Rae knew about the moments of self-doubt that Eli had. Even more so now, knowing about the high standard that David held him to. She realized now that agreeing with the heaping pile of compliments might not have been the best idea, but it was genuinely how she felt, and she'd (outwardly) never lied to him before so why start now? He was amazing. It was part of what made her so crazy about him. And any help that she could give to squash that self-doubt? She'd gladly give. So, obviously it was time to start.
"Hey, don't do that," Rae shook her head, her face a little bit stern as she looked up at him. "Don't sell yourself short, okay? I mean, nobody's perfect, no. But you're an incredible person. You're smart. Smart enough to save people every day. And that takes a certain amount of bravery, too. I know I could never do that…" she added. "And I will never let you think that you're anything less than a great person. You're sweet and funny and so much easier to get along with than most anyone else around here. Seriously, you're one of the all-around best people I know, Eli."
She hoped that helped. She wasn't always the best with words, so all she could do was say how she felt.
"He's a sweetheart, though. And he'd do just about anything for you," she said in regards to David. "And yeah, I had cousins. But they were twins, you know? So while we were close, they were closer. Which I totally get. I think Sarah's the closest I've had to a sister. And I wouldn't trade that bond for anything, either."
The thought of a whole day dedicated to the two of them was appealing in more ways than she could properly express. "I'm game." A small part of her wanted to ask if he missed her, too, just to hear him say it, but she wasn't that needy. "I'm definitely game."
This whole thing, walking down the hall of Liberty Island with their arms around each other, made Rae feel better than she had in a long, long time. She turned her head to look at him, lips curled into a shy but happy smile when he agreed that it was warmer. It was irrational for her to think that maybe, just maybe, things like this meant that he felt the same way she did, but a small flicker of hope kindled in her mind. Soon, she thought. You'll do it soon. If nothing else, he deserves to know…
"You say that now, but if you wake up with me curled up next to you in your sleeping bag your opinion might change," she joked.
She reached her free hand out to push the door of the small screening room, set up more like a movie theater. She'd heard something somewhere about how it used to be used for showing historical films to people who took the tour, but it was a nice place to go to get away. "Surprised that no one has claimed this place as a sleeping area, but yes. Here we are." She smiled, shrugging her side pack off and in an attempt not to break contact with him, she set it down to get her camp light out.
It didn't take long for her to realize that she needed both of her hands and she very reluctantly slid her other arm from around Eli's waist to dig through the bag and pull the light out.