Hey! So this little blurb is rather Eden/Conner centered, but I don't plan on doing another chapter like this until near the end, so if you aren't a fan of that, no prob. But Conner is actually quite relevant. You'll see. Some fun Tiva and McLilah in here too:)

Rule #35: Always watch the watchers.

The day of mom and dad's coffee date, I found myself wandering around the dance studio like a lost puppy. I was filing paperwork and flipping through costume books and wasting time.

I don't have a car. I just don't. I can drive, but there's honestly no need for me to have my own car, or any place to keep said car. So the only way for me to get home
would be to walk, and that's not an issue, because Dad lives like a block away from the studio. But its cold. And I just have no desire to go outside right now.

After my class had been let out and my paper filing duties were complete, and I'd been blankly staring at costume books for a good 15 minutes, my studio owner came up to me.

"Why don't you go, Eden?"

"Well, my parents are busy, and I
just don't want to walk home yet."

"Hun, I don't think you'll be walking home."

"Huh?" I asked, and she pointed toward the door. I got up and peeked out the window. There, Conner sat in his car, ever so patiently playing on his phone.

Quickly, I thanked my teacher, and grabbed my stuff and headed toward the door. I could hear her quiet chuckling in the
background.

I settled into his passenger seat. He looked up and locked eyes with me and said, "Really, Edes? You'd rather waste your Saturday sitting in the dance studio than have me come get you?"

"It wasn't that big of a deal." he shrugged. I smiled. "See? You're smiling. Which implies you're happy. Excellent. I have succeeded. " I laughed.

Conner.
Our relationship has caused so much drama. But its amazing. Conner's McGee and Delilah's son. So there's the constant teasing and considering Delilah's my long lost best friend, that's just not a normal relationship. At all. He's just about a half year older than me.

So its not weird ever. He's seen everything, he knows my parents, its normal. Our normal.

"You wanna go to your mom's or
your dad's?" he asked.

"Do I have to go home?" the idea of just spending a day with Conner sounded pretty good to me.

"No, but I mean, you just had like 3 hours of ballet, I figured you'd be tired and want to go home."

"Yeah, I could definitely use a shower and a change of clothes. But then?"

"Nothing I'd rather do," he smiled.
We went to mom's, where he sat in the living room and watched TV while I got cleaned up.

When I finished, we locked the place up and headed out.

"You want coffee?" he joked.

"Not funny," I replied.

"Eden, they're going to figure this out."

"But what if they don't?" I
snapped.

"Then they don't. There's nothing you can do. But I know they will."

"Do you promise?"

"Eden..."

"Do you promise?"

"I promise."

Conner does not break promises. Our promises have been a big deal since we were 7 year olds on
the swingset in elementary school. He's my best friend. I trust him.

But we both know this is a promise he has no control over.

"Think about it Eden. Your mom isn't home. That means they're still out together. Its been like 2 hours since they were supposed to meet. It's probably going well."

I smiled. "We could get drive thru coffee."
He laughed. "I won't object to that. I'll feed your need for a french vanilla latte. Just don't drink mine. Ever."

I snarled up my nose. "Never. Your coffee is disgusting."

"My coffee is real coffee. Gibbs style."

"Whatever."

In the drive thru, we became the watchers.
With my magnificent latte in hand, we pulled around the corner, and leaned in to peak through the window.

And there they were. Sitting opposite each other at a small table in the corner. Mom's legs were crossed, and she was leaning back. Dad was talking, and slumped over lightly, coming up from a laugh. Mom just grinned. Her tea was most definitely gone and his coffee cup past empty.
Conner offered over his cup for a congratulatory clink.

"I'd kiss you if I wasn't driving."

"Don't kiss me until your terrible coffee is long gone. I don't want to take any chances."

He rolled his eyes.

"You're lucky I love you. "

"I know."

We couldn't decide what to do at 11 am on a Saturday morning. The possibilities were endless, at the same time, there was nothing to do. We ended up harassing his younger sister Kelly, who voulenteered at the senior center on Saturdays. I played chess with a 92 year old man named Carl. He beat me.

Conner and I talked to several people, and they all gushed over us. Kelly thought it was absolutely hysterical.

But it was when a little lady said from her wheelchair that we would "Get married and have the prettiest ten kids she'd even seen," that's when it hit us.

I know it hit Conner. Delilah is wheelchair bound. She doesn't let it stop her, but it just hits home to Conner. He feels such compassion towards these people, just like Kelly does. But this time, it got to him with me.

Us. And acknowledging that this was really real.

As we left, I said, "Don't worry. I'm not having 10 of your kids. No way."

He tried to laugh.

"Conner," I said.

"Its real, right?" he asked.

I reached for his hand. "Very real. I'm not my mother."

He grasped my hand and said, "That's not what I meant. You know I love your mother."

"But neither of us love how it turned out. And I may look like her and sound like her and act like her sometimes, but you're never going to be where my dad is now when you're with me."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

About then, I got a "Where are you?" text from my father. Conner took me home. After a kiss goodbye, I headed to get my stuff from Dad's car, as I was coming back over from Mom's.

"How'd it go?" I asked, setting my heavy backpack down on the kitchen floor.

"Don't you already know?" he asked.

"Pardon?" I asked.

"Rule 35. Always watch the watchers. You are never allowed
to become an NCIS agent young lady. Terrible job."

Oops.

"We didn't get much from your body language. Seriously, how did it go?"

"It went well," he said, "really well."

"Did you guys talk about this?" I said awkwardly gesturing to myself, trying to get the point across.

"Not really. We realized that it would be important to talk about that, but it was more essential that we know who we are anymore."

"You're the same people," I said.

"We realized that. She's just..." he paused.

"Softer?" I filled in.

"Softer," he agreed, "and just as beautiful."