Sunset and Vine | Adopted By Elizabeth Olsen

04 | Florence

"You're not paying." Jay shakes her head, setting both drinks on the surfboard countertop while Barry sets out to make the bagels.

"Jay, come on." Lizzie whines, "I'm paying, I'm not just gonna take it."

"You're just as bad as Olivia. Elizabeth, everything you do for us, let this one be on the house. I promise I'll let you pay for lunch." Jay teases, though there's a great sincerity in her tone that warms Lizzie's heart.

"Without the discount?" Lizzie cocks her head to the side, raising her eyebrows at Jay in the most teasingly threatening manor she can compose.

Jay laughs, "In your dreams." Lizzie just grumbles, grabbing the drinks with bold hands and punching the bagel bag between her fingers, books tucked between her arm and her side.

Lizzie walks over to Via, smiling widely at the little girl. Today, she has on a blue long sleeved shirt, and black leggings, though the shirt looks worn thin and the shoes are the same broken apart ones that she had on before. Lizzie had to admit, the blue looked sweet on her.

"Breakfast?" Lizzie asks, holding up the hot chocolate and bagel the best she can manage.

Via blushes, kicking at the ground. "You don't have to keep buying me food."

"Well, I didn't even buy this. Jay refused to let me pay. But, I don't mind. I like having company." Lizzie said warmly, breaking a smile in hopes of easing the nerves bubbling in Via's belly. "It's hot chocolate and a cream cheese bagel. I've got a bagel and a coffee."

"Did you bring the book?" Via asks meekly, and Lizzie smiles widely. She sets both drinks on the table Via just finished wiping down, and then the bagel bags, and finally pulls the two books out from between her arm.

"I brought To Kill A Mockingbird, and a book for me to read. I figured we could do some reading today, not so much talking." Lizzie explains considerately, not missing how Via seems to brighten at the suggestion of just existing together, rather than having to carry a conversation. Lizzie assumes too many people have tried to interrogate her on her life.

"I've read that one." She says shyly, nodding toward the other novel in Lizzie's hand. She pulls the sleeve of her top over her hands, nervously fiddling with it. "I liked it."

"Oh, really?" Lizzie hummed, amazed by the depth of Via's reading history. "We'll have to talk about it once I finish it."

Via nods, "I've read most of what's in the library." She looks over toward the bookshelves. "After I leave here, if the library is still open, I sit there and read them. But, that way I can't write in the margins." She explains, and Lizzie stands, puzzled. Jay had said Via checks out the books, but never reads them. But she goes to a public library and reads them there?

"Any reason why you don't read them here? I know Jay and Barry wouldn't mind your notes in the margin. Half the books on that shelf came from me, so they're already scribbled in." Lizzie questions, trying hard not to push or pry, but genuinely curious.

"I have work to do." Via says simply, but there seems to be more words at the tip of her tongue that she doesn't have the courage to push out.

"You know, there are quite a few readers on set. Why don't you go through some of your favorites, and we can set you up a little book of the week recommendation stand. I think a lot of people would love that. Escaping to another world after you've lived in the shoes of somebody else for a day is very therapeutic." Lizzie explains with a wide grin. She hopes her idea is well perceived, and not like she's intending to push Via to open up.

"Book of the week?" The little girl mimics her, eyes wide and colored green as the greenery from around the cafe allows the color to pop, but the blue in her shirt does a wonderful job of bringing out the blue in her eyes.