Tarin was still on the couch, working out a plan. A plan to get Lee to stay, that was the most important thing at the moment. Finding Lee was something that Tarin hadn't even tried to tackle yet. It was obviously going to be something of a trial to find her, and Tarin really didn't think Robert would be willing to help...but he did still have Rachael's number in his phone. Star 69 was a small gift from god.

Tarin heard a commotion outside and wondered what was going on. Tarin didn't want to move to see what it was though. It sounded like someone was struggling up the stairs, then the door handle was jiggling.

Tarin's attention jerked there, alarm the first emotion to surface, followed by continued weariness. Let whoever was going to come...to come. The door opened, Tarin's heart leaped in spite of himself and then she entered the room laden with Chinese take-out.

Tarin just looked at her for a moment as relief poured through him. She'd come back....she'd left to get him food...for him...and she'd come back.

The smell of the chinese take-out wafted to his nose and Tarin's stomach grumbled so loud he was startled he didn't know how hungry he was.

Lee came towards him and was looking down at him, then she asked if he was hungry, "Yeah..." he said softly, "I'm actually starving.."

Tarin looked away for a minute, hand raising to run though his hair then pausing at the anticipated sting of the action. "I thought you'd left." he said, shaking his head, "but you came back."

Tarin looked surprised and relieved when she walked in. Kind of like how she was feeling surprised and relieved about the fact that even though he was up, he was simply sitting on the couch, not exactly a dangerous situation.

Apparently, Tarin was starving, though. Not that that surprised Lee; she had been practically starving too by the time she had made it to the restaurant, and she had eaten more than he had over the last day or however long it'd been since she first got there.

Nodding, Lee started tearing into the bags on the table. She was no longer hungry, not right then after having the buffet at the restaurant, but she pulled out the container of lo-mien and handed it over to Tarin along with a plastic fork that had fallen to the bottom of the bag.

And then she froze, her hand still extended toward Tarin from handing him the food, when she heard him comment on the fact that he thought she had left.

"I'll go get you a drink," Lee ended up saying rather than actually responding to what Tarin said. "You must be thirsty, too." Without waiting for an answer, Lee straightened up and made her way into the kitchen. She made it all the way to the cupboard and pulled out a glass before she ended up leaning heavily against the fridge.

Why had she come back, she wondered. She could have left, could have been done with it all, with Tarin, and gone back to Canada, or wherever. She was as sure as she could possibly be that the spirit was gone, that would have been the best time to leave. Yet, at the same time, she couldn't have simply left Tarin in the condition he was in, with how little energy she had left him, with absolutely no food in the house. She was surprised he had made it to the couch, he wouldn't really be able to fend for himself for a while yet.

As Lee poured Tarin a glass of water finally, she decided that it was that guilt that had kept her her, the sense of responsibility over Tarin's condition. It certainly wasn't the fact that she wanted to be there. Nope, not at all.

"Here you go," Lee said, holding the glass of water out to Tarin once she was back in the living room.

Lee had already fallen on the food, pulling out bags and boxes from the Chinese place down the street. Tarin couldn't help but smile a little bit at the fact that she'd done that.

Lee was avoiding questions again though and when Tarin commented on the fact that she'd come back, she looked so surprised that he wondered if she'd even realized it herself. Maybe she'd just been working on auto-pilot, and as she left for the kitchen, Tarin sighed and leaned back against the cushions of the couch, concentrating on nothing but shoveling food into his mouth.

Lee came back and held out the glass for Tarin, who took it and patted the couch next to him. "Sit down Lee...and let's talk."

Tarin waited for a moment to see what she would do and took another bite. When he swallowed he looked up at her again, "I think you should stay."

Tarin was eating, certainly not taking it easy on the lo-mien she had handed him. It was a good thing that she had gotten extra food even if she had already eaten. By the look of it, he was going to need it. After giving him the water, Lee grabbed another container of Chinese, not exactly sure what that one was, and handed it to Tarin.

And then Lee saw Tarin pat the couch beside him and suggest that she sit.

Lee wasn't sure what to do. The smart thing, at least in her mind, would be to just leave; he had food now, she had made sure of that, so she should just go. But the fact was she was there now, she had come back. She probably should stay for a bit. Right?

So Lee sat down, but not where Tarin had patted the couch. Instead, Lee sat on the very far end of the couch, one leg tucked under her as she faced Tarin.

"You think I should stay," Lee replied slowly. Of course he'd think she should stay. The question was, should she? Especially after everything that Tarin had told her in his half-passed out state, Lee wasn't sure what she should do anymore.

She hesitated, but Lee sat down. Tarin leaned forward and put the Chinese food on the floor then sat back against the cushions, rubbing his hands together and turning to look at her.

"Yes Lee. I think you should stay. For three reasons."

Tarin did run his hand through his hair this time and he did wince at the pain as his hand ran over the wounds from earlier in the day.

"First..." Tarin said, counting on his fingers and not looking at Lee now, "I love you...and you love me. That's a hell of a lot more than some people have...and it's utterly ridiculous to throw that away."

Tarin paused and took a deep breath, knowing what he was going to say was going to take a lot, "The absolute enormity of what I'm responsible for has not hit me yet...and you're all I've got Lee...I need you to stick with me through this."

One more, Tarin was sure he'd had three when he started, but now that he was to three...he couldn't remember what it was.

"And third...third....I want you to stay...don't give up on us..." That was going to have to be good enough...Tarin swallowed and sighed then looked at Lee one more time.

"Please?" He added.

Lee was sitting sideway on the couch, so she was able to see Tarin lean over to put his Chinese down, could see him then lean back against the couch and run his hand through his hair, see how that action hurt as his hand reached the back of his head. She could see him then rubbing his hands together and turning to look at her as he said again that he thought she should stay.

And then Tarin was listing the reasons he thought that she should stay, and he wasn't looking at her any more, but was rather looking down at his hands. That worked just as well for Lee. She wasn't sure what her face was showing at the moment, didn't know what she looked like when Tarin said that he still loved her and knew that she still loved him, but was glad that he wasn't looking at her to see whatever that expression might be.

By the time that Tarin had reached his second reason why she should stay, Lee wasn't looking at him, either. Her eyes had dropped to her hands, which were sitting in her lap. Pretty much since she had gotten to his apartment, especially after seeing the bedroom, Lee had done her best to try and forget what she had seen, what she knew. But Tarin had been asleep pretty much the entire time, he hadn't had the chance yet to think about it or to try not to.

Even if she wasn't looking at him, Lee knew by Tarin's voice that what he was saying was true. He was going to need someone to help him through what was coming for him, possibly even more so than he had needed someone the last day or so, and she knew he was telling the truth about her being the only one he had.

But really, she hadn't been able to leave, to abandon him when he had been passed out. How could she really do so now, when she knew he needed her so much more? And, after her date with Sam, Lee was even more aware of how much she had been missing Tarin, how much she had lost out on.

When Tarin finished speaking, Lee nodded slowly, finally looking back up to see him staring at her. "I'll stay," she whispered, then held up a finger before Tarin could get too excited, before he could think she had said more than she actually had. "I don't know if we'll ever get back to where we were, but I'll stay."

If Lee wasn't looking at him as he spoke, Tarin hadn't realized it. He was too focused on saying what he felt he needed to say. Hell, at this point he'd get down on his knees and beg her not to leave if it came down to that. If there was one thing Tarin knew, though, it was that he couldn't let Lee out that door. Not again.

He looked at her now, watched her as she digested the things he was saying. Dissected the reasons he'd given why she couldn't leave him again, then Lee spoke.

What was odd, was that when Lee agreed to stay, Tarin didn't feel like jumping up and down or cheering. He felt a rush of relief and he relaxed against the cushions of the sofa again, but he didn't whoop or yell and he definitely didn't try to embrace or touch herl. Just nodded. "Good."

Tarin had a feeling that Lee was staying simply out of some odd sense of duty or necessity, but she was staying and that was all that mattered for the time being. No, things would never be the same, how could they after everything that had happened? Things would work out though, Tarin knew they would. THey had to.