Paul stirred as he began to wake up. He groaned as he realised it was daylight and turned over in an attempt to keep sleeping for a few more hours.
When it became clear that he wasn't going to be able to go back to sleep, he opened his eyes and sighed, he really didn't want to get out of bed.
It had been a month since Ash's birthday and Paul had done nothing but wallow in self-pity ever since. His days mostly consisted of drinking, reading Harry Potter and re-reading Dawn's Twilight Series.
He frowned at the memory. It turned out he loved Harry Potter as much as Dawn's series. How could she have possibly known that he would love them? He hated that she knew him so well. But if he was honest with himself, he hated that he had let her go into the hands of another guy.
He groaned as he for the billionth time pictured her and Ritchie happily hanging out with all of their friends. Why was he such an idiot?
He decided to get up and have a shower. He hadn't shaved in weeks and he had a rather long purple beard as a result.
After turning on the water, he stepped into the shower. Like all his other showers in the past month, he glared at the strawberry body wash. But, like the other times he eventually gave in and opened it. It reminded him of her and for a brief moment he would feel better; then reality would hit him and he would feel even worse. It was a vicious cycle.
Paul had done a lot of thinking over the past month, and he had realised that somewhere, somehow he had managed to develop feelings for Dawn. He wasn't quite sure what they were, but he was sure that they were there.
All of his friends had visited at some point, but they had given up when they realised he wasn't in a good place.
Finishing in the shower, he entered his wardrobe. Another ritual he had developed was glaring at his full wardrobe where all the clothes she had bought him were hanging. He pulled on some trackies and a t-shirt – ones that she had not chosen for him as he dried hair with his towel.
Resigning that he had nothing to do today, he decided to sit in his library for a while.
He had ordered a really nice, cloth-covered set of Harry Potter books for his collection and he needed to find a place for them to sit.
He sighed as he looked at the books on the walls. In the middle row sat her books. He had read them a billion times. At least now that she wasn't coming over anymore he didn't have to keep hiding them and therefore leaving a gap in his shelf.
He began to move them all around, making room for the Harry Potter series just next to hers.
Paul decided breakfast was as good a time as any for some vodka so he poured himself a drink and sat down on the couch with is laptop.
He had not left the house in a month, and had resigned to reading The Local online. The new edition of Rouge was due to come out today, and he wanted to see what she was writing about.
Hey readers,
I wanted to give you a little bit of personal advice this month. It's going to be a short one but I feel you all should know how to protect yourselves from getting hurt.
When you meet someone that you have feelings for – tell them. Don't wait too long or you'll not only hurt yourself, but the person you like too.
With Valentine's Day coming up, I think it's important to embrace love and lust and just enjoy life. Life's too short to wait.
I'll be sitting in watching The Notebook with a big box of chocolates this year!
Love Dawn xxx
Paul wanted to punch himself. He did this to her. He made her sad. He was ashamed.
Sighing, he signed in to the site under his login and began to type.
Dear Dawn,
I messed up. I hurt someone that I care about and I need to know how to fix it. What should I do?
Your Biggest Fan.
He had finished his drink by the time she replied.
To My Biggest Fan,
You're one of the most consistent things in my life. Don't give up, if you really care then fight for what you want. Fight for your happiness.
Dawn.
Paul closed his laptop when he heard a knock at his door. He opened it to see Drew standing there. Paul wasn't in the mood for visitors today so he tried to close the door on him but Drew scoffed and pushed the door open, letting himself in.
"Dude, you look terrible. You do not look good with a beard."
Paul stared at him blankly.
"Okay, so you're not in the mood for small talk. I just wanted to let you know that I'm having everyone over tonight as a pre-Valentine's Day get together. I know it sounds a bit cheesy but Gary and Leaf, Misty and Ash are all going camping in Veilstone City so I thought we could all do something before they go.
"Why would I want to go to a stupid romantic Valentine's Day celebration to see that jerk have his hands all over Dawn."
Drew looked confused, "what are you talking about?"
"Ritchie and Dawn, they are going to be there and they are going to be happy and rubbing it in my face and I can't believe that you as my 'friend' would even come here and tell me about it."
Drew smirked. "I thought you knew. She chose you Paul."
Now it was Paul's turn to look confused, "No she didn't? She told me it was over because she chose him."
"So she told you she was going to be with Ritchie?" Drew asked, he wasn't convinced.
"Well, no but –"
"Well don't go assuming things then Paul. After you walked outside that night she told Ritchie she wanted to check on you. He told her that if she wanted to go and see you that they shouldn't see each other again. After that she walked off to see you without a second thought of Ritchie."
Paul looked shocked. She had chosen him?
"But why did she end things with me?" Paul asked slowly.
"I don't know. Maybe she was scared. Maybe she wanted you to fight for her or something. Chicks love that shit."
Paul's head snapped to where his laptop was sitting on his couch.
"If you really care, fight for what you want. Fight for your happiness."
The words echoed in his mind as he smiled for the first time in a month.
"Drew, I could kiss you right now."
"Ew. Please don't." He replied, looking disgusted but amused.
"Okay just give let me grab my keys," Paul said as he began to look for his car keys.
"Paul. You aren't going anywhere until you have a shower and shave that beard. You reek of vodka. It's not even 2pm."
Paul looked slightly embarrassed but he nodded anyway and rushed to the bathroom.
For the first time in a month he was excited about something. He had hope for something. He didn't glare at the strawberry body wash, and he didn't even glare at all of his clothes. He smirked as he picked out his indigo skinny jeans and a white long sleeve shirt.
He chucked his sneakers on and looked in the mirror. He had shaved – which did everyone a favour – and decided he would need a jacket. He grabbed the leather jacket Dawn had bought him and practically jogged over to Drew.
"Let's go."
May was in charge of Drew's house as he had said he had an errand to run. Everyone was there – including Dawn.
May sighed as she looked at the blue haired girl. She just looked so sad. None of them had seen her like this before. It had been an entire month and there was no improvement.
They had invited her out to heaps of things to keep her busy, shopping every other day, going out clubbing or having group dinners. None of it had worked though. She had accepted every invitation and said she was fine but she would space out the entire night and barely eat.
They were all worried, it was like she had lost all purpose in life and nothing they could say or do would help her.
It had been horrible, Drew had even alerted them to the fact that she was barely eating. She was thin already, but after the previous month they were sure she'd lost a few more kilos.
It was tragic but none of them knew what to do. After the first week Ash had decided to bring up Paul to see if that would start to motivate her to move on.
May frowned as she thought back to that day.
It had been a week since 'the incident' as the group were calling it. May, Leaf and Misty had taken it in turns to spend time with the girl. They'd decided to invite her for a group night out at a highly rated steak house in the city.
Even though she had been mostly out of it, it had been a pretty smooth night. The aim was to take her mind off things and distract her into forgetting about 'the incident'.
"So I went and saw Paul today," Ash said to Leaf. He was inadvertently trying to tell Dawn that Paul wasn't doing so well. He immediately stopped however as she dropped her fork on her plate and stared at him.
It only took a few seconds for her to begin crying again. Ash had felt terrible. They had all felt terrible. Drew and May had decided to look after her that night, making sure she got home safely and helping her stop crying.
May shook her head. Things had gotten better since then, but they all knew that nothing was the same. Paul had barely said two words to them as they all visited every second day. And between Paul and Dawn they were all fully tied up. It was scary to think that things weren't ever going back to normal.
It was even weirder to see how much they clearly cared for each other. You don't get this upset over someone you 'just' have sex with. Dawn hadn't even been like this after her and Barry had broken up.
May looked up when she heard the door open, smiling as she realised it was Drew, but her face contorted into a look of shock when she realised that Paul was behind him.
"I don't think you should –" She began but Drew gave her a knowing look as he came over and squeezed her hand.
Leaf immediately got up from her seat as she ran over to give Paul a big hug. She had been worried sick about him for weeks.
Paul hugged her lightly but kept his eyes on Dawn. She still hadn't noticed him so he let go of Leaf and walked over to her.
"Hi." He said softly, with his hands in his jacket pockets.
She jumped when she heard his voice and looked up. She tried her best to hold herself together but seeing him this close to her was hard.
She attempted to say 'hi' back but realised that she was going to cry if she said anything so she stood up and walked past Paul to leave.
"Troublesome," he said as she walked. He grabbed her wrist, turning her around and swiftly chucking her over his shoulder.
She screamed, "Paul!" it was sudden and she hadn't expected for him to pick her up. "Put me down! What are you doing!"
Their friends looked on in amazement as he walked off with her, carrying her somewhere else in the house.
When he saw Drew's bathroom he walked in and put her down, locking the door behind them. The room was basic, with a sink, a shower and a bath. The toilet was located in the next room over.
She was mad now, "you can't just pick people up because you feel like it Paul!"
"Well I need to talk to you."
"We have nothing to talk about."
"Yes we do, because I was under the impression that you chose Ritchie, but Drew told me today that you aren't with Ritchie. I've been leaving you alone because I thought you were happy with him and all I want is for you to be happy."
She opened her mouth to talk but closed it suddenly before opening it again, "you thought I was with Ritchie?"
Paul nodded.
"And that's why I haven't heard from you?"
Paul nodded again.
She ran a hand through her hair as she looked to the side, taking a deep breath. "I thought that I meant nothing to you. I knew as soon as I left that I shouldn't have ended things like that but by the time I realised it was too late to take it back. And then you just disappeared without so much as a call and I just thought that you didn't care."
His gaze softened as he listened. "I've done a lot of thinking in the last month. And I've come to the conclusion that I have feelings for you. I don't know exactly what those feelings are but I do know that the thought of you with anyone but me drives me insane."
The edges of her lips began to turn upwards as he spoke.
"Look, I'm not asking you to be my girlfriend. I'm just asking you to not be with anyone else. I want us to be monogamous. I want both of us to be monogamous."
She looked at him for what felt like forever before she nodded. Relief washed over his face as she spoke, "I think I could do that."
He hugged her tightly as he buried his face in her hair. He was so relieved. And happy. He felt really happy.
They pulled away after a few moments and her big blue eyes looked up into his dark ones.
"There's something else." Paul said as he reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out an envelope. He looked at it for a moment before handing it to her.
Dawn eyed it curiously before she accepted it, opening it up carefully.
When she saw what was inside her eyes widened, "Paul, this…this is…you…why would you do this?"
"I thought that it would be romantic or something." He mumbled, embarrassed.
"You bought us tickets to Paris in Unova?" She looked at him in disbelief as she continued to process this information, "I've always wanted to go there."
"I know."
She smiled as her eyes began to water, "No one has ever done anything like this for me."
He nodded and she reached up to kiss him gently. It was soft, and romantic, unlike their usual kisses.
"We leave tomorrow. I know it's short notice but I also know it's Valentine's Day next week and..well..yeah."
"It's perfect. Thankyou." He held her hand as they left the bathroom.
He let go just as they reached their friends though. Dawn didn't mind, she knew that this was a big step for him; and it was more than enough for her.
All 6 of their friends stood up abruptly when they arrived. Leaf was beside herself as she looked at the two worried that they were both going to start crying or worse.
"Are you okay?" She asked cautiously, the question was directed at Dawn but it was really for both of them.
"Yeah. Actually I'm more than okay."
They all smiled. Finally, things might get back to normal.
"I um, I actually have to go though," she said nervously.
"Why? We haven't even eaten yet?" May asked sadly.
"Well, we have to pack."
Now they were all curious, and Misty asked, "To go where?"
Dawn looked at Paul; he had his hands in his pockets and his face down. He knew that they would have to tell their friends they were leaving the country for a week, but he also knew that the secret would be officially out. He felt awkward about it, he wasn't used to caring about people or what they thought, and he certainly wasn't used to doing romantic gestures.
"Well, we are going to Unova for the week."
Gary smirked, "well, I'll be damned. Ash, we're going to have to kill him for out-doing us."
Ash looked confused, "how did he out-do us?"
Dawn blushed at this thought; he really had gone all out. May let out a squeal of delight as she realised what Gary was getting at.
"AWWWWW! He's taking her to Paris for Valentine's Day!" She ran and tackled her friend excitedly. She was happy that things were beginning to work out for the two.
Even Drew looked impressed as he winked at Dawn subtly.
"Well, we should go. I'll see you guys when we are back?" Dawn suggested.
"Definitely!" Leaf screamed as she went to hug them both goodbyes.
After hearing chorus of 'yeahs,' Dawn and Paul turned to leave.
Dawn sighed contently as she stood on the balcony of their room. Paul had booked them a five star hotel to stay in, and the room had a beautiful view of the city. They had only arrived on their flight that day, which had been spent getting settled in.
She felt two hands come up behind her as he cuddled her and rested his chin on her head.
"Isn't it beautiful?" she breathed.
He smirked, she was making him soft as he replied, "yeah, you are."
She supressed a girlish giggle as she bit her lip. This was going to be the best week of her life, she was sure of it.
They awoke to their first day in Paris, they had been too tired from the flight to go anywhere the previous night.
Dawn stretched as she woke up, realising that Paul was already in the shower. They spent about an hour getting ready as it was winter in Paris. She had come prepared with a beanie or two and some of her favourite coats with lots of long boots to keep her feet warm.
As they walked through the lobby they were greeted by some of the hotel's staff. She braced herself as they got to the doors leading to outside, it was going to be very chilly. It was snow weather but according to the receptionist, they had yet to see the first snow of the season.
Dawn looked at the sky excitedly, she loved this place already.
Paul took a deep breath as he reached over and held Dawn's hand. He tried not to smile as he could see her grinning like the Cheshire cat out the corner of his eye.
They talked for hours as they walked around town, sightseeing and checking out the Louvre –a famous art gallery. They had decided to stop for lunch at a crepe cart – Dawn had sworn Paris had ruined her for normal food.
After walking around for a few hours Dawn stopped Paul.
She was looking at a very modern looking alley-way that had café's everywhere.
"Oh Paul can we stop for a drink?"
"Sure."
They sat and ordered, she smiled when she realised he was still holding her hand under the table.
"Paul this is amazing. How you even thought of this? I'll never know, but this is the best day of my life."
He let out a slight chuckle, "just wait to see what I have planned for tomorrow."
Tomorrow was the day before Valentine's Day. Paul had a different thing planned for each day, with the exception of today as he wasn't sure how tired they were going to be.
"Well, if this is only the first day I can't wait to see what you've decided on for tomorrow."
The next day came quickly for Dawn and she woke up early. She was way too excited about their trip. Paul was still sleeping and she decided to have a shower and get ready before he could get up. She noticed that they had only ever woken up together once which was when he was worried about her after Leaf had said those awful things to her a few months back.
Dawn frowned at the thought. She was deep in her thoughts, wondering if it was weird that they never stayed in bed together, when two hands grasped her hips.
Paul had joined her in the shower. At first he just kissed her gently. Then she pulled out the strawberry body wash.
"Why do you always smell so good?" he asked huskily as she pushed up against the wall, beginning to ravish her under the water.
Dawn was following Paul eagerly. He still hadn't told her what they were doing today, but he had a map as he led her around Paris – looking for whatever it was they were going to be doing.
After walking for an hour and half – not that either of them minded considering how beautiful the city was – she felt Paul stop in front of her. He had been holding her hand once again – and she was beginning to think that she could get used to this.
She looked around, there were a lot of people, but she wasn't entirely sure where they were.
"I'm not sure that I get it," she stated unsurely.
He smirked, "According to this map, this is one of the biggest shopping districts in the world. Apparently there's all these one of a kind shops and stuff."
Dawn went starry eyed as she began to see little alley-ways everywhere filled with what looked like boutiques.
She let out a high pitched squealing – resulting in Paul letting out a cough of embarrassment.
She reached for his hand and led him across the road – she was going to thank him later for this. That was certain.
They had eventually gotten a cab because they were struggling to carry everything and they were pretty far from the hotel. Paul had been the perfect gentleman – he had let her look in any shop that she wanted to, he had even carried most of her bags until there became too many for one person to hold. She giggled at the thought, he was really trying. It warmed her heart to know that he was doing these things to make her happy.
She had banned him from lingerie shopping – reasoning that she wanted to surprise him. He smirked each time they had gotten to a lingerie store.
After setting all her bags down they decided to order room service because they were so tired. Dawn had excused herself half way through – claiming to want a shower after their big day.
Although she had taken a shower, she had wanted to put on some of her new lingerie for Paul. She had bought a strapless slip dress – designed to be worn under formal wear which was her new favourite item. After putting it on and tying her hair up in a high pony tail she walked out, grabbing Paul's attention as she stood against their bathroom door.
"Paul," she purred, "I think a thank you is order after a day like today."
Paul smirked but he was surprised when she pulled out a blindfold, gently placing it over his eyes.
"This is going to be a night you will never forget."
He obliged her every command as she walked him to the bed and pushed him down before climbing over him. He was starting to enjoy this 'romance' thing.
"Happy Valentine's Day," Dawn said as she walked back into their room. She had woken up early so that she could get a Valentine's Day present for Paul.
He was only wearing a towel as he walked out of the shower.
"Hey I was wondering where you got to."
"Well, I wanted to do a little bit of shopping to get you something for Valentine's Day." Dawn replied as Paul started to get dressed.
"What are we doing today?" She asked before he had a chance to respond to her last sentence.
He smirked. "You'll like it."
He was now fully dressed and had come over to her and put his arms around her waist, kissing her 'hello' as he did so.
"Well, how about you open your present first." Dawn said, handing it to him. It was wrapped in silver wrapping paper.
He looked at her awkwardly for a minute before accepting the gift and sitting on their bed. He began to unwrap it and his eyes widened when he realised what she had gotten him.
"Wow. This is really nice."
She grinned, "Yay! I was hoping you'd like it, I've been out all morning searching for it."
It was a limited edition cloth-covered book – more specifically, it was a collection of Shakespeare's entire works.
"Thank-you." He said as he pulled her onto his lap and kissed her.
He looked at her for a minute, silently debating with himself before reaching over to his side of the bed and pulling a flat, square box out of his top draw.
"Happy Valentine's Day Troublesome." He said, handing her the gift.
She poked her tongue out at him playfully, accepting the aqua-blue velvet box. She opened it gently and gasped.
"It's gorgeous, Paul." She said as she gazed at the beautiful necklace in front of her. She kept looking at it, before she realised something.
"Wait a minute, I was looking at this same necklace a little while ago, how did you know?"
He smirked, "well, I accidentally ran into you that day and I dunno, something inside of me made me walk in there and get it for you. The assistant said you liked that colour the best."
"I do," she said still amazed that he bought it for her. It was beautiful with black diamonds. She had liked it so much at the store because the colour had reminded her of his eyes. She blushed at the thought.
"Paul, will you help me put it on?"
He nodded as he did so, "it suits you."
She went to look in the mirror and she breathed out deeply, this was too good to be true. He was too good to be true.
"So it's time for us to get going," he said as he gestured to the door.
They spent the day at 'Festival Amore,' watching the parade, seeing the beautiful street artwork and drinking hot chocolate.
When it was starting to get dark, Paul said they needed to get back to the hotel.
Upon arrival he told her to wear something nice, and he proceeded to put on skinny jeans, with dress shoes and a shirt and blazer before waiting for Dawn to get ready.
When she emerged from the bathroom, she was wearing a white strapless dress, with a grey overcoat. Her hair was curled and put to the side with a bobby pin. She was wearing red lipstick – which had made Paul already want to attack her with kisses, and her neck adorned her favourite new necklace.
He smiled, "You look nice."
She looked him up and down, "something is missing," she said as she reached into a shopping bag from the day before.
She grabbed out a textured black skinny tie and tied it around his neck. After fastening it she reached up on her tip-toe's and kissed him.
"You are extremely handsome," she said as she pulled away from him.
He held her hand and led the way to a restaurant, ordering them nice wine while they looked over the menu.
After they had finished with their food, they ordered dessert.
"I'll take the crème-brulee," Dawn said as she handed the menu back to the waiter.
Paul had already ordered the tiramisu.
"Paul, this has been the most amazing trip. I can't believe tomorrow's our last day here."
"I know. The best part is after dinner though."
She looked at him curiously, "you are just full of surprises aren't you?"
"Yep," he said cheekily as their dessert arrived.
Dawn let Paul lead her once more. It was night time now, but Valentine's Day in Paris was very busy. There were couples everywhere spending a romantic night together.
Paul looked at his watch, "quick we better hurry."
"Why?" Dawn asked.
"Cause we will miss it if we don't."
She figured he would explain once they had gotten there so she hurried to walk with him.
She hadn't been paying much attention to where they were going. She had mainly been concentrating on not bumping into any of the people that were going in all directions.
Suddenly Paul stopped and she looked up. He had brought her to the Eiffel Tower.
"It's so beautiful."
He smirked, "wait for it."
She was confused until all of a sudden the Eiffel Tower starting flashing, putting on amazing light show. It was so pretty. They just stood their staring until it was over.
"Every hour the Eiffel Tower flashes like that, I didn't want us to miss it," Paul explained.
Dawn looked at him; he had gone to so much effort for Valentine's Day just to show he cared. She turned towards him and kissed him romantically under the lights.
She thought he would pull away, but he didn't. He kissed her back for a few minutes until they continued to look up at the magnificent structure in front of them.
"There's one last surprise." He said as he took her hand once more.
"There's more?" Dawn asked disbelievingly.
He didn't respond as he led her up to a guard at the base of the tower.
Paul showed him what looked to be some sort of ticket, and the guard's eyes widened as he immediately began to move out of the way, explaining something to Paul.
"Okay, so we can go up the tower at night. They usually don't allow it but I managed to get a favour."
Dawn was too shocked to respond so she got in the lift with Paul and excitedly awaited the top.
It was amazing. The view was so pretty, watching all of Paris come alive, especially on a night as busy as this.
"This is so romantic, Paul."
He smiled genuinely. He truly wanted to make this the best night ever, to show her that he appreciated her.
They didn't allow favours at the Tower, there were tickets available to go up at night but they were very expensive. Very expensive. Which is why he didn't want her to know that he had bought them.
Paul had to admit, it was a nice sight. Watching all the people move down below, seeing all the lights around the city.
Looking at Dawn he noticed her eyes were as bright as the city below, she was excited and awestruck.
'Mission accomplished,' Paul thought.
She had kissed him once more and they ended up making out for a while. There were very few people up there so it didn't matter too much.
They eventually descended the tower and walked back to their hotel along the river.
When they got back to the room, Dawn stopped to face Paul.
"Paul tonight…this trip, it means so much to me," she started, "and well, I guess what I'm trying to say is that you mean something to me. I know that I didn't say anything back to you about my own feelings, but I want to let you know that they are there."
She looked at him with a fiery passion burning in her eyes as she kissed him softly.
He kissed her back and they gently began to move to the bed. This wasn't like the other times they had slept together. This wasn't just sex. This wasn't just lust. This was them becoming one; they were connecting on a new level. This was the two of them showing each other how much they felt, how much they cared.
It meant something. They meant something to each other.
"HI!" Dawn was suddenly enveloped in a group hug by Leaf, May and Misty.
They were having a girl's night now that they were all back.
"Hey guys, I've missed you! How have things been?"
Misty cut in, "Leaf and I went camping and Drew took May out for a romantic picnic under the stars. We want to know how you have been, not talk about how boring we are all night!" She said it playfully but the other girls were way more interested in Dawn's past week than their own.
Dawn flushed, "Well…it was…perfect." She was smiling fondly at the memory.
The three girls cooed, "What did you guys do?"
"Well Paul planned everything, we stayed in this amazing hotel and we ate amazing food. He took me to one of the biggest shopping districts in the world!" Dawn laughed.
"Aw how cute!" May nearly screamed.
"And he took me to the Eiffel Tower and out for romantic dinners. It was the most amazing week away."
"Was it pretty?" Leaf asked, a little less loud.
"Yep. Everything there is pretty. I bought so many berets! You guys can borrow whatever you want."
"So did you guys have a lot of sex?" Misty asked bluntly.
Dawn laughed, "yeah we did actually. But I dunno, things seem different between us."
"In a good way thought, right?" Misty asked seriously.
"Yeah, in an amazing way! I mean he was very specific about me not being his girlfriend but things have just changed. He was very romantic."
Leaf smiled, it was nice to see two of her best friends so happy.
"Well I'm glad," Misty said as she smiled, "maybe soon you'll have one of these too!" She held up her engagement ring as she laughed at the look on Dawn's face, she looked terrified but laughed it off knowing that Misty was only joking.
Paul had finally started back at work. He was glad to be back, but he would definitely have to use up his annual leave from time to time, he found taking a break a whole new experience. It was refreshing.
He had caught up with the boys the night previously, who had wanted to know all the details of his trip with Dawn.
They weren't too surprised when they didn't get many, but it was pretty clear that Paul was happy.
He had told them that they weren't dating, but the guys knew that deep down it was a big deal for Paul. His actions had certainly spoken louder than words ever could.
He received a message on his phone. Opening it up, he read it and smiled before replying.
Dawn had invited him over for dinner. He sighed, she was making him soft.