Tarin was right, taking the stairs didn’t make the problem he was having with elevators go away. But he said it wasn’t as bad when he wasn’t alone. ”Alright. But just remember, I’m perfectly capable of taking the stairs if you need to. Even in heels,” she let him know as Tarin was pulling her into the elevator.

They were very quickly running out of time before Rachel would be starting her bombardment of questions. Feeling Tarin’s tightening around hers, Lee turned to look at him, her other hand moving to wrap around his as well. ”Help?” Lee asked. ”Because you going for the run last time is what sold her, and I’m not sure she would have believed just me saying you were going for the run.”

It helped to know that Lee was okay with the stairs. Sometimes it was just too much to deal with and especially when they were going down it was just as quick to use the stairs. Maybe Tarin would take Lee up on the offer. Everyone once and a while.

Lee wanted his help with Rachel and Tarin nodded his head, confident in his knowledge of the details they’d concocted on the way home. He could absolutely do that for her, especially with the way that Lee was holding his hand.

The elevator finally made it to their floor and Tarin let out a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding. ”Together then…” he said, stepping out of the elevator and reluctantly letting go of Lee’s hand. It was their first date after all, and he was a gentleman.

Lee gave Tarin a smile when she saw him nod before repeating ”Together,” as they stepped out of the elevator.

Taking a deep breath, Lee made her way down the hall. They had come up with their plan, they knew what they were going to say. They had talked about a few times already that night how she had dealt with situations that had been so much worse.

So why was Lee suddenly nervous to walk into her own apartment and face her younger sister?

Maybe it was because she wasn’t holding Tarin’s hand anymore. Maybe it was because her brain had had too much time to worry about what she was going to be facing the moment she stepped inside.

Regardless of the reason, she couldn’t really put it off as they were now right in front of the apartment door. Closing her eyes as she took one more deep breath, Lee walked through the door Tarin had opened looking much more confident than she was feeling.

”Lee?! Oh my god! It’s about time you’re home!” Lee heard from the living room. And very quickly felt energy approaching her as she stepped further into the apartment and saw Rachel rushing toward her.

”Oh, you know I didn’t mean it like that,” Rachel continued as she came to a stop in front of Lee and Tarin. ”The two of you went out on a date? Why in the world wouldn’t you tell me that you were going out with Tarin? And I thought you said that nothing happened at the bar on open mic night. So how long has this been going on?”

Lee just stared at her sister the entire time the other woman was speaking. Tarin was right, it didn’t seem like she ever paused long enough to breathe.

”Rachel,” Lee said, waving her hand toward her sister. ”All of this is why I didn’t tell you before the date. And it’s been going on… about four hours? Tonight was our first date.”

In they went to the apartment and Tarin took a deep breath as he opened the door and let Lee enter ahead of him.

Immediately, Rachel was on Lee, demanding information and details about how long things had been going on and why she hadn’t been informed.

Lee did a good job explaining the “why” that they had come up with, and Tarin came up next to her and smiled casually, ”Hello again Rachel.” he said.

”Everything go okay?” Like he’d said earlier, Tarin figured the key to talks like this with Rachel was to control the flow of information no matter what Lee said.

Tarin couldn’t help but think, though, it would have been easier just to tell Rachel to mind her own business and leave. This was Lee’s show though, and Lee obviously had far more tact than Tarin did.

”Yes, the date’s been four hours, but how long have the two of you been going on? I mean, you’re living together for goodness sakes! And with how intense Matt said things had been at the bar- This has to have been going on longer than Sunday afternoon when you asked me to babysit. And what did you do tonight?”

Lee sighed, setting her purse down and stepping around her sister to make her way toward the living room. ”If we tell you, will the inquisition stop?” Lee asked over her shoulder.

”Inquisition? I’m offended, Lee,” Rachel said as she followed her older sister into the living room. ”I’m just trying to figure out what’s going on with my sister. You’ve spent almost 6 years telling me that you don’t intend to date anyone. Ever. Then you tell me that nothing happened at the bar after Matt said you were about to start making out before he interrupted you. But only a few weeks later you’re going on a date? Spill.”

Lee rolled her eyes at her sister. ”We were not about to make out at the bar,” she informed Rachel. And they hadn’t been. There would have been at least two or three shorter, more chaste kisses before any making out happened….

”Ok, yes, it’s been longer than since Sunday,” Lee then went on to admit. ”By a whole day. When Robert dropped Kevin off after their guys day on Saturday, he felt the need to talk to me. And butt in.” Here, Lee gave Rachel a pointed look, eyebrows raised.

”According to him, Kevin had talked to him about how the two of us ‘obviously’ like each other. Robert obviously wasn’t happy about that idea, but after he left Tarin and I started talking. If even a teenage boy is noticing, maybe there is something there after all.”

After a few moments, Tarin wondered why Lee had needed him there at all. She was handling things beautifully. Giving just enough to seem like Rachel was getting her way, but only saying in enough to control the narrative in a way that she was giving all of the info.

For his part, Tarin just kind of stood there and made sure the look on his face didn’t change a bit when Lee said they hadn’t been about to make out at the bar because he knew exactly what he’d been thinking that night.

And there it was. Oh so casually planting that little seed that Robert had been responsible for the entire thing. It really was going off beautifully. It would even be able to be corroborated by Robert and Kevin if it came down to it.

Lee finished speaking and Tarin spoke up again, ”So we went to dinner and a movie. Simple as that.” he said, ”Dinner was good, the movie was sad, and now we are home.”

That’s all she was getting from him, and in reality, all there had been so far.

Rachel looked back and forth between Tarin and Lee. ”Really? Robert is the reason you decided to go on a date?” she asked, her voice incredulous.

”I suppose so, yeah,” Lee admitted after a moment. ”Kevin hadn’t said anything about it to me until I talked to him on Sunday, but apparently people don’t spend this much time together unless they like each other. At least according to my son.” Lee shrugged.

”But really, Lee. Robert?”

”Yes, Rachel. I know he’s going to hate it, but him bringing it up did get us talking, deciding it might be nice to go on a date and see?”

With a smile, Lee glanced over at Tarin. ”I did have a good time tonight,” she admitted before looking back at Rachel. ”But are we about done? Because it’s a school night and I do have to get Kevin up and out in the morning.”

And that, it appeared, was pretty much that.

There was a bit more back and forth between the sisters, but Rachel had bought the explanation that Rober was responsible for this whole thing.

That part was particularly glorious and a small part of Tarin wished he’d be able to see Robert’s reaction when he caught wind of that little tidbit.

Rachel, however, did appear to be leaving and Tarin was glad they hadn’t made any bets because he honestly had not expected Rachel to leave with this little fight.

Still, he wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth and as Lee went to see her sister out, Tarin went to drop his keys on the table.

When Lee eventually came back, he couldn’t help but smile, ”As much as I’d have like to see your trick with the handcuffs…this was probably for the best. Though…I don’t really think you needed my help.”

Rachel actually seemed to believe it. So much faster than Lee would have thought. And while Rachel didn’t leave immediately, Lee had managed to get her out of the apartment much faster than she would have expected to.

Once Rachel was out and Lee had locked the door, she made her way back over to Tarin, laughing slightly at his comment. ”Maybe some other time, then,” she said as she stopped in front of him. ”But she also believed us much faster than she did last time.

“And maybe,” she continued, her smile widening as she stepped close and wrapped her arms around Tarin’s neck. ”Maybe I just wanted you nearby.”

”But she also believed us much faster than she did last time.

”It helps that it wasmostly true this time” Tarin pointed out, but then Lee was stepping closer and reaching her arms up around his neck. There were definite benefits to the heels she seemed to like to wear.

Draping his arms around Lee’s waist so that his hands came to rest in the small of her back, Tarin pulled her even closer, dipping his head down for a quick kiss.

”For the record…We were totally going to make out at the bar if Matt hadn’t intervened though.” he said with a wicked little grin.

”So…” he said, voice and demeaner changing slightly ”Is this the part where I drop you off at your door and thank you for a lovely evening?

As good as things had been the last few weeks, as good as things had been between them, it was nothing compared to being able to stand there feeling Tarin's arms around her waist as he kissed her, not having to worry about being seen.

Then he spoke, and Lee couldn't help but laugh. ”Oh, I know we were,” Lee agreed, grinning at the expression she saw on Tarin's face. ” But we weren't immediately about to. There would have been a few kisses more like this first…” Lee whispered before reaching up and giving him another kiss.” [/font]

As Tarin continued, it was Lee's turn for her grin to turn a bit wicked. ”That depends on if you wanted to still be a perfect gentleman…though technically, you have already made it past my front door…”

Waiting for Tarin's reply, Lee's arms tightened around his neck slightly, pulling her closer to him.

Well, as long as they were on the same page.

”That depends on if you wanted to still be a perfect gentleman…though technically, you have already made it past my front door…”

”I mean…” Tarin said, ”It helps that it’s also my front door…” but that was beside the point.

Slowly, running his hands up Lee’s back and along her arms until he found her hands, Tarin grabbed Lee’s hands and gently pulled her arms down, still smiling the whole time.

”I can be a gentleman…If you want me to.”

”That’s true,” Lee said with a smile, then shivered as she felt Tarin’s hands run up her back and along her arms to her hands.

Letting him pull her arms from around his neck, Lee looked up at Tarin with her head tilted to the side in silence for a moment after he spoke. ”And who’s to say,” she ended up whispering. ”That you can’t be a gentleman and I still end up in your bed tonight?” As she finished speaking, Lee was smiling, her bottom lip between her teeth almost nervously, even though they’d done this kind of thing a number of times already.

Just never after an actual date.

Even though Lee’s arms weren’t around his neck anymore, they were still close together and when Lee spoke and stood there looking up at him while she bit her damn lip he couldn’t help but lean down and kiss her.

It did feel kind of different tonight. That night, after the bar, they’d both needed each other in a way that had ultimately been unavoidable. They’d decided to keep things a secret though and the inherent nature of a secret romance had made things feel less…formal. Things were different now.

Now, Rachel knew, and Robert would know as soon as he talked to Rachel. Then Matt would know and the rest of the bar…

The thought made Tarin smile into that kiss. Good.

”So, how would a gentleman go about accomplishing such a thing?” he asked.

Lee’s smile widened when Tarin leaned down and kissed her again. Only for him to ask once he pulled back how a gentleman would manage that. Not that Lee really had an answer about how he would do that as a ‘gentleman’ as opposed to just in general.

”I would say that we should start just by sitting down, maybe some more talking,” she smiled. ”Maybe some more of this kissing business.”

She squeezed his hands as she continued to look up at him. ”Or, we can just head to your room and see where things go?”