The weeks almost seemed to blend together. It was that kind of constant motion, the one you can only get when you're far too busy for your own good. I mostly stayed in the shop for the duration of it. The rare times I did go out, it was to pick up shipments or switch the sign from open, to closed, then back to open again. It became tedious. Granted, I loved my independence, and living life in the 1860's thrilled me on a daily basis. And yet I couldn't deny that the monotony got on my nerves after a while.

Thankfully, on Sunday's, I was free to do whatever I wanted. I sat at the counter with my journal. The rain, now a light drizzle as opposed to thick sheets of heavy droplets, doused the windows. I would've found it soothing on an ordinary day. Now, however, I found it slightly depressing. Honestly, my piss-poor mood probably had something to do with it. Writer's block didn't help, either.

I crossed out a couplet. Getting them to rhyme was tough. Getting them to rhyme while sticking to a meter was excruciating. Sometimes, when inspiration kicks the bucket, it punts it like a goddamn football. And, unfortunately, there wasn't much I could do about it.

The combination of the rain and the giant, creativity-sucking black hole in my mind made me throw down my pen in frustration. I hadn't heard from my time travel sponsor in a while. Honestly, I hadn't heard from anyone in a while. Speed apparently didn't worry about me being all alone in his shop. The faith he had in me was flattering and motivating, albeit, maybe misplaced. Still, I had to keep my chin up. I had a job to do and by stars if I wasn't going to do it.

The Lincoln's hadn't been by, either. I couldn't tell if I was grateful for that or not. For whatever reason, Henry had entrusted my time traveling secret to Mr. Lincoln. For whatever reason, they knew each other well enough to share that sort of information. It was hard for me to imagine what kind of business Henry would have with the President of the United States. It was hard for me to imagine why they were close, too. Nevertheless, they seemed to be good friends.

And then there was Henry. The last time I saw him was a little over a month ago. From what I could tell, he was keeping his distance. I didn't know why. Considering he lived a grand total of twenty minutes away, he could visit whenever he wanted. Part of me thought he wanted to give me time to adjust to my new situation. Another part of me thought he just didn't have time. Finally, the irrational part of me figured he didn't want to visit. At all.

As much as I wanted to deny it, I had to admit: I was a little lonely. I saw people on a daily basis. That felt different. Most people were in the shop to buy something, pay for it, and get out. Nobody ever wanted to stay and chat. Nobody ever felt the need to converse with the lone shopkeeper. I found myself wondering how Speed could stand it. Maybe that was why he left me in charge. Maybe he wanted to ease his burden.

Sighing, I picked up my pen again and scribbled a few lines of poetry. It wasn't anything fancy. Hell, I barely made it rhyme. But it felt better than doing nothing. I couldn't just sit there and wallow in self-pity. I'd done that long enough to realize it doesn't help. The rest of the world goes on. People don't care. Sometimes, it was scary to realize just how easy I could fall back into that mindset. To me, self-pity meant I deserved more than what I had. More often than not, that wasn't the case.

The bell above the door jingled softly. I squeezed my eyes shut for a moment. Apparently, people couldn't read the damn "closed" sign. With my "come again tomorrow" spiel prepared and ripe on my tongue, I turned toward the entrance. I half-expected the visitor to be that awful bitch Vadoma. Maybe she'd returned for another bout of insults. Well... at the very least, I wouldn't be bored.

Instead of Vadoma, Henry stood in the doorway. His hair was slightly damp from the rain and sticking to his forehead a little. I smiled at the sight and shut my journal. He returned it wholeheartedly and shut the door carefully behind him. Then it was just the two of us. For a moment, we watched each other in a bit of an awkward silence. Finally, though, Henry cleared his throat.

"It's good to see you, Miss Armstrong," he said, looking anywhere but my eyes. "It's... been a while."

I scoffed, but held my smile. "You could say that." Hopping down from the counter, I took a few steps toward him. "What brings you in?"

He looked like he was debating with himself. I'd come to realize he did that a lot. In a way, I found it endearing. A lot of people didn't think before they spoke. Henry, on the other hand, thought a lot. Time would only tell if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

"I thought it might be a good idea to visit," he said, voice casual. "I know it can get a little lonely, being by yourself."

Just say you missed me, jackass, I thought. "You're right about that."

He took a glance around the shop, eyes taking in every detail. I'd meticulously arranged the displays. They looked absolutely perfect. Years' worth of retail in modern times had certainly given me enough experience. Granted, folding clothes at Target was different than decorating a store in the 1860's. Still, retail was retail was retail, regardless of the century.

"It looks wonderful in here." Henry glanced my way with a wry smirk. "I don't think Speed's ever kept his shop this organized."

"That's because Speed doesn't know jack about working retail." I straightened a block of candy. "Lucky for him, I'm an expert."

Henry didn't say anything for a moment, instead choosing to browse another display. I debated calling him out on his crap. He wanted something. I didn't know what it was, but he wanted something. Rolling my eyes, I leaned against the counter. He turned toward me, then raised an eyebrow when he saw my posture.

"I would ask why you're here again," I said, "but I can narrow it down to a couple guesses."

He gave me a look. "And, pray tell, what are they?"

"Let's see." I shoved away from the counter and walked toward him. "I would say you need to buy something, but that can't be true. Your house is pretty well-stocked. So that leaves only one other option." I grinned at him. "You're lonely, too."

I watched as he warred with himself. To give him credit, he tried to mask it... which he almost did perfectly. Unfortunately for him, however, I'm an expert at reading people. Henry's a difficult guy to crack normally. But, for whatever reason, he was an open book today.

Eventually, he took a deep breath. "You're not wrong," he admitted. "It's a little... odd, not having anyone in the house anymore."

I rolled my eyes. "Odd. You can just say you missed me, ya know."

He snapped his head up, fiercely meeting my eyes. I wondered if I'd crossed an unspoken boundary. Stars only knew Henry had a lot of them. But then he sighed and seemed to deflate, leaving me only more curious.

"It's okay to miss people," I murmured. Maybe teasing wasn't what he needed at the moment. "If it makes you feel any better... I missed you, too."

A small smile graced his lips. I returned it, then backed away from him. As much as I wanted to hug him, something told me we weren't quite on that level yet. That was okay. We would get there some day. Maybe not for a while, but some day.

"Well, I can only imagine how bored you must be, staying cooped up in here," Henry said after a while. His voice was cheerful now. "How about we have lunch?"

I blinked and glanced outside. It was still drizzling. Opening my mouth to decline, I shut it again almost immediately. Having lunch with Henry actually sounded... good. Great, even. It would get me out of the shop, and it would give us an opportunity to catch up.

"Sure," I said and grabbed an umbrella from one of the displays. At Henry's quirked eyebrow, I smirked. "What Speed doesn't know won't hurt him."

.

.

.

.

We walked in the rain for a while before finally deciding on a small restaurant, tucked away in the corner of a small group of buildings. To me, it looked perfect. Reminiscent of my favorite coffee shop back in the future, too. I was a sucker for tiny, cozy places. I guess the centuries didn't change that.

The second we walked inside, I smelled freshly baked bread. My stomach growled embarrassingly loud. If Henry noticed, he didn't say anything, though I'm certain he heard it. Luckily, I had enough money to pay for my own meal this time. Henry tried, but I refused.

"You've covered me enough," I said, waving his hand away as he tried to reach in his pocket. "Let me."

I could tell he wasn't entirely comfortable with the scenario. Briefly, I remembered that men were supposed to be the polite ones in the 19th century. Well, la-dee-da, Henry could fulfill his role some other time. At the moment, I was the one in charge.

We paid for our meal and sat down. I'd ordered crepes stuffed with potatoes and sun dried tomatoes. It sounded heavenly. Granted, I hadn't paid much attention to what Henry ordered. I supposed I would find out when the food came.

"So this is nice," I said while we waited. "Can't say I've had lunch in the 1860's before."

He smirked at me and took a sip of water. "I suppose you're right. Must be a bit of a shock."

"Not really." I shrugged. "This place really isn't all that different than the places back home... Generally speaking. The concepts are the same. The scenery? Not so much."

Before Henry could say anything else, the waiter brought us our food. I thanked him and then held up my glass of water. "Cheers?"

Henry grinned and tapped his glass to mine. "Cheers."

The crepes were absolutely stunning. As it turned out, Henry ordered something similar: crepes stuffed with peppers and cheese. We didn't really talk much as we ate. Briefly, I wondered if stuffing my face looked, well, classy in the 1860's. Hell, it didn't look classy in modern times. I decided to calm down and eat at a normal pace. Normally, though, I like to eat as fast as I can. It was impossible to tell when I would get another meal back in my time. Granted, I had at least one meal per day, but they were pretty small. I guess I'll have to remind myself now that food isn't so hard to get.

When we finished, I made sure to tip the waiter well. If it's one thing I've learned, it's that customer service hasn't changed one bit in the last one hundred and fifty odd years. It sucked in the 1860's and it sucks in modern times.

After the tip, Henry suggested a walk. I was more than happy to accept, considering I needed to burn the calories from inhaling my food. We left the restaurant and walked into an overcast day. It wasn't even drizzling anymore. Henry said he knew of a park a little ways away, so we headed there.

Neither one of us talked on the way. I guess we were both enjoying each other's company. Well, I knew I was enjoying his, for that matter. I couldn't say for sure if he felt the same way. Though, judging by how he didn't seem like he wanted to bolt, it was probably a safe assumption. And that felt... good? Great, really. It'd been a long time since I'd truly enjoyed someone's presence and vice versa. I'd almost forgotten what it was like.

The park, nestled in a little square of space right in the middle of the city, looked absolutely wonderful. Beautiful roses and other flowers I couldn't identify grew in thick bunches, along with massive oaks taller than any I'd ever seen. In the center of everything, a pond with a bridge over it housed fish and ducks. We decided almost immediately to stand on the bridge and look out over the water. By then, the sun had peeked out. I wanted to see the reflection on the water.

As we stood on top of the bridge, I leaned against the railing and took in the scenery. It was amazing. Words, I don't think, could ever describe it. Maybe they didn't need to. Maybe all I needed to do was enjoy it.

I could feel Henry watching me out of the corner of his eye. When I turned to him, he busied himself with looking at the ducks. I smiled and rolled my eyes. Smooth, dude. Real smooth.

"Abraham asked about you," he eventually said, focusing on the water. "He hopes you're doing well."

It took me a moment to realize that, hello, he meant Abraham Lincoln. Barely stifling my inner fangirl, I nodded and said as calmly as I could: "I'm fine."

Henry nodded, then turned to look at me. "There's... there's going to be a ball at the White House. Mrs. Lincoln loves to host them." He bit his lower lip, and if I didn't know any better, I would say he was nervous. "Would you be interested in attending?"

"Um..." For a split second, my mind short-circuited. I didn't... Did he... Was he asking me on a date? Then I realized that he was waiting for an answer, and I hurried to snap out of it.

"I'd love to go," I said, trying my best not to sound overly eager. It was hard, though, considering the circumstances.

A moment passed where Henry seemed relieved, but he quickly covered it with a confident smile. "Excellent. I'll be sure to pass that along to Mrs. Lincoln. She's been wanting to get to know you... Abraham too."

I wanted to go absolutely insane at that point. Not only did I just get invited to an 1800's ball, I got invited to one at the White House... hosted by the Lincoln's. How many other people could say they've had that happen to them?

"Tell them," I said, barely containing my excitement, "that I'm looking forward to it."

Henry smiled at me, then glanced up at the sky. "It's getting late," he said after a moment. "We should probably get you back to the shop."

Something in his tone made me look at him. He sounded oddly sad, like he didn't want the day to end. And, to be honest, neither did I. I was having fun. With Henry. In the 1860's. Despite everything that had happened, I found myself feeling... content. Happy, even. I didn't know why, didn't know if it would last, either. Still, I figured I shouldn't worry about that. All that mattered was enjoying the moment, living day by day. The rest of the world could try to confuse me, but I would still find a way to figure things out.

Always.

...

...

A/N: So... I know it's been a long time between updates, but to be honest, I lost inspiration. It's hard to get anything done when that happens. But, if y'all are willing to stick with me, it'll be one hell of a ride (story wise) from here on out.

Stay tuned!

-Nopride