Steph's POV

I woke up to someone knocking on my door and looked around my room confused for a minute before it all came back to me. Cal had crawled out of my bed this morning and left to go save the world. The knocking on my door persisted, so I got up and threw on one of Cal's t-shirts and a pair of sleep shorts before heading to the door. I peeked out the window to see Les standing there with what looked to be a Tasty Pastry bag and two cups of coffee.

"Mornin'," I mumbled as I opened the door to let him in.

"Good morning, Beautiful. I thought I'd come check on you this morning and see how you're holding up," he replied. I followed him to the kitchen and took a huge gulp of my coffee before answering.

"I don't really know yet, honestly," I began. "I think I haven't quite processed it fully and part of me expects to see Cal walk through the door later today."

"That's normal, Steph," Les assured me before sliding two Boston crèmes my way.

"How did you know what I like?" I asked as I took another sip of my perfectly-made coffee.

"Cal and I talked before he left and he gave me some helpful tips," he chuckled. "Now, what are you doing today?"

I looked around my house at the boxes strewn everywhere and shrugged. "Well, Cal and I were just going to work on getting me settled today so I guess I'll just do that."

"Perfect, I can help with that!" Les said enthusiastically.

"Why would you want to do that?" I asked. It wasn't often that people did nice things for me for no reason.

Les draped his arm over my shoulders and hugged me quickly before releasing me. "Cal is like a brother to me, and for as long as we've known each other we've taken care of the other's family if they were deployed," Les explained.

"I'm not his family," I said absentmindedly.

"No, but his parents and sister are used to this by now. And I happen to know for a fact that he's crazy about you. The only thing he was worried about this morning was making sure you would be okay while he was gone."

"Oh wow," I said quietly, the depth of Cal's feelings for me becoming apparent.

"Yeah, so how about we get to work before I lose my man card for talking about feelings too much?" Les joked, and I laughed and nodded.

"Not my favorite subject either," I agreed. "Let me go change and then we'll get busy."

I escaped to my bedroom and changed into shorts, a tank top, and tennis shoes. I brushed my teeth and wrestled my hair into a messy bun and grabbed my phone up to answer it on my way back to the living room.

"Hello?" I asked.

"Hey, Baby. I'm about to put my phone into storage, but I wanted to hear your voice one more time first," I heard on the other end of the line. I couldn't help the tears that began clouding my eyes.

"I'm so happy to talk to you before you go…wherever it is you're going," I said quietly. Les looked up and made eye contact with me and then stepped into the backyard.

"Is Les there?" Cal asked.

"Yeah, he showed up with breakfast and said he'd help me get unpacked and settled today. Are you okay with that?" I asked, suddenly unsure if Cal would be okay with me hanging out with one of his friends.

"Of course, I asked him to look after you, Steph. The most important thing to me is making sure that you're okay through this. I need to know you'll be waiting on me when I return."

"I'll be marking off every day and waiting anxiously," I promised.

"Alright, I have to go now but I promise I'll be safe and will come home to you," he said.

"Please do," I whispered, the tears no longer just clouding my eyes.

"I give you my word, Stephanie. Be safe, Baby. I'll miss you. I have to hang up now."

"I miss you already." And then the line was dead.

Les was magically by my side and pulled me into a hug. "I know it's hard, but he'll be back here with you before you know it," he assured me.

"I just hope you're right," I hiccupped.

"You'll see. Now, where do you want to start here?" he asked.

I pulled myself together and nodded to the kitchen. "Kitchen sounds as good of a place as any," I suggested.

Les and I got to work putting away and organizing things in the kitchen and then moved to the dining area and living room. Les was a laugh a minute and very easy to talk to, much to my relief, and he treated me like he would a sister.

While we were eating Pino's sandwiches for lunch, my mom called. I rolled my eyes and answered.

"Hi, Mom," I said after I hit the button to connect the call.

"Stephanie, this is your mother," she began.

"I know, that's why I called you Mom," I giggled, and Les made an outrageous face at me.

"You haven't come over for dinner in weeks. I'm making pot roast and pineapple upside cake tonight; be here on time," she ordered me.

"Hold up," I said firmly. I wasn't falling for this again. "You're right, I haven't come home for dinner in forever and I could really use some time with my family tonight, but I want your word that there won't be any eligible bachelors at the house."

"Is it a crime that I want my daughter to be happy?" she asked. "Margie Sullivan's daughter settled down with a nice man from the Burg."

"Mom, I'm seeing someone," I interrupted her.

"What?!" she screeched. "Why didn't you just say so? He'll come with you tonight!"

"Mom, calm down. He can't come with me tonight," I informed her.

"And why not?"

"Because he had to go out of town for a few weeks," I hedged. I really didn't want to do this on the phone.

"That's a likely story, young lady. Don't lie to me. You're not getting any younger!" she admonished me.

"I'm not lying to you!" I insisted.

Les chuckled and took the phone from my hand. "Mrs. Plum? My name is Les Santos, and I'm a friend of your daughter's. We'll be there in time for dinner," he informed her and then hung up.

"You have no idea what you've done!" I groaned.

"What's the worst that could happen?" he asked.

"She'll think you're the guy and she'll be trying to marry us off," I lamented.

"I'll make sure she knows I'm not settling down," he said with a laugh.