Ch. 7 Ex

Eliot had been in some awkward situations before, but being alone with Dani was up there. It felt like hours of silence passed between him and Dani while Eliot washed dishes and willed Dani to disappear and Dani seemed too uncomfortable to move.

"You, uh, wouldn't happen to have any beer around here, would you?" Dani finally said.

Eliot's southern instincts took over. He leaned over to the fridge, grabbed two cold beers and handed one to her. After all, he had no tangible reason to hate Dani. It was all jealousy. She seemed like a nice girl, and she hadn't really done anything to him.

"This is good beer," she commented politely. He nodded. He was done with the dishes, but he couldn't bring himself to leave. It'd be rude to leave someone like that in an unfamiliar place, she'd only been there once, and Savannah could be gone for hours. He looked around, trying to find a place for his eyes to focus on that wasn't in her direction. He settled on staring at him beer. Beer drinking was supposed to be an activity of camaraderie, but here it was just a desperate diversion from the other person instead of a bonding experience.

"You wanna know if Savannah and I were ever a thing."

He choked and nearly dropped his beer. The question seemed to come out of the blue. However, he couldn't deny, the question had haunted him since he's heard her name. "Uh, yeah," he answered cautiously as he could.

Dani pursed her lips and slowly took a sip of her beer. "Yeah," she sighed.

Eliot felt his skin tighten and his jaw clenched like a vice. His blood seemed hot and cold at the same time, rushing while all else was at a stand still. He tried to keep his outer appearance steady. He knew. He knew. But he didn't want to hear it. And not from her. Especially with that vague look of pity on her face. He couldn't leave it there. "So, uh, what-"

"Happened?" Her expression changed drastically. He guessed she was reliving snippets of her romance. "She left The Academy. We were fresh thirteen year olds when we...got together. We kept things secret, of course, at least from the staff. We'd already picked up on the fact that they used everything we did against us in some way. So we'd been together and year and a few months when Savannah started to get distant. Looking back, I get it, she was trying to protect me just like she was trying to protect Sasha. A couple months later, she was gone. I'd given up on her by then. She wasn't talking to anyone by the time she left. Luckily, I ganked the research files before she did. They were getting to me in the own special way, more so once Savannah shut me out."

He cringed inwardly. Based on the story, Dani and Savannah lacked closure. He knew that feeling well. It was even harder to dislike Dani. With all she'd gone through with The Academy, then Savannah, and who knew what her family life was like. And then she was nice, and open, and honest even after all that. It was something he could really appreciate those things in his line of work. Still, jealousy made him keep his distance.

It was both awkward and soothing to sit in front of the big screen with Dani on the couch and Eliot in the recliner to watch baseball. He had warmed up to the sport after playing it.

Eliot woke up to the sound of clinking glass. He opened his eyes to find he'd dozed off in the recliner. Dani was gone. The clinking sound came from Hardison putting down the beer he was drinking next to a few other empty bottles he'd apparently already polished off at his desk as he glared at his flock of screens.

Eliot got up and started towards his desk. "You alright?"

"Yeah. Just frustrated that I can't find where Strife would've put this lab." Hardison's hand clenched tighter over the mouse.

"Where is everybody?"

"Parker's at her apartment. I think the other two were talking about hanging out with a group at Van House."

Eliot ran his fingers through his hair. "I didn't know I was out that long. They must've made up. They had a fight earlier this morning."

"Trouble sleeping?"

"Yeah."

"I think we're all having trouble."

"How're you and Parker?"

Hardison finally looked up from his computer. "Better. But still need some extra space between."

"Good." Eliot absent-mindedly grabbed a remaining beer from the six-pack on Hardison's desk and cracked it open.

"Like I said, I'll pay-"

"Don't worry about it, man. It's been a rough few days, you deserve 'em."

"Thanks."

Eliot dragged a dining chair over to the desk. "How are you dealing with it...so well...you know what I mean?"

Hardison looked at his lap for a few moments, powered down his computer systems, and folded his arms over the desk. "Because I know she didn't do this to hurt me. Like it hurts more that she felt she couldn't talk to me about it. Like I know a lot of people would want to call it cheating and leave, but Parker's different, and we knew this wasn't going to be normal from the beginning. I just didn't expect to take this turn, you know."

"So...you guys talked?"

Hardison nodded. "Yeah, a few times. I mean, it's not really one of those one-talk deals, kinda like when we first got together. I mean, when it first happened, I didn't wanna talk. I think you and Savannah are dealing with that right now. And I had this thought, 'Who knows Parker the best?' And I thought Archie, but I couldn't bring myself to bring any level of this up to him. Plus, Parker was probably with him anyway. Then I thought Nate, but Nate sucks at relationships. So I called Sophie."

"What'd she say?"

"Stuff I kinda already knew, you know. Parker never went through an experimentation phase like most women do, and that's probably something she needs...or needed. It-it made sense."

"So everything's okay?"

"I love her, still. And she loves me. She's growing and I have to let her do that and trust that now she's going to tell me more what she's feeling."

"Right. That's good, man. I'm glad." He clapped Hardison on the shoulder. "You know, I wish I had someone like that for Savannah, but between all of us, I'm the one that knows her best."

Hardison shrugged. "What about that girl, Dani? They seem pretty close?"

Eliot sucked air through his teeth and groaned. "I don't think you should ask someone's ex how to woo them."

Hardison reeled back with wide eyes. "Oh really? So, I mean...does Savannah just play for the other team?"

"You know, I don't really know. I mean, I always feel something between Savannah and me."

"Yeah, I see it."

"Yeah. I just don't know. And she's not ready to talk. And I don't think I am, either. Hey, I'm sorry that you're doing most of the work on this case right now. I know you got a lot going on."

"Man, I know you'll jump in with fists flying as soon as we get a location. And I'm not on my own, Parker's been helping out."

"Good. I'm glad at least you guys can still work together with all this going on. Why don't you take a break, man? You're not gonna get anything done this tired."

"Right."

Hardison got out from behind his desk and clapped Eliot on the shoulder before lumbering upstairs.