The dingey alley hadn't looked like much, but Thorne had been sure of an insider tip about a hidden gem somewhere inside and he had been right.

Cress gasped in awe at the Arab bistro in a spacious backyard. String lights, light bulbs and sheer fabrics were strung from one house facade to another, giving off the feel of a being underneath a glowing tent. The interior had a shabby chic vibe to it, with a few colourful eyecatchers with an oriental touch that transformed the backyard into an oasis away from the L.A. traffic and hustle.

"It's beautiful. How did you hear about it?"

Thorne pulled out a chair for her before seating himself across from her. "I think Scarlet told me. She might have heard about it from Ze'ev but I don't remember. She used to work on-and-off as a waitress in L.A. during the week, so she and Ze'ev could live together, and on her grandma's farm on the weekend. She and Ze'ev now live full time at her grandmother's farm though. Scarlet never liked the city and I don't think Ze'ev likes it anymore either. But when they do come in, they tend to come here to eat."

A waiter came and asked if they had reservations - they didn't - but luckily, someone else's reservation was cancelled so they could stay. It seemed like Thorne's insider tip wasn't so secret anymore.

Taking the menu from the waiter, Cress had a hard time deciding. Everything sounded great and she now realized how hungry she was. She glanced at the table next to them and what they had looked and smelled amazing. Her mouth watered as the scent of spices and warm bread.

She and Thorne decided to share a mezze platter as starters.

Cress leaned forward to Thorne, her chin on her palm. "You know, I'm still not quite sure how all of you guys are tied together?"

"All of us? You're one of us now, Cress." The waiter came and poured them a wine that Thorne had ordered just in time for Thorne to clank his glass against hers. "To being part of the best group."

Cress took a sip of the sweet red wine and considered Thorne's words. They felt like a tight-knit group of friends even if they didn't see each other every day. She didn't have anything like that back home. It was just her and Julian and sometimes, his sister. Occasionally she met a few girls she had shared evening classes with but they didn't keep track of each other like Kai, Thorne and the rest did.

Though she hadn't seen too much of Kai and Cinder either, but maybe that was her fault.

But there was no room for sadness when the mezze came on colorful plates and small bowls and Thorne started to tell her a little bit about everyone.

"I got to know Ze'ev before anyone else," Thorne told her between bites. "I was thirteen-wow, has it been fifteen years already?- and Ze'ev was two years older."

"So you weren't in the same grade? Ooh, you must try this." Cress handed him her half of the roll wrapped in grape leaves and filled with rice.

She didn't expect him to eat it from her hands. She had noticed before that the tables surrounding them were mostly occupied with couples and very small groups as the tables couldn't hold more than four people, most of them less. With the lights above them it felt romantic and almost intimate, as Thorne's lips brushed every so lightly against one of her fingertips.

Almost too intimate, Cress thought with flushed cheeks.

Catching herself, Cress tried to follow what Thorne told her. "No, we weren't in the same school. He was in a public school."

"You weren't?"

"My parents would have never allowed it." He sounded a bit wistful, as he spooned up some yoghurt with mint and lemon juice with a piece of bread. He never discussed his parents, Cress noticed, not even in passing. They must be quite rich if they could send their child to private school. "Anyway, I made a little business for myself."

"At thirteen?" Cress imagined a young Carswell Thorne saving a few bucks from selling lemonade from a makeshift stall. The thought made her smile.

"Sure. I sold lemons and oranges to people."

"Aww." She had been close enough with her lemonade stall. "Did your parents have an orchard?"

Thorne licked a bit of yoghurt from his thumb. "Um, no. Not really. But some neighbors did and-"

"You stole fruits from your neighbors!?"

"I wouldn't say steal." His smirk told her that this was exactly what they were talking about. "I helped them by plucking their fruit from the trees. Without them knowing." He laughed at her exasperated huff and popped in a stuffed puff pastry into his mouth and leaned back in his chair, all cockiness and mischief.

"You're impossible."

"More like incredible."

His self-confidence was really something to behold but at the same time, she had learned it was more part of his humor than real arrogance. "Debatable. So how did you meet Ze'ev?" A thought occurred to her. "Did he partake in your schemes too?" She could admit that he the air of something dangerous about him ... more dangerous than stealing citrus fruit though.

"Nope, he already did minor jobs at his father's construction sites. Nothing dangerous," he instantly clarified when he saw Cress's face. "I mean like ordering and bringing lunch and going to the post office. Small stuff."

If Thorne's parents were rich enough to get their son into private school, Cress wondered why he felt the need to earn some extra cash like Ze'ev had done. She might have figured that he wanted to save up for something, like a bike or his first car but she saw the kind of car Thorne loved and his apartment was nice but not luxurious either. She wasn't sure she could ask though. "So, how did you two meet?" She asked instead to get back on track.

"Um, I sold some oranges to his mom?" For the first time, Thorne actually looked a bit remorseful. "Fantastic lady. You'll meet her at the wedding," he hurried to add.

"You sold her your stolen fruit?"

Now he looked thoroughly rueful. "In my defense ... she made fantastic orange biscuits with them?"

"How is that a defense?"

"How should I know? I'm but a humble event planner, not a lawyer."

Cress had to laugh at the exaggerated innocent look he gave her. "I don't think there's anything humble about you, Thorne."

"Humble should be my middle name. Right after suave and daring."

She knew he was just trying to distract her from the fact that he had sold stolen fruit to his friend's mom but she couldn't help but chuckle. He just always knew what to say and had a great sense of humor.

With a start, Cress realized she would miss him once she returned home. It was usually just the two of them here in L.A. and when they were close to each other like they were right now, something in her heart ached at the thought of leaving him.

It was stupid and strange and all sorts of wrong.

But Thorne always gave her his full attention. He trusted and believed in her. They worked so well together now and he had even taught her how to swim.

She hadn't dared to think back on that evening after their swimming lessons. He had smelled like the ocean and his hair had curled a little and there had been a moment, the fraction of a second where Cress had wanted to lean closer and-
-and nothing!

Thorne was a friend. She had an almost fiancé she hadn't seen in weeks, and now she was almost daily in contact with a handsome guy who was easy-going (for the most part) and fun to be around.

They had been spending just a little too much time. It didn't mean anything.

And there wasn't even an 'it' that didn't mean anything. There was nothing.

The waiter came with the tajine dishes Cress and Thorne had ordered, pulling her out of her thoughts.

When the waiter pulled off the clay lid, steam, heavy with the scent of spices, rose up. She couldn't wait to start eating and even Thorne stopped talking, engrossed in his own meal.

It lasted three minutes. "So, Maha -that's Ze'ev's mom- invited me to join them for dinner. She actually cooked something very similar to this." He waved his fork to his stewed lamb.

Cress sneaked a forkful from his dish. Julian never liked that but Thorne didn't seemed to mind. He even tried her food, nodding in approval.

"That was really nice of her."

"I told you she's terrific. She gave me a few of the cookies and told me to come back whenever I was around. So I did. Ze'ev's home was great. They always made sure to have one meal together and talked a lot about their days."

"It sounds amazing," Cress agreed, having spent of her childhood in a hospital. But then something occurred to her. "What about your home?"

He shrugged and Cress could detect a hint of uneasiness about it. "We had breakfast together, dinner sometimes but nothing like that. My parents preferred silence."

That sounded rather sad. Cress found it difficult to imagine someone as chatty and lively forced to just sit quietly at a table.

Cress remembered only bits and pieces about the time before she showed symptoms. Both her parents always worked a lot and often late and Cress had been in daycare most of the time. Her father had taken her to the zoo and the playground whenever he had a bit of free time. Her mother only made sure Cress progressed fast in her development and studies.

Then she started getting sick and everything had changed. Her mom had left and her dad was stuck working to pay the hospital bills and treatments. And with that, any resemblance of a family life was gone.

She wondered why Thorne's home life had seemed similarly lonely. "Your parents-"

"I don't want to-," Thorne started but then he paused. He picked at a piece of lamb but without the intention to actually eat it. "I usually don't talk about it because there isn't much to tell. They lived their lives, I lived mine. And then after high school I left." He shrugged. "They're not bad people, we just don't get along very well. Different perspectives and all that."

"But they're still married?"

"They would never divorce. They don't even fight, they're just ... not happy together. But no, they're not divorced."

That kinda explained his negative attitude towards marriage, Cress thought. She could have left it at that but ... "So, you're not in contact with them?"

Thorne finally decided to eat a bit and chewed thoughtfully. His usually easy and exuberant attitude was gone. "With my dad, no. My mom actually asked me a few times to plan some of her charity events, so I see her whenever something comes up."

Cress thought it wiser not to ask any more questions. She pretended to be engrossed in her own meal. But as she grasped for her wine glass, Thorne's hand caught hers.

She looked up, startled. He smiled but it was his eyes that made her heart race. "Listen, Cress, I don't want to be rude. I'm just not good with certain topics. And my childhood wasn't bad, not like yours has been," he acknowledged. "I like my life, I just don't feel like my parents fit into it. We're very different and sometimes, very different people get along"-he squeezed her hand slightly-"and sometimes, they don't."

"I understand."

He let go of her hand but her skin still tingled. "And I got my friends. And Maha always had a seat at her table for me. Ze'ev was a bit like a cool, older brother. Well, he seemed cool. Let me tell you, he might look like Batman but actually he's more Clark Kent, the nerdy farmboy," he clarified.

Cress had only met Ze'ev today but he had seemed intimidating. Nice but intimidating.

"And then Cinder came along. She did her apprenticeship with Ze'ev's dad." A shadow passed over Thorne's face. "He ... died but he was also a good guy. Helped Cinder out a lot when she needed a place to stay after her stepmother threw her out."

"Her stepmother threw her out?" Cress gasped. And she still wanted to invite her to the wedding?

Thorne nodded, his face dark. "Yeah. We rented a place together for a while but we didn't work out as roommates."

"But you're best friends."

"I told you, sometimes different people get along and sometimes they don't. And in our case, we're too different to live together. Really, Cinder is a slob." He grinned at her and his good mood seemed to have returned.

"I was at her and Kai's place. It was very neat," Cress told him, a bit miffed.

"That's all on Kai. Or his housekeeper. Not sure how he would fare without one but Kai is big on tidiness." When Cress looked at him, unconvinced, he backtracked. "Okay, maybe she's not a slob. Actually, her workspace? Super tidy. If you pick something up, she'll notice. Every pen and ruler has its place and you better not screw with it. But the rest? She doesn't care for her clothes, so she didn't get a wardrobe and that's why all of her clothes were lying around pretty much everywhere. Or, she suddenly had to work on some calculation, so she left everything lying around to work on it. If she had a project to work on, Cinder focused on that so much, everything else was unimportant and that included dirty dishes and clothes. I'm not super tidy either. But Cinder ..." He gave a little shudder. "And thus ended our little roommate time. We got our own places when our careers started taking off."

"And your friendship persevered," Cress said with a smile.

"True. Ze'ev, Cinder and I did a lot together. Then we meet Scarlet who was waiting on tables close to a construction site Ze'ev was working on. Once Ze'ev met Scarlet, anything that made him even a little bit cool flew out of the window. Oh, and Iko. Honestly, I never really got how she and Cinder became friends. Talk about different people getting along. And how Kai came along, you already know."

Cress nodded. She was still convinced that Thorne had done some scheming to get Kai and Cinder together but he would deny it if she asked. "I wish I had friends like that back home."

Thorne who had looked for the waiter, raised an eyebrow at her. "You don't? Why not?"

Cress shrugged. She didn't want to seem like a loser with no friends. She wished she hadn't said anything.

There was a short silence in which Cress could feel Thorne's curious glance.

She hoped he didn't ask. He knew she had hardly been to school and in night school, she had found Julian. He had been her soulmate from the start. That should be enough but Cress envied the friendship between Thorne and Kai and Cinder and the rest. She only had Kai and maybe that was a flimsy friendship at best. They kept in touch but a small part of her wondered if he still didn't just pity the bald sickly child she had been.

"Oh, that's not good. I can see it on your face, all doom and gloom," Thorne interrupted her thoughts. "We can't have that. I think you're a marvelous friend. Just look at how you found the perfect wedding idea for Cinder and you only met her- what, the day before? I appreciate you as well," he said, little bit hurried-" but I believe we all would like you to be here with us."

How did he always manage to make her smile? "Thanks, Thorne. That means a lot."

"Don't get all emotional on me," he warned, squirming a little in his seat. "But really, Cress, I think it would be great if you could visit us more often. You'll always have a place to stay. I would even come to Inyokern Airport to pick you up," he told her with a conspiratorial wink.

Her heart pounded in her chest as she remembered their first meeting back in Inyokern. He had driven for hours to get her and drove back much longer with the broken car and everything. She knew Kai and Cinder must have asked him for that favor so him telling her he would do it again ... "Thank you."

"You're welcome." He asked the waiter for another round of drinks and Cress could detect a hint of red on his neck. "Also, that will give you a chance to learn from the best event planner from the West Coast. Now, are you ready for your first lesson?"

A/N: Thank you for your replies on the last chapter, it really helped me feel like I'm on the right track with the pacing. So, jump on the slow-burn train ... or are things about to speed up? ;) Thanks to kiminicricket for betareading.