Sometimes, like today, Eve met up with her mother to have meals together, usually dinner, now that school was getting back on track. It was nice, to catch up on things, ask her mother how her father was doing, if the flowers were doing well and make sure they were being watered regularly. It was nice, to get her mind off more troubling things.

But then her mother mentioned something while she was taking a bite of her pasta. "I bumped into Adam the other day, and he said he spotted you at the hospital."

Eve froze, and so did her mouth, ceasing the chewing. She didn't choke, but she almost wished she had, to let her mother know how dreadfully uncomfortable she was talking about her ex-boyfriend, but her mother only continued. "He said he had a nice chat with you." After that, Mrs Summer raised her eyes to regard her daughter with a questioning stare, and Eve could only nod blankly and mutedly, shoveling the pasta into her mouth so she wouldn't be obligated to retort.

A nice chat. Alright, fine, they didn't end up arguing or anything, but Eve couldn't describe it as nice. It had been awkward. It had been terribly awkward because she had been leaving Seth's room when she bumped right into Adam Hale right then and there, and she wished that she was invisible, but he had seen her. He had seen her, and then grabbed her arm with a smile on his face, and said, "Eve? How have you been?" And then glanced towards the door she had shut behind her.

"Fine." She said, louder than she should have, and then realized how strange she sounded and attempted to lighten the tone. "At least I'm not lying in there still asleep."

"I'm glad you aren't." He said seriously in return and she realized he was still holding her arm, blue eyes drifting down to regard it uncomfortably. He noticed and let her go and she smiled in response, stepping away. "I thought you went somewhere else to further your studies." She told him, trying to draw his attention away from the door she had left. It was strange to see him curious as to who she was visiting, and she wondered if he still had lingering feelings for her. She hoped not.

"My mom's got that sleeping disease," He explained and she bobbed her head, remembering what her mother had told her, "so I came back, and volunteered to help out here. Gives some experience anyway."

"Mmm." She agreed. Adam had always dreamed about being a doctor; Eve suspected this was probably why her parents seemed to like him. A lot. It wasn't just that too, he was dependable and nice, and she knew it.

Still, she had broken up with him. It was uncomfortable and strange, not knowing what to say, when she usually could babble on and on for ages even with a quiet companion. It took her a while to struggle to form sentences in her mind, wondering if it sounded appropriate. "How's your mother?" She tried. That didn't sound so bad. She had liked Mrs Hale after all, but wait, she had been visiting people stuck in the nightmare world as well, so she should already know their situation...

He gave her a sheepish grin before he replied. "Still asleep."

"I tried, you know." She told him, not wanting to leave an awkward silence between them. "Tried all sorts of ways to wake them up, splashing them with cold water, pinching them, screaming, but not really, if not the nurses would kill me, I think I even wondered if there was any truth to the Sleeping Beauty theory, that kisses will awaken them or not, but that's just silly." She finished, and then realized she was now pretty much out of breath.

"So you were thinking of kissing someone?" An arched eyebrow and another glance towards the door, and Eve stepped away, starting to walk down the corridor and he followed.

"It was just a theory!" She defended, perhaps more hotly than she should, an embarrassed flush creeping into her cheeks. "I'm not really going to do it, you know!"

"Good." He said quietly, so quiet that she barely caught it and wondered if that was really what had left his lips.

There was another moment of silence as they walked the hallways, nurses, doctors and visitors passing them, until they reached the exit. She turned, smiled at him and tilted her head towards the door. "Well, I need to go now. See you around."

"Why don't we have a meal together?" Adam asked as she was about to turn and leave. "I haven't seen you in a while."

"Why not?" She replied, but not looking at him, trying to keep her voice light and easy. He was a friend. Just a friend, just a friend. She chanted in her head. They were just friends and friends went out to eat all the time. "Call me."

"It's a date then." He said, just as she left, but she had heard that and it had been lingering in her mind.

Eve had been reflecting if she should tell her mother about that meal date, but decided, that if Adam hadn't, then she wasn't going to. Or maybe Adam had and that was why her mother was asking questions.

We're not perfect. She wanted to say. We're not made for each other.

But all she could do right now was just to eat and shift the conversation to something else, like she always did when she didn't want to speak about a particular subject.