Hey! I just want to quickly thank you all for your patience. It took me a while to write this chapter, and it got so long that I ended up splitting it in two. So this and the next are long chapters. Anyway, to the new readers, thank you so much for your kind messages, and to the old readers who have been here since I started writing this, too. Thank you all for reading and for your support. I hope you like this new chapter, and let me know what you think! :D 3
STORMS DON'T LAST FOREVER
Hours passed, and Lea hadn't moved from the bed. Cocooned under the blanket, she lay there, lost in thought, barely aware of time slipping by. The weight of the confrontation with her parents, the lies she told Shaun and her team, and the swirling doubts in her mind, all seemed to pin her down, making it impossible for her to even think about getting up.
The storm outside had quieted, but inside her head, it still raged. Her body felt like every ounce of energy had been drained from her, and she wanted nothing more than to stay buried under the covers. But as the minutes ticked, a sense of dread settled in her chest. Shaun would be home soon and she knew he'd noticed something was off. Even if he didn't always pick up on every emotional cue, he was too observant. If she stayed curled up, looking defeated, he'd start asking questions, and she wasn't ready to answer any of them.
So, with a groan, she forced herself to sit up. Her legs wobbled as she swung them over the edge of the bed, and for a moment, she just sat there with her head in her hands, until she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror by the bed. Her face was still blotchy and red from all the crying, and her hair was a mess, which made her sigh. She couldn't let Shaun see her like that.
She dragged herself to the bathroom, splashed cold water on her face and reapplied some makeup, in an attempt to hide the signs of all the crying and exhaustion, then she ran a brush through her hair, trying to make it look better. It wasn't perfect, but it was the best she could manage at that moment. She went back to the bedroom and changed into one of her sweaters and some comfortable pants, then, before walking out of the bedroom, she took one last look in the mirror, and taking a deep breath, she nodded to herself, trying to gather some energy to act like everything was fine. She then finally headed to the kitchen.
Trying to keep things as normal as possible, Lea decided to cook something, mainly for Shaun, since, if she had to be honest, she wasn't hungry at all. She could have just ordered something, but she hoped that cooking would keep her mind from thinking about what had happened.
She checked the fridge, then shut it and moved to the pantry to have a look in there too, remembering she had offered pasta al pomodoro to her parents. It was a quick and simple recipe for which they had all the ingredients, so she decided to cook the same.
With a sigh, Lea grabbed a packet of spaghetti, a can of Italian tomatoes, and the rest of the ingredients, then, focusing on the chopping and stirring, she let the motions distract her from everything else, until, a bit earlier than usual, Shaun walked through the door.
"Hello" Shaun greeted as he hung up his coat and backpack, sniffing the air. "It smells good."
"Hey, you. Thanks." Lea replied, trying to keep her tone light and casual.
Shaun headed straight to the bathroom to wash his hands before going back out there to greet his girlfriend properly. He stood next to her and leaned in to peck her lips, which she returned with a soft but genuine smile. His display of affection shining a little light on her day.
"Hi again." She said, but quickly looked away, avoiding eye contact with him as much as possible and refocusing on the food in front of her.
"I thought you'd go back to the hospital. I went looking for you to come home together, but you weren't there."
A wave of guilt hit her. "Yeah, sorry, I forgot to tell you. I've had a lot in my mind today… Figured I was already here… Perks of being the boss." She joked with a small shrug, trying to keep things light, then added: "Would you like some spaghetti al pomodoro?"
"Yes, please." Shaun nodded slightly, watching her as she quietly stirred the pasta one last time before turning off the stove.
Meanwhile, an awkward silence settled in the apartment, but Lea didn't dare look at him, which Shaun found odd.
"How's your patient?" She finally spoke after a moment, trying to sound as casual as possible.
"She wasn't happy when we told her she had to quit gymnastics. Her dad is also her coach. She calls him coach all the time, and he lets her have the last word when it comes to medical decisions. I don't think that's good." He shook his head.
"Mmh… How old did you say she is?" She turned around to grab two plates and glasses from the cupboard.
Shaun watched her attentively as she moved around the kitchen, sensing something was off, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it, so he hesitated to mention it just yet. He just thought her usually talkative and bright self seemed absent. And since he had also been left with the impression that the dinner with her family had gone well, he didn't attribute it to her quietness.
"Fourteen years old." He simply answered, still focused on her.
"That's weird…" She said, and involuntarily let out a soft sigh while she moved back to the stove to serve the pasta, as if doing what she was doing was costing her too much of the little energy she had left.
Shaun nodded and continued observing her, like cataloging her movements, her words and her posture.
Lea could feel his eyes on her, so in an attempt to shift the focus, she handed him the plates without making eye contact. "Can you take these to the table, please?"
Shaun nodded and took the plates to the table, making sure he placed them at the center of each mat.
"What would you like to drink? Water, juice, soda, wine… a shot of tequila…" She thought the last one out loud, like answering herself, as she turned to the glasses on the counter.
Taken aback by her words, Shaun's gaze lifted from the plates to her as he stood by the dining table, thinking it was unlike her to suggest tequila to accompany a regular weekday dinner, so he asked:
"Why would we have tequila with pasta?"
"Just saying… I mean, it's what we have. I'm just giving you all the options…" Lea shrugged, immediately regretting her suggestion and cursing herself for thinking out loud. Maybe she wasn't hungry, but she did feel like having some sort of strong drink, so she pulled out a bottle of wine, thinking that if she actually got a shot of tequila, Shaun might actually become suspicious, but he already was.
She quickly uncorked the bottle and poured some into one of the glasses, nearly filling it to the top.
Shaun walked back to the kitchen, and his eyes widened slightly as he watched her put the bottle aside and take a large sip, almost finishing the glass in one go.
Lea caught him staring and quickly wiped her mouth with her sleeve as she set the glass back down. "Sorry… You want some?"
He nodded softly, and she poured a little more into her glass before filling the other one. Then, without looking at him, she took both glasses to the table, trying to avoid his gaze.
"I forgot the forks and napkins…" She said, mainly to herself, glancing toward kitchen, accidentally meeting Shaun's eyes as he was still watching her.
"I'll get them." Shaun offered, thinking he had finally noticed something, but the dim lights of the room didn't let him appreciate the details. He needed to be closer. So he grabbed a couple of forks and napkins from a drawer, then walked to the table, carefully placing them down next to each plate.
"Thank you." Lea whispered as she sat down.
Shaun sat next to her. "How is the new laptop? Is it the one you wanted?"
Lea's heart sank and her chest tightened as she froze for a moment, and for a split second, her stomach twisted with guilt, then she swallowed hard, quickly searching in her mind for something to say.
"Uh… Yeah, I forgot to order the other SSD I'm going to add to it though…" She blurted out, trying to sound casual while still feeling Shaun's eyes on her again.
She hated lying to him. She hated the way it made her tongue feel heavy. So, after a quick glance at him to see if maybe he had believed her words more than she did, she lifted her glass to her lips and took another long sip of wine.
"I don't know what that is." Shaun said, still watching her, finally confirming what he thought he had seen—the redness and puffiness in her eyes she had tried to hide with some makeup.
"The memory… The pasta will get cold." She muttered, shifting uncomfortably in her seat as she quickly gestured at his plate, then she grabbed her own fork and forced herself to eat a bit of her food, desperate to steer the conversation away from herself.
Shaun glanced down at his food, then picked up his fork and fed himself some pasta, glancing at her from time to time as he chewed, wondering what might have upset her. He kew her too well to recognize her patterns—like how she stress-ate when work or life got too overwhelming, but this time she wasn't stress-eating, she was more like stress-drinking. But why?
He put his fork down and watched her for a moment as she stared blankly at her plate, absentmindedly pushing a basil leaf around with her fork as silence filled the apartment again.
"Are you okay?" He finally asked in a soft but tinged with concern tone.
Lea gripped her fork tighter, closing her eyes for a moment as she sighed, feeling the weight of his question bearing down on her.
"I know you've been crying… You're not eating, and…"
"Don't…" She interrupted him, slightly lifting her free hand, signaling him to stop as the urge to cry and unload everything rushed back, but she didn't want to break again, not in front of him.
"Lea…" He looked at her hand, hesitating about whether he should touch her or not as he could see the overwhelm in her body language, but he wanted to offerer her comfort, so, gently and slowly, he reached for her hand. "You can talk to me about anything. I'm here for you… like you always tell me."
As he touched her and repeated the words she's told him many times, she let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding, and then, she broke again, shifting in her seat to rest her head on his shoulder as tears spilled down her cheeks.
Shaun sat upright, still holding her hand as she cried on his shoulder, feeling the desperate need to understand what had caused her pain so he could find a way to fix it.
Lea continued crying and sobbing against his shirt, until it gradually stopped, but she stayed close to him, pressed against his shoulder for a little longer, seeking comfort in the steady rhythm of his breath.
Meanwhile, Shaun, still holding her hand, reached for a napkin with his free hand and gently offered it to her. She lifted her head, took the napkin and wiped her face, sniffling as she tried to regain her composure.
"Thank you." She whispered with a shaky voice.
"What happened?" He asked, looking at her.
Lea sighed and hesitated as her mind raced back to the painful meeting with her parents. She didn't have the energy to relive every detail, but she needed to open up and let him in.
"I met with my parents earlier… to talk about you… about us…" She looked down at their hands, taking a shaky breath. "As you can see, it didn't go well…"
Shaun remained silent, briefly glancing at her with a small nod, encouraging her to continue. And with that, Lea took another shaky breath, and her grip on his hand tightened as she began to recount the painful details of the meeting with her parents. She told him about their hurtful, ignorant comments, their unwelcome mention of Ben, and the anger that had surged through her when she finally dropped the truth bomb about him, then her voice trembled as she spoke about the ultimatum she gave them, with a mixture of exhaustion and frustration in her voice, as if saying it all out loud made the reality of it heavier.
He listened carefully as Lea's words flowed, noting through them one by one, analyzing the situation and trying to understand how it had affected her. The basics were: her parents had said hurtful things about their relationship, and she was upset because of it. But as much as he tried to connect to that emotion, Shaun found it difficult to grasp why their views weighed so heavily on her. After all, they were adults, and their relationship was between him and Lea, not anyone else. He knew that was logical, yet, given his challenges with empathy, he felt frustrated by his inability to fully understand the depth of her emotions. However, her parents' opinions didn't change the reality of their love for each other, at least not to him. But seeing Lea hurting stirred something else inside him. Even if he couldn't feel what she was feeling, he wished there was a way to make it all go away for her.
"I don't know what's going to happen between me and them…" Lea mumbled, glancing down at their hands again as she continued to hold onto him for comfort.
He wasn't sure how to respond or how to feel about everything. Pam and Mike weren't his parents, so their opinions felt somewhat irrelevant to him. In his mind, it was something he could easily brush off. He had even managed to brush off Glassman's disapproval of Lea when he confirmed that his adoptive-second-dad didn't like her. His feelings for Lea hadn't changed despite Glassman's opinion—why would they? To him, it seemed logical that, as adults, their parents' opinions shouldn't hold that much weight. But seeing how deeply their words had hurt Lea, made everything more complicated. She was the woman he loved, and even though her parents' views didn't matter to him, the pain they caused her was something he couldn't ignore.
"I don't understand why they didn't say any of that yesterday…" He spoke after a moment.
"It was probably just a courtesy" Lea shrugged and sighed. "I suppose they didn't have the guts to say all those things in front of you…"
"It doesn't make sense to me why they couldn't see that we are happy…" Shaun shook his head slightly.
"Exactly." Lea almost interrupted. "Isn't that supposed to be the most important thing? Parents are supposed to want their kids to be happy and healthy, right? But..." She sighed, trailing off. "I mean, I could have expected something like this from anyone else, but from the people who supposedly love me most in the world?" She shook her head with incredulity.
"They don't." Shaun simply answered and Lea's gaze shifted to his, confused by his response, then he clarified, "Not the most… Not anymore."
She stared into his eyes for a moment, her expression softly changing from stress and confusion, to love, now understanding what he meant. A very small and subtle smile painted on her lips.
Shaun glanced down at their hands and intertwined his fingers with hers while his thoughts drifted to a previous night, realizing that the worries that had appeared that night had now materialized. He didn't meet the standards of Lea's parents, which didn't matter much to him because it didn't change the way he felt about her. But at the end of the day, it all came down to his main fear, which he had to ask about.
His gaze moved to hers again. "Has your parents' opinion of me and our relationship changed how you feel? Do you think your life would be easier, better, happier, if you were with—not with Ben, but with someone neurotypical, like your mother suggested?"
Lea frowned softly and gently moved her free hand to his cheek, shaking his head slightly. "I love you, Shaun… Neurotypical or not, you're the one I want to be with…" She stroked his cheek softly with her thumb. "It does hurt me deeply that my parents feel this way because—well, like any person, I want to have a good relationship with them. I'd like to have a normal, supportive family, but their views don't change how I feel about you… You're the best thing that's happened to me…"
Her hand moved from his cheek to his shoulder, then down his arm, until she was holding both of his hands, and continued. "I wish they'd see the good I see in you, and all the good that you've brought into my life… I wish they'd choose to be part of it,—part our lives…" She paused and sighed as a tear slipped down her cheek as she as the possibility that her parents might never change struck her, making her heart ache. "But if they choose not to…well…" She shrugged softly. "It's their loss."
He gently pulled his hand from hers and wiped away her tear, his thoughts momentarily drifting back to his own experiences with his parents, almost wishing they would have been different, too.
Although Lea's relationship with her parents was troubled, her childhood didn't compare to the kind Shaun and his brother had. Her parents were nothing like his. And one might say the issues Lea faces or has faced with her parents are nothing in comparison to what Shaun and Steve endured in the past, but deep down, Shaun, too, wished that things would have been different. His brother would likely still be alive, and their mom would be part of their lives. But then, maybe he would have never met Lea. Maybe he would have never found his love for medicine like he did, thanks to Glassman, and he wouldn't be a doctor now. Who knows?
Slowly and almost hesitantly, Shaun leaned in to press his lips softly against hers in a tender kiss.
"I love you." She whispered against his lips, and scooted closer, letting go of his hand to guide his arm around her shoulders, then she curled against his side, wrapping her arms around his torso, seeking comfort in his embrace. But the hug didn't last long.
Before Shaun could reply, a knock on the door broke the moment, slightly startling them both, then they exchanged a confused glance, wondering who could be there at such hour.
Lea wiped her eyes quickly as she stood up, and curiously walked to the door. She pushed herself up on her toes to look through the peephole, and as soon as she saw who was on the other side, she opened the door.
"Nonna?" She said in surprise.
"Bella…" Her grandma muttered as she looked at her granddaughter, noticing her puffy eyes, knowing she had been crying. "I heard what happened…" Nonna Dilallo added, setting her purse on top of her suitcase, then she opened her arms wide.
No more words were needed before Lea melted into her nonna's embrace, burying her face against her shoulder as a few fresh tears spilled, but this time with a sense of relief from knowing she at least had her nonna's support.
Meanwhile, still sitting at the table, Shaun watched the scene quietly, also feeling a little wave of relief as he watched his girlfriend in the comfort of her grandmother's arms, which eased some of the tension in his chest.
"I wish I had been here." Nonna Dilallo expressed as she and Lea separated and she gently wiped her granddaughter's tears from her cheeks.
"They said you were tired and decided to stay at the hotel."
"I did, but only because they told me they were going shopping. Mio Dio, had I known they were coming to see you, I would have come too. Had I known they were going to do what they did, I would have stopped them." Sue shook her head and pulled Lea into another hug.
"I'm glad you're here now." Lea whispered, then added: "I thought you…" She sighed, then shook her head softly.
"You thought I agreed with them?" Nonna Dilallo asked, puling back from the hug to look at Lea in the eye.
Lea nodded softly.
"No, tesoro." Sue shook her head. "I would have come earlier, but I had no idea. I only found out like an hour ago. They had been acting weird all afternoon and then I heard them talking on my way to dinner. I didn't ask for details but what I heard was enough for me to tell them how wrong they were for what they did, then I stormed here. I had to ask the reception to get me a taxi to come here… I would never defend what they did."
Lea sighed, then glanced down at her hands, and muttered. "I'm glad you didn't ask for details…"
"I do want you to tell me everything, Lea… Perché non riesco a capire perché non hai mai detto a me né a tuo nonno certe cose.. (Becasuse I can't understand why you never told me and your grandpa about certain things.)"
Lea glanced back up at her grandma with guilt and remorse, and swallowed hard, feeling the weight of her words. She had always trusted her grandparents, but keeping this from them had always felt like she had betrayed that trust. The truth she had buried for so long was no longer just a painful memory; it had grown into something heavier.
Nonna Dilallo glanced at Shaun over the corner of her eye, unsure if he had understood what she had said in Italian, since she wasn't even sure if he even knew about Ben.
"He knows…" Lea whispered, realizing what her nonna had done and where her eyes were, then sighed and glanced down at her hands again as she fiddled with her fingers. The weight of her secrets seemed to press even harder now that everything was out in the open.
"I want to know too… but not today. You've had enough for the day." Nonna's voice softened as she glanced back at Lea, understanding her granddaughter's emotional exhaustion.
Lea nodded softly in response, grateful for the postponement but knowing the conversation wasn't over. The guilt still lingered, but for tonight, at least, she could let it rest.
"Would you like some spaghetti al pomodoro?" Shaun blurted as he left his chair and walked to the pair of ladies.
Both pairs of eyes turned to him, then Nonna Dilallo pulled Shaun into a hug.
"Oh…" Shaun let out with slightly wide eyes. His body stiffened as Lea's grandma hugged him, his arms hovering awkwardly in the air for a moment. He wasn't used to sudden physical affection from people other than Lea, and though the touch felt invasive, he remained still while his mind raced through memories of other times he'd been hugged—patients who clung to him after a successful surgery, his mom when his father was dying, Glassman, etc. He had never been entirely comfortable when others hugged him, be he'd learned not to be rude and push them away.
Sue's embrace was warm, and he noticed that the discomfort wasn't as intense as it might have been years ago. Still, it wasn't the same as with his girlfriend. With Lea, hugs were a source of comfort, something he didn't just tolerate but sometimes even sought out. This was different and unfamiliar.
"Nonna…" Lea muttered, shaking her head and gesturing her to stop as she could tell Shaun was uncomfortable from the way his shoulders tensed.
"Oh, scusatemi…" Nonna said as she pulled back, then reached to smooth his shirt as if trying to make up for the intrusion.
"Mmh… it's okay." Shaun replied with a neutral tone, taking a step back, though his heart was still racing. "I see where Lea gets the hugging from."
Lea couldn't help but smile softly at his comment and her grandma let out a gentle laugh. The tension from the awkwardness melted, and though Shaun still wasn't at ease, he appreciated Nonna Dilallo's intentions.
"I just wanted to apologize." Sue started, looking at him. "I don't know yet what exactly my son and daughter-in-law said, but I'm sure it was awful. And I don't know if they will ever apologize for their behavior, so I'm here doing it for them. I'm sorry… I don't know much about you, but I know you love Lea, and I see how happy she is with you. For me, that's all that matters. I want her to be happy, and anyone who makes her happy, deserves my support, love, attention and protection too. So here I am, if you ever need anything."
A small tear escaped from one of Lea's eyes, touched by her grandma's words, and she quickly wiped it away.
Shaun stood still, processing Nonna Dilallo's apology. He wasn't used to receiving apologies or to people acknowledging when they were wrong, especially not when they were this genuine or involved something as deeply personal as his relationship with Lea. But he understood, in his own way, that Nonna Dilallo was trying to bridge a gap, one that hadn't even been her fault. And the fact that she cared enough to try... that meant something.
"Thanks." Shaun answered with a soft voice and a small nod. "I don't always understand people. I don't know why her parents can't see that we're happy, like you and others do. But I know when someone cares about Lea… You do… And that means a lot to her, so it means a lot to me, too" He fiddled a bit with his fingers, unsure of how to express the rest of what he was feeling. "I don't like seeing Lea like this… I just want her to be happy, too."
Nonna Dilallo offered him a warm smile as she listened to him with her eyes reflecting a deep affection for him. "I can see that, Shaun. That's all I want, too… You're a good man."
Shaun nodded again. "Yes."
Lea smiled again and Nonna Dilallo's smile widened, nodding softly at Shaun's confident response.
After the emotional exchange, Shaun offered pasta to Nonna Dilallo again, but, although touched by the gesture, she gently declined the offer, explaining that the events of the evening had drained her completely, leaving her with no appetite, so instead, the three of them spent a few moments in the living room, keeping the conversation light and casual, as if each of them were trying to momentarily push aside the weight of what had transpired earlier, but soon enough, exhaustion caught up with them.
Shaun and Lea prepared the spare bedroom for her nonna and apologized for the smallness of Shaun's old single bed, but Sue waved off their concerns, grateful to simply stay with them. Then, after some heartfelt goodnights, Shaun and Lea retreated to their bedroom in comfortable silence.
While Shaun began changing into his night clothes, Lea grabbed a couple things from her bedside table, then headed to the bathroom to remove the remnants of the makeup she had applied earlier. As she stood in front of the mirror, wiping away the makeup, the heaviness of the day lingered in her mind, but she tried to push the thoughts aside, and once she finished, she returned to the bedroom, finding Shaun already changed and waiting for his turn to use the bathroom. While Lea quietly changed into her night clothes, Shaun, sticking to his routine, brushed and flossed his teeth before heading back to the bedroom.
Lea and Shaun shared a glance and her lips curved into a soft but tired smile as he pulled back the bed covers. Once they both settled under the covers, Lea, despite her efforts, couldn't shake away the weight from her parents' words as their judgement kept swirling in her thoughts, even as she fought to let it go. She couldn't fully escape the pain, but eventually, exhaustion took over, and she drifted off to sleep, instinctively curling up against Shaun's side, seeking warmth and comfort there, as if the space there was her safe place.
Meanwhile, Shaun, still awake and staring at the ceiling, was processing everything that had happened, mentally sorting through each moment of the night, but no matter how much he tried, he couldn't stop replaying Lea's tear-streaked face and the tremble in her voice as she told him about the confrontation with her parents. The intensity of such image stirred something deep inside him, a feeling he struggled to fully understand, but he knew he couldn't ignore.
He knew that physical pain and emotional pain were two different things, but, while he was good at fixing the first, the second had always been more complicated.
His mind raced with possible solutions, each one meticulously analyzed and discarded since nothing felt certain or entirely right as he tried to find the right path to take, which frustrated him, because there wasn't a straightforward procedure or set of rules to follow, and in the end, he didn't know what to do or how he could help fix the situation with Lea's parents.
Though he didn't have all the answers, one thing was clear: he wanted to protect Lea from any more hurt, but how? Maybe he had to talk to her parents himself? Lea had stood up for him many times, maybe it was his turn to do the same for her and their relationship?
With that realization settling in, he pulled the covers up a little higher on himself and Lea, then he finally closed his eyes, and as he focused on the gentle rhythm of Lea's breathing, he let sleep take over at last.
Sunlight filtered through the curtains of Shaun and Lea's bedroom when his first alarm of the day went off in the stillness of the early morning, marking the beginning of his carefully timed morning routine. He quietly slipped out of bed and glanced at Lea, who was culled up under the covers, still fast asleep. For a moment, he simply watched her, studying the rise and fall of her chest with each steady breath, as if checking the respiratory rate of one of his patients, looking for signs of stress or discomfort. Her body language seemed peaceful, but he understood that some wounds often hide beneath the surface. However, the calmness in her sleep soothed the remnants of the tension he felt, and satisfied with knowing she was at least getting some needed rest, he grabbed his phone from the bedside table and walked out of the bedroom, leaving the door slightly open.
On his way to the bathroom, Shaun stopped in his tracks as soon as he noticed Nonna Dilallo in the kitchen, already dressed for the day and busy over the stove. The gentle aroma of pancakes filled his nose and when she lifted her eyes, she smiled warmly at him.
"Buongiorno, Shaun" She greeted in a soft voice, as if not to disturb Lea.
"Good morning." He replied in the same soft tone as he curiously stepped closer to the kitchen.
"Lea's told me how much you love pancakes, so I thought I'd make some for you both this morning."
There was a warmth to her words that reminded him of moments with Lea, small gestures packed with thoughtfulness.
He leaned slightly over the counter, watching the pancakes cooking, almost inspecting them.
"Chocolate-chip ones, right?" She asked, smiling softly at him.
Shaun nodded softly. "They smell and look good… Way better than Dr. Park's. His pancakes always smelled and tasted weird because he used oat flour and protein powder when he made them during the pandemic… Sometimes he also burned them."
Sue chuckled softly. "Well, I can assure you these are better. As good as they look."
"Lea always talks about how good your food is, so I suppose your pancakes will taste good too." He replied and turned again to resume his way to the bathroom to continue his routine, leaving Nonna Dilallo grinning to herself as she flipped the pancakes.
Meanwhile, in the bedroom, the soft scent of freshly made coffee and pancakes began to pull Lea from her sleep. She shifted under the covers, stretching with a soft groan as her joints cracked, then she winced as the weight of yesterday's emotions settled dully in her head, like an echo of a hangover. She sighed, rubbing her temples, then blinked her eyes open and glanced around the room as her mind ran through the tasks for the day, and for a moment, she considered taking the day off, but she had basically done that already the previous day, and those tasks weren't going to do themselves, so, slowly and reluctantly, she sat up, letting her legs dangle over the edge of the bed as she let out another sigh. She didn't move for a while, she just blankly stared at the floor as fragments of the previous day replayed in her mind, bringing back the heavy ache of uncertainty and sadness.
When Shaun finished his shower, he got back to the bedroom in his bathrobe, ready to pick an outfit for the day, but the sight of Lea still sitting on the bed with an absent expression on her face, made him pause, once again, checking on her almost the way he would on a patient. Her breathing was normal, her skin color looked fine, and based on the sight of her jugular vein pulsating on her neck, her pulse was also normal. But she was completely still, like something was holding her down. He knew that she was probably still affected by the events of the previous day, so he just approached her slowly and gently waved a hand in front of her face.
"Lea? Are you… okay?" He asked with a soft but slightly worried voice.
His voice broke her trance, and she blinked a couple times before looking up at him, offering a small, tired smile. "Yeah… just taking a moment… Yesterday was rough…"
Shaun nodded slightly, then, not wanting to overthink anything at that moment, he resumed his morning activities, turning back to the closet.
"Your nonna made pancakes." He said, staring at his clothes, then grabbed a pair of chinos.
"Mmh, I almost thought it was you cooking…" She said softly as she finally stood up with slow movements.
"She said I will like them."
"You will." Lea nodded, watching him as he picked a shirt. "That's my favorite… makes your eyes look extra blue." She smiled softly, standing near him as he placed the shirt on top of the neatly folded pants he had picked.
"Shaun?" She said softly, and his gaze shifted to hers, pausing what he was doing. "I don't want to be this needy, but… can I just… get a hug?"
Knowing it was something that brought her comfort, Shaun's arms unfolded instinctively, and Lea, without hesitation, stepped into his embrace, wrapping her arms around him in a firm but not overly tight hug, her head resting against his chest. He felt her exhale as he held her gently, reminded of the times she'd stood by him, her patience when he struggled with his emotions, and her reassurance after a difficult day. But this hug felt a bit different; he could feel her need for safety, and he realized that simply holding her close and being there was what she needed. As his friend and colleague, Claire, once told him "Sometimes a woman wants advice, and sometimes she just wants support.", he realized that sometimes just showing up was also enough.
Lea closed her eyes while they hugged, listening to the soothing sound of Shaun's heartbeat, letting her body and mind relax as all the tension faded for a moment. If it was only up to her, she'd stay like that all day, in his embrace, but they both had to go to work…
"Thank you." She mumbled when she finally pulled back, then she pushed herself up on her toes to kiss his cheek, whispering: "I love you."
"I love you too" Shaun replied, looking into her eyes, then she walked out of the bedroom and he turned his attention back to his clothes.
Out of the bedroom, Lea walked up to her grandma, who was now setting the table, and leaned to kiss her cheek, greeting her with a soft voice. "Giorno, nonna."
Nonna Dilallo smiled warmly at the gesture. "Buongiorno, cara. How are you feeling?"
"I'm okay…" Lea said, nodding and forcing a reassuring smile, though there was a heaviness in her voice she could't entirely mask.
And of course, Nonna Dilallo was no fool. She noticed the lingering sadness in Lea's eye, and she knew her granddaughter too well to know she was lying and hiding her feelings… Or maybe not… Maybe she wasn't as good at that anymore; if she were, she wouldn't have missed the signs about her issues with Ben in the past… The thought made her heart ache… She just wanted to pull her granddaughter close and somehow undo all the things she had missed and all the bad Lea had been through. She still wanted to know everything, to know how everything had led to the present situation, to know how she could help, but she knew better than to bother Lea with things from the previous day or her troubled past relationship as early in the day and with an empty stomach, so she held onto all of her questions for later.
"Bene… You go get ready for the day and I'll have breakfast ready when you're done." Nonna DIlallo smiled warmly again.
Lea simply nodded, and kissed her grandma's cheek again before walking off to the bathroom.
There, she sighed at her reflection as exhaustion was written all over her face, especially in the shadows beneath her eyes. She then stripped out of her clothes and stepped into the shower, letting the warm water run over her. And for a moment, she stood still, with her eyes closed and her palms resting against the wall in front of her, trying her best to quiet the echo of her parents' words.
Eventually, she got out of the shower and wrapped herself in a bathrobe, then returned to the bedroom while Shaun was by the fridge, grabbing an apple, and her nonna was quietly washing the pan she had used.
Once she was done getting ready for the day, she checked herself out in the mirror and took a deep breath, as if preparing herself for whatever life could throw at her that day, then she finally walked out of the bedroom, only to find her grandma and her boyfriend already at the table.
Shaun was talking about his current patient, basically presenting the case the way he would to an attending during his rounds at the hospital, while her grandma was listening intently and politely nodding her head from time to time, even as the medical jargon had her lost halfway through.
Lea paused by the bedroom's doorway, watching them, and a slight smile broke through the tension she was feeling as she took in the small moment of normalcy.
A minute later, she joined them at the table, taking a seat next to Shaun, and tried to join the conversation while her grandma quickly reached to serve pancakes, bacon and some fruit on her plate.
"That's a lot, Nonna…" She chuckled softly as she stared at all the food on her plate. "But thank you."
"Well, I bet you barely ate yesterday…" Sue replied, looking at her granddaughter. "You need energy for the day."
A sigh escaped from Lea at the reminder and simply nodded lightly, then she poked a berry with her fork and fed it to herself, knowing that was what her boyfriend and grandma expected her to do as their gaze lingered on her.
After seeing her take the first bite of her food, Shaun resumed the talk about the case he was working on, focusing on what he found the most interesting bits of it, blurting out medical facts about certain things like a trivia.
Despite Lea's efforts to join in the conversation, occasionally forcing herself to smile in all the right places, her mind kept drifting back to what had happened with her parents. She was mainly just picking at her food and pushing her fork around more than actually eating anything, which Shaun and her grandma noticed, but, for one, Shaun didn't know what to do, and on the other hand, Nonna Dilallo didn't want to press her, so they just met each other's eyes for a second, silently acknowledging the concern neither voiced, until another one of Shaun's alarms went off, marking the end of his time to have breakfast.
"I have to go." Shaun said as he stood from his chair, gathering his dishes.
"It's okay…" Nonna Dilallo stopped him. "I'll wash them. You go." She added, smiling at him.
"Okay." Shaun agreed, settling his dishes back down on the table, then he turned to look at Lea. "I'll see you later."
Lea looked up at him and nodded, then smiled softly when he leaned forward to peck her lips before he walked to the door where he grabbed his backpack and jacket, then Lea and her grandma watched him leave.
After the door clicked shut, Lea and her grandma turned their gaze to each other, and the IT director could sense what was coming.
"You still want to know, don't you?" Lea asked as tension invaded her body.
"Sì…" Nonna Dilallo replied gently with a soft and understanding expression, reaching across the table to rest a hand on Lea's, then, giving her hand a gentle squeeze, she added: "But take your time, dear. I just want you to know that you're not alone in this."
Nonna Dilallo's words hug in the air as an invitation for Lea to speak if she was ready, but also as a promise not to rush her if she wasn't.
Lea sighed, almost in a frustrated manner. "It's probably for the best if I just let it all out already… I just want to get over it… be done with it and move on…"
"I understand… But I also want to understand everything that's been weighing on you…"
"I know…" Lea a voiced softly, then, after a moment, she took a deep breath and gradually began sharing what happened the day before.
Her words came slowly at first, but as her nonna listened without interruption, the dam opened, and Lea spoke about the whole meeting with her parents and the things her nonna didn't know about her past relationship with Ben. Her voice faltered at times when she talked about the painful parts she'd kept hidden, yet, kept herself steady, trying her best not to break again like she had the previous day.
Nonna Dilallo listened intently, offering soft, comforting squeezes to Lea's hand, but every now and then, she would wipe away some tears from her own eyes as Lea talked about her past, wishing she had known, wishing she and her husband had been there to protect her and support her when she most needed it.
As Lea went on, she found herself not only recounting the hurt, but also expressing emotions she hadn't fully processed before, like the guilt and the anger from her past, and her feelings for Shaun.
By the end, she felt as if some weight had been lifted from her shoulders while her nonna reached to wrap her in a hug. And after holding her tightly for a moment and rubbing soothing circles on her back, Nonna Dilallo pulled back from the hug and looked into her now teary granddaughter's eyes.
"I don't want to cry anymore…" Lea said wiping her tears away, groaning softly.
"You can break if you need to. I'm not here to judge you or for you to continue bottling everything" Nonna's voice was gentle, in an attempt to sooth her granddaughter's frayed nerves, but as she stared at her, carefully studying her expression, she was almost able to see the battle in Lea's head, which made her sigh.
"Mia dolce ragazza, as long as I live, you'll always have a safe place to talk and break if needed—a shoulder to cry on, a pair of arms to hold you, and my unconditional love, support and help." Nonna Dilallo added in a soft, warm tone that for lea felt like being wrapped in a warm blanket of reassurance.
Lea glanced up hesitantly and locked eyes with her grandma; her eyes glistening with fresh tears that threatened to spill. Nonna Dilallo's lips trembled as if searching for the right words, then, with a shaky voice filled with guilt, she added: "I'm sorry I wasn't there for you. I'm sorry I didn't realize…"
Lea shook her head, reaching for her grandma's hands to hold them with a soft, reassuring squeeze. "It's not your fault, Nonna. I'm the one who chose not to tell anyone, not because I didn't trust you or my nonno, but because I was embarrassed… Because I should've known better… I should have seen the signs before it got to where it got…"
"No" Nonna Dilallo interjected firmly, shaking her head. "Don't you blame yourself for what happened. There's nothing you should or should have been embarrassed about… I understand why you didn't tell your parents, but none of what happened was your fault."
Lea sighed and her grandma reached to gently brush away a tear trailing down her cheek.
"I just… I don't understand… I feel like I'm always disappointing my parents, like nothing I ever do is good enough or it's wrong. It's as if, in their eyes, I'm always somehow the villain of the story. And unless I do exactly what they want…" Lea's voice faltered as she blinked rapidly against a new wave of tears, then added: "It's like I'm not worth their time or love…"
She paused and her thoughts began spiraling into a familiar dark place, and doubt crept into her heart, gnawing at her sense of self as her mind flooded with memories of her parents' judgement.
"What if they're right? Maybe I…" Lea spoke again after a moment, almost in a whisper, like thinking out loud.
"Basta!" Nonna Dilallo's voice cut through the air with a commanding edge, while her finger rose sternly, and she fixed Lea with a look that allowed no argument. "I'm not going to let you go down that rabbit hole." She added firmly. "What happened to you with Ben and the way your parents have chosen to treat you all these years, says nothing about your worth. Nothing, Lea… You're a bright, strong and beautiful woman who deserves love and respect, whether it is from your parents or anyone else, because you are worth it, and you should never, ever let anyone make you doubt that. Do you hear me?"
Lea swallowed, pressing her lips together tightly as some tears fell down her cheeks again while she stared at her grandma, unsure if she truly believed those words.
"Mi hai sentito? (Did you hear me?)" Nonna Dilallo asked again, her voice softer but still firm.
Lea nodded weakly, and her gaze dropped to her lap while her fingers nervously picked at the fabric of her jeans, wanting to embrace the love and validation being offered, but the doubt planted by her parents' disapproval wasn't easily shaken.
"As for Shaun…" Sue continued, gently reaching for Lea's chin and tilting it back up, guiding her to meet her gaze again. "Everyone is entitled to have their opinion, even when they come from ignorance… But that boy—even if he's not like you, or me, your parents, or others. Even when his brain works differently and he might feel differently… I can see he loves you more than anything, Lea. I see it in the way he looks at you, the way he listens to you… And I can see how much you love him too… He's your anchor, just like your nonno was mine."
Lea's lips curved into a faint, almost fragile smile as her grandma offered a warm, supportive look.
"Don't let anyone take that from you. Don't let them make you doubt your feelings…" Nonna Dilallo added firmly.
Lea nodded, and after a moment, she sighed, and her gaze dropped to her hands. "The things I said to them… It hurts like hell, you know?" Her voice cracked slightly, and she swallowed hard. "They're my parents. I love them. I just… I wish they were present, proud and supportive, but…"
"You've tried, darling… " Nonna Dilallo said with both understanding and sorrow in her voice. "Trust me, I don't understand them either, but it's good that you've set boundaries. You can't keep setting yourself on fire just to keep others warm… It's been their decision to be the way they've been and it will be their choice how this ends… But no matter what happens, I will always be here for you."
Lea let out a shaky breath, and her shoulders loosened slightly as she leaned into her grandma's arms and Sue wrapped her in a protective embrace.
The hum of fluorescent lights buzzed faintly in the surgical team's meeting room as Dr. Lim and Dr. Andrews discussed the next steps to treat their patient. Shaun sat at the table, surrounded by the new residents, Dr. Park and Dr. Browne, listening attentively at first, but then his attention drifted, and his mind was no longer in the room with his colleagues.
His gaze was fixed on the monitor displaying patient scans, but the images blurred into the background as his mind wandered. He thought about Lea and how she had looked at breakfast that morning—trying to smile but failing to hide the weight of her emotions. He thought about her parents, their attitude, and the way their words had hurt her. The urge to do something about it, to fix it, nagged at him, thought he hadn't yet figured out how to stand up for Lea and their relationship.
"Shaun?" Dr. Lim's voice snapped him back to the present.
"Yeah?" He asked, blinking and refocusing, having lost track of the conversation.
"She wants to know if we've made any progress with our patient." Dr. Browne said, looking at him.
"She refuses to get the spine surgery before she competes. Her father tried to force her, but she fired him as her coach and said she will call her team's lawyer to file for emancipation."
Everyone's eyebrows in the room shot up in surprise.
"What?" Claire exclaimed, then shook her head and sighed exasperatedly. "Some people can be stubborn as F even when all you're trying to do is help them…" She muttered with frustration.
Shaun who managed to hear her since he was next to her, looked at her puzzled, while her eyes were fixed on Dr. Lim. He followed her gaze wondering if she was talking about their patient or there was something else.
Dr. Lim, glanced at Claire with a neutral expression, yet the tension between them was something that even Shaun felt.
"Okay, let's focus on the father's surgery then…" Dr. Lim said, turning back to the monitor.
Shaun's gaze shifted between Claire and Dr. Lim, almost considering commenting about it, but his mind was already occupied with his own unresolved questions about Lea and her parents.
Lea sat at her desk, staring at the lines of code on her monitor. The cursor blinked expectantly, waiting for her to type the solution to the program error that had been flagged earlier by a few nurses. Usually, debugging was her forte; she loved the challenge of finding the problem and crafting the perfect fix. But today, her thoughts felt as scrambled as the faulty code.
"One issue at a time, one issue at a time…" She mumbled to herself as her fingers began to quickly type a few commands, but the error persisted and she groaned softly, dropping her head into her hands.
Her mind kept drifting back to the confrontation with her parents and the emotional pain she felt. Their voices echoed in her mind like a looping error message, and no matter how hard she tried to reroute her thoughts, she kept circling back to their disapproval, like a glitch she couldn't debug, which was driving her crazy.
"Lea?" Benji, her coworker, called from across the room as he stood by the doorway. His voice snapping her back.
She quickly straightened in her chair and forced a small smile. "Hi! What's up?"
"You okay?" Benji asked, stepping into the office.
"Yeah, just a tricky one. I'll figure it out." She replied, waving it off.
Benji didn't look entirely convinced, but still approached her desk and handed her the flash drive she had requested. "Here's what you asked for… If you need a second set of eyes on that bug, let me know."
"Thanks, Benji. I got it." Lea smiled again as she grabbed the flash drive, then Benji nodded and walked away.
Lea exhaled and turned back to her monitor. Her gaze settled on the blinking cursor, trying to focus on what she needed to do, but instead, her thoughts shifted to Shaun, wondering how he was doing, wondering if he was feeling the same weight she was, then she shook her head softly, and thought:
—My parents, my past, my decisions, MY mess…—
She didn't want Shaun to be burdened by it all, and she hoped he wasn't. Maybe he was cruising through his day, completely untouched by the storm her family had dragged into their lives, which was probably for the best.
She knew he cared, but she didn't want her family's mess to interfere with his mind and his job, like it was interfering with hers.
No matter how hard she tried to bury herself in her work, typing another set of commands, the program kept spitting out the same error message, and her parents' voices lingered in the back of her mind, like static in the background.
Sitting in the break room during his lunch break, staring blankly at the Nutella sandwich in front of him, Shaun contemplated his options. He knew he wanted to help fix the situation between Lea and her parents, and he knew he wanted to stand up for her and their relationship somehow, but clearly he had done nothing like it before. Lea was only his second girlfriend, he never got to meet his first girlfriend's parents, and although he had dealt with rejection, discrimination, disdain and what not before because of his autism, he had never stood up for himself, someone or something else like this before, so he didn't know what to do, where to start or how to go about it. There was no list of steps to follow for this type of situations and this time there was no made up simulator to practice beforehand, plus, there was no guarantee that things would go well even if he were able to practice, proof of that was the practice dinner and what had happened that evening between himself, Glassman and Lea.
After some thinking, he realized he had no previous experience in situations like this, but he had the experience of others, so he could consult the matter with them. Who to ask first though?
He weighed the background of those closest to him and Lea, and he came to the conclusion that, since Morgan had been present during the practice dinner and she had had to somehow deal with parents' rejection and judgement before, she was probably one of the best persons he could ask for advice, plus, she had talked to Lea the evening of the practice dinner, so maybe she could offer an insightful opinion.
Shaun finished his sandwich, then headed out to the clinic where Morgan usually is. He walked to the reception and asked for his colleague, but was told by a nurse that Dr. Reznick was working at the ER for the day, so he headed there.
"So you had sparring in the morning, where someone kicked you, after that, you went to work like nothing happened, and then pain came in at night, you didn't sleep well, and now you're here in the ER because you don't know what's going on?" Morgan's tone was crisp, her words tinged with barely restrained incredulity.
"Yes," the eighteen-year-old patient replied, wincing from the pain.
Morgan paused, tilting her head slightly. A thin, tight-lipped smile played on her face—the kind that masked her inner monologue of Seriously?
She took a measured breath, visibly restraining herself from voicing her thoughts.
"Okay…" she muttered, her tone laced with just enough professionalism to keep the patient from feeling like an idiot. As she took notes on her tablet, her expression softened—though just barely.
"Am I going to die?" The patient looked at her with a genuinely worried expression.
"You're going to be fine. You might've made it out of the octagon without a black eye, but your ribs weren't so lucky." Morgan said as she examine the patient's body, and he dramatically winced in pain again when she pressed on his side.
"You probably have a fractured rib, which I assume is a first because you're probably new to MMA. I'm surprised you didn't come in right after the kick—The pain catching up later is unusual… I'll order some X-rays just to be sure, but my money's on a fracture. Either way, no fighting for a few weeks."
"What? No way!" The patient exclaimed only to wince again.
Morgan handed her tablet to a nearby nurse and turned to walk away, her sharp gaze catching Shaun, who had been standing a few feet away, watching her. She raised an eyebrow.
"Murphy, you're not invisible. Anyone who sees you staring like that is going to think you're a creep. Why are you here? Don't you and Claire have a patient?" She asked as she walked past him.
"I need your advice." Shaun said as he began to walk after her.
Morgan's eyebrows shot up at his reply, surprise flickering across her face as they stopped by the elevator. She turned to face him, studying him quickly while her hand automatically reached out to press the call button.
"Alright, but only because this inflates my ego. What's the crisis?" Morgan replied with sass but also being nosy. "Is it about your patient or Lea again?"
"It's about Lea's parents." Shaun replied as both stepped into the elevator.
Morgan's curiosity grew as she pressed the button to the main cafeteria floor, and the doors closed.
"You usually run to Claire for this kind of stuff…" She remarked.
"I plan on asking her too, but you were first on the list, because apart from also having judgmental relatives, you know more about what's going on since you were with us for the practice dinner, and Lea talked to you." Shaun stated.
"Well, thanks, I'm flattered…" Morgan said with exaggerated sarcasm.
"You're welcome." Shaun replied earnestly, making Morgan chuckle.
As the elevator began moving, Shaun filled her in on everything that had happened the day before between Lea and her parents. Morgan listened quietly with her arms crossed, leaning casually against the wall. Her expression changed from mild curiosity to some sort of irritation.
"Yep, I'll give it to you, they kinda do sound like my family…" Morgan said dryly when Shaun finished. She let out a short sigh, wondering, not for the first time, if she and Lea had more in common than she cared to admit.
"I want to help, but I don't know how to make them see that Lea and I are right for each other and…" Shaun added until he was cut off by Morgan.
"You can't change the minds of people like that overnight, especially when they are that stubborn. You can't just make them see anything, Shaun, but you can show them…" Morgan said as the elevator stopped and the doors opened. She pushed off the wall and walked out, gesturing for Shaun to follow her.
"How?" Shaun asked, walking after her into the cafeteria.
Morgan grabbed a tray and started walking along the salad bar, glancing over the options. "Remember when I told you Lea didn't think of you as a man?"
"Yes," Shaun simply answered.
"Well, that's what's happening here too. Her parents don't think you're a man who can take care of their daughter. They probably don't even think you're a good doctor."
Shaun tilted his head. "Lea's mom did ask if it's been hard for me or my patients that I'm a doctor. How could you have known that?"
Morgan rolled her eyes. "Because I used to think like that, and because that's exactly what my parents would think." She grabbed a pre-made salad bowl and turned to Shaun. "You want anything?"
"I already ate, but thanks."
"Suit yourself." Morgan shrugged and moved down the queue to pay, continuing her train of thought. "They don't see you as someone capable of a serious relationship, and they probably don't think Lea can handle the challenges of being with you. Maybe they think they're protecting her, but really, they're trying to control her."
Shaun stared, processing her words as she paid for her food.
"You gotta show them that what they think doesn't matter, because you and Lea aren't kids who need their approval anymore. They don't like you because you're autistic? Too bad. You love Lea, she loves you, and that's all that matters." Morgan said as she grabbed her tray and turned to the seating area, eyeing the tables to pick one while Shaun's gaze followed hers.
"Oh, look, there's Mother Teresa…" Morgan added as she noticed Claire enjoying her lunch alone at one of the tables, then she walked in that direction.
"But how do I show them that?" Shaun asked, following her.
"Confidence, Shaun, confidence can be intimidating. You go up to them and show them you're probably more mature than them by being upfront instead of talking behind their backs, like they did about you. Show them that just because you're autistic, doesn't mean you can't stand up for yourself or have Lea's back…"
Claire raised a curious brow as they approached. "Who are you planning to intimidate?"
"Lea's parents," Shaun replied as he sat across from Claire and Morgan sat next to him. "Morgan says I should intimidate them."
Claire frowned confusedly. "Why would you do that?"
Morgan sighed and sat down, popping open her salad. "Not intimidate, just… stand your ground. Draw a line, like Lea did. But if you're going to confront them, you better be ready for whatever they throw at you. They'll deny everything or sugarcoat it, but they'll keep pushing for what they want."
Claire looked incredulous. "Wait, hold on. What exactly happened?"
Shaun quickly explained everything, and Claire's expression shifted from surprised to concerned.
"That's awful," she said softly. "I'm sorry, Shaun."
Morgan stabbed a fork into her salad. "They're just jerks trying to get their way."
Claire shot her a disapproving look. "Morgan…"
"What? I'm speaking from experience. Remember my mom?"
"I remember you saved her life." Claire argued.
Morgan rolled her eyes. "I never said I don't care about her. She's still a jerk."
Claire sighed and turned to Shaun. "Listen, they're a different generation. It's what they know. They probably think they're doing what's best for Lea. You shouldn't take it personally."
Morgan scoffed. "They literally told Lea they don't want her with him because he's autistic. How's that not personal?"
Claire glared at her quickly but didn't argue. "Some parents have strange ways of showing their love" she said gently.
"Or lack of it," Morgan muttered.
Claire ignored her and focused on Shaun. "You can't control how they feel, but you can show them how much you care about Lea. Be honest. Be yourself. Let them see how good you are for her. If they don't come around, then at least you'll know you did everything you could."
"What if they never come around?" Shaun asked.
"Then they're the ones missing out." Claire said with a small smile.
Morgan nodded. "Exactly. You don't really need their approval anyway. You've got Lea, and that's what matters."
Shaun was quiet for a moment, staring at the table as he processed their advice.
"I want to do this for Lea" Shaun said after a moment, looking at them. "The fight she had with her parents yesterday is affecting her… More than the one she had with them before she came back from Hershey."
Morgan raised an eyebrow curious about the past fight might. But as strong as her curiosity and nosiness was, she kept herself from asking.
"She doesn't say much, but I can see it. She's not eating well, she keeps zoning out, and yesterday… she cried a lot" He sighed as his gaze dropped to the table. "Too much…" He added, almost in a whisper.
Morgan and Claire stopped mid-bite, their full attention on Shaun. Though he rarely saw them express his feelings, the concern, helplessness, and deep love for Lea were unmistakable on his face.
"Sounds like you're already doing a lot just by being there for her, Shaun. Not everyone notices those things, you know? But it shows how much you care about her. Sometimes that's what people need the most." Claire said in a gentle voice.
Morgan let out a quick, tinted with frustration sigh. "You can't really fix how she or her parents feel, though. What you can do, is show them they're wrong. Show them who you are and what you mean to her."
Claire raises a brow and looked at her. "Are you speaking from experience again?"
Morgan shrugged one of her shoulders, then drank some of her juice.
"Did you fight with your parents too?" Shaun asked shifting his attention to her.
"Who hasn't? Even Mother Teresa here had her issues with her mom… Let's just say I know what it's like when your parents think you're never good enough. Even when you do the impossible, they find a way to remind you you're still… less than." Her voice was quieter but there was an unmistakable bitterness behind it.
"That's… very mean, but does sound like Lea's parents." Shaun let out after processing her words.
Morgan snorted softly. "Yeah well, mine were allergic to pride unless it involved any of my siblings, but life goes on. It's who they are, like St. Claire said." She glanced at Claire, catching the look of sympathy on her face, but she quickly waved it off. "Anyway, my point is, you're not gonna win them over by being perfect or proving them wrong about every little thing. Like Claire said, you just have to be yourself. That's enough for Lea and it should be enough for her parents too."
"Families are complicated, Shaun. Morgan and I might not agree on much, but we both get that it's hard when the people you want, or are supposed to support you, don't." Claire said and glanced at Morgan, who gave a small, almost reluctant nod.
"If you need backup, just let me know." Morgan teased.
Claire chuckled softly and shook her head. "You've got this, Shaun"
Shaun nodded slowly too as he absorbed their words, then he pulled out his sketchbook and pen, writing down a list of what he considered were the most important points from what Morgan and Claire said. Morgan leaned over to peak, while Claire resumed eating, quietly watching them.
In her office, Lea exhaled sharply, running a hand through her hair as she leaned closer to her screen. The lines of code blurred together for a second. Her eyes burned from hours of staring at the screen, but she forced herself to focus.
—This has to work— She thought.
Several nurses had been complaining all morning about a glitch in the system when they tried to enter their passwords to get medication for patients. And after hours of troubleshooting, Lea was close to fixing it.
Her fingers flew over the keyboard one last time, then hit enter. The program ran and she waited a second, crossing her fingers—and it was done. No error message popped up.
"Yes! Finally!" She said throwing her fists in the air victoriously.
She ran the program a few more times just to be sure, and when everything ran smoothly, she let out a triumphant laugh. "Suck it, asshat!"
"Wow, that sounded personal."
Lea glanced up quickly to see Nurse Villanueva standing at the doorway. She had stopped by to check if there was any progress with the glitch.
Lea smirked "It was personal. I've been fighting this thing since morning, but I finally won." She glanced at the clock and realized just how much time had passed. "Damn…"
"Yeah, you missed lunchtime." Nurse Villanueva said with a small nod.
Lea groaned. "Ugh, it's fine. I'll get something later. You can go tell everyone the error is gone, though."
"Thanks, but seriously, you should go eat before you pass out on your keyboard. You're looking a little pale." Nurse Villanueva pointed out.
Lea narrowed her eyes slightly, then sighed, recognizing that Nurse Villanueva was probably right and that arguing wasn't worth the energy.
"Fine, but if the glitch comes back, I'm gonna blame you for it." She teased.
Nurse Villanueva chuckled. "Just go, or I'll bring Shaun."
Lea gasped playfully, narrowing her eyes again. "You wouldn't dare…"
"Don't try me, Dilallo." Nurse Villanueva grinned cockily and walked away.
Lea chuckled softly, but as the adrenaline from fixing the glitch faded, the empty feeling in her stomach reminded her that the only thing she'd eaten all day was a few bites of pancakes that morning.
Reluctantly she got up from her chair, grabbing her phone, and made her way to the hospital's small cafeteria, which was near the clinic and her office, but as she did, her phone buzzed in her hand— It was her friend Sarah.
"Hey, stranger. You fell off the face of the Earth after that box from Ben. How's it going?"
Lea sighed at the thought of how everything in her life felt like it was crumbling. "It's… going."
"Have your parents met Shaun yet?"
"Yeah, it didn't go well…" Lea answered while looking up at the cafeteria's menu.
"Crap. That bad, huh?"
"Yeah… Just a coffee, please." Lea ordered, then tapped her card against the scanner and started giving Sarah a brief summary of everything that had happened.
"Damn, Lea. No wonder you disappeared… How are you? Do you need anything?"
"A time machine… Or a new family." Lea replied with a dry cynical chuckle, but the exhaustion in her voice was too obvious.
"I'm sorry. I wish I could give you any of those. But seriously, this is a lot. I don't blame you for wanting to crawl into a hole for a bit."
Lea let out a hum in agreement as she wrapped her fingers around the warm coffee cup.
"How are you? Like, for real." Sarah insisted.
"I'm fine…" Lea sighed. "I mean, I'm upright, functioning and pretending everything's fine. I guess that counts, right?"
"Mmmh, classic Lea move…"
"There's nothing else I can do, to be honest. It hurts a lot but, I said what I said…"
"Yeah… Damn… Alright, I gotta go, but listen—if you need me, I'm here, okay? Even if it's just to rant, cry, or to get you fake identities so you move to a tropical island with Shaun and your Nonna, and me, of course." Sara joked.
Lea let out a real laugh at that. "You shouldn't put those ideas in my head. It's very tempting."
Sarah grinned, glad she made her friend laugh a bit at least. "I'll let you think about it. But seriously, talk soon, okay?"
"Yeah. Thanks, Sarah."
They hung up, and Lea sighed, staring at her coffee as her fingers tightened slightly around the cup. The noise of the hospital buzzed around her—voices, footsteps, the espresso machine working—but it all faded into the background as she sat there, lost in thought, occasionally shaking her head slightly as she recalled some of her parents' words.
"I do like you. Okay?" Glassman's voice cut through her thoughts, making her jump slightly. She hadn't even noticed him approach.
And her default defense mechanism—sarcasm—kicked in. "Oh stop, you're gonna make me cry." She subtly rolling her eyes.
"You're a very cynical person, you know?" Glassman replied, standing in front of her, holding his own coffee cup.
"You're a very grouchy person who cannot give a compliment and refuses to admit when he's wrong." Lea said almost defiantly, raising a brow and shrugging softly.
Glassman sighed with a hint of exasperation, then gave in. "Alright… You're funny. You're smart. And you make Shaun very happy." He said, counting each off with his fingers before sitting across from her.
"I suppose the last one is a good thing, but it also means you can also make him very, very sad. And that worries me, frankly." He added.
Lea's playful expression dimmed. "I'm not planning on hurting Shaun."
"It's rarely intentional, you know?" Glassman said in a soft voice, looking at her.
Lea stared at him for a moment. Maybe he didn't like to admit when he was wrong, but she sort of hated when he was right. She sighed, glancing down at her cup and tracing the rim of it with her thumb as his words echoed in her mind.
Loving someone also means giving them the power to hurt you, sometimes without even realizing it. No matter how much you care or how hard you try to say or do the right thing, there will be moments when you get it wrong. When your best intentions don't come across the way you mean them to. She knew that too well. She had hurt Shaun before when had she convinced herself that he was better off with her as just his friend, even when she truly believed she was doing the right thing.
"I'm not perfect, I know…" She let out after a moment, still staring at her cup. "And I know the odds of me hurting him again are far greater than the ones of him ever hurting me. Because whose to say I'll never screw up again, right?"
Glassman didn't respond right away, he just watched her with an unreadable expression. Something about his lack of response made her pulse quicken, and be fore she could think too hard, words slipped out.
"You might be glad to know that you're not the only one who thinks I'm a fuck-up, by the way." Her gaze flickered up to him before she looked down again, tightening her fingers slightly around her cup.
Glassman frowned in complete confusion. "Woah, when did I ever say that? What are you talking about?"
She sighed sharply, rolling her eyes at herself more than anything. "My parents, uhm… they have an issue with Shaun… and me."
Glassman exhaled after sipping some of his coffee, and with a softer voice, he asked: "What happened?"
Lea hesitated, glancing at him briefly before looking away. She wasn't sure why she was even telling him this. He'd probably hit her with an I told you so, which was the last thing she wanted to hear. But somehow, not telling him felt worse.
"It's his autism…" She finally said, staring at her cup again. "They think I'd be better off with someone else—someone normal, or so my mom said." She let out a short humorless laugh. "They're just being ignorant and selfish and… so annoying… They—" she stopped herself, hesitating again, then nervously started biting one of her nails before looking at Glassman again. "Do you know about my ex?"
He tried to recall. "Uh… the chef guy?"
"You don't know…" She nodded slightly. "That's good, I suppose…"
Glassman raised a brow "Should I?"
Lea shook her head quickly. "My parents wish Shaun was more like one of my exes, which is messed up, because he's an ass, but they don't believe that because he's been around for a while and they've got him on a pedestal, for some reason." She huffed. "Anyway, Shaun is the total opposite, and he's autistic, so obviously that's the problem, right?" She shook her head again. "They're worried about having autistic grandchildren and what people might think… I honestly don't give an F about that… But—" She stopped herself again, sighing and leaning over to press her face against her palms while her elbows rested on the table.
Glassman frowned slightly as he processed everything, trying to understand what she was trying to tell him.
"But what?" He asked.
Her mind raced. She didn't want to say it out loud, didn't even want to think about it, but the thought was already stuck deep in her brain, and it was impossible to ignore.
What if, in a way, her parents were right? Not about thinking she should be with someone else, but the other way around. What if she wasn't what Shaun needed? What if, in the long run, she wasn't what was best for him?
She wasn't even sure why she was letting herself go down this path again. The last time thoughts like this had crept in was when Shaun first confessed his love for her and asked her to be his girlfriend. The anxiety had almost crippled her then, but she wasn't the same person anymore. She's grown and learned. Shaun has taught her to see things differently, to see him differently. But her parents… They had a way of making her doubt everything. She was unable to shake the fear that maybe she wasn't enough for Shaun.
Her stomach twisted and her heart clenched as she tried to pull herself together, but before she could stop herself, the question slipped out.
"Do you think Shaun would be better off with someone else?" She asked, lifting her face from her hands to look at Glassman.
Her words hung in the air for a moment and he straightened in his chair. His expression hard to read.
He didn't want to jump to conclusions, but he couldn't shake the feeling that she was questioning more than Shaun's needs.
"I don't understand…" He said, leaning forward slightly, searching her face for some kind of reassurance. "Are you having doubts about being with Shaun?"
Lea frowned. "What? No! I mean—What my parents think or want doesn't matter. I love Shaun, and I know he loves me. But…" She paused, exhaling with frustration. "I just wish they didn't have an issue with that just because he's autistic. And I don't want Shaun's parent to have a problem with us, too."
She wasn't just upset; she was worn down by it all. And as much as he wished he could give her some kind of reassurance, he couldn't lie—to her, to Shaun, or to himself. He had to be honest.
"Well, I do have a problem," Glassman finally said. He too took a sip of his coffee, only to curse under his breath as a few drops landed on his tie. With a sigh, he grabbed a napkin and dabbed at the stain, his focus momentarily shifting before he looked back at Lea.
She raised a brow, caught off guard by his blunt response.
"I will always worry about him." He continued with a softer tone. "Everything Shaun has gone through—all the rejection and the pain, the victories—they all belong to him… But I feel every single high and every single low… So, I'm sorry but— "He shook his head slightly. "I'm not gonna stop worrying about him. Even if he doesn't need me to."
He let that settle for a moment and tried to get rid of the stain on his tie again, though it wasn't doing much good.
"That's probably what your parents are doing. They're worried about you and your future." He added, almost as an after thought.
Lea's stomach twisted again. She swallowed hard, rolling her eyes, and exhaled sharply as she shifted in her seat.
"You don't know them…" she muttered.
"No…" he said, meeting her gaze again. "But I'm a parent, and I know what it's like to believe you're doing what's best for your kid, only to realize you were wrong."
Lea pressed her lips together and sighed as she looked at him. She didn't want to think about her parents anymore. The weight of it all was exhausting and frustrating, and she felt like no matter that she said or did, they would always find a way to get in her head, making her question things she already knew the answers to. She just wants things to go back to how they were before their visit—before her mom's call.
Her gaze drifted to the stain on Glassman's tie. It was easier to focus on that than to keep digging into thoughts that only made her feel worse. So deciding she'd had enough of this conversation, she steered elsewhere.
"Yeah, well, I know that if Shaun sees that stain on your tie, it will drive him crazy." She forced a smirk nodding at his tie. "You might want to change it while you still have the chance."
He glanced back down and huffed a quiet chuckle as he dabbed the stubborn stain again. "Yeah, well…" He playfully imitated her tone. "Some things are easier to fix than others."
Lea sighed softly, giving a small nod as she glanced at her coffee, thinking that at least one thing had sort of resolved.