The Lonely Hearts Job

'Dinner was amazing.' , say's Sophie as she finishes her piece of chicken. 'I would think so, you ate like five pieces of chicken.', say's Hardison. 'It was not five and even if it was who cares. Thank you Sophie.', say's Andi nudging Hardison in the side. 'Ouch.' 'That'll teach you to mess with Andi.', say's Elliot with a smirk on his face. 'Man whatever.', say's Hardison getting up from the table. They all start getting the plates, as does Andi. 'No way, sit your butt down.', say's Sophie walking over to Andi. 'But.' 'No buts,we'll clean up.', she say's with a smile. 'Thank you.', she say's. 'Did you get enough to eat Nate?', she asks turning to him, he's sitting right beside her with his hand on her knee. 'Yeah, I did, thank's, it was great.', he say's with a smile. After all the dishes are done they all rest in the living room & Hardison pops a movie into the DVD player. 'Really? Star Wars, come on man no one wants to see this geek stuff.', groans Elliot. 'I didn't hear anyone making any suggestions.', he snaps. 'Maybe we should leave Nate and Andi to talk.', say's Sophie. 'No, no that's alright, let him enjoy this movie.', say's Andi. 'We do need to talk.', say's Nate. 'And we will later, tonight. Let's enjoy this time with them okay?' 'Alright.', say's Nate. 'Awesome!', say's Hardison turning back to the movie. 'I am not watching this crap. Come on Hardison, pick something else.', say's Elliot. 'This is fine.', say's Andi. 'I'd rather go downstairs and play some pool.', say's Elliot. 'That sounds nice, want someone to play with?', asks Andi looking at him. 'Sure.' , say's Elliot with surprise in his voice.

'Your turn.', say's Elliot as he misses the ball he was aiming for. 'I'm kicking your butt aren't I?', asks Andi with a smirk on her face. 'Or maybe I'm letting you win.' 'I doubt it.', she say's back to him. They were on their 5th game & Andi had won 3 of them so far. It had been a while since Andi had spent any real time with Elliot. She remembered a time when they did everything together, now since she & Nate had gotten engaged she found herself spending more & more time with Sophie & Parker. 'So why did you really want to play?', asks Elliot. He had been wanting to ask ever since they came down their over an hour ago. 'No reason.' 'Yeah sure.' 'Really.' 'I know you Andi, I know when something is up.' 'Okay, okay, damn you for knowing me so well.', she say's pointing her cue at him. 'So what's up?' 'Everyone keeps asking me if I'm going to stay.' 'And' 'And, I want to, but how am I suppose to believe that things will get better? What if I stay and things go back to the way they were before?' 'You just have to trust that Nate will do things differently this time.' 'I want to Elliot, I really do, but.' 'Do you love him?', he asks cutting her off. 'What?', she asks as he caught her off guard. Elliot had never been one to talk about feelings, actually he avoided them at all cost. 'Of course I love him.' 'So than what's so complicated about your decision?' 'I don't know.', she say's looking away. He was right, she knew he was but she also knew that it wasn't that simple. If it were simple than she would had already decided to stay a long time ago. If it were that simple she would had never left to begin with. 'Let's go back upstairs.', say's Andi. 'Sure.' 'You owe me too much money anyways.', she say's nudging Elliot as he walks past him. 'I'm good for it.', he say's from behind her.

Back upstairs everyone was standing outside Nate's apartment. 'Everything okay?', asks Andi. 'Yeah we just wanted to say good night before we left.', say's Sophie. 'Alright, well good night guys.' As they start to walk away Andi goes, 'Elliot?' 'Yeah?', he say's turning back. 'Thank you.', she say's smiling at him. 'No problem', he say's smiling back at her. She goes inside & Nate is sitting on the couch. 'Hey.', she say's as she plops down beside him. 'Hey.', he say's back to her. She takes his hand in her's & looks at him. 'Did you have a nice time with Elliot?' 'Yeah it was nice, we talked.' 'About what?' 'About whether or not I would stay.', she say's. It was than that Nate turned to look at her. 'And what did you decide?' he asks her. With a deep breath she leaned in & kissed him on the cheek. Pulling back she looks at him & opens her mouth to let the words fall out. 'I want to stay.', she say's. He smiles & hugs her in that moment. As he pulls back to look at her he notices tears in her eyes. 'What's wrong?', he asks. 'As much as I want to stay, I don't think I can.', she say's. He grabs her & holds her close to him trying to muffle her sobs.