"I'll take the linguine."

"I think I'm going to have a salad."

"You can't."

"What?" Charlie looked up from her menu, nonplussed. Toby was smiling at her from across the small table they shared.

"Come on, Charlie, that's like the female stereotype, going out to dinner and ordering a salad," he said, lightly tossing his menu down onto the table. "What, don't tell me you're afraid you're going to gain weight. You're gorgeous, Charlie, and with the amount of time you spend running around after criminals all day, you probably burn off several pizzas worth of calories. A salad? Are you one of those girls who doesn't eat carbs, or trans-fat, or something? Give me a break."

Charlie waited out his speech with raised eyebrows. "Are you done?" she asked tartly when he had finished.

"Yes," Toby said, leaning back in his chair.

"It's the steak salad that I want to order, actually, and it comes with french fries. But thank you for the lecture on my nutritional status, it's much appreciated." She set down her own menu – much more sharply than Toby had - and drummed her fingers on the tabletop.

Toby tilted his head and regarded her interestedly.

"What?" she asked, annoyed.

"Why do you get angry at me so easily?" Toby asked candidly.

Slightly taken aback by the directness of the question, Charlie began to fiddle with the cutlery in front of her. "I do not."

"You're angry right now."

"I am not."

"Fine, you're annoyed." Toby leaned forward on his elbows. "You do it kinda often, and I was just wondering, I mean, patience is a virtue and all, but –"

"Damn it, Toby, you irritate me!"

Now he looked genuinely wounded. "Then why are you having dinner with me?"

Charlie sighed. "I'm sorry, Toby, I didn't mean it like that – it's just –" She looked around in frustration. "You get so lazy with it all."

"Lazy - what? What's that supposed to mean?"

She pursed her lips pensively and looked back up at him. "Look, Toby, you can read people's minds, and I think that that makes you think that – that's enough. Like, you don't need to bother with getting to know someone the way the rest of us do, because you can just read their mind, right? You don't have to guess what someone wants for their birthday, or figure out what would cheer them up, because they'll think about it and you'll hear it. And then if someone's upset, or annoyed, then you just have to listen to what they're thinking and you'll decide what to do from that - there's no honesty in that, Toby, and that's not how relationships work."

It was several moments before Toby found his voice.

"I'm – it's – well, I guess – I guess you're right, in a way," he said, looking down. "I've never really looked at it like that."

"Look, I didn't mean to make this into – you don't have to talk about this," Charlie said contritely. "I just – you know, if I'm upset one day and you ask me what's wrong and I say 'nothing' – that means that I don't want to share it with you and I want to just leave it be. But you'll just go ahead and read my mind and then try to fix whatever's wrong, and – I didn't want you to. If I said nothing's wrong, then just leave it. Sometimes people have the right to lie, Toby, and if you know the truth, you have to respect that they had reasons for saying what they did."

"I'm sorry," Toby repeated, not knowing how else to placate her. "Do you – do you want to just order…"

"That's why."

"What?" Mind-reader or not, this girl had him completely confused right now.

"You asked me why I get angry at you so often. That's why. I feel like – like I'm always on the defense when you're around. Like no matter what I decide to say or do, you're just going to throw my thoughts back at me as – as proof of weakness." She set her cutlery down and knotted her hands in her lap.

Toby swallowed hard, avoiding her gaze. Then, deciding, he looked up at Charlie and asked, "Do you want to – do you want to ditch this place? I'm not very hungry anymore, and – do you want to go for a walk or something, or maybe for a drink instead?"

Actually, Charlie wouldn't have minded a steak salad just about then – especially if someone else was footing the bill – but she was more compassionate than that, so she nodded her agreement and rose from her seat, pulling her sweater back on as she did.

Toby held the door open for her, and the two of them walked out into the rapidly cooling evening.