Just as Friends

Tal nodded slowly. Even though his heart hurt... he really was glad Ryan was improving. Deep down... he did care. He looked back up at her and offered something close to a smile. "I'm... I'm glad. That you're feeling better I mean." 

He fiddled with his spoon, letting it trail through his ice cream. He hadn't felt this awkward around Ryan since before they'd dated. He'd figured she was out of his league and... in the end, he'd been right. He didn't like having been miserable all this time though. He'd been walking down a dark path and... in truth... it wasn't fun. "Listen, Ryan... I, um..." 

"...What do you think?" Eli elbowed Tal, unintentionally interrupting. 

Tal left his sentence to Ryan hanging as he glanced at Eli. "Huh?" 

Eli smirked. "You weren't listening were you?"

Tal sucked on his spoon. "Nope." 

"I was talking about Hunter's car. Changing it to black with some blue instead of the other way around. Maybe like, a white haze along the sides like fog and..." Eli's voice trailed off as he looked at Tal's faraway eyes. "You're too tired to care right now, aren't you?"

The spoon hung from Tal's mouth. "Mm-hmm."

Eli rolled his eyes. "Yeah, okay. Just eat your ice cream."

"Ithmm gnnn."

"What?"

Tal took the spoon from his mouth and showed his empty bowl. "I said it's gone." 

"Oh. Well go home and go to bed. Sheesh, man."

A grin curled Tal's lips. "I prolly should go. See you at work tomorrow?"

"Bright and early." As Tal stood, Eli reached up and gave him a brotherly handshake. "Later."

"Yup." Tal gave Hunter a nod, then looked down at Ryan, offering her a nod as well. "I'll... see you around." 

As he left, Eli glanced at his sister to make sure she was okay. He exchanged a quick look with Hunter and shook his head just slightly. The car would wait. She'd had enough to deal with for one evening. "So... sis..." He nudged her shin under the table. "Want me to take you home, or is Romeo gonna do the honors?" 


Hal chuckled. "I suppose so. I'm not exactly a cook, but I do fry a mean fish. I..." He stopped as he saw his bobber start to move, then go under the water. "Ohhh, here we go." He grabbed his pole and jerked it upward to set the hook. "Ah hah! Gotcha." Managing to stand up while he still held his pole, he gently reeled in the fish, letting it fight a little so as not to force it too sharply. As it neared the edge of the shore, he carefully knelt and reached down to take it under its gills and lift it up. It was a nice sized perch. "There we are." He smiled and showed it to Sam. "Perch. Really good eating. Nice and mild." 

He wriggled the hook to take it out, then grabbed the stringer to put the fish on it, gently lowering it back into the water. "Keeping it alive longer will ensure freshness," he explained. "And..." He got another worm to bait his hook again. "If we catch a couple more... you can come to my place for dinner tomorrow night, and I'll cook." 

He cast again, then gave Sam a sidelong glance to accompany his sheepish expression. "If... if you want, that is. I mean... just... well just dinner..." He blinked. He was making it worse, but how else was he supposed to say 'just as friends' without saying... 'just as friends'? He looked back at the water as he felt the heat on his neck, and it wasn't from the sunshine.