He came back with the coffee and set it down. Riley had a feeling he was a little irritated with her for pissing on his parade. He was probably entitled. When Aurum said ‘so’, Riley winced and picked up the coffee for a sip.

”I’m sorry.” she said, just a little quietly, into that same cup of coffee.

”I…I was rude.” she continued admitting , then looked up with a slight smile.

”I’m awful at this…” she said, voice pleading just a little bit.

”The coffee is…great though.”

The rim of the coffee cup muffled her apology. But it was there. And it kept on coming. She said it was hard for her, apologizing. He believed her.

Riley was trying to smooth things over. Trying.

>>”The coffee is…great though.” She finished.

He took a sip of his coffee, thoughtfully. "It really is..." Aurum agreed. "And, thanks." He left it at a minor thank you.

There were several ways he could have responded to her apology. He could have made a big deal of it. He could have shunned it. He could have dug deeper to the reasons behind her need for it, and why she felt the way she did. He was no psychotherapist. That last one was stupid. And the first two were probably in the same ballpark. Last time, she'd gotten spooked because he'd said something... something nice. Or maybe... it had been because he'd made too big a deal over something? God. Women were so confusing. It was maddening.

He left it at a solid 'thanks', because all the other options confused the hell out of him. Thanking someone was supposed to be simple. It was apologizing that was agonizingly hard.

The series of events that followed her apology was so foreign to Riley that it did something that all the berating, ignoring, and shouting could never have done. Aurum’s simple acceptance of her apology, without guile or smug smirks made Riley’s eyes well up with tears as she stared into the cup of coffee he’d brought her.

She wanted to apologize for more, pretty much all of the nasty things she’d said or done. If it was this easy, and this…fulfilling to apologize, it couldn’t be such a horrible thing to do after all. If only the giant lump in her throat would let the words through.

She swallowed hard, and took another drink of the coffee, her careening emotions coming back under a bit of control and bringing with them a small measure of embarrassment. All of that would be silly, and over-emotional, and Riley was anything but that. Instead she took a deep breath.

”Any time.” she responded. ”And really…congrats on the test results.”

It was quiet again, but it wasn’t as awkward and Riley sat comfortably and sipped her coffee. ”How have other things been?”

Oh man. Were those tears in her eyes? Had he... made a woman cry? That was against his rules. For a moment, worry rose up in his gut like indigestion.

It wasn't fair. Why did this woman take nice things he said so seriously? Hadn't she been the type to take anything he said, and turn it back on him before? And hadn't he been required to shrug off all her mean comments, because no matter what she said, she didn't really mean it? Except when she did? Because she was mean, or tough, or bitter, or whatever. And he couldn't be too nice, or she'd deck him? Or run off? Except now.

Now, she was acting weak.

Wait. Was this what they called 'lowering your guard'? She was opening up to him. Wasn't that a good sign?

All this time, he'd been off-balance. But really, he was saying the right things...? There was a big question mark over that thought. He never said the right things. Not with Riley. Except, apparently, when he did.

Yeah. This was confusing.

Aurum supposed, maybe the fact that he was worrying about it meant he wasn't a lost cause.

Slowly, it dawned on Aurum that he had been quiet a while, staring at his coffee.

Had Riley asked him a question? How were... things?

"Confusing." He mumbled, into the lip of his drink.

And Aurum sat…and sat…and sat. Riley didn’t say anything, and just let him digest everything that was going on. It made sense if he was confused…she’d practically walked in and verbally punched him in the face…and now she was crying all over her coffee because he’d let her apologize. God, she was an idiot…and it was simply easier to admit that she cared what he thought than to fight it.

Finally, Aurum thought it all through and took a drink of his own coffee, then spoke. He was more quiet than Riley ever remembered him being when they’d spoken, but the single word spoke volumes. At least if they were thinking about the same thing.

” I think I can empathize.” she said in response. ”But, how do you mean?”

Aurum stared at Riley. There were many questions that sat on the tip of his tongue (a most unsanitary thought). He went with the most important one.

"Why did you run...?"

Ugh. He hoped he wasn't digging too hard, now.

Oh man. That was not what she’d expected him to ask right off the bat. It was the sort of question she might have been ready to answer….never. Riley had worked so hard to push that memory to the back of her mind, and every time it surfaced (like now) she felt an uncomfortable blush creeping up her cheeks.

The doors that were opening….closed with a resounding crash inside her head.

” Run?” she said, averting her eyes and sitting up slightly straighter in her seat. ” I didn’t run. I had to go.” Riley knew exactly what Aurum was talking about, and she knew he knew she did. The answer wasn't the truth, but what else was she going to say? That the realization of how much she’d said had scared her more than anything had in longer than she could remember? Fat chance. She’d given him enough ammunition.

”Isn’t that what I said?”

"No," Aurum replied. "It isn't."

He held the warm coffee cup between his hands, and didn't take his eyes off of her. Her mouth may have said those words, but the context, every other cue, had told him, she'd meant something entirely different. Maybe he was developing a gut. It told him she stunk. She was covering herself. Closing up.

"I demand an answer." He was serious. His ego demanded it.

This was karma.

This was whatever god sat up in his little throne in whatever little paradise existed, paying Riley back for all the nasty little things she’d ever done. Aurum called her. He might as well have sat there and said, “BS” like they were playing the card game of the same name.

Riley visually winced. Why was he choosing now to be persistent, in the middle of a crowded coffee shop? The dark-haired woman ignored the fact that they’d never really been anywhere that wasn’t crowded and public, and focused on the question at hand.

He was demanding an answer? Riley’s eyes narrowed at that statement and her jaw clenched just slightly as a number of lies rolled around inside her head. For some reason, though, none of them seemed to be able to make it out of her mouth.

Why? Why now? She’d never really had trouble lying to men before when they tried to dig too deep, when they wanted to know more than they needed. Stupid Aurum and his stupid honesty and morals and ideals…and that stupid face that made you want to tell the truth.

” I didn’t want to stay anymore.” she settled on, just a little peevishly.

Aurum looked her in the eye.

"Which is scarier, Riley. Telling me... or letting me draw my own conclusions?"

He knew what his answer to that would be. He was fairly certain she wouldn't like it.

Now she was getting pissed. It had been stupid to let those little tidbits slip, to give the apology. Now Aurum thought that she was weak, that he could push her around that she’d simply cave and give him the information that he wanted.

”Or…maybe I don’t care what conclusions you’d draw on your own and I think you should mind your own damn business.”

There, that would show him. Except…what was his conclusion. Curiosity mingled with the frustration Riley was feeling and she settled on a haughty glare. She could pursue that later if the need arose.

"If you don't care what conclusions I draw... then why exactly does it matter whether you tell me or not?"

He could tell this was getting her upset. Upset, though, was honestly not that different from her usual grumpy self.

Aurum decided to hedge his bets. He took on a softer tone. "Look." He tilted his head at her. "If you don't want to tell me, you don't have to. But you're kind of contradicting yourself now if you start saying you care what I think. Unless acting like you don't was a lie."

He let that last statement hang there.

Damn logic. Damn. Logic.

Riley stared at Aurum as he spoke, listing out everything wrong with what she’d just said. My god it made her mad. She seethed as she sat, drumming her fingertips on the tabletop and just listening as he completely tore apart everything she’d said. He was a jerk. He was using her own words against her.

Dammit, he was right. AGAIN.

”Why do you have to do that?” she said, looking Aurum right in the eye and resisting the urge to yell, instead leaning slightly across the table, her voice barely above a whisper, but all that frustration evident in every word.

”Why do you have to dig and dig and poke and prod, and trick me into giving up things with all your logic?”

She paused and took a deep breath. ”Why do you even want to know?” she said, leaning back and letting her voice return back to normal, laced with mild defeat. ” What could you possibly get out of knowing these things?”

Riley asked him a very silly question. Why did he have to unveil the truth.

She was mad. She was defensive. She was at the end of her rope. And, she was defeated. Simple as that. Logic is kind of a super-power.

Aurum never broke eye contact, never let her tone get to him. For a man training to be a lawyer, this was par for the course.

They were getting somewhere. Where? He didn't have a clue.

"You got mad at me, Riley, and I was being nice. I know we hardly know each other, but... I didn't want to push that button again.... looks like I found a whole other row of buttons to push."

Aurum took a deep breath, and shook his bowed head. When he looked up again, his tone wasn't as gentle as it had been. It was still sincere, but practical, first and foremost. "Look, I'm sorry if this is pissing you off. It's just that apparently, I actually give a damn what you think. And I'm willing to admit it. Even if this still isn't a date."

Geez. The way Aurum made it sound, she got mad at him when he was nice and when he tried to be mean right back to her. That was so not true. There was that time she’d….well no she’d gotten mad then. Or that conversation where…nope, not then either.

Dammit. He. Was. Right. Again. Why did she have to keep making him right?

Then he dropped the bomb and admitted something of his own. He cared what she thought…and he wasn’t afraid to admit it…and this wasn’t a date.

”Of course this isn’t a date.” Riley snapped. Then scowled down at the coffee he’d gotten her. The good coffee he’d gotten her.

He’d said he was sorry if he was pissing her off. Riley sighed.

”I don’t do this.” she admitted, not looking at him, her voice tinged with still more frustration. ”I don’t ‘open up’ or any of that other mushy BS. Except…apparently I do, but only when I’m around you."

She still wasn’t going to admit that she cared what he thought though. Because honestly…she didn’t know if she did or not.