Ch. 20 Worth It

Sunset found them resting on the rocks, resting from an afternoon of wrestling, splashing, and making out.

"Can I ask you something?" Eliot said, breaking the silence.

Savannah sighed. "Is this the part where you ruin this whole thing by asking a question you don't want to hear the answer to?" His shoulders dropped. She shrugged. "Go ahead."

The question had been quietly bugging him for weeks. "After the explosion, in the med van, when we thought we were going to lose you, you kept calling out for Dani." He paused, trying to figure out how to delicately word the question.

She did it for him. "You think that means I'm subconsciously not over Dani."

Eliot flinched at her derisive tone. "Uh..."

"Eliot, I don't remember anything between the explosion and Dani telling me how I could not die."

He exhaled through his teeth. "That doesn't give me a lot of confidence, Savannah."

"It's the Stasis process. Being in Stasis doesn't mean that just your physical body is focused on survival, it's your entire being. My conscious was shut down. My brain probably focused on who could help me. Dani knew more about what was happening to me, so my brain picked her. There was no emotion involved in that."

"Oh."

She put her arm around him. "Feel better?"

He chuckled, "Yeah."

He leaned into her. After a few more minutes of silence, she pulled her arm away and wouldn't look at him. "There's something else you should know."

"What?" He gently pushed her hair behind her ear to show her she didn't need to be nervous.

"I can't sleep with you. Not for a while, and by sleep, I mean-"

"Sex."

"Yeah," her voice cracked.

He pulled her close. He thought too late that maybe that wasn't the best move, but she put her arms around him. "I know. It's going to be a while for you. I don't expect that from you."

"Not until I know this thing is permanent."

"Marriage."

"Yeah."

"Okay."

She looked at him. "Okay?"

He opened his arms to let them talk face-to-face. "Why the question?"

She shrugged and stuttered, "Sophie made it seem like-"

He put his arm around her again. "Sophie forgets I was engaged once."

Savannah's response to laugh, it sounded like, with relief.

A few days later, back home, Eliot sent a text to Hardison, "Order pizza or go out. I have plans tonight."

Hardison responded with, "Have fun" and one of those stupid little winking face emoticons.

Eliot rolled his eyes and jogged upstairs to find Savannah. He found her in the bedroom, painting on a canvas. She had it facing away from the door, so he couldn't see what she was painting. "Ahem, are you in the middle of something you can't stop?"

She looked up and started cleaning up. "No, why, what do you need?"

He gestured for her to come to him. "Come to the roof with me. And tomorrow we're setting up another room for you to paint in."

She groaned and took his hand as he lead her off. "Eliot, I got paint on one jacket one time. Get over it."

"It would be easier to get over if you painted somewhere my clothes won't end up."

"Fine, whatever."

They reached the roof to find a table and two chairs, decorated with silver-domed dishes and several candles. "What's this about?" Savannah asked nervously.

Eliot took both her hands and lead her to the table. "Reminding you that you made a good decision."

She blushed. "I didn't need a reminder. But I love it."