The crinkling of the aluminum foil sounds out over the newscaster's voice as I lay out the aluminum foil.

I'm trying a new recipe with at least my baked potato. Maybe Sabine's too.

Letting out a breath, I follow it up by releasing my nerves out into the Force.

Or at least attempt to.

The stubborn, unseen pressure that I've felt through the Force reverberates right back to me, almost closer than ever.

I've felt it all day. And I know what it is. It's Sabine.

I made it through last night, thanks only to Jaicey's excellent social skills and JJ distracting Sabine with drinks. I think Matt noticed that something was wrong, but at least has the civility to act like nothing was wrong.

It's okay that I don't like how she handled Brett. My opinion doesn't matter though.

I faked my way through last night by essentially putting Sabine to sleep when we got home using the Force, then left early for the gym today and worked out.

Discipline still needs work. Wish I could have seen Dooku today, but he's tending to some of his actual business ventures for the rest of the week.

My class with the younglings went quite well, although I basically distracted them by giving them fruit slices, juice boxes and had them tell me what they learned today.

And they were all too willing to share.

Grabbing the shallow white bowl, I pour out a decent amount of kosher salt into the bowl, enough to create a solid layer.

It's salt, so I don't have to worry about wasting it. Now this recipe called for olive oil after I wash and dry the potatoes, so that's next for that. I'll pull out the pork chops now and start seasoning them…

Opening up the fridge, I grab the pork chops and set them on the counter before probing—

Oh no.

Here she comes…

At least she feels happy. That should—

My front door swings open, revealing a beaming Sabine. "Hey. I'm home."

"Hey home, I'm Ezra."

Sabine snorts out a laughs then doubles over. "The worst! You're awful!"

"Heard that before. How are you?" I ask while allowing myself to look properly at her.

She's a little more dressed up. She's got her makeup on.

"Great, media day." She answers my unasked question. "Well, one of them. We had to take a whole bunch of promotional pictures since there won't be time next semester before the season."

"There won't be?"

Sabine shakes her head. "First game this year was a week before classes started."

"Ahh…"

"So…" Sabine's voice drops down to a sultry low. "Are you at a stopping point or do we have to wait…?"

She wants to go to my room.

"I'm really not at a stopping point." I lie and open up the package of pork chops. "I'm sorry."

The Force rings with Sabine's sadness before she answers. "Oh…well okay. It looks good, can I help? What's the salt for?"

"I was thinking of trying something new with the potatoes." I explain, then cringe. "My potato. Yours we can do normally if you want."

"No." Sabine shakes her head. "If you think that it's worth trying, I'm sure it'll be good. Since you're an awesome cook in addition to everything else you are…" Sabine slides her nails underneath my shirt and finds my abs. "I missed you today."

"Missed you too." I smile as I keep my focus on the food.

Not yet.

Definitely not yet.

"Sorry if I was pushy just now." Sabine curls up to me. "I didn't mean to pass out last night after the party. I was hoping we could have used the extra time off today to…work out. If you know what I mean."

I laugh before turning and pecking her hair. "It's fine. If I'd have known that I wouldn't have gone to the gym early today."

Yeah I would have.

"I would have worked you out better than the gym did I'm sure…" Sabine's nails gently caress me.

"I know."

That's not the right tone. Crap I think I just—

Sabine makes a brief face before peering up at me. "How was your day?"

"Crazy busy. Taught the younglings again."

"How'd that go?" Sabine asks before she goes to the fridge.

I bet she's going for the—yup.

The wine bottle hits my counter before I answer. "Good. I could tell they wanted to tell me about their day and what they learned. So I kind of let them talk."

"You just talked to them?" My nod in response is followed by the pop of the wine cork. "Can you tell me about any of it?"

"A lot of it was similar to what Cayle and Jacen were doing on Sunday. Blocking stuff."

She saw that. Had a couple of questions for Cayle and Ahsoka that they mostly avoided.

Sabine makes a noise of understanding while pouring a glass and pushes it over to me. "Good day though?"

"Yeah." I turn and smile. "Good day for you?"

"Yeah." Sabine repeats after me while pouring her own glass. "Better now."

Better now.

The two of us fall into an uncomfortable silence as I throw away the packaging the pork chops were in, then set them on one of my cutting boards and reach for some seasoning.

…

"So I talked to Jaicey."

Jaicey.

"Oh yeah?" I turn to look at her. "What'd she say?" This time it's Sabine who pauses for a moment.

Let her breathe.

I start seasoning the pork chops and Sabine sips her wine before she turns to me. "Uhm…well…it's kind of hard to explain without me asking a question."

"What's the question?"

She's being really tactful here. Usually she just attacks problems.

"What'd I miss last night?" She fixes me with a look in the eyes. "I didn't notice because of the party or whatever. But she pulled me aside when we were at Galen and told me basically that you're a saint and should be treated like one. That you've got a heart of gold, all of that."

I reflexively laugh. "I'm not perfect. I don't have a heart of gold."

"Don't say that—" Sabine swats at my arm. "—you're an awesome person. I'm just wondering what brought all this on. Unless you two have been conspiring against me, which I can't rule out…"

Laughing again, I give Sabine another glancing look. "Nope, not conspiring."

"Then what brought it on?"

…

…

No.

It's not your business.

"Ezra?" Sabine says my name, concern evident in her voice before she moves to put herself in between me and the cutting board.

"It's nothing—"

Sabine's frown comes at light speed. "Nothing is ever nothing."

"—it's not my business anyway." I shake my head, then gently move her to the side and continue my dinner prep.

I don't regret it, but I still probably shouldn't have done it.

It would have been a scene in front of God and everybody but it's Sabine's problem…

"What do you mean it's not your business?" Sabine's confusion is evident.

I don't immediately respond, instead flipping over the pork chops in order to season the other side. "Ezra!"

"What?"

"Tell me!" Sabine demands before grabbing me by the wrist. "I…she's usually coy and flirty about us. I think she thinks it's cute. But today she basically told me to stop messing around. Did…you talk to her about us?"

Answering truthfully, I reply "No."

"Then why'd she talk to me today? She admitted she's hardly one to talk, especially since she and JJ are just now back together—"

"They are?" I ask, only for Sabine to frown at me.

"Don't try to distract me."

Damn.

…

"Do you not trust me? I…why won't you tell me?"

"Because you don't throw rocks at a hornet's nest? Especially one that's not yours!" I spin back and reason with her. "You were tense all last night."

"No I wasn't."

Like hell you weren't.

"I know when you're drinking to party and when you're drinking to avoid something." I smile at her, then spin back—

"Okay, what the hell are you—?"

"Brett flew in." I blurt out, the words spilling out before I can stop them. "I don't know how, he found the party. I blindly bumped into him, took action."

Sabine instantly goes pale and takes a shaky step back. "I—what? I—You know what he looks like?"

"I read his whole file." I nod. "I know everything about him. Home address, current address…all that."

"No you don't."

"Yeah." I bite out at her. "Knowing things isn't my job. You're right. I wouldn't read more about somebody who is bothering someone who I care about."

C'mon Sabine…

"How'd he—?"

"I don't know." I cut off her question. "He said he'd been going from party to party all week. Probably was on campus too if I had to guess."

But it's such a big campus it's like finding a needle in a haystack.

One girl in a whole campus. Good luck.

"I…" Sabine looks shaken before releasing a unsteady breath. "I—and you talked to him?"

"He wanted to talk to you. And I thought that was a bad idea, so I didn't let him. Steered him outside, then Jaicey found us."

She doesn't need to know about the fight. Or attempted fight, since he didn't land a punch.

Sabine just looks at me for a minute, then sips her wine. "I…okay. Okay…What exactly did you talk about with him? Why didn't you let me see him? He's still my friend—"

"You aid that you hadn't really had a real conversation with him since last summer. And he was a complete asshole, so I stepped in. You, you wouldn't have liked seeing him Sabine. It wasn't great."

"What do you mean it wasn't great?!" Sabine's volume level rises.

"I—"

"EZRA!"

"Stop yelling at me!" I yell at her.

"Look who is yelling!"

"You started it!" I point out.

Sabine instead takes a firm step and glares right up at me. "He's…Brett's one of my best friends in the whole world. No matter what's happened the last year. One year can't wipe out twelve good ones."

"I'm not saying that it does." I agree. "But he was a mess. It was bad Sabine."

"What do you mean?!"

"I'll tell you if you don't interrupt me!" I point out.

Sabine seems to fluff up for an instant, then take a step back and tightly cross her arms across her chest. "Go."

"Okay." I pointedly smile at her. "Like I said, I saw him, I pulled him aside. Then comes in Jaicey, who figured out who it was. She started yelling at him, saying that he shouldn't have come, all that blah blah blah—"

"That's not—"

"Then…" I extend my arms derisively. "He started defending himself saying that all he wanted to do was talk to you, explain things—"

Sabine counters "Then you should have come and gotten me."

She interrupted me…

"Yeah." I sigh. "After all I've heard about from him. About the unrepentant, controlling asshole he was to you, I should just go grab you, drunk you, and let you talk to him after all this time."

Yeah right.

"Yeah!" Sabine agrees violently.

Oh come…

I purposefully take a step back from Sabine and glance at the fridge. "Well I didn't. You've already said your piece."

"How?"

"By saying nothing!" I whip back around to her. "By saying nothing, you tried to get him to move on! And now he was here, less than two hundred feet from you, looking completely manic and overwhelmed. And I'm supposed to let you talk to him?!"

"You don't know him, he gets naturally anxious Ezra! Not everybody is an antisocial robot like you who clams up and doesn't say anything. You're way bigger than him too, you probably intimidated him!"

"Me intimidate him?" I repeat after her. "He tried to fight me! How's this my fault?"

"HE WHAT?!"

I laugh then grin at Sabine. "Yeah. He tried to fight me. Didn't land a punch."

"So that's why Jaicey said you're a lover and a fighter…"

I don't know about that.

"So you guys fought, then you just dismissed him and what? Sent him home?"

"No." I shake my head. "I tried getting through to him."

Sabine responds by giving me a look I've never seen before, almost an apprehensive one. "Oh no…what'd you say."

"I—"

"You should have come and gotten me! He flies all the way out to LA, I don't care what kind of a state he's in, and you don't even let me see him?! That's not your call Ezra, you're not my boyfriend! We're not dating!"

"I know that!" I answer hotly. "You've made it very clear! But not to him! He kept going on and on about how you never said a damn thing to him for months on end. You just left him to drown inside of his own head. Alone. And that lead to him buying a plane ticket and hunting you down!"

"Because he loves me Ezra!"

"Well he's got to get over that!" I point out. "Doesn't he? You broke up with him last May, ten months ago! Almost eleven! And it was clear the moment I saw him that all he's thought about is you for ten straight months. He's got to let go, move on with his life and—"

"EZRA!" Sabine shrieks at me, sounding mortally wounded.

"It's true! You didn't mean it, but you've held him hostage for almost a year, letting him hope that you could get back together with him. And unless I'm very wrong that's not happening! This isn't a movie or a fairy tale. It's over Sabine. He's got to move on."

"You don't know that!" Sabine hollers at me. "You can't just get over a lifelong friend in ten months Ezra…"

"I'm not saying you can!" I agree with her. "But he flew all the way out here chasing a delusion and—"

"Who said it's a delusion?"

"I don't know?!" I shrug sarcastically at her. "Maybe the girl who cried her eyes out on my couch as she told me the story of the boy who broke her heart—"

"How dare you—"

"I don't want to hurt you Sabine, either of you. But I'll tell you what I told him. You've both got to move on. You're trying to, out here in LA. But he hasn't. And if you mean what you say, you need to love him enough to let him go."

Sabine opens her mouth to counter, only for a choked up sob to come out. "I…Ezra, I'm always going to care about him…he was my first best friend!"

"That's fine, but he can't be chasing you all the way across the country. You're trying to move on with your life right? Then you have to let him do the same." I point out, only for Sabine to look deeply hurt in my direction.

"What makes you think you can make that kind of call Ezra!? I…I trusted you!"

"In hindsight, I kind of regret it!" I confess. "But I did it because I care about you, and he clearly was hurting himself by holding onto you!"

"That's not your place to do so though!"

"Why not?" I ask pointedly. "You say I'm your best friend here. We've spent a lot of time, energy and effort together. You're my best and closest friend here, I've shown you all of my world, and—"

"That's a lie, you've lied to me a lot! You can't say a lot about anything!"

"So have you!" I holler back at her. "What about you and Ryan going off and spending hours on end then not thinking to mention it?"

Sabine makes an affronted face before taking a step and jabbing me in the chest. "I don't have to mention anything I do to you Ezra. You're not my parents. And you're not my boyfriend. Ryan's my friend, and I'm allowed to have friends. Guy friends and girl friends."

"Which is fine." I agree. "If you didn't sleep with him in January."

"I DIDN'T SLEEP WITH HIM LAST WEEK!" Sabine screams at me. "I TOLD YOU THE COMPLETE AND TOTAL TRUTH! Why can't you accept that?!"

"I have! I know you didn't because you told me—"

"Then why even bring it up?!" Sabine continues on her rant. "You and I hooked up more on Saturday night then he and I ever did. And you were wayyyy better in bed. Is that what you wanted to hear?! Because at least he's not completely paranoid and suspicious, as opposed to you!"

I open my mouth to respond, only to discover that I have no words in my head to say. Thankfully, Sabine has more words for the both of us.

"I can't believe you'd do this Ezra.It's so unlike you!" She spins around and swats her hand at air. "That's one of the reasons I like you so much, is because you're not a super overly emotional guy. You trust me! You accept and love me for who I am! And then you turn around and do this?!"

"I was trying to protect you Sabine!" I remind her. " Brett's clearly hurt you a lot and I didn't want him to hurt you anymore. And you would have agreed with me—"

"YOU DON'T KNOW THAT!"

Before I can respond, my front door swings open and Cayle walks thru—

"Oh what the fuck are you doing here?!" Sabine snaps off at him.

Cayle stops for a split second then closes the door behind him. "Well hi to you to."

"We're in the middle of something!" Sabine yells at him. "Get out!"

"That's fine." Cayle raises his hands defensively. "All I'll say is maybe don't scream at him so much. Because somebody might call the cops."

Oh. Yeah—

"I don't give a damn what you have to say!" Sabine slaps in his direction, catching his arm. "I—"

Uh oh.

"Sab—" I start as she makes a choked up, strangled noise before I take a step towards her.

"No, no…no…" Sabine hustles away from me, past Cayle to her discarded backpack near the front door.

In a flash, the door opens, then closes, leaving just Cayle and I.

…

…

Did we just have a fight? Like a real deal, legit fight?

"That was about last night." Cayle turns to me. "Wasn't it?"