I feel so guilty that it took me forever to get this chapter up! I had this MASSIVE writer's block and couldn't figure out where to go next with the story. I hope you like the chapter. :) Reviews are always welcome.

***

"Wow! I love it Ryan!" Ellie squealed, running around her new house, her new room, and most importantly (to her) her new kitchen. She examined the stainless steel appliances, the pots, then pans, the pantry, and the fridge. Ryan watched as she took everything in and switched two cartons of takeout food around. Her brow furrowed as she switched a few more into different spots.

"What's wrong?" he asked. She had seemed happy until about a minute ago.

"Your takeout food wasn't alphabetized properly. I had to fix it. And do you know you have three cartons of moo shoo pork? Do you know how to cook?" she asked.

"Not really," he said sheepishly. Ellie smiled and ran for her room. She came down a moment later with an armload of cookbooks.

"No problem- Tom wasn't much of a cook either," she giggled, "and I have a couple recipes I've been meaning to try out." She placed the books on the counter, organizing them in size order.

"Do you wanna unpack, El? I can show you around the area afterwards," Ryan offered, "There's a beach down the road."

"Sure! It won't take long. My clothes are already color-coded." She left to go organize her closet. Ryan sat down and began flipping through the cookbook on top. The recipes actually sounded kind of good. Maybe having a gourmet chef- slash- daughter wouldn't be so bad after all.

***

Around six o'clock, Ellie heard a knock on the door. She ran to get it, out of habit, but Ryan beat her to it.

"Natalia, what are you doing here?" he asked, surprised to find his friend standing on his porch. She held a shopping bag in her hand.

"Hi Natalia!" Ellie said, poking her head out from behind Ryan.

"Hi. I thought, you know, it being your first night here, you guys might not want to cook. So I brought you guys some dinner," she said, handing Ryan the bag. She watched as Ellie whispered something his ear. He nodded at her.

"Natalia, do you want to stay for dinner with us?" she asked hopefully.

"Umm... sure. Thanks," she said, walking inside. She'd never been to Ryan's house before. She found it similar to his locker at work- organized and alphabetized. It was open and airy and perfect. She found herself daydreaming about coming home here, hanging her coat in the closet, sitting on the beige couch...

"So what do you want to drink, Nat?" Ryan asked, "We've got a couple different wines, lemonade, water, seltzer..."

"Seltzer's fine," Natalia said, sitting down at the table next to Ellie. She felt so at home in the relaxed atmosphere- it was so unlike the dinner table she had sat at when she was younger. She felt that this dinner might be fun.

***

After dinner, the three of them sat out on the back porch, cups of frozen hot chocolate in hand. After a few minutes, Ellie stood up.

"I'm kind of tired... I think I'm gonna go into bed now. Night Ryan. Night Natalia. Thanks for the dinner." She walked away from the two of them- she could sense that they wanted some alone time.

"So how's she adjusting?" Natalia asked once she heard the door clicked closed.

"Ellie seems okay with everything. She loved the fact that I hate to cook," he said with a grin, "She has all the recipes she wants to try... tabbed and color-coded, too." They sat for a few moments in silence. Natalia listened closely.

"What's that sound?" she asked, puzzled.

"Oh, the ocean."

"You live by the beach?"

"Yeah. You wanna go check it out?"

"Sure. Why not?" They placed their cups inside and grabbed some shoes. It took no more than two minutes to reach the beach. Natalia was amazed with the serenity of it all. Calm little waves lapped up at their feet. Natalia slipped off her sandals and left them on drier sand. The two of them meandered down the shore, hand in hand. Ryan thought that there was nothing more he'd rather do right then than be with Natalia.

After a while, the two of them sat down in the sand. Natalia rested her head on Ryan's shoulder.

"See that star, right there?" Natalia said, pointing one out, "That's Hao."

"Really?" Ryan asked, "What does it mean?"

"Queen."

"Wow. It's pretty."

"I know."

"It's not nearly as pretty as you are, Tali." Natalia smiled and looked up at Ryan. As she leaned in for a kiss, she knew that this right here was love.