InsaneJournal

He had messed up the last time he had met with Jules, that much was apparent. As much as it might have been from the right place, and as much as he might have been trying to help her and be nice, the execution had perhaps left a little to desire, he could at least conceded that much. Still, that was not going to put him off a second attempt to try and correct the mistakes that he had made the first time. He did still genuinely believe that moving in with him temporarily was a good idea, as was the idea of applying for the police station.

Still, as he fumbled softly with the handle of his mug, quite lost in a world of his own, he could not help but question whether all of this was a truly good idea. Of course, he knew that his desire to assist Jules was all from a good place, but based on what Shay had told him of her upbringing, he knew that it was a precarious situation that he found himself in right now. One wrong word and it was likely that she would scurry out of his life, never to be heard of again, and that was a high stake for him indeed.

Hearing the small bell above the door going off to indicate that someone had entered the café, a smile grew across his lips as he spotted Jules entering. Raising a hand to wave at her to gesture that he had gotten them a table and a round of drinks to start, he tried his best to bite down the increasingly nervous feeling in the bottom of his stomach.

Jules was never late for anything. Not if she could possibly help it anyway, and she would insist that despite it being several minutes after the time Sam had suggested? She was still, not technically late. She was just a chicken-shit, standing out of the way of foot traffic as she watched people going in and out of Brewed Awakening. Mercy Cove's answer to Starbucks wasn't a place Jules went to often. She couldn't justify the five-dollar minimum for a simple cup of coffee when she could get a bottomless one for a couple of dollars at the diner. Maybe for the coffee connoisseur or the non-penny-pinchers of the world, it made sense. Jules just always felt like it was far too extravagant for her to spend that sort of money on herself.

That wasn't why she was holding back, however. She wasn't mad at Sam still, and if she were honest? She'd never truly been so in the first place. She was, however, hurt by the way things had unraveled between them, and while she knew that was something she'd get over. She was perhaps feeling a little gunshy after his abrupt departure that night at the diner.

She reasoned that he'd been drinking. That he'd had a dreadful day. That she'd hurt him in some way for him to do that to her. Yet knowing all of this, she still couldn't shake the memory of his coldness. The ten dollars he'd tossed on the table and the way he'd walked out and just left her there. She had told him she accepted his apology, and she'd meant it. That didn't mean she wasn't still a little wary. Which in many ways was why she was hanging back a moment or two. She hated the fact that she was wary of Sam at all.

That she was here at all, was a testament to the high regard she'd always held Sam in. The adage of once bitten, twice shy couldn't apply to a girl who unceremoniously cut people from her life at the first sign of teeth. Jules believed in forgiveness and giving people second chances, but not when it came to letting people in. She was too unwilling to let people close enough to hurt her, if she thought there was a chance that they would. She wanted to believe in Sam though, and maybe it would cost her in the end. But at least this way she knew she had tried, than never tried at all.

With that thought propelling her forward, Jules attempted to shoo away her nerves as she pushed the door to the cafe open. Her gaze almost immediately falling on Sam and causing her heart to stutter in her chest. Jules gathered the hemmed sleeves of her cardigan in her hands as she raised one in an awkward wave. Her smile, tentative but there, even as her nerves bubbled beneath the surface.

"Hi." One day, she might be able to greet a member of the opposite sex with more than one syllable.

Jules stood there, almost awkwardly for a moment as she reached the table. Quietly studying Sam as she fought to settle her nerves. "This is... for me?" Stupid question, really. He had asked her to meet him for coffee but she was never one to simply assume that somebody had gotten something for her.

Watching her glide through the café, moving closer and closer to him with each passing moment, Sam felt as though he could practically hear the blood pounding in his ears. This was so stupid, this was all so stupid, why on earth did he feel as nervous as he did at that moment? This was Jules after all, his friend, and friends went and got hot drinks together from time to time, right? ‘God, I’m overthinking this all’ he thought to himself as he cleared his coat from the space beside him to make plenty of room for Jules so they would not have to be to close together if she didn’t want them to be.

Realising he had probably been a little quieter then he had meant to, he quickly fixed a trademark grin on his face as he gestured for her to come and join him. “Yeah, I hope you don’t mind that I went ahead and ordered something for you. There was quite a queue of people when I got here, and I didn’t want you to have to wait in the queue when you got here” he explained, shifting over in the booth, “You wanted tea, right? I think I remember you saying you were a tea person”

‘Smooth, real smooth there, Jones’ he thought to himself, trying his best to not let self doubt get the worst of him on a day like this, not when he had so many things he wanted to talk to her about.

“How was your day? Did you work today?” he asked casually, trying his best to put some of his nerves to bed early on in things.

He moved his coat, and suddenly it was Jules turn for the butterflies to take flight. An unexpected flood of nervous energy rushing through her body when she realized she was meant to sit beside him. Stupid really, to fixate on such a thing. She'd had coffee with Sam before, it was just that for a moment, even though she was quickly able to dismiss it. It almost felt like she was here on a date.

It was his smile that disarmed her, the way it always did. Something that even as she came prepared to guard herself against his easy charm, still broke through her defenses. Her own, while a little shaky in part due to nerves, sweeping across her lips. "I did... thank you." That he remembered that detail mattered to her, probably more than it might somebody else. Jules gaze lingering on Sam for a moment before she slid into the space his coat had just vacated.

For several moments, she wasn't entirely sure what to say, Jules reaching for her cup with both hands. Trying to force away the memory of the last time she'd done this as she warmed her hands against the sides. "I did." Her tone, a little too bright as she lifted her head to look at him. The closeness between the pair, not something that could easily be avoided sitting like this. "I had a shift at the diner... early start." Which for her meant before the sun was up. "I assume, you did?"

This all felt so strange, and unfamiliar to Sam, despite the fact that this was something they had done a million times before. Hell, more often than not when he was on night shift he often found himself in the diner, bending peoples ears until he got an inevitable call about a disturbance or another that meant he had to take off. And yet, as normal as this motion might have been to him, there was definitely something that had changed in the undertone of it all, something he couldn’t quite put his finger on at this moment.

Putting it down to his nervousness about his idiocy the other day, he took a sip from his coffee in an attempt to try and not make it so obvious with his twitchy hands.

“Yep, same here. I mean, if you want to get technical about it, I was working through the night, so this is kinda my evening” he explained, trying his best to keep things conversational. “Can’t complain though, was a pretty quiet night. Just spent the most of it doing my paperwork. What about you? The diner busy this morning?”

They were being carefully polite, Jules realized. Like they were making a point of being so. As if in the aftermath of the last time they'd seen each other, they'd lost their easy way with each other. She was trying too hard to guard herself from him, even as he made it near impossible to do so and he was trying too hard to be light and upbeat, like they could erase the incident from existence.

She felt an unwanted ache, bloom in her chest because she hated that things weren't as they used to be. Jules worrying her fingers over the side of her cup as she tried not to panic over the state of their friendship. Sam mattered to her, something she didn't have to remind herself of. He mattered because there weren't that many people she allowed into her life and in spite of what had happened the other night? She still wanted to believe she hadn't been wrong in doing so.

Or maybe all of this was in her head because he seemed to be having a much easier time at conversation right now. Talking to her in that easy way he always had while she was the one struggling to slip into being them. "About the only time the Diner isn't busy is 3am when even the truck drivers aren't chasing their joe." Mornings always brought those who were either starting or finishing their day or fisherman who had gone out before dawn.

"We're usually going non-stop until after the lunch rush... but it makes the day go fast." Work just wasn't something that was all that interesting, truth be told. It was repetitive and familiar which made it easy for Jules, but very rarely was it the sort of thing anyone wanted to hear about. She took orders, wiped down tables and had the same conversation a hundred times or more. She wasn't embarrassed by her job at all, she just didn't think anyone else would find it that interesting.

Still... Sam was trying and she knew she needed to try too. Wanted to even, because she did want for things to not feel so... off between them. "Ella has a dance class at the school. It's basically kids running around to music but, wears her out." Offering Sam a small, half-smile as her gaze slid in his direction, lingering there for a long moment.

“I’ll have to remember that’s the best time to get served when I’m on nightshift” he grinned at her, offering her a playful cheeky wink, just for good measure. He knew it was stupid, and he probably shouldn’t have done it, but it all felt far more natural and in keeping with the way they had historically been with one another over the years.

Then there was a mention of Ella, and he felt the small shift occur once more. His fingers moving subconsciously to the coat, and the small folder that it hid underneath, his hand paused there for a moment. Was it too soon? Should he wait a little longer before saying anything to her? God, why on earth did he need to make this quite as awkward as he did the last time they had sat down to talk like this. He knew he could be a hothead with a nasty temper when he wanted to be, but this was something else altogether. This was possibly the worst person on earth he could be that way with, and he had paid for it as a result.

Slowly moving his hand under his coat, he slowly withdrew the folder of paper, before sliding it down in front of her. “Look, I know you have no reason to listen to me and even less reason to trust me right now, and I get it, I really get it, I was a complete asshole to you” he started, rambling a little more than he had meant to. Why was it, no matter how many times he had practised this speech in his head, he just still got it completely wrong on execution.

Opening the folder, on page one on top of the papers was a small photograph of a small wooden swing set clipped to the top of the pile. “I know in hindsight, the reason you reacted the way you did that evening was that you were worried, and you have every right to be cautious. I was asking you for trust, yet did nothing to show that I was deserving of any of it. So, that’s why, if you would reconsider, I’d very much not like you to be in Waverly Down’s anymore. I’m worried about you Jules, I see how much trouble goes on up there, I know what that place is like. I just…..I don’t like the thought of you or Ella up there” he explained, giving her a small shrug of the shoulders as he did.

“I guess, what I am trying to say, is I want you to see this as me trying to be better. These papers, they’re a lodgers agreement. So, that means if you were to move in with me, there is no worse risk of you getting chucked out, than where you are now. I’ve even built a swing in the back garden for Ella. So, even if you don’t want to come to join me, which I totally get why, you at least have somewhere a bit safer to bring Ella to play” he explained before his hands moved suddenly back to his side of the table to clutch at his coffee mug once more. “You don’t have to make a decision today, just…….think about it…..for me? Please?”

She couldn't help the smile that came at that wink. Relief quietly washing over her as the pair of them started to slip back into something that felt more familiar. Relief because she hated being around Sam and not feeling perfectly at ease. It was one of the things she always loved about being in his company. He had that calming effect. Like the weight she usually carried around with her lifted, if only for a little while.

Perhaps she should have known the easiness was too good to last. Jules stiffened before she even knew where he was going with this as he retrieved the folder. Job application, was all she could think, so when he opened up the folder and there was a picture of a children's playset staring back at her? She completely lost the ability to think, let alone speak.

Jules wasn't sure she fully heard everything that he said after her gaze landed on the photograph. Body stiff, but for the hand that slowly reached across to slide that picture a couple of inches closer. It was the kind of thing that every kid would dream of growing up yet might never get to see in person. Swings a slide. What even looked like a cubby house all part of it. It was perfect, and she was still trying to wrap her head around that he'd gotten this, not for her, but for Ella. That in spite of everything, even knowing that there was every likelihood that she'd tell him no. He still went out and got this to have at his place on the off chance that her answer might have been different.

While instinct screamed that all of this was too much, because it was for Ella it changed things dramatically. Emotion rose up in her chest, threatening to choke her as she rode the wave of it rolling through her. Jules trying to sort through everything he had said, but she just kept staring at the photo of the swingset, willing her voice to be steady when she finally managed to open her mouth.

"Built?" The slightest tremor in her voice as she slid her honeyed gaze toward Sam; Jules doing her best to appear stoic but he only had to look at her eyes to realize how overwhelmed with emotion that she was.

Watching as her eyes moved over the paperwork and the swing set, Sam felt a butterfly beginning to form in his stomach. Was this a good silence? Or was it a bad silence? Oh, Crap, he probably tried to do too much. He should never have gotten drunk and bought those plans on eBay for the swing set the night he had. He should have just attempted to make up for his general asshole-ery with something normal. Perhaps more flowers or maybe getting something for Ella like some new dance shoes.

Still, it was too late for him to worry about all of that stuff now. The ridiculous massive structure that now sat in his back yard was a testament to that fact, as were the comments Peyton made towards him as he was putting up the damn thing.

Swallowing thickly as a word finally came out of her mouth after what felt like an eternity, he nodded his head slowly. “Yeah…..I’m sorry, I would have bought something, but…….well, I couldn’t quite find anything I liked. If you don’t like it, its totally fine, I can easily change it, or even take it apart and move it for you to wherever you might want to keep it. It’s all completely up to you. I just wanted to show you though that there could be room here for you and Ella if you wanted to”

Jules could feel her heart beating faster. The rush of blood in her head causing his words to sound fuzzy. Jules trying to process the sudden onsloaght of emotion she was in no way prepared to deal with. Had he done something for her, it would have been all too easy for her to push back. An unnessecary thing that meant she might owe him in some way, but to do this for Ella?

She'd always had this image of the life she'd always wanted to give her sister. The kind of home that Ella might get to have some day. It was a modest dream, something that she hoped might be achievable someday, but reality had a way of making that possibility seem out of reach. Then Sam went and did something that didn't just make it seem possible, he was actively trying to give it to them. Not with false promises or lofty ideas like it had felt the other night when he'd been drinking. He'd gone away and he'd found a way to prove to her that this could be real, not by spending ridiculous amounts of money on buying something far too expensive, but by spending his time, for Ella.

She realized then that he was trying to apologize and rather than speak - still not trusting her voice - Jules hand reached across the table to rest on top of his. Trying to silence him with a simple gesture as she drew in a shaky breath. "No - Don't change it." Swallowing hard, she forced her gaze up to meet his. Her heart still hammering wildly in her chest as words struggled to come together. "Don't change a thing. It's... It's perfect... I just." She gaped a little, trying to find the right words - or any at this point. "I just, I didn't expect you to do this for Ella." The corners of her mouth lifting in a shaky smile as her eyes showed just how much this meant to her.

Watching Jules’ face, with each passing moment that he waited for any sort of response to come from her, the temptation to rip that photo away grew. It was a long shot, he knew it was a longshot, but it had certainly been worth a shot. Even if they never quite managed to get back to the way that they had been previously where everything had been light and friendly, he hoped that things would at least be a little better than they had been.

When she finally thanked him, Sam let out a small puff of relief, sitting back in his seat a little more. “Oh god, you had me worried there, I thought for a moment that you hated it” he chuckled slightly, placing a hand on his chest as he did.

Grabbing up his cup of coffee, he took a sip of it, hoping to try and hide the way that his hands had just the faintest hint of a tremor from the nerves and adrenaline he had felt in the build-up to all of this. Putting his mug down on the table, he shifted slightly in his seat to face her a little better. Feeling the soft pores of her hand on his, his cheeks began to glow, the flustered feeling growing once more in him.

“Well……Ella……she’s important to you. I know you were worried that there might not be room for her in things, and I wanted to prove to you that if you would let me, I could certainly make room for her in my life for as long as you need to stay with me” he explained before turning his hand over and giving hers a small squeeze

"No..." Quick to dismiss that idea as she still struggled to pull herself together. How he could think for a minute that she would hate it. It was sweet, and thoughtful and more than anything else, it was for the one person in this world who meant everything to Jules. She didn't think there were enough words in creation that could allow her to express what this meant to her.

It was hard to reconcile the man who had left her sitting in the diner with the one sitting across from her now. Not that Jules ever believed Sam was a bad man, even if his words and actions had hurt. Perhaps she could even acknowledge that she herself hadn't handled things as well as she could have. Whatever reasons they both had, justified or not, she couldn't deny that Sam had gone above and beyond anything, she would have thought possible.

Then he was turning toward her and suddenly, she was very much on display. Unable to hide her thoughts, feelings, or emotions now that he was looking right at her. Maybe it was unfair, a habit of hers, but she still looked for the lie in his words. Any sign that he didn't truly mean what he said about wanting to make room for Ella. What a ridiculous thing of her to question, when he'd gone so far as to build her a swingset.

Jules tried to even out her breathing, but it was made so much harder when he turned his hand over and effectively took hers in his. Jules sure her own was clammy as her heart continued to hammer inside her chest. "Maybe..." Trying to find her voice again as her gaze fell to her hand in his. The surge of confusing emotion that went through her as the warmth of his touch enveloped her, making her mouth dry. "Maybe I could bring Ella around soon... so she can see it?" It wasn't a commitment just yet. She wasn't saying she would move in with him but she wasn't telling him no yet either, and perhaps she could admit that a part of her knew that once she saw Ella on the swingset, she wouldn't be able to either.

Sat there with his hand in hers, it struck Sam in that moment just quite how innocent yet completely loaded it all felt. It was odd really, because it was stupidly innocent. He didn’t think he had held the hand of a girl that he liked like this since he was a teenager. But at the same time, he did not care. All he cared about in that moment was the fact that he was close to Jules, and she was not trying to push him away. That finally they had a chance to sit down and talk like adults.

His thumb slowly running across the back of her hand, he tilted his head slightly as he looked at her, a hopeful smile on his face as he looked at her. “Yeah? I’d really like that” he responded, his smile brightening significantly at what he realised to be a massive attempt at her meeting him halfway. Biting down on his bottom lip for a moment, he nodded his head a little.

Oh god, this was so difficult to try and not get overexcited. He knew it he didn’t play it carefully; he could blow things completely. At the same time though, it wouldn’t have been him if he didn’t make a cheeky comment. “If you’re both really good, I might even make you both some hot chocolate with all the trimmings” he playfully winked at her.

Jules blinked slowly, her eyes still lingering on their joined hands as his thumb casually stroked her smaller one. The touch so simple and innocent but making her heart beat a little faster. Physical touch, beyond what she shared with Ella, just wasn't something Jules experienced all that much. The slight brunette so starved for it, she didn't know how to respond; Both uncertain and yet aching for it not to stop. Straddling that line between peace and panic.

Her gaze flickered up, the brightness of his smile so genuine and touching that her own grew in response. That knot of unease that she'd walked through the door with, finally starting to unravel. In truth, she didn't know if she would accept his offer, but it was now less terrifying for Jules. Not quite as much of a risk if there was structure in place that would offer her a layer of protection. Maybe it was unfair to Sam that she needed that, but it said far more about her own life experience than it did about him. Jules was the way she was because she always hoped for the best, but she prepared for the worst in everything.

"Are you going to try and get her to sleep after she's all jacked up on sugar?" Her smile turning crooked as just the suggestion sent a surge of warmth through her chest. Something so completey simple that most people took for granted, but Ella had very little experience with. It was almost scary how much she wanted this, if not for herself but for her little sister but just as she felt the panic want to kick in, she allowed her gaze to fall on the swingset once more. "You and I are going to need to have a conversation about spoiling her." Already talking like just maybe, this was going to happen, regardless of her hesitation to commit.

His hand placed on top of hers, his thumb gently running along the top of her hand, it was so easy for him to forget about the world in that moment. He didn’t care that he was in the café, he didn’t care that anyone her worked with or she worked with might come in at any given moment. Hell, Peyton could walk right up to the table at that moment he wasn’t sure that even her playful comments about his schoolboy crush could be enough to dampen his mood.

It didn’t matter that she hadn’t agreed to come to stay with him. All that mattered to him was the fact that she at least seemed friendly towards him, that she for the first time since he had really fucked things up, that a door had not been closed between the two of them.

His smile only seemingly growing with each passing moment, he shook his head and chuckled softly at her comment. “Ohhh you think I haven’t thought through that already?” he asked her, raising a playful eyebrow in her direction. “My plan is to get her nice and tired enough from jumping all over that new swing set that even with the Hot Chocolate, she will be out cold before the end of the evening”

Still, he wasn’t quite sure what it was, but her comment about spoiling her was enough to make his smile grow further. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but there was something in her comment that made him feel significantly more….confident.

“Well, how about this, you come over for a play date at the house. You see how you like things, you see how you like hanging out with me, then if you decide I am the type of person you don’t mind being close to Ella more, then perhaps…….we can have that conversation sometime”

Jules tried to ignore the fluttery buzz in her chest as his thumb gently stroked her hand. Her breaths shallowing out while her gaze kept dipping to watch the soothing gesture. It was stupid because she understood all of this was about little more than friendship. That Sam was no more interested in her than Kolt was in that way. Still, it was hard to have a connection like this and not feel something, and as fleeting as she was sure this feeling would be, it was still... nice.

"Uh huh. Sure." A knowing smile playing across her lips. "After she's thrown about six tantrums. Refused to eat her dinner and generally made everyone around her miserable before the coma comes." To be fair, she wasn't that bad, but she certainly didn't have her older sister's temperament. She imagined Sam was going to learn the hard way when it came to Ella, but then most people did. She had a way of charming everyone she met, her big sister included.

"But I admire your bravery." Something almost playful in her words. A little more of the tension seeping out of her as she allowed herself to find simple comfort in existing in Sam's presence. The two of them talking about the most exquisitely mundane things. Most people longed for excitement in their life, but Jules simply wanted 'normal'. A quiet existence rather than the constant struggle of trying to keep all the plates spinning.

She lifted her gaze again, head canted to one side as his words rolled around in her head. The fact that he was acknowledging how significant it was for her to allow somebody to be a part of Ella's life. Without even realising it, her small hand squeezed his. Jules, for the second time that day, shaken up by the sudden swell of emotion.

It took her a long moment to answer him, because she was trying to find the words. Her teeth worrying over her lower lip a she begged her vocal chords to release her from the emotion induced stranglehold. "I trust you... with Ella." And she meant those words. The truth was, if she didn't think she could? She wouldn't have been sitting here at all.

"The thing is..." How she could say this without it sounding like a rejection, she wasn't sure. But the truth was, she wasn't trying to reject him or push him away. She just needed him to understand how important Ella was to her and there wasn't a thing she wouldn't do to protect her. "I don't ever want to see her get hurt." Her gaze dipping once more as she tried to find the words, still. "If you want to be a part of her life... You just have to be sure it's what you want. I don't want her to have to feel what it's like to care about somebody and have them disappear. Not until she absolutely has to."

“Oh, you’ve not seen how good I am with kids. Used to coach stuff like softball back in Texas for a spell, and my Dad also used to be a football coach. Been around kids most of my life. Might be a little cocky, but I would like to think that I am pretty darn good at it, at this point” he responded slightly teasingly.

Perhaps it was a little more than cocky, but he figured that anyone who was related to Jules had to have a similar temperament to her, and if that was the case? He was more than sure that he would be able to talk her around sooner or later.

Still, as he looked at Jules across the table, he found himself unable to think of anyone other than the woman opposite him. The quiet, introverted and self-deprecating woman, would give her last dollar to a friend if she thought it could help them, regardless of what it meant for herself.

Pausing for a long moment, Sam looked down at his hand on hers, before sliding his other hand towards her, cupping her hand completely in his. “I…I promise you, I will not be disappearing on you……not again. I realise you two come as a package and that is something that I will happily welcome into my life, whatever that might mean”

"If you can manage to be an Ella whisperer you can give her anything you like." She heard herself, held up her free hand, and clarified; "Within reason." After looking at the swingset he'd built, she could already tell that Sam would have the propensity to spoil her rotten. Not that Jules wanted to deprive her sister of that for a moment. If it were within her power, Ella would want for nothing, but she also knew what it was like to have everything and have it all snatched away. She never wanted Ella to go without, but she wanted her to always appreciate what she did have.

She felt the two of them fall into a comfortable silence and felt an overwhelming sense of relief flood her. A small surge of warm going through his hand into her as they simply sat together. He was always so warm that on cold days like this it was hard not to lean into him. To burrow into the gentle heat that he emitted and allow its comfort to wrap around her.

This, for right now, was enough, however. To feel the anxiety unravel from her chest and while perhaps she was still being cautious, it spoke more of her own issues than any feelings she had for Sam. They were forgotten a moment later when his hand closed around her own. Gently anchoring him to her in a way that was both familiar and foreign.

Her gaze lifted, Jules teeth gently running over her lower lip as the moment turned somewhat serious. His change in demeanor, the way he held her hand even, all telling her that what he was about to say was important. While it might not have been fair of her to do so, she couldn't help but look for a trace of a lie in his words. Her heart beating harder in her chest to the point where she could swear he might hear it.

It mattered the way he said it, the again acknowledging the mistakes of the past but also swearing it would be different and while Jules knew firsthand that there were no guarantees in this world, she desperately wanted to believe him. Turning herself gently toward him, she finally took the first step in initiation with him. Her free hand moving to rest against both of his. So small and pale compared to Sam's as her fingertips gently brushed along his knuckles.

"Okay." It was so little after what he'd just said, but Jules accepting his words was enormous for her. The corners of her mouth pulled up in a gentle smile, her gaze lingering on his. The pause filled with a tension that felt both comfortable and confusing because she didn't fully understand it. "Then how about... you name the day, and Ella and I will come over. Maybe, do a sleepover so we can see how she goes..."

While to many people, her concession might not have seemed like a big deal, Sam saw it to be the infinitely big deal that it was. For a woman who had practically shut down on him at the merest mention of him trying to help her, this was about as big a deal as it could get really. This was a woman who was not used to accepting help or anything that might resemble help, compromising.

Trying hard to not look too excited by the thought, his face practically lit up as he looked down at her and their joined hands. “Yeah? Really?” he asked as if he was doubting his own ears at that moment. Almost as though he didn’t trust it wasn’t just hopeful thinking and an overactive imagination that made him hear the things that he had just heard.

“Well, if you are both up for it, there is this cookout type thing in Bridge Creek in a few week's time. How about the pair of you come over to mine for the night, then? We could head up there during the day, you can see how you like the neighbours and then when we are done, we can head back to mine for hot chocolate and Ella hanging out on the swingset. What do you reckon?”

Perhaps it might have been a little too much to suggest the cookout too, but in his head, it was as good an idea as any. It was the nice family-friendly type of event he saw all the time up around his way, and something told him that it would be good for Jules as well as Ella to see it, to see what the area could really offer.

That he had made her feel like an equal entering into a lodgers agreement, helped an awful lot, yet none of that would have meant anything if Sam hadn't been able to convince her that he meant every word he had said. She would of course second guess herself. Overthink this to the point where it would keep her up late at night but in the end? She had to acknowledge that this was the best move for her.

Renting an apartment in Waverly Downs versus renting a room from Sam in a good neighborhood? One where Ella could actually go outside and play and have a real childhood without Jules having to fight tooth and nail to give her a grim semblance of one. Maybe she wasn't quite ready to accept that this would happen, but she was beginning to see that it certainly wasn't out of the realms of possibility.

That his first suggestion wasn't to immediately press her to come by tomorrow, made her breathe easier still. Jules grateful that he was allowing her the time to process this time. It made a small smile play at the corner of her lips because she did realize, he was learning. That while, she had to realize Sam wanted to rush forward out of his own fears her well-being and desire to get things done, he was taking his time because she needed.

"Ella and I would love to come." Regardless of what she did after that, Jules could admit it would be nice to do something with Sam and Ella that sounded so completely normal. Not worrying about work or Ella or being a Dhampir. Normal sounded pretty incredible right about now. "As long as you promise to deal with her sugar rush." Grin widening a little more as the last of the anxiety that had swirled around inside of her, finally dissipated.