'm trying to change but, it's so hard."

" Well, you have years of trauma built up and, it's never easy to recover but — just know," I raise my arm to hold onto his, " I'm here for you. And you've made a lot of progress since then."

It felt good to finally accept my feelings for Brahms and to know that he feels the same way. It seems like the both of us knew there was something between us but, we really needed to hear it from one another.

After confessing to each other, Brahms continues to cook with me supervising by his side.

" So, what exactly are you making?" I ask, staring at all the ingredients.

" Gordon's soft scramble and bacon jam toast," He says.

" Ooh, fancy."

" The bacon jam has just finished, would you like to give it a try?"

" Yes, please," I respond.

Brahms retrieves a tasting spoon from the silverware drawer and scoops up some of the bacon jam. He brings it over to me, one hand held the spoon while the other lie beneath it to catch any spilling.

When I try to take the spoon from him, he jerks his hand back and shakes his head.

I place my hand back down to my side. Brahms then moves the spoon up to my mouth, " Blow," he commands.

I put my lips together and push the steam away with my breath. Cooling down the mixture before opening my mouth. As Brahms begins feeding me, my cheeks start to feel hot. When the spoon enters my mouth, I look away. Unable to make eye contact with him. But then, I feel his hand suddenly grab my chin. He tilts my head up and now, I have no choice but to look at him. Our eyes lock for a few seconds before Brahms brings his stare to my lips. I feel his thumb suddenly graze over them, wiping off some of the jam that I had gotten on myself. At his touch, I feel like I could just melt.

Gently, he pulls down on my bottom lip. I open them ajar and slowly, he sticks his thumb in. My mouth closes around it, and with my tongue, I lick off the jam.

Brahms then removes his finger from my mouth and asks, voice deep and sort of a whisper, " How does it taste?"

At this point, my legs were shaking so much I could barely stand. I cross my legs and try to get my head straight. I let the flavors linger on my tongue for awhile longer, trying to focus on the taste. The jam was a good blend of salty, sweet, & savory, " It's delicious," I tell him, " Not too salty or overly sweet."

Brahms nods with approval and then continues on with the rest of the ingredients. When breakfast was finally finished, Brahms fixes up a plate for me and himself. He places down a piece of toasted bread, spreads on the bacon jam, and then tops it off with some scrambled eggs.

" Thank you, Brahms," I say, as he passes a plate to me, " This looks amazing."

" I hope it tastes the way it looks," he replies.

As Brahms was leaving the kitchen with his plate, I wanted to ask if he'd like to join me in the dining room to eat. Instead, I chose not to bother. I wouldn't want him to feel rushed about removing his mask. I figured I'd let him to do it on his own time. When he's ready. The mask wasn't much of a bother to me anymore since I've grown quite used to it. Although, inside, I was still deeply curious about what face lies behind the mask. For now, I'll just have to be considerate and not mention or question him about it. I do enjoy a good mystery after all but, God only knows how long I can be this patient for...