"Hi." Amita was standing in the doorway to his room. Her hair was still wet from her recent shower and water was slowly dripping down from her black curls onto her shirt. But she didn't seem to care.

Charlie greeted her the same silent way and watched her take some careful steps further into his now lighter room. The truth was he hadn't been able to sit still after she'd left. He had to do something and it was a good thing he was creative. He'd pulled up the blinds to keep the dark away, he made the bed (something he normally never did) and the papers he had put sloppy on top of the desk yesterday were now piled up nicely.

The shirt she had borrowed from him the previous night was in her hand and Amita put it down gently on top of the bed before she looked up again. Not until then she became aware of the different surrounding.

"Have you been cleaning?" She asked and glanced around the room.

"What?" She pointed hastily at the stack of papers and the bed. "Oh…um…yeah." He confessed. Amita just nodded and sat down on the white bedspread that covered his bed.

"Thanks for the loan by the way." She said referring to the shirt.

"You're welcome."

"And…" She took a deep breath. "…I'm sorry I just left." She apologized silently.

"It's okay." He toyed with a pen that recently had lain on his desk. A nervous habit he picked up during his first year at Princeton. It was something he always did when he had to talk in front of the class or any other group of people for that matter.

Charlie walked up to join her on the bed, not too close though afraid that she didn't want him near her right now. "Amita…" she responded to her name by looking up and catching his gaze. "…are you okay?" Stupid question but what else could he say.

"I just…I think I got scared." She admitted and noticed how the expression on his face changed from worried and confused to worried and guilty. "But I'm fine now." Charlie wasn't too convinced by that statement.

"You want to talk about it?"

"No." Was her quick and definite response.

"Amita, you just told me you got scared. If I did something wrong you can tell me."

She sighed. "You didn't do anything wrong."

"Then what is it?"

"It's nothing. Listen, I'm fine now so let's just move on."

"I can't do that Amita."

"God Charlie, why do you always have to do this?" Her voice was slightly higher now than it had been a couple of minutes ago. She wasn't screaming but the tone indicated she was slightly irritated.

"Do what?"

"Fix things. Why can't you just leave it alone?"

"Because you mean too much to me. I know you probably don't want to hear this right now but I care about you and when you're not feeling well, then I'm not feeling well either." She sighed and rubbed her forehead tiredly. When she let her hand fall back down he surprised her by moving closer and take her hand in his. He was very relieved she didn't pull away again. "Talk to me." His request was silent but firm.

He gave her a couple of seconds to figure out what to do. If she still didn't want to talk about it, then fine, he wasn't going to force it out of her.

She had her eyes focused on their joined hands in her lap and he could tell she was trying to find the words. A few more seconds passed by until she took a deep breath and opened her mouth. "I don't want you to see my scar."

"Your scar?" He let the knowledge of her fear sink in. Her scar? That's what she'd been afraid of? "Amita, look at me." He told her gently and gave her a small smile when she did what he asked. "Don't you ever think even for one second that I don't want to be with you because of a scar. I fell in love with you and I don't care if you so had twelve toes and three arms." He smiled when she let out a small laugh. "I wouldn't love you any less than I do right now." He finished.

He gave her a moment to absorb his words.

"I wish it was that simple, but it's not just a scar Charlie…It's a constant reminder of that night…of him…and I don't want to have him near me, even if it's just in my head, when I'm supposed to be with you. When I'm supposed to be happy." She felt her eyes water but she didn't let the tears fall.

"You can still be happy." She turned her head away. "No Amita look at me." He requested again and was glad she didn't put up a fight. "That scar is a sign that your body has healed. Okay? Now, it's your mind's turn and that's why I'm here. That's why I can't leave anything alone. You are going to make it through this and I will be right by your side. We'll do it together. Okay?"

She gave him a sad nod. "Okay." She whispered. "I guess I just need a little time."

"I'm not going anywhere." He reassured her.

"Thank you…and…" She leaned in closer. "…I love you too." She whispered before she kissed him softly on the lips.

"So…" he started when she pulled back again. The idea was to say something to change the subject but he had trouble finding out what.

"So…?"

"Um…are you hungry?" he asked when he realized they hadn't had breakfast yet.

"Actually, yes."

"Great! What are you up for?"

"Hm…pancakes." Came her immediate reply.

"Again? What's with you and pancakes?" he asked and pulled her with him when he rose from the bed.

"Yours are so good. But I don't get it. How do you make them so juicy?" She asked and was very glad about the quick change of subject.

"If I told you that, I'd have to kill you." He asked and gave her a serious look.

She laughed and remembered the time he helped Don with the "assassination-case". He'd said that exact thing to her when she'd asked him wherefrom he had learned everything.

"Don't want that now, do we?" She teased.

"No, I've always liked you better with a pulse."

Their playful conversation continued as they walked down the stairs towards the kitchen.

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Charlie studied her while he sat facing her on the other side of the table. Neither one of them had uttered a word since they sat down with their plates a couple of minutes ago. Guess both of them were hungry.

Amita had a specific way of eating her pancakes he had discovered. She would sprinkle some sugar on top of the pancake before she would roll it, cut it into two pieces and eat them with her hands. Not once had he seen her eat them any other way.

"What?" She asked when she couldn't stand him staring at her any longer.

"Nothing. I'm just admiring your way of eating pancakes."

"Something wrong with how I eat?"

"No, I just wonder how you never get sticky hands with all that sugar."

"Oh. Well…you should see me when I have syrup instead. Then we can talk about sticky." He laughed at her quick reply.

"I can only imagine."

"Good morning you two." Alan's greeting got their attention focused elsewhere.

"Good morning dad."

"Hi Mr Eppes."

"Amita, I noticed you stayed the night." He said and winked at Charlie who simply rolled his eyes. Amita saw it too and smiled. Alan, always the matchmaker.

"Yeah, I did."

"I guess it got pretty late huh?"

"Mm...Charlie wouldn't let me leave." She joked. If Alan could tease Charlie so could she. Besides it was kind of fun to see him squirm and the look he gave her was just priceless.

"Really?" Alan raised his eyebrows and looked at his youngest son.

"Dad, don't you have someplace else to be."

"Fine Charlie, I can take a hint." He raised his hands in surrender. "He always gets so nervous when I talk to his girl." His last sentence was directed at Amita.

"Dad!"

"Fine, I'm gone." He said and disappeared into the kitchen.

Amita was laughing quietly when she saw the look on Charlie's face. "Charlie wouldn't let me leave?" He repeated Amita's exact words which made her grin even wider. Charlie too had a hard time not to laugh.

"Well, you wouldn't." She smirked. "But if it makes you feel better, I'm glad that I stayed." She told him with a more serious tone and laid her hand on top of his.

"Yeah?"

He gave him a sincerely nod. "Yeah…it gave us a chance to talk."

"It did, didn't it?"

"Mm…and I meant what I said before. It was the best sleep I've had in a long time." She admitted and continued to eat the rest of her remaining pancakes.

Charlie continued to look at her while she took one bite after another. She looked so beautiful and relaxed that he honestly couldn't help it. She was everything he always wanted and longed for.

He thought back at the time she confided her past to him. So much had changed since that day. They had had a few dates; they had talked, kissed, made out and even said I love you to one other and nothing had felt more right. They didn't even have to discuss it cause…really, what was there to discuss? I mean, you either love someone or you don't and for the two of them the answer was just evident.

He didn't know how long he kept his gaze lingered on her but when Amita looked up again he pretended to go back to his food on the not so empty plate in front of him. But he couldn't fool her. She knew he had been eyeing her the whole time and now she just couldn't erase that smile she had on her lips. Only one thought came to her in that moment. Maybe life was finally good again.

To be continued...