At his father’s admonishment, Sam drew himself up in an exaggerated formal manner, “I have been nothing but a proper gentleman. It’s not my fault some of us seem to lack proper table manners.” He felt Steven glaring at him even though he refused to look in that direction. He and Steven teased each other all the time, it was playful, no one else felt this comfortable with him. But this time he could feel a little edge beneath the lightness. On the surface they were just having fun like usual, but somewhere in there was something more serious and competitive. Perhaps they both just needed to calm down and talk it over. Besides, it would kill him if he had accidentally hurt Steven’s feelings in any real way. “Alright I’m just kidding around, I never want you to change Steve.” He reached out and mussed up Steven’s hair affectionately. Then he smiled at Hannah, delighted that she seemed to be enjoying their fun “Sorry we’re always like this. Especially when we’re around people we trust and like. Don’t feel left out, I’ll get to teasing you soon enough, once I get to know you better.” He gave her a wink and went back to finish up his dinner.<br/><br/>Steven took Sam’s affectionate gesture as a peace offering, for the moment. He was more concerned with what Hannah was thinking anyway, she seemed to find his social ineptness funny, but he wondered whether it was in a mocking or affectionate way. She acted quiet and shy, which made her irritatingly difficult to read, which added to her appeal, and his distrust.  But she seemed genuinely happy that they liked the food, which was very good, and for once in his life he seemed to be succeeding at awkward small talk. He decided to quit while he was ahead and focus on trying to eat his food in a gentlemanly manner. He had an incredibly awkward time working with the fork and knife, so he decided to just set his focus on that, as he turned over thoughts about Hannah in his head.<br/><br/>Sam finished up eating and gently pushed his plate away, he leaned back with a satisfied smile. “So looks like you’re a great cook, what else do you like to do? Dad is terrible at giving details. And now I bet he’s going to get grumpy and tell me to stop prying. He’s totally predictable, even Lauren and Mark agree.” He loved incriminating others in his jokes, especially at his dad. Sam loved the way that his dad had softened up, it had changed the whole family dynamic, made things more easy going and open. He wondered if Hannah knew the effect she had on him. Considering the state his father had been in before, there must be something very special about this girl to bring about this radical change.  “Anyway if you like nature you should come hiking with me, trails around here are pretty spectacular, and it will get us out of this stuffy old house. And the stuffy old people, right Dad?” Also, it would give him some much needed alone time with Hannah, he thought. He noticed Steven stiffen a bit at this suggestion.<br/><br/>Steven finished the rest of his dinner as politely as he could and then looked around awkwardly, unsure of what to do next. “The dinner was, very satisfying,” he said, facing no one in particular, “A good meal. Thank you.” He looked up at the ceiling and waited for the others to finish.<br/>