When Mara awoke, she slowly and painfully got up and went out to the living room. A small smile crossed her face when she saw Elliot sleeping on her couch.

Something inside Mara was stirring in a way she didn't fully understand and it had been that way for a while. She knew that she cared about Elliot as more than just a friend. She had for several weeks now.

But she couldn't just come out and say that to him. This was the guy who barely said four words to her. He had secrets she didn't know he would ever trust her enough to tell her.

Despite that, she knew that a part of him cared for her too.

Elliot turned over on the couch and she saw his eyes open. She slowly walked over to sit next to him, leaning onto objects for support since her side was still killing her.

"Thank you," she said quietly to him.

"For what?"

"Just…always being there for me."

"You're always there for me. In those moments when most people leave. Like the withdrawal. Or the bridge. I want to do the same for you that you've done for me. And I want to make up for what I did to you."

"What do you mean? What did you do to me?"

Elliot avoided her eyes. She had never seen him so nervous which was saying something since he suffered from anxiety. "I hacked you."

"You hacked me?"

"That's what I do. I'm a computer engineer and in my spare time, I hack people. I do whatever I can to find out people's secrets, the things they like to keep hidden away from the rest of the world. I'm good at covering my tracks. No one ever knows what I do."

"What did you find out about me?"

"That's the thing. I didn't know that Tyrell was your cousin. You shared so much with me on that first night, I didn't find out everything I could've about you. But…I've liked finding out things I didn't know about you as time goes on. Things I couldn't have found out just by hacking you."

Mara was taken aback at how much he was saying to her at once. And it was about how he felt about her no less.

"Like what?"

"How family means more than anything to you except when it comes to Tyrell, how far you're willing to go to help other people even when it inconveniences you, how much of a neat freak you are, how cute you are when you're excited, how your eyes light up whenever you smile…"

Mara was touched. She had always known that Elliot was a silent observer, but she didn't know that he was always observing her. She couldn't believe he was saying all of this to her. After so very, very long, he was finally opening up to her.

"And you…make him go away."

Mara already knew who he was talking about, but she wanted him to tell her. She wanted him to trust her. "Him?"

"I see my dead father sometimes. Or I guess…I become him. He becomes me."

Elliot refused to look at her. She knew he was afraid of how she was going to react.

"I know."

Elliot's wide eyes looked up at her. "You know?"

Mara nodded. "Your sister came to see me and told me to stay away from you because of what was going on with you. I've known about this for months."

"And you still stayed?"

The young woman took in a deep breath. "Um…I told you that my mom died in childbirth with Kellan. I was only 7 years old at the time. I know that's probably hard to believe because Kellan look so much older than me, but it's true. And uh…after she died, I started seeing her everywhere. In order to cope, I imagined her with me all the time, and I would talk to her as if she was there with me. Pretty soon, the line disappeared to the point where I didn't even believe my mother was dead. It took months of therapy and medications for me to accept the truth that she had died. I couldn't be alone during that time. And I wasn't about to let that happen to you."

Elliot remembered seeing that she had spent some time in therapy as a child, but he hadn't been able to find out what exactly it had been for. Her certainly had not seen that one coming.

"Whenever I'm with you…" he started, "I don't see him. I don't lose myself. I don't even remember the last time I saw him."

Mara smiled a little. That explained why he never seemed any different to her even after what Darlene told her. He never saw his father when she was around him.

Mara slid closer to him on the couch. She slowly put her hand to the side of his face, wondering if he would move away from her touch. Instead, he leaned into her hand, savoring the feel of it on his skin.

Then before either of them could back out, Mara went for it and kissed him. She hadn't realized how much she had wanted to feel his lips on hers until it happened. Now she never wanted it to stop.

It took a couple seconds, but Elliot soon returned the kiss much to her pleasure. His hands lightly touched her back as her hands continued to caress his face and neck.

I've never kissed anyone except Shayla.

Mara may not be my first kiss, but it's more meaningful. I chose to tell her the truth about me. I chose to trust her.

I chose to let her in.

I guess this is good-bye, my friend.

After all, I just created you so that I wouldn't be lonely. You're not even real.

I don't need you anymore. Now I have her.

Mara cried out in pain as she suddenly ceased the kiss. Elliot frantically pulled away from her.

"It's okay," she said quickly. "I'm just still sore from everything that happened." She looked up at him with complete sincerity. "I'm really glad you trust me enough to tell me all this." She took his hand and leaned against his shoulder. "So what are we going to do about Tyrell?"

"He's a suspect in the murder of Sharon Knowles, right? That's why he kidnapped you. He wanted me to erase the evidence."

"Yeah," Mara said, realizing what he was getting at. "And if he went to all that trouble to get the evidence erased, then that must mean he's guilty."

"So, I may just have to speed up the process a little."

"Whatever you do, just make sure he goes to prison for a long time."

Mara slowly went to the door as a knock sounded through the apartment. When she opened it, she was surprised to find Darlene.

"Hi, Darlene," she said to the girl.

"I suppose you're wondering why I'm here."

"Yeah, I am. Uh, come in. Can I get you anything?"

"A soda would be fine."

"Sure thing." Mara grabbed her a Dr. Pepper before sitting across from her at the island in the kitchen. "So why are you here?"

"I know I told you to stay away from Elliot."

"Look, I don't know what he's told you, but—"

"Let me finish. Elliot is a different person since he met you. I'm thankful, but another part of me hates it."

"How come?"

"I know he didn't tell you about the hack."

"You mean when he hacked me?"

"No. I mean the hack. Me, Elliot, and some other people all decided that we were going to hack E Corp and basically destroy the financial market and erase all trace of debt in the U.S. We've all worked really hard for the past few months to carry out this plan. But the other day, Elliot comes to our headquarters and insists that the plan is off. Naturally, all of us were wondering why. Why after months of work he was going to call it off just like that. He said it was because of you."

"Because of me?"

"He told me all about you and how he never saw our dad when he was with you. He explained to me that it wasn't him who started this whole plan, but it was the persona of our father. Now that he had you, he didn't want to go through with it because he knew how you would react."

This was all a bit much for Mara to take in. All this time, Elliot had been planning on hacking the biggest company in the world? And for what? Money?

She was stunned that he would pull the plug on something that must've meant a lot to him in order to please her. He cared about her more than she thought.

"I'm not happy that all that work we did over the last year was for nothing," Darlene continued, "…but at the same time, I've never seen my brother so happy before. He's always so reserved and afraid, but ever since he started spending time with you…I've seen another side of him. I'm glad you didn't listen to me before."

"I care about him a lot. I don't know what it is, but there's something about him that just makes me feel…safe."

"Why did you even stay with him after what I told you?"

"I don't know. I guess I just didn't see a difference in him. He was still the same Elliot I'd spent all my time with. And after seeing him having a breakdown alone in his apartment, my heart went out to him and I knew I couldn't just leave him alone like that. I wanted to be there for him."

"You're not like other people, Mara. As much as it shocks me, I'm glad that he found you. He's finally…normal again."

"Come on in," a young woman said with a small smile as she opened the door to her office.

Mara took note of the surprised smile on her face.

The woman shook Mara's hand. "You must be the Mara I've heard so much about. I'm Krista Gordon."

"It's nice to meet you," Mara smiled, shaking her hand with the one that wasn't holding Elliot's.

"Please, take a seat."

Mara and Elliot sat down on the couch across from Krista's seat. The psychiatrist took out her notepad.

"How long have you been together?" she asked Mara.

"Um, I guess we met several months ago, but we just became official last week."

"Elliot, why did you decide to be with her?"

"She makes him go away. I feel comfortable around her. She accepts every part of me."

"Do you accept every part of her?"

"Yes. I do."

"Why do you think you don't see him when you're with her?"

Elliot paused for a moment. "Because she makes me feel complete. Before, I needed him to feel complete. Now I have her."

Mara smiled a little as she intertwined their fingers together.

"Mara, do you think I could talk with Elliot alone for a little while?" Krista asked her.

"Of course. I have to be getting to work anyway." She gave Elliot a small kiss. "I'll see you later, okay?"

"Okay."

Mara left Krista's office and headed to the hospital, unable to stop smiling.