Amanda lingered in the hospital's cafeteria, staring over the food and drink selections as if she didn't already know that she probably knew every inch of it by heart by now.

While she wanted to avoid overwhelming him too much by checking in on him more than the couple of times or so that she had after Adam's….ordeal, she also didn't relish the idea of leaving him completely alone after it, even if it was mostly unbeknownst to him.

—

—
Today, however, it was he whose presence was unbeknownst to her, as he sat at one of the tables that was semi nearby, but also off to the side enough that she probably wouldn't have noticed him, even had she turned around, secretly enjoying this drag off the cigarette he was smoking.

A considerably satisfied grin spread across his face, as he took in another one, savoring every bit of this little treat that he'd missed so much during his stay.

—

—
It wasn't until he had put out the cigarette and was glancing around the room, to make sure no one noticed still, as he discarded it into his empty soda can that he noticed her.

"You're still here."

She jumped slightly, having not been expecting to hear his voice, and looked around like she had when he'd caught her off guard with his rockstar compliment.

He watched her with just as much nervous adoration too.

"Well, so are you." She pointed out, once she collected herself. "I thought they were letting you out today."

"Well, as of about a half hour ago, anyway." He confirmed with a little smirk.

He, then, glanced over to the empty seat across from him and then back up at her, as he twirled a new cigarette up between his fingers to bring her attention to it.

"I'll let ya sit with me if you promise not to tell." An even more devious little smirk spread on his face, as if there were any scenario in which he would've stopped her.

"Tell about what?" She whispered, just after glancing from side to side, as she took the offered seat.

"Exactly." He whispered, lighting it up as she sat down, the grin never leaving his face.

A grin, which brought with it a smile of her own.

Even with how much pain it had brought her to see him in that frail, weakened, subdued state she'd found him in, the increasing twinge of joy she was feeling at witnessing the life and humor, that she'd come to adore in him, gradually come back to him was something she hadn't expected.

Even something as small as a couple snuck cigarettes seemed to be the greatest thing in the world to him, right now.

"It's Amanda, right?"

She nodded with a little smile. "Yeah."

He nodded back, as he took another drag.

"So, what is keeping you here then?" She asked, curiously. "Or is the rebellion of smoking in a hospital cafeteria really that thrilling?"

"Isn't it?" He snickered.

"I wouldn't know." She chuckled nervously.

"Mmmn!" He uttered abruptly, the cigarette dangling from his mouth as he reached into his shirt pocket for the box. "Sorry, I'm being rude. Here."

She smiled at the offer, noting how few he had left, as she declined.

"You're not, and I'm fine."

He nodded, pausing when a new realization came to him.

"Mm, but you don't mind if I…?"

"I wouldn't have sat down, if I did." She pointed out. "Just not trying to take one of your last cigarettes, is all."

"Mmm….fair enough." He chuckled, sensing the slight bit of hesitation in her denial as he took another drag before holding it out to her. "Here. Can't use em up if you take from the same one, now can you?"

She shrugged, giving a little smirk at that, as she accepted the offer."

"Mmm...thanks."

"Don't mention it." He chuckled, taking it back when she handed it back to him. "...I mean, it's the least I can offer for saving my life, right?"

She chuckled at the idea, as if he were joking. "Adam, you don't owe me a cigarette for that."

"No, you're right. I owe you more than that." He insisted. "Much more."

"You know what I meant."

"Doesn't make it not true." He argued.

"Well, that you think so doesn't make it true either." She insisted.

"If you say so." He chuckled, taking another drag before offering her another one.

She rolled her eyes, though still half smiling as she accepted it again, to which he just watched in even more amusement.

"What? Is the idea of being in debt to someone really that bizarre to you?"

"At this, specific thing, just a little." She laughed.

"Whatever." He sighed, trying to hide his amusement.

"Alright, you really wanna know what you can do for me?"

"Please." He laughed, taking one last drag before putting the cigarette out.

"You can tell me what you're really still doing here."

"Aww, do our little secret cigarettes really not live up to the hype?" He teased.

"Maybe I just have a hunch."

"A hunch?" He repeated back to her with a little half smile.

"Maybe."

He nodded a little more seriously. "Alright, if you must know, I just thought I'd have a few smokes, before I figure out how I'm getting a ride back….and to be honest, I'm not even sure….how I feel about it I mean, I haven't been back there since…."

He trailed off, reaching up to rub his temples, as images from what he last remembered from right before he was grabbed flashed through his mind.

"Mmnn.."

"Sorry…" She said quietly, reaching a hand out to try and comfort him.

He looked back up at her, smiling at the gesture, and shook his head.

"You didn't know."

Amanda scoffed to herself at the thought, hating herself even more for everything.

If he only knew…

She gazed, a little more sullenly, back at him.

The sadness that had come over him was bringing back that same pain that she had felt upon finding him, again.

"Tell you what…" She offered, to which he perked up just a little, mostly out of curiosity.

"...why don't you come back to my place for a while? I'll drive you there, myself."

He smiled at the idea of it.

He wanted so badly to just be able to eagerly take her up on the offer, forget about everything for a little while, relish in knowing that he just might've actually gotten through to the cool, rockstar looking girl he met in the stairway, almost a week ago.

He sighed.

He knew she was probably just trying to be nice.

"Thanks, but, I couldn't impose. Plus, I'd have to go by my place at some point, anyway, and check on Roxy."

"Well, you're not imposing. I offered." She reassured him. "I'll even drive you by your place, too.

Something about the smile she gave him, in her attempt to reassure him or maybe even just in the way she said it, or maybe even both gave him another little glimmer of hope.

Like how the way she'd laughed when he tried to persuade those other girls to take a flyer convinced him that maybe, just maybe, he'd succeeded in getting through to her, even if only just a little.

He smiled back at her. "Okay."

"Alright." She smiled even more at him, and they both stood from their seats at almost the same time.

"So, who's Roxy?" She asked, as he started to follow her. "...she a friend, or…"

"Uh, sort of." He laughed.

"What's sort of?" She chuckled.

"Ah, she's this little stray terrier that's been hanging around my building for a while. I've been trying to coax her in for a while, but I haven't had much luck."He chuckled. "She's probably starving by now. God knows, nobody else would feed her." He muttered that last bit under his breath

Amanda smiled, focusing more on how he'd just lit up at the mention of her, and trying to lighten the mood a little again.

"I bet she missed you."

He looked at her and smiled at the thought. "...Yeah, probably."

Once they were at his apartment, he fumbled around in his jeans' pocket for his key, til he finally found it, only to find that the lock to his place had clearly been tampered with when he tried it.

"Right…" He sighed to himself.

He walked in just ahead of her, heading straight for the kitchen, where he began scoping all around the counter, cluttered with dirty dishes, for a clean one that would suffice.

"This'll do." He said to himself, after he finally settled on a bowl, which he ran under the sink to rinse it off.

As he was drying it off, he looked back up at Amanda, who was still hesitating near his doorway. The true reason for her hesitation, obviously, entirely unbeknownst to him.

He chuckled to himself. "You can come in. I'm just gonna take this out for her, see if anyone's let her into the building. There's a couple people who will, just to humor her from time to time."

He then reached for a medium sized container, the kind most people would probably store cereal in, with her name written across it in sharpie, and poured some kibble from it into the bowl

She chuckled nervously, at his offer, slowly inching her way further in.

"...or you can come with me."

She followed his lead, as he took her throughout most of the building, whistling, and calling her name, as he shook the bowl.

He had just about given up hope, after poking his head out of the doors to the building, when he heard the familiar tapping of her little claws hitting the sidewalk, as she cautiously trotted over towards the sound of his voice and the sound of fresh kibble rattling against the sides of the bowl.

She was a scraggly looking little mutt, with a dark, dusty gray colored muzzle. Her wirey, tan fur was all dirty, and she looked especially skinny, like she hadn't eaten much in a few days.

Adam felt a twinge of sadness, seeing his little friend like this, and immediately set the bowl down for her.

"Hey, bubba!" He cooed to her, instead, giving her scratches as he coaxed her over to eat the food. "How's my Roxy girl?"

Roxy let out an eager yap, her tail wagging a mile a minute, as she scurried over to the dish that Adam had just set down and began to gobble its contents down, like it was the first time she'd ever seen food.

Amanda watched from a short distance, trying not to scare her, and she could've sworn she couldn't adore him more, than she did in that moment, and it was just that that had distracted her from realizing sooner that she'd seen this dog before….

...and then it hit her..

This was the same dog she'd spotted amongst Adam's photo room collection...in at least several different photos, most of them from the same or similar angles.

"So, you're the one…" She whispered to herself.

Roxy just paid her no mind, until after Adam had filled the dish, that she had just licked clean, with water that he'd poured from a small bottle he'd picked up from the hospital cafeteria.

After she'd guzzled that down, she became more aware of Amanda's presence….and more cautious…

She looked up at Amanda, sniffing at the air, before stepping back a little.

"Smart dog…." Amanda thought to herself.

Regardless, Roxy slowly mustered up enough courage to start inching her way towards her, as Amanda smiled slightly at her, holding her hand out to her.

"Shhh..it's okay, girl. I know." She slowly got down to Roxy's level, as the curious mutt crept even closer towards her, eventually giving Amanda's hand a couple little licks and allowing her to pet her.

Meanwhile, Adam was just watching the interaction in complete awe, knowing that he couldn't adore her anymore if he tried, either.

"What?" Amanda laughed, still petting Roxy, who was back to giddily wagging her little tail.

"Nothing…." He lied, still grinning as Roxy came back over to him, jumping up an putting her paws up on his knees to lick him.

He laughed again, eagerly humoring her with more pets. "...it's just that, I couldn't even do that with a handful of treats, when I first found her."

"You're just saying that." Amanda insisted, clearly not buying it, as she gave Roxy another head scratch and stood back up.

"I wish I was." He sighed.

"Right." She laughed. "...you wanna br- "

But when Amanda turned back around, Roxy was already trotting off, halfway down the sidewalk again.

"...I was gonna say, bring her back to my place with us."

Adam laughed with her. "Well, can't say I didn't warn ya."

He continued watching on, as she darted behind the building, likely to play with something that caught her eye, near the dumpster.

"She'll be back, though." He promised. "Like I said, she likes to roam around the building, and I don't really like the idea of leaving her out there at night."

"Right…"

Adam shot her a little smirk. "You can still bring me back to your place though."

"I'll take it." She laughed. "Come on."