<em>Elijah and Maddi sitting in a hut</em><br/><br/>So far, everything was proceeding as Elijah had planned it.  Maddi laughed at his jokes, accepted his breakfast, and even bantered with him about the fruit, but something was wrong.  the atmosphere in the hut was filled with unspoken thoughts.  There was, without doubt, a pink elephant dancing in the middle of the room, doing its best to perform the Macarena and neither of them were going to mention it.<br/><br/>Elijah sensed that Maddi was holding back.  The two of them were going through the motions of being polite.  'Morning-After-One-Night-Stand-Syndrome' was what he liked to call it.  But he was tired of it.  He didn't want to pretend anymore, he wanted to live.  In all his years, Elijah had never fallen as hard and as quickly for anyone, not even Rachael.  Would it last?  Elijah didn't know.  Maddi was a complex girl, and he was a screwed-up guy, but he was damned if he was going to lie down and let her walk away.<br/><br/>As Maddi finished her fruit, Elijah held out his hand for Maddi to take to help her up from the bed.  Once she found her sea legs and had some sense of balance, Elijah pulled her tight.  "I'm sorry I didn't do this the minute I woke up next to you, but I was scared.  Now I realize that I am more scared of not doing this."  Elijah kissed Maddi, then.  It wasn't a kiss of lust and passion.  It was a promise.  It was a kiss looking for acceptance.<br/><br/>"Last night was one of the greatest nights of my life.  Not the sex, because let's be truthful, I was a little rusty.  Ok, a lot rusty.  But you sparked in me something that I had been missing for far too long...Hope.  I can understand if you don't trust me fully, yet.  I am no prize catch.  But give me a chance, and I will be good for you.  Maybe good to you, too."  Elijah could never get too serious without slipping in a little joke, but he meant every word.<br/><br/>Elijah took Maddi's hand.  "May I accompany you to the Lagoon, my dear?"  And though he said it light-heartedly, and kept a smile upon his face, he deeply worried that she might reject him now. "And anywhere else you want to go."