Cinder gave them an incredulous look before walking away, back into her office.

Kai smiled stupidly as he watched her go.

"Man, you're a goner," Thorne said, loosening his tie.

"Don't I know it," Kai replied, staring at the office door for a moment, then turned to look at Thorne, "But trust me. One day, you'll get it."

Thorne grinned. "That'll be a sad day for single women everywhere."

Kai laughed, clapping him on the shoulder. "We'll all be mourning. But hey, wanna grab a drink? We were thinking of heading to that bar downtown. And Iko'll be there, too, so you won't be alone."

"Actually, I think I'm gonna pass," Thorne said, "I have a few things I still have left to do."

"Wait," Kai said, looking at him curiously, "Does this by any chance have to do with the girl Cinder mentioned before? Looks like that day will be coming sooner than we expect. I mean, it's been, what? Three months already?"

Thorne shrugged, trying not to feel embarrassed. "Four, yeah. But no, I'm finishing up a case this week and I still have to go through some files before the court date."

"Right, right," Kai said, an annoyingly knowing smile on his face, "Good luck then."

Thorne got back into his car, not really sure what exactly Kai was wishing him good luck for, but not really wanting to ask.

"Oh, and…"

Thorne scanned the candy on the racks, before picking out a chocolate bar. Cheap, gas station candy, but good for that late-night boost when finishing up paperwork.

His mind immediately flitted to Cress and all those times she insisted that apples and fruits in general were better than all that modified sugar.

Thorne shook his head as the cashier rang him up. Ever since he left Cinder's garage, Kai's comments stuck with him and thoughts of Cress wouldn't leave his mind in peace.

It wasn't bad or anything; in fact, Thorne loved thinking about Cress. But the more he did, the less and less appealing the stack of papers sitting at home seemed.

"Fifty-two, eighteen," the cashier said, in a half-asleep voice from the night shift.

Thorne dug around his wallet, suddenly remembering a conversation he had a long time ago as a kid. His parents were almost never home, but his nanny always reassured him that they thought about him all the time.

"That's how you know they love you," she'd say, "Because love isn't a simply yes or no. It's the little things."

To kid Carswell, that just seemed like another excuse. Sure, they were never around. But at least they thought about him.

"Little things?" Thorne remembered himself asking wearily.

His nanny gave him a sad smile. "Little things. Like doing the laundry for someone when they're tired. Or trying their tea before giving it to them to make sure it's just right. Or just wanting to be with them when you're not, because they feel like home."

All of sudden, it seemed like all the air left his lungs. Because now, it wasn't about his parents. It hadn't been about them for a long time now.

Now, it was about Cress and how he felt everything about her. All those 'little things' were there and it was terrifying and exhilarating all at once.

"I think I'm in love with her," Thorne murmured to himself, disbelieving.

"Sir?" The cashier raised his eyebrows, holding out the change and the receipt.

"I'm in love with her," Thorne said, louder and more determined. In that moment, he knew exactly what he needed to do.

"Sir, your-your stuff!" The cashier called out after him, but Thorne was already out the door.

Cress frowned, staring at herself in the mirror. Iko said the strawberry-avocado face mask would supposedly work wonders for her skin, but so far, Cress wasn't seeing any results. Was she applying it wrong or something?

Glancing at the back of the packet, Cress tried to find something more helpful than ravings about how amazing her pores would look in two weeks.

Lies.

A knock at the front door startled her, making her almost drop the packet. It was loud and insistent, but Cress couldn't remember making any plans for tonight.

"Coming!" Cress called, adjusting the towel on top of her head. She looked kind of ridiculous, but really, nobody was expecting her to look her best at one in the morning. And she was sure that it was most likely her landlord or neighbour or something. All of which had already seen her in a much worse state, due to a certain Baking Incident that she refused to commit to memory.

The knocking continued, growing more determined. Grumbling to herself, Cress unlocked the six locks on her door before wrenching it open.

"Carswell?"

Suddenly, Cress wanted nothing more than slam the door and change into something more presentable. This was a new, almost-four-month-long relationship. Way, way, way too early for her boyfriend to be seeing her like this.

"Cress," Thorne said, and breathed out a sigh. The way he said her name made her stomach flutter, but she did her best to ignore it as she tried to figure out what he was doing at her place.

"Carswell, what—?" Cress took in his appearance. "Why are you soaking wet? What happened?"

"It's raining outside," Thorne said dismissively, as if that were the most obvious thing in the world. His suit was creating a puddle outside her door and his hair was plastered to his temple, drops of water running down his face.

Right, Cress thought to herself, And you, what, jogged to my apartment in the rain?

"Cress, there's something I need to say to you," Thorne said, looking at her seriously, "And I—"

"Do you want to come in?" Cress cut him off, all too aware of light turning on in her neighbours' apartments. "And get you dried off, maybe?"

Unable to hold off her laughter all of a sudden, Cress took his drenched sleeve and pulled him inside. Giggling, she brushed the dripping hair off his forehead.

"You look ridiculous," she said, grinning. "But then again, I don't really look my best right now, either."

"No, Cress," Thorne said, lifting his hand to her cheek, "You're beautiful."

"Sorry?" Cress asked, wrinkling her nose, not sure she heard that right. But then he was kissing her, and all her thoughts flew out of her mind.

It no longer mattered how weird she looked at the moment, or that Thorne was completely soaked and dripping onto her rug. She suddenly didn't care about anything at all.

And just as quickly, he pulled away, burying his face in her shoulder, lips pressed gently against her neck.

She lifted a hand to gingerly touch the top of his head. "Carswell?"

"I... ove you..."

Cress froze, not sure she had heard that correctly. "W-what?"

Thorne pressed his forehead against hers, neither of them noticing the rainwater drip down onto her face mask. "Crescent Moon Darnel, I think I'm in love you."