This is just a sick joke, right?

She lifted her nose in a small scrunch while a smile still played on her lips when he came over and started to help with the dishes. Then he started to explain, or rather he tried to fish for an answer in trying to avoid what she had just said. Not that it had even been an answer that he needed to answer, because she understood that it wasn’t something he knew. That much she had understood when he had kissed her, and then told her that he didn’t know why he had done it. “Wasn’t looking for an answer, you already told me that you didn’t know. I was just saying that you’re making it hard for me thinking straight” she explained with a soft expression as she looked towards him. “don’t we always want happiness for people?” she asked, even though he had just told her that he wanted it more than he wished for other people’s happiness. “Or at least the people we still consider our friends” she licked her lips washing of the last item. Starting to move the things that he had dried of back on their place. She didn’t even think about how well they worked together in the kitchen. “Maybe it’s just a good eye opener” she then added, maybe she should just take all the chaos fold it together and get something out of it. Like getting out of her shell, go on a date with someone. Preferably with someone that wanted her. But maybe it was time to get back out there, trust someone with her broken heart. It really was all the emotions that Sterling made her feel in a very small period of time.

She explained to him that he hadn’t had to explain anything. She had just explained that he made it hard for her to think straight. Well, now she had gotten some kind of explanation. Maybe. He didn’t know if she could use the words that he had said. He looked towards her as she asked if one didn’t always wish for happiness for others. He licked his lips and let his gaze return to the dishes he was drying. He wasn’t really willing to reply to that because he didn’t always wish people happiness. He pulled on a little smile as she corrected herself and said that at least the people who one considered a friend. She was probably right. Maybe he wasn’t feeling anything different from her. Maybe he wasn’t testing the waters with a hundred miles per hour. Maybe he was just being her friend…Yeah, who was he joking. Both of them, clearly.

He noticed how she finished the last dish and started removing the dry and clean dishes. He turned his torso a little as she mentioned something about an eyeopener. “What?” he said and turned his feet too. He didn’t understand what she meant with an eyeopener. What had he made her open her eyes to?

She put a bowl back in its place and turned towards him as a small what escaped him. Her eyes found his and she gave him a small shrug. “You know with everything yesterday, and seeing Daniel, maybe it’s time to put myself out there” she explained, putting the last thing away taking the cloth to dry off her hands once more leaning against the counter. A soft smile formed on her lips while she kept looking at him. To be fair, after he had kissed her, she had of course hoped it had meant something. That it would be him that would be helping her getting over the things that had happened. But she wasn’t going to walk into something that wasn’t all or nothing. At least nothing that intimate. She had never been the kind of woman to go into town and bring home a random guy. Maybe she just played a little too hard to get?

“find a date or something like that, I have a co-worker that has been trying to set me up with her soon for ages, might be a good place to start” she let out a small laugh, it would probably be a disaster, but a start nonetheless.

Sterling raised his brows a little as she talked about putting herself out there. It sounded dangerous if she meant just right outside the door or near her camp, but at the same time he knew that she meant she wanted to start dating again. That might also be a good thing for her, right? She elaborated what she meant, and he nodded a little. “It sounds like an idea,” he said even though it pained something in him to say that. He wanted to tell her it wasn’t necessary, but he couldn’t do that if he hadn’t even made up his own mind yet. “Show the world what you got and make sure people remember you,” he suggested and shrugged. He didn’t really mean any of that, because he wished that she would find a loving and caring man and not have to run around on different dates all the time.

She nodded when he agreed that it sounded like an idea. What she didn’t notice was how he said it, that he didn’t add the word great. It was just an idea. It wasn’t good, nor bad. It just was. Which might have made her wonder, if she hadn’t been so worked up on just making her life make sense right now. Taking in all the information that he had given to her over the last twenty-four hours. The supernatural, her former boyfriend, the kiss, who they had played around on the sofa. She couldn’t help but laugh and look at him with a big smile that lit up her eyes. “You’re right, make sure people remember the Jade Hasson” she hummed and then squatted down to look at the pie they had made together. She picked up a knife and opened the door to the oven. As she scraped the knife over the pie lid it sounded nice and crispy, and it had the right colour. She took it out and placed it on top of the gas burners. “This looks so good” she whispered to herself and took a big whiff. Even smelled incredible. “Best sous-chef ever” she turned towards Sterling still with a smile on her lips. Yes. What a twenty-four hour ride.

Sterling chuckled a little as she mentioned herself as the Jade Hasson. He watched how she squatted down to watch the pie. She checked if it was baked. The sound the lid and the knife made when she scraped the surface made it sound amazing and crisp. “How does it look?” he wondered with a wide smile, but it was almost like it was the cue for her to take it out. He managed to look over her shoulder, “It looks delicious,” he almost said at the same time as she complimented how it looked. But then she complimented him and turned towards him, “Nah, I didn’t do much,” he chuckled and waved a hand like it was nothing. “So, are we going to take a slice or what?” he asked not thinking about cooling time at all. Even though it was taken out of the oven, it was still baking a little. Well, he couldn’t be smart about everything, could he?

She was a little surprised of how close he was to here when she turned around, letting her tongue glide over her lips. Quickly she pushed the feelings rising in her body down and sent him a crocket smile as he asked if they should eat it now. “Not unless you want your tongue to burn” she kept shuffling the mittens in her hand around, noticing that she was actually quite hungry. Had they forgotten to eat breakfast? “But maybe we should make something prober to eat, instead of just eating cake” her smile widened moving around her walking over to the fridge that they had just filled a few hours ago after her little trip to the store. “Hungry?” she asked looking over her shoulder, while thinking through the many dishes she could make for them, from the food she had bought.

Sterling folded and pressed his lips together as she mentioned that he could possibly burn his tongue if they had a slice now. She was right. He would probably burn his tongue. The dissatisfied expression lessened as she suggested they could make something to eat instead of just cake. His smile mirrored hers and his eyes followed her as she moved to the fridge. “But cake is so full of nourishment,” he joked. He hummed a little as she asked if he was hungry. He shrugged his shoulders, “A little maybe,” they hadn’t eaten breakfast. “I can just have a slice of bread or something,” he suggested. She didn’t have to make anything special out of the meal, and he still needed room for at least one piece of pie.

The smile on her lips couldn’t really get any bigger, even though his comment about the cake being so full of nourishment. “Your mother would reprimand me if I didn’t feed her son probably” she laughed, shaking her head as she turned around looking in the fridge. A slice of bread. “I can make us an omelet to go with that slice of bread?” she asked looking at him, as she pulled out some eggs, milk, and shallots. She then got working on the different things that needed to be done for making one each. That would be much more appropriate, especially after he hadn’t been sleeping all that much and after everything that happened. It helped take her mind of things to just stand in the kitchen cooking all day. She had gone so far, as to meal prep in every detail for an entire week, after she had broken up with Oliver. Brilliant coping technique if you asked Jade. Maybe not so much, if you asked a psychologist.

Sterling couldn’t help himself from laughing as Jade explained how his mother would feel about her only feeding him cake. He understood and could easily picture it. Then she suggested an omelet and he smiled calmly at her. “That sounds great,” he agreed and watched how she pulled out what she needed to make an omelet. “Tell me if you need any help,” he said and moved to where he believed the plates were and slowly started preparing for the food she now made while they waited for the cake to cool down. She almost seemed so collected about everything that had happened, but he knew very much, that it was a distraction from everything that had happened. One didn’t just calm down right after these things.