Marcus was very quiet. Like he didn't know what to say. Like his brain was rebooting and was searching for the files that contained scripted but genuine small talk. And those files were now corrupted. So Lilo was the first one to engage in conversation.

"So, did you go into work today?"

"Yeah, whenever you don't need me in the field I will be in the forest," he quirked a dorky little smile at her, thinking he'd been a little clever with that line. She smiled back at him.

"How was that?"

"It was good. Lot of time to think." And, he'd been thinking about her, actually. Which is why he got up the nerve to ask her to dinner. Which is why he kept stealing glances. Did he like her? Yeah. She was an inspiration and a bright spot. And she was pretty. He didn't really know how to proceed, but he did know they had a while to do so. She would be here for the whole school year.

"What did you do today?" He asked her.

"Got visited by an alien friend who delivered the lexicons I used to translate the alien language we found."

"Oh, what did it say?"

"I'll show you what I wrote down tomorrow but it's kinda confusing and I've been missing my family, so I just want to forget about that right now."

"Okay, whatever you want. We can go into town, grab a bite to eat, watch a movie or whatever you want. Seriously, whatever you want."

"You've said that three times," she laughed.

"I mean it. I want this to be the best evening ever!" He wanted to help her forget her homesickness.

"I've been to Graceland, so, this might have to settle for second best."

"What's Graceland?"

"What? It's the home of Elvis." She was flabbergasted.

"I don't listen to Elvis," he admitted.

"That's exactly what I want to do tonight. I have music on my iPod, we can get food or make something for dinner, find a nice quiet spot outside somewhere, and listen to the King."

"That sounds perfect. If that's what you want to do, let's grab some burgers and go to my drawing place. And we can listen to your Elvis."

"Elvis is not my Elvis. Although I would love that. But he's dead, so..." Marc stared at her like she was insane, shook his head, laughed, and waved her onward.

"Let's go get our dinner."

After they got dinner, they went back to Marc's oasis. And then they stepped into Lilo's oasis because her sanctuary wasn't a place, it was a people and a playlist. And right next to her were the people, Marc and Stitch, and here was the playlist.

They started randomly with jailhouse rock, leaning against trees and eating their burgers.

"This is kinda fun," Marcus agreed, wiping the ketchup off of his stubble.

"Right?" She smiled at him, closing her eyes and savoring the food and the music.

The next song was All Shook Up, and Lilo kind of nodded and danced along. Marc smiled at her and started to draw. He drew her dancing to the music, notes and words hanging in the air.

"This is so much better than whatever is on the radio nowadays," Marc said, shading his picture.

"You can say that again." When Stuck on you started, she sang along, laughing.

"Sing along," she encouraged, grinning at him.

"I don't know the words!" He laughed too.

"Are there, any Elvis songs you know? You can look through my iPod." She handed it over and, in exchange, she took his sketchbook. Something no one had ever dared do before. His sketchbook was sacred. And very private. But he let her further into his oasis because something about the moment felt right. She flipped through, admiring his talent, admiring pictures of plants and animals and people. He drew his family a lot, his sister and his brothers and someone she didn't recognize but guessed was his mom. She didn't ask him about it, just kept flipping. Near the end, there were a few pictures of her. She smiled and tilted the sketchbook towards him when she saw the one he just drew.

"I like your drawings," she said. He blushed hard and found a song he knew the words to.

"I found one, it's kind of cheesy..." He said.

"If it's the King, I'm going to like it."

"Okay..." His face further reddened, and she leaned back, eyes closed, waiting for the music.

"Wise men say only fools rush in... But I can't help falling in love with you." Her eyes snapped open and she joined in.

"Shall I stay? Would it be a sin, If I can't help falling in love with you?"

"Like a river flows, surely to the sea, Darling so it goes, some things are meant to be, take my hand, take my whole life too, for I can't help falling in love with you." They harmonized now, not quite meeting each other's eyes, not quite admitting what was actually going on. The next song started- Blue suede shoes- and Marc and Lilo finally looked at each other, both faces beet red.

"So where'd you learn that song?" Lilo asked, her eyes falling to her lap.

"My mom loved that song," Marcus said quietly.

"I saw your pictures of her... She looked really nice."

"She was... You know I can't draw her from memory anymore? I used to be able to. Now I have to draw her from the pictures my dad keeps. I miss her..." She took his hand.

"I lost my mom too. Both my parents actually, in a car wreck. I have this picture that I keep with me, of the whole family. I don't really remember what they looked like outside of that picture, or who they were. I've lived more of my life without them than with them." He squeezed her hand, and they just sat there for a while and reflected, hand in hand.