Love, Lust, and Jealousy.
It's a story Cora knows all too well - not because it's her own, but that of her character in Illicit Affairs, the murderous romance that's about to take Broadway by storm. It's her crowning achievement, her pride and joy...
"I want you to be whoever you want to be," he promised as the light turned back over to green. "But Mom and Dad...they don't like what I do, and it makes things harder with them sometimes, you know? I just don't want you to go through that. I want you to be supported."
"But you'll always support me, right?" she asked persistently.
"Of course I will," he quietly answered, but the fact that she idolized him this much was making his heart ache. If she was counting on him to be her hero, her rescuer, she was bound to end up hurt and disappointed. "I'm just not sure if I'm enough."
They fell into an abrupt silence, but when his glance eventually darted back over to her, she was looking at him with wide, concerned eyes.
And that was the night when Rasmus realized that his little sister, who had for so long been such a small child in his eyes, was finally old enough to see right through him.
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The first time Cora went to Rasmus' apartment for dinner, it was impossible not to wonder if she was walking straight into a trap.
Since he'd already been to her place a couple of times now for various reasons, it hadn't even struck her that she didn't know which unit he lived in until he texted her his apartment number. And after all the time she'd spent trying to steer clear of him, there was something bizarre and yet also peculiarly mundane about riding the elevator three floors down to go see him. Even though she'd tactfully turned Lucas down after that first date they went on, she still felt like she was doing something scandalous.
When he answered the door, there was a slightly sheepish smile drawn on his face, a meekness that she had only recently learned was hidden somewhere within the boy who came across as being so cocky all the time.
"It's not much, but..." he shrugged as he let her inside.
Cora assumed he was referring to the fact that his apartment was a studio, which she hadn't known until she stepped in and allowed herself to briefly glance around. In truth, she hadn't given much thought at all to what his living arrangements might be like—she simply didn't care. It was New York and everything was expensive as hell and it wasn't like she ever sat around wondering how much money he made when they worked the same job. To his credit, for all that it lacked in space, he'd made up for it with solid interior design taste and tidiness. The bed was neatly made; there was no clutter on the floor.
For a small space belonging to someone she'd been incredibly hostile towards until very recently, it felt rather homey.
That also might have had something to do with the fact that he'd cooked food for them to eat instead of ordering it. The chicken, salad, and breadsticks waiting for them on the table looked better than anything she would have managed to conjure up herself—Cora was a decent chef when she wanted to be, but she didn't have the patience for it a majority of the time.
"If I didn't know any better, I'd say this looks like a date," she teased without too much thought as she pulled out one of the chairs for herself.
In typical Rasmus fashion, he didn't allow himself to look surprised. Or maybe he truly wasn't. "One step at a time, Coraline."
