"Oh…shit…" Sydney had just placed a red "F" on the last test she checked and it wasn't sitting well with her. It's not that she felt she did a bad job teaching the subject matter; it was just that she knew for a fact that the student who had failed had tried so hard. She had been tutoring him throughout the week and knew that not passing this test was going to hurt him.

Nathan appeared in her doorway, as he so often did. When he realized that she hadn't noticed him there, he asked, "Everything okay?"

"Hm?" She looked up. "Oh, uh…yeah…no?" She exhaled sharply, pushing the papers aside. "Michael failed. We tried all week and I know that he…" A noise akin to a growl escaped from her.

Nathan looked thoughtful. "It happens," his voice was kind. "It sucks," he added, bluntly, "but it happens. You can't say you didn't try, right?"

"Yeah, I guess not. I know how it sounds, but it just makes me feel like I failed him."

Walking toward her, Nathan added, "You didn't." He sat on the corner of her desk. "So, listen, I think that you need to get out of here." Sydney raised an eyebrow. His expression changed. "That sounded bad considering what you just said, sorry. What I mean is, I know why you've been here so much and you shouldn't have to hide behind your desk."

Sydney got defensive. "I'm not hiding, I'm working." Nathan's eyes narrowed. "What?"

"Come on, Syd." She looked down at her desk calendar, covered in doodles. "Everyone deals with things differently and I think that doing something other than being here or home might…help." He tapped his finger on her calendar, making her look up. "I know a little place with the best burgers. What beats some comfort food, hm?"

"Are you going to sit there until I say yes?"

He smiled, the act making the skin around his eyes crinkle ever so slightly. "That's the plan."

She stood up, giving in. "Fine. Arlen and I put off grocery shopping any way." Within a few minutes she was in her car, following Nathan.

Once seated in the little, unassuming diner, Nathan got right down to business. "How are you, I mean really? Don't tell me 'fine' or 'okay', I told you on the other night what I'm here for."

She diverted her eyes and decided on the truth. "I dream about him every night, so that sort of makes for shitty mornings and explains why I get into school early. My heart still aches and I'm generally miserable." She looked up at him and frowned "Is that honest and pathetic enough?"

Nathan looked surprised, but that looked soon turned into something similar to pity. "It's certainly a start." The waitress took their orders, then he continued. "It dulls," he said, taking off his glasses and placing them on the table.

"What does?"

"That ache…the hollowness." There was a slight trace of hurt in his voice. "I won't sit here and tell you how long it will take or that it will go away completely, that would just be a blatant lie, but it dulls…that I can promise." He took a sip of his water and Sydney noticed him chew on the straw for a moment.

"It was bad, wasn't it?" Sydney asked, referring to the ending of Nathan's marriage. "Left a lot out of the details before?"

"It's not so much that it ended, I think that was inevitable…I just think it was…" He looked down at the paper placemat in front of him. "I don't want to make you feel any worse. Ask me any other question and…really, anything else, nothing's off limits except for that part of my life – just for now. Like I said, I don't want to add to the existing melancholy we have going here, this was supposed to cheer you up."

"Anything?"

He nodded. "Yup."

Knowing that he had just touched upon a dark place in his mind, Sydney thought for a moment and asked, "Boxers or briefs?"

"You're kidding."

She smiled. "You said anything."

"And that's what you came up with?" he laughed.

"You put me on the spot and, well, you're supposed to be cheering me up, right?" She batted her eyes in a ridiculous fashion.

Nathan shook his head, feeling better. "Uh…boxers. Now what the hell am I supposed to follow that up with?"

Sydney shrugged. "Hey, it was either that or 'cats or dogs' and since I've already seen half of your under things…"

Nathan smiled fully as their food was brought to them. He had been right, sometimes a little grease is good for the soul. They continued to talk about simple subjects like movies, books and music, and how they both chose the profession they were in. They ordered desert and neither of them found it odd when they reached across the table to sample one another's choices. For a couple of hours, Sydney was calm and relaxed. Neither realized how much time had passed until she glanced out the window and saw a clear night sky.

They paid their bills separately, at Sydney's insistence, then walked outside into a biting cold. Sydney had only parked a few spaces away from Nathan's car, but her walked her there nonetheless. Feeling a bit unsure of which kind of friendship they had, he hugged her. He relaxed when she reciprocated.

"Thank you," she said softly. "Sometimes it's good to know that..." she didn't finish.

"I know, believe me." He let her go and opened her car door for her after she unlocked it.

"I'll see you tomorrow." She drove away feeling better than she had in weeks.