Bennett grunted as he sat down on Davina's bed. He took his time to look around her room. The whitewashed walls bared nothing but a single clock, and guitars littered one end of the room, ranging from electric to acoustic. Nothing showed the type of person residing in the room other than the guitars. There was no window into her soul in the room.

"Here, keep your foot elevated," Davina came in, handing Bennett an ice-pack.

Bennett leaned back on the bed and put his injured leg up. He then leaned forward and rested the ice-pack on the swelling, hissing as he did this.

Davina slumped in the desk chair. She swivelled it towards the bed facing Bennett as she took her own ice-pack and relaxed it against her ribcage, closing her eyes on the impact.

"Does it hurt?" She asked him without opening her eyes.

"Only when I breathe," He replied.

She snorted.

"Sorry about this," She said after a minute.

"Don't worry about it. I deserved it," Bennett waved her off.

Davina opened an eye. "What do you mean by that?"

Bennett chuckled half-heartedly more for his own amusement. "This is what I got for not trusting you,"

Davina joined in him in his half-hearted laugh.

"That was quite a story, you know," Bennett started looking at Davina.

Davina murmured in agreement, looking distracted.

"What is it?" Bennett asked, eyeing her.

"It's just looking back now, I hadn't given you a reason to trust me, so I'm sorry," Davina explained, cringing ever so slightly.

But Bennett waved her off. "I hadn't given you a reason either. I guess neither of us is very trusting,"

Davina tilted her head and smiled. "But when we do trust, we usually get it right,"

"Right," Bennett then leaned slightly forward, causing Davina to notice the lack of space between them. "Who would you have sacrificed if you went through with it?"

"Well, isn't that a loaded question?" Davina answered, eyeing him with a smile. "I don't believe we're that close just yet to for me to answer it,"

Bennett shrugged nonchalantly. "You don't have to answer it. But you and I both know we're a lot closer than we care to admit,"

Davina thought it over for a moment before replying. "Truth be told, I don't think I could have hurt any one of you." She looked him straight in the eye.

"Naomi is...Naomi is strong, resilient and brilliant. She's inspiring, you know, her story is one for the books, and she reminds me so much of my own friends, I could never do anything to her,"

Bennett hummed in response.

"Then there's Declan. We sang those duets at the fundraiser, remember? He's nothing but talented, passionate, admirable, reminiscent of my own brother,"

Davina laughed slightly before continuing. "As for Jordan, I could never hurt that ball of sunshine. Jordan is love and life and a sense of relief. He's a breath of fresh air, don't you think?

"Yeah, he is," Bennett agreed and then looked down. "What about me?" He whispered.

Davina stopped short. She looked at him, admiring how his hair fell over his eyes, hiding them vaguely from her.

"Something tells me you only asked the question to know about yourself," She teased, a wry smile gracing her lips.

"Well, I did think I could do with an ego boost right about now,"

Davina laughed, mildly surprising Bennett with how open and airy it was.

"Well, where do I begin?" Davina continued looking around at everything but him.

"You don't have to answer that. I shouldn't have asked-" Bennett said quickly, regretting asking.

"No, no, I don't mind." She finally looked at him, really at him, not through him like before. "I guess it's time to bare my soul and open up,"

Bennett held his breath, anticipating what was to follow. What did Davina Carter think of him?

"You, Bennett, are a tricky one to summarise," She began after sighing contently. "I think we might have gotten off on the wrong foot, you know," She laughed slightly.

"We definitely could have had a better introduction to one another," Bennett chimed in.

"But doesn't that make it a perfect first meet? We didn't have any idea who we would become to one another," Davina stopped and looked down suddenly. "I still don't know what we are," She whispered.

She then looked back up to meet his gaze and whispered. "All I know is, you're someone important to me,"

Each moment felt like an eternity as she watched and waited for his reaction to her vulnerable words. She couldn't read his thoughts at all. Any emotion on his face was utterly masked. He dared not move. She thought he might have stopped working.

What to say? What to say? How about, I've known since the moment I saw your face that my heart would belong to you forever, you took it before I could give it to you willingly, I loved you before I knew your name. I know we make it. I've always known that Davina. I just wish you could know that too.

"You mean a lot to me too," Bennett said quietly yet clearly. He didn't want anything to be lost in translation now. "I didn't realise it before, but you mean a lot to me, everything about you, your opinions, your likes, your dislikes, whether you trust me or not. It all means so much,"

It was like the last of Davina's apprehension had been washed away with each word, replaced by a brilliant smile Bennett couldn't help but stare at.

"Is it too late for a first impression?" Davina asked tenderly, not wanting to ruin the moment.

Bennett shook his head, his eyes not leaving hers. "No, not at all,"

"Hi, my name is Davina. Sorry for kicking you out the window," She laughed as she said this.

Bennett rolled his eyes but laughed nonetheless. "Yeah, thanks for almost killing me,"

"Hey, I wasn't gonna let you die, and if I did, the funeral would have been," Davina kissed her fingers like a chef. "- Beautiful,"

Bennett chuckled again, looking down before meeting her eyes once more. "Hi, I'm Bennett. Sorry for hitting you with a table. That was me, by the way.

Davina's eyes widened at the revelation. "Wait, what? You hit me with a WHAT?!" She yelled. She slapped his chest and then immediately regretted it.

Bennett laughed as he swatted her hand away. "To be fair, you did get revenge by kicking me out a window,"

"Okay, call it even?" She smiled, biting down on her bottom lip. It took everything in him to turn away from that sight though it was burned in his memory.

"Even," He said, looking away in an attempt to hide the pink in his cheeks.

*******

Jordan almost jumped at Davina's exclamation. He composed himself enough to walk into the open plan kitchen any suburban mom would die to have.

Naomi was leaning against the counter, talking to Arya as she cut some vegetables ready to be put into what seemed like a salad.

Other dishes were placed on the stove, their aroma rising, filling the room and making Jordan's stomach growl.

Naomi and Arya noticed Jordan enter the kitchen, and Naomi rolled her eyes at Jordan's telepathic plea to leave them so he could converse with Arya.

Naomi exaggeratedly sighed and rolled her eyes, saying she would go check up on Dominic, but as she passed Jordan, she gave him a heartfelt smile and reassuring squeeze on his arm.

Jordan awkwardly cleared his throat, having Arya look up at him expectantly. He didn't know where he stood with her right now, but judging by the huge knife in her hand, he would start with an apology.

"Hey, how are you doing?" He asked wearily, sitting at one of the stools on the kitchen island.

Arya returned a sympathetic smile before nodding. "I'm doing well, considering everything. How's your head?"

"Hurts like hell," Jordan muttered. "Thanks for saving me back there, you know when we were running,"

Arya looked momentarily distracted whilst looking at him, smiled again. "No worries, thanks for not shooting me," She joked.

Jordan cringed internally, remembering holding the gun. "Arya, I am so sorry-"

"No, don't worry. I know you didn't mean it," She waved him off.

"Not just for that, for everything. For me being a total jerk to you, you didn't deserve that," Jordan began locking his eyes with hers, hoping she could sense his utter remorse. It had been eating him up inside for days.

He loved her. That was the simple truth. He would love her through anything and through everything. And that, he finally came to a conclusion meant to watch her be happy with someone else.

Arya watched him for a long time. Here he was again, back to being the Jordan she met a month ago. Quiet, reserved, but most of all friendly. The one whose laugh she had grown fond of, the one she looked forward to seeing in between classes and hearing his opinions on tv shows and movies. The boy she wanted to know every part of.

Arya was torn. She couldn't be having these feelings towards him. She could only offer him friendship.

She smiled at him finally. "It's okay, Jordan, really. I hope we can be friends?" She asked him tentatively.

Jordan broke out into one of his glorious smiles, and Arya's heart skipped a beat at seeing it. "Yeah! Of course," He said enthusiastically.

They both laughed lightly.

"Your friendship means everything," He said softly, and Arya leaned over the counter to remove his hair from his eyes.

She wanted to see them in the kitchen light, bright and alert and conveying happiness.

You only deserve happiness, Jordan Wallace.

She thought as their eyes stayed locked on one another.

After a moment passed between the two, Arya moved back to where she was cutting cucumbers, and Jordan cleared his throat, wanting to dispense the awkwardness.

"Does your boyfriend," The word almost made him gag. "Know about all this." He said, gesturing to the gang.

Arya stopped cutting. "Oh no, he doesn't," She continued cutting.

Jordan tilted his head to get a better look at her face. He didn't say anything else, though. He didn't want to pry.

As if she could hear his question in her head, she looked back up. "I'm trying to protect him from all this," She chuckled humourlessly. "I think he'd faint if he ever found out,"

Jordan nodded, keeping his laugh to himself.

Arya noticed him trying to hide his snicker, and a smirk crept up on her face. She then turned and handed Jordan a bowl from the counter filled with ice cream and a spoon.

She smiled at him sweetly. "Here you go, dear. I heard Vanilla ice-creams your favourite,"

Jordan took the bowl eagerly from her, thanking her again for the treat. He took one large spoon full and popped it into his mouth before almost immediately spitting it out.

"It's mayonnaise!" He looked at her incredulously before breaking out into a grin when he saw her laugh.

He could hear that laugh forever, completely enveloping him like a cool breeze on a warm summers day.

"I'll get you back, Hudson, mark my words," Jordan replied.

"Oh, I'm counting on it," Arya said, knowing exactly what he meant.