Eden sleeps on Gabriel's shoulder on the taxi ride home. Even though she's walking and talking again, she's still extremely weak. She leans against him as he walks her up the stairs and into his apartment, and while she lies on the couch, he starts a bath; thankfully the water runs clear this time, and after the tub is filled he helps into the bathroom and helps her undress. He holds her arm when she steps into the bathtub, and once she's sitting down he washes her gently, dipping a washcloth into the warm water. She feels him start at her neck and shoulders and then to her breasts and belly, and he leans her forward a little to wash her back. Eden rests her head against Gabriel's clothed chest, and when she lies back down again, there's a large wet spot on his sweater where her head had rested.
He helps her out of the bath and helps her dress--again, she puts on one of his shirts--and he leads her to the bedroom. He helps her into bed, pulling down the covers and carefully draping them over her shoulders. He starts to stand up, but Eden touches his arm.
"Will you stay with me?" Eden asks. Her voice is still thin and weak from the endotracheal tube.
"You're sure?" Gabriel asks softly, and Eden nods, scooting a little to make room for him. Gabriel climbs into bed beside her and holds her close. He kisses the nape of her neck and presses his face into her hair.
"Eden I'm so sorry," Gabriel says, and the rims around his eyes darken. "What I said to you was awful, and I wish I could take it back."
"It's okay," Eden says. She kisses him and hugs him close. "It's okay."
"I thought you were dead," Gabriel says. "I thought..." His voice shatters and he buries his face against her shoulder again, and Eden holds on to him tight, sliding an open palm down his back.
"I'm here," Eden says. "It's okay, it's okay." And she kisses him and comforts him with her own propinquity, the whole of her body opening up with a shuddered sigh.
He lies with his eyes closed pillowed against her bare breasts, his arm draped over her side. She gathers him up and rests her lips against his forehead, pressing small kisses on his face and making him smile. "Ask me anything you want," Eden says softly. "I'll tell you everything. I promise."
Gabriel moves to meet her gaze. "What's your real name?" he asks. He softly touches her face.
"Sarah," Eden says. "Sarah Ellis." She trails a hand down his back. "I was born in Utah. My father was an alcoholic, and he used to beat me and my mom. My mom tried to kill herself when I was fourteen, and I was the one who found her." Eden closes her eyes.
"I was so messed up," Eden says. "I used to go into these clubs and pick up random guys, and for a night I'd convince myself that it was real. I was lonely; I didn't have anyone. I thought sex was the same thing as love and when I figured out it wasn't, I started drinking. I quit in Costa Verde though, and I came to Manhattan for a fresh start."
Gabriel touches the side of her face with his fingertips, tracing the outline of her jaw. "Why didn't you tell me?" he asks, softly.
"I don't know," Eden says. A tear slips down her face. "I was afraid if you knew what I was, you wouldn't want to be with me anymore," she says.
"No," Gabriel says. He kisses her gently. "I love you, Sarah," Gabriel says, and Eden starts to cry.
Eden's lease runs out, and Gabriel helps her move her things to his apartment. Eden makes Isaac help too, and she watches the two men struggle with her furniture. "It's too fucking big!" Isaac keeps saying, but Gabriel somehow manages to maneuver it up the stairs and to his apartment door.
Later, they stand in the middle of his apartment, staring at the boxes and boxes of Eden's stuff crammed up in the living room. "I don't understand, you don't have that much stuff," Gabriel says.
"No, these are my cookware," Eden says, and she pushes the boxes to the kitchen. Gabriel follows her and watches her rearrange his kitchen--cooking is the one thing he doesn't bother to learn, he lets Eden take care of that. Eden opens a cabinet door and bursts out laughing.
"What?" Gabriel asks. He puts his hands on Eden's shoulders.
"You've got books in your pantry!" Eden says. She turns around and laughs against his chest.
"I ran out of shelf space," Gabriel says. He takes the books down and throws them into the other room.
They finish unpacking, and Eden sets the two vanilla candles next to Gabriel's couch. She unwraps her little five-dollar vase and sets it on his table, and the next day, on her way home from work, she stops by another flower shop and buys some red Gerber daisies, which she arranges in the vase and sets on the table. When Gabriel comes home, they sit on the couch, Eden's head resting on Gabriel's chest. She tells him about her day and he tells her about his, and when they run out of things to talk about, they're content to just sit and hold each other, kissing softly and watching each other's eyes.
In the bedroom, Eden can hear Gabriel's neighbors fucking in the room beside them. Oooh! Fuck! Yes! Yes! She can hear their neighbor's bed thudding against the wall.
"Assholes," Eden says, and she shakes Gabriel's shoulder.
"Mmm?" Gabriel rolls over and pulls her close. "What's wrong?"
"You don't hear that?" Eden asks.
"Oh, them? Yeah, they're at it all the time, I'm surprised you didn't notice before," Gabriel says.
"No, we usually stayed at my place," Eden says. "Have they always been this loud?"
"Yeah, pretty much," Gabriel says. He closes his eyes.
"Even before you met me?" Eden asks.
"Yeah," Gabriel says. He sounds like he's falling back asleep.
Eden shakes his shoulder again.
"Mmm?"
"I think we should be loud, too," Eden says. "And we should do it at 4 AM, so it wakes them up."
Gabriel starts laughing. "No, go to sleep," Gabriel says.
"I can be really loud," Eden says.
Gabriel laughs against her shoulder. "I know, you're being loud right now! Go to sleep," he says. He kisses her on the forehead. "I love you," he says.
"Love you too," Eden says. She reaches a hand across his chest. "I'm setting the alarm for four."