Eli woke up early, which was out of the ordinary for sure. But last night wasn't a very ordinary night. Everything was left off on uneasy footing and it threw him into a funk. He sighed and drew his attention to his film project.

There was a timid knock at the door. Without checking, he knew who it was and swung the door open immediately. There stood Iris in a simple floral dress and a cardigan. He smiled warmly and motioned her in. "Hey, whats up?"

"Hey, Eli, can we talk?" She said nervously placing herself on the edge of his bed.

"Sure, I was worried. Are you okay?" He said meeting her gaze.

"The thing is.. I had to move in with Fiona for a reason. I dated someone at the begining of the semester and it didn't end well. Theres something wrong with him, and I didn't notice until the end," she said bitterly. "He started showing up at my dorm, work, and he's till blowing up my phone. Its gotten so bad that I had to move dorms. I'm glad that Fiona let me in given the circumstances. The police is working with me on it but its going kinda slow. I'm really scared. I'm really thankful for Fiona and Kyle for helping me out so much. I just hate that they' putting so much time into it. Its taking over my life. I don't want it to take over anyone elses. But- Oh god, I'm babbling. I'm so sorry."

"Hey hey, its okay. I told you, that you could talk to me."

"I just- I just wanted to apologize for last night. I know it was kind of weird. I don't sleep much, but when I do I have terrible nightmares."

"Oh don't worry about it. Its no big deal I promise," Eli said with a reassuring smile.

"Well, I better let you get back to being productive," Iris said motioning to his discarded lap top.

"You headed somewhere?" Eli said Innocently.

"I'm going to Baldwins to grab some coffee or tea. And to the Kin Lin's down the steet for some chinese food. I have a long night of photo editing ahead of me. Figured I should treat myself."

"Mind if I tag along?"

"Oh so your gonna babysit me too huh?" Iris said gently poking his shoulder.

"Nooo. I'm actually doing the same with my filming project. You can join me if you like. Baracade ourselves in with our computers, chinese and caffiene. It'd be super nice to have company."

"That would be really nice actually." She said as she watched Eli put on his jacket out of the corner of her eye.

As he held the door open for her he asked, "So I hear that you go to mic night at Baldwin's. What do you play?"

"Oh I play guitar and sing. I do covers, but I'm trying to work on my own stuff. "

"Do you play?"

"Nawww, but I am a fan of music."

The convo went on without a break as she led him down the street to the coffee shop. Through out the walk Eli glanced around. Of course he went to make sure she was alright. But really, he was just hoping to spend time with her. He couldn't help wonder how she did it. How she walked around not knowing what was gonna happen. He's been in the loop less than 24 hours it already drove him crazy. Before they got to Baldwin's, Eli stopped to look at Iris.

"Hey I know this is last minute, but do you want to go get chinese first. Ya know, go in and eat. I'd love to get to know you more."

"So, is this a date?"

"Uh, yeah. I'm sure hoping so," Eli said with his usual confident smile.

"I'd love to," sair is, unable to contain her giant smile.

"Well lets go my lady," He said as he linked his arms in hers.

For the first time in a long time, Iris forgot all of her stress. There was something about Eli that made her feel at ease. He didn't hover over her like Fiona and Kyle, but yet there was something about him that made her feel safe. Throughout their date on, they didn't notice anyone else in the room. She was far too fixated on his crooked smile. As she was caught up in this haze, Eli said her name.

"Iris, you there?"

"Oh, sorry!" She said as she started giggling. "I was just thinking."

"About?" He said as he put his glass to his lips.

"That you're just something else." She said with a blush on her cheeks.

"Well, I happened to think you're quite wonderful too," He said as he reached for her hand.