A/N: I just wanted to say thanks for all the reviews I've been getting, and thanks (to everyone) for being so patient concerning the Adrian/Sharona relationship. Love y'all!
She sits on the sofa, carefully lowering herself into a plastic-sounding cushion, and tries to assess the situation. It's not exactly like her dreams -- firstly, because she didn't ask if she could help him and secondly because they're not kissing each other's brains out -- and she's relieved. Slightly. She furrows her eyebrows as she remembers, and wonders how she ever got the image of him kissing anyone. It just seems too... absurd. Even too absurd for Trudy.
He takes a seat next to her, smiling his tidy, nervous little smile and automatically straightening a crease in his pants. For a brief, painful moment his eyes burn into hers, but they both turn away to avoid the awkward position. She doesn't like being uncomfortable, and it's something he can't stand... She pretends to find a beige vase the most interesting thing she's ever seen and he coughs. She's punishing Benjy when he gets home, because nothing was this weird before he convinced himself that... well...
"So... how's Benjy?" he asks, reading her mind (again).
She replies that he's fine -- couldn't be better, as a matter of fact -- but Adrian's never been one to simply enjoy the silence.
"Did... did you talk to him about the...?"
"Yep."
She knows what he's doing. He's analyzing her, and she can feel his brain absorbing everything about this moment. It's something that really bugs her, that he takes so much time to know her, because she's really not that interesting. And he spends all this time knowing things about her, but it really comes down to nothing. You can't just know a person and have a perfect relationship with them. You have to feel a person, too. That's why he always makes her angry -- he can't feel her moods like she can his.
The way she thinks, he really shouldn't be watching her. He shouldn't be thinking that he's smooth enough to get away with observation when she can tell what he's doing. It makes her angry that he's sitting right next to her, trying to figure out what makes her tick like a time-bomb. It makes her angry when she thinks of all the things he might discover with his X-ray eyes and detective mind... That, for example, sitcoms make her cry sometimes and that she once egged Disher's car. Those aren't things you learn about a person from staring at them. Those are things you learn from sugar-high movie nights and discussions at three in the morning.
He's still staring, that thoughtful look on his face that he wore at the crime scene earlier. He must think she's a puzzle. That everyone on the damn earth is a puzzle for him to work out and set right. Well, she's not a puzzle. She's not a trivia game. She's just Sharona, and why can't he understand that?
She takes a deep breath and turns to face him, to tell him that she forgot about some shopping that needs to be done.
He's a lot closer than she thought she was, and his face is three inches away from hers, and minty breath is whipping around her face and they're both scared to death. Neither of them move because he's terrified of touching her and she's overwhelmed by mental images.
"Oh, my God." they say in unison, just staring at each other.
She swallows forcefully, and whispers "I... I really have to... you know."
"Leave?" he whispers back, and she's hit again with a burst of spearmint.
Timidly, "...Yes."
She doesn't leave, though. Instead, she notices that his eyes are focused on her lips.
"I've... I've really gotta go now," she says, trying not to let her mouth move too much.
" 'Kay," he says.
"...Bye." she whispers, standing up abruptly.
When she gets out the door, he immediately heads to the window and watches as she drives away.