Lee wanted him to try.

Tarin sighed again, closing his eyes for a moment as he leaned his head back against the couch. His first instinct was to just say no. The fact that this particular doctor already thought she knew so much about what he was dealing with was a huge red flag to Tarin. It bothered him immensely when people assumed that they knew things about him based on what they knew of the other Tarin. This person not only knew things about the other Tarin as person, they knew things about aspects of that Tarin’s powers that this Tarin didn’t even really talk about.

The whole thing seemed like an absolutely horrible idea.

But.

Lee was asking and Lee almost never pushed him to do things he didn’t want to do or that he felt uncomfortable doing unless she really thought it was the right thing. The other thing was that so far she’d been right every time.

So, Tarin opened his eyes and looked over at Lee for a long moment, then he nodded his head, ”I can do that.” he said slowly.

When Lee had asked Tarin if he could at least try doing therapy, she heard him sigh as his head fell back against the back of the couch. But she didn’t say anything. Even though Tarin had shared a lot with her over the last few months, and he had shared a lot in that very first weekend, Lee knew that it had been hard for him. And he had said that a lot of it he had never told anyone else before her. And while Lee knew that Tarin needed the nudging to do this, she also was pretty sure that if she pushed too hard that he would likely shut down and absolutely refuse.

So Lee simply sat there waiting for him, taking the silence as an opportunity to eat a bit more of her dinner.

When Tarin did respond, Lee smiled at him. ”Thank you, Tarin,” she said sincerely. Looking at him for another couple of moments, Lee leaned in to give him a soft, quick kiss.

”Is there a game on tonight?’ she went on to ask. ”Or do you want to see if we can find a movie to watch?”

Well, at least Lee was smiling. Tarin supposed if things went poorly with the whole therapy thing it was ultimately what, thirty minutes of his time?

Lee thanked him and Tarin shrugged, returning the kiss when Lee leaned in. At least things were more normal, even if they still felt a little raw after the confrontation of a while before.

Was there a game on? ”Maybe, but I’m not really feeling it tonight, they’ve not been playing well this series.” it was the truth, the hit streak the team had been on had screeched to a halt and stated to roll backwards and a fast and faster clip.

That left the other option, ”So I guess that leaves a movie. You pick.” The reality was that he didn’t care what they watched at all and just wanted to do exactly what they were doing.

Tarin wasn’t sure if there was a game on, but he wasn’t feeling like watching it if there was. It wasn’t like they watched every Mets game, but more often than not if there was a game on in the evening they had it on even if they spent the entire time talking.

So she could pick the movie. Taking another bite, Lee set her plate down as she grabbed the remote. It didn’t take long for Lee to come across a movie that they had started earlier in the month but that they hadn’t fully watched because they had become…distracted.

What Lee remembered, it was an easy enough movie to follow without having to focus too hard or put too much effort in while still being humourous. ”How’s this?” Lee asked as she leaned her head against Tarin’s shoulder again.

It didn't take Lee very long at all to find something to watch. It was even a movie that they had started watching a while ago. They definitely hadn’t finished it though, and Tarin stared at the TV for a minute trying to remember whether or not this was a part they’d watched or if it was something that had simply been playing in the background while they’d done other, more interesting, things.

How was it as a movie choice? It was fine since Tarin hadn’t really felt like watching much of anything in the first place.

Still, Lee was snuggled up against him, and that’s all that really mattered and he draped his arm across the back of the couch.

Tarin felt antsy though, and kept playing through everything that had happened earlier as he half-payed attention to what was happening on the screen.

We’re okay, right?” he asked a bit hesitantly.

Tarin didn't say that the movie was a good choice, but he also didn't say that he didn't want to try watching it again. He didn't say anything, in fact, but he did move as she snuggled against him to put his arm behind her in the back of the couch.

”We’re okay, right?”

When Lee heard Tarin's question a while later, Lee lifted her head to look at him before nodding. ”Yeah, I think we are,” Lee replied softly.

Lee thought that they were okay.

Tarin tried not to overanalyze the statement. Surely he hadn’t messed up that bad in a single afternoon. Lee wasn’t curled in on herself across the couch anymore, they were watching a movie, Lee had even pointed out that Kevin wanted to talk to Tarin about something baseball related. They’d discussed going to visit when Kevin was at the Mansion. The evidence was clear. Everything was going to be fine.

Tarin nodded ”Okay, good.” he said, settling in to watch the movie. It had been a comedy of sorts and was mindless enough that Tarin soon found himself far more relaxed than he had been before. This had been what he was hoping for when he’d gotten home.

This was much better, Lee thought as she felt Tarin relaxing a bit more beside her as they watched the movie. And as the movie progressed, Lee’s head came to rest on Tarin’s shoulder again as she snuggled closer to him.

”I am sorry I got so mad earlier,” Lee said about twenty minutes later. But before she was able to expand on that or say anything else, she heard her phone ring.

Reluctantly straightening up, Lee grabbed her phone to see that it was her son calling. ”Hello?” Lee said, a little confused. Kevin had not called her at this time once during his trip because he was generally on his computer with his friends now.

”Hi mum, is Tarin there?”

”I miss you too, Kevin. How was your day?” Lee asked rather than answer immediately, and Lee could have sworn she heard the eyeroll over the phone.

”I miss you too, mum. But nothing new or different has happened since we talked this morning,” Kevin said. ”But Tarin’s normally home from work by now, right? Is he there?”

Looking over at Tarin, Lee smiled as she held out her phone. ”Apparently someone is desperate to ask you about baseball.”

The longer they sat and watched the movie, the more the tension and anxiety left Tarin’s body. Lee just being there, even though Tarin knew she was upset with him went a long way to making him feel even better.

A while later Lee spoke, apologizing for just how angry she’d gotten, but before Tarin could respond or accept the apology, Lee’s phone rang. That was inconvenient.

As Lee moved to retrieve the phone, Tarin settled back into the couch, eyes on her instead of the TV now as she answered.

Tarin could hear Kevin’s voice on the other end of the line and he had to smile and shake his head a little bit as the conversation progressed. But then, Lee was holding the phone out to Tarin and he had to frown just a little bit in confusion. What could
possibly be important enough regarding baseball that Kevin was so desperate for answers.

Still, Tarin took the phone and held it up to his ear, ”Hey Kev, what’s up?”

Even though it would have made much more sense for Kevin to have asked Josh his baseball question, or even Ash or Adele, Lee thought that it was sweet and cute that Kevin wanted to ask Tarin.

Tarin on the other hand just simply looked confused. He did, however, take the phone from her and start talking to Kevin. Considering the fact that Kevin had declined to let her pass the question on to Tarin, Lee decided to use the time to pack away the take-out so that she wasn’t just sitting there trying not to listen in on their conversation.

”Hey Tarin, I have a question,” Kevin said, his voice now sounding hesitant and amost nervous. Then Kevin was silent for a good 30 seconds before blurting out the next words quickly. ”How do you tell a girl you like them? Zack can be a bit of an idiot and didn’t have any good ideas, and I asked Uncle Robert but what he said doesn’t make sense.”

Kevin did have a question for Tarin, but it was not about baseball.

The second that Kevin had gone quiet after announcing that he had a question, alarm bells had gone off in Tarin’s head. If this was something as simple as baseball, Kevin would have come right out and asked.

The teen finally did speak and Tarin sat there, holding the phone for a minute as he digested the fact that Kevin was asking him for dating advice. Tarin wasn’t the only one though, Kevin had asked Robert first and apparently Robert’s advice hadn’t made any sense.

Shocker.

”Well…” Tarin said, trying not to panic, or worse…laugh.

”What do you like about her?” he finally asked.

Lee was trying to not listen to the conversation, but she couldn’t help but notice that there was silence after Tarin had asked what was up. Then, after she heard her son’s voice over the phone, though not the words themselves, Tarin was silent. That was definitely not what Lee was expecting. Why was there so much quiet on the phone? It was just a question about baseball.

Except, apparently it wasn’t, Lee realized when she finally heard Tarin speak. ‘What did he like about her?’ Lee turned a curious, questioning look at Tarin, though she didn’t say anything.

”Oh, well,” Kevin said, his voice sounding hesitant again. Then after an audible breath, he plunged in again. ”She’s really smart, and she rides horses really well. She thinks it’s cool that I’ve got my powers now. And she’s got these cute freckles on her nose.” If possible, it was probably evident in Kevin’s voice that he was blushing as he spoke.

Tarin could see Lee out of the corner of his eye and Tarin knew that he couldn’t look at her without laughing so he kept looking stoically ahead lifting his free hand in a kind of helpless shrug.

Kevin’s nerves were evident in his voice as he took a deep breath and then listed all the things. ”Wow.” Tarin said, ”She does sound pretty great.”

Tarin paused for just a moment, then said, ”I would say…make sure she knows you’ve noticed those things. Tell her that she’s good at riding, point out when she says something smart.”

There was one more thing, and Tarin’s eyes quickly flicked over to Lee before he spoke, ”And if you get a chance and nobody else is around, maybe mention the freckles too. Don’t show off too much either, even if your powers are super cool.”

Lee wasn’t able to make out what Kevin had said about this mysterious girl he apparently liked, but she couldn’t help the smile from appearing on her face when she heard Tarin say that she sounded great.

Turning back to the food in front of her, Lee started to gather and pick everything up as Tarin continued speaking. For a man who had probably never expected to have this conversation, he seemed to be doing a decent job, so Lee got up to take the leftover Chinese to the kitchen.

”That…ok,” Kevin said slowly, though it was more thoughtful and less hesitant this time. ”Do you think that will work, Tarin?”

Lee finished gathering up the food and got up to take it to the fridge and Tarin waited to see what Kevin had to say.

Needless to say, the kid sounded a little hesitant and Tarin found himself questioning the advice that he’d given. Truth be told, Tarin hadn’t done any of these things when he was a teenager and he didn’t know how well they would or wouldn’t work. Kevin had asked though, and this was the best that Tarin could guess.

”It can’t hurt….” he said candidly, ”And the worst thing that’s going to happen is that you’re going to end up with a really good friend who knows that you think the world of them.” he said. ”There are much worse places to be.”

Okay, maybe the last part was kind of lame, but it was the best Tarin had.