"Savannah? Is everything alright?"
"Everything's fine."
"Are you looking for Haley?"
"No, um, actually, I wanted to talk to you." Neal was taken by surprise. He barely had one real conversation with Savannah and that was at the prom a while back. They both sat down at Neal's table, sitting across from one another.
"What's up?"
"I know that you and Haley are dating, or seeing each other or whatever you wanna call it. I trust you with her 100%, and it's been a long time since I've seen her this happy. She doesn't give her heart to just anyone so for her to give it to you means that you are very important to her." She told him. A smile emerged on his face.
"How is she doing? I ask her and she says she's fine, how is she really?"
"Today was a little rough. I think she expects to be over it by now and I think she feels like she can't talk to you because you were shot where she was pushed aside. I've known Haley for a couple years now and I've learned that she feels like she's nagging someone by talking to them sometimes. She knows she isn't alone but she's too scared that she'll annoy someone."
"Been there, definitely felt that." A comfortable silence took over.
"That day scared the crap out of her. I've seen her get emotional a few times but that day and the days following, it was like she couldn't stop." Savannah glanced down at her hands. "My mom had told me that if someone starts crying at the thought of losing you, no one can love you more than them. I think she really cares about you but is too scared to say so."
Neal sat there for a few minutes, taking in what she had said. For the first time in a while, he was speechless. "Thank you for telling me this."
Savannah nodded in reply. "You know, now that you guys are together, that means we're friends."
"Does it?" Neal asked, amusement evident in his voice.
"Absolutely. We're going to be BFFs now. Time to accept it, you're stuck with the both of us." Savannah stuck out a fist in Neal's direction, patiently waiting for him to fist bump back.
"Okay, fine." Neal gave in, his fist meeting Savannah's. "Quick question, what's Haley's favorite flower?"
♔♔♔
I was unloading the dishwasher when there was a knock at the door. I walked over and opened it to see Neal standing there, flowers in hand.
"Hey, what's up?"
"I was hoping we could talk." He paused before continuing. "I heard that you were having a rough day." I nodded, half heartedly smiling at him. "These are for you, by the way." He passed the flowers to me. They were purple roses, my favorite.
"I love them, thank you. Come in." I walked back into the kitchen and filled up a vase with water, placing the flowers inside. I resumed unloading the dishwasher while Neal sat at the counter.
"You know, just because we experienced different things that day, doesn't mean you can't talk to me, Hales." I closed the dishwasher and turned around to look at him, resting my hands on the island. "You still saw me, you still went through a traumatic experience that day. You can talk to me." He placed his hand on top of mine, gaining my attention. "I'm not going anywhere."
"You promise?" Neal got up and stood in front of me, his hand holding mine.
"I promise. If you don't want to talk right now, we could watch a movie? I even heard that there's a Yankee game on at 3 today, if you want to watch that instead."
"You'd watch a Yankee game with me?"
"Do you doubt me, Haley Cooper?" I shrugged, looking up at him. "Yeah, I probably wouldn't but I will watch whatever movie your heart desires."
"I knew it. Don't worry, the games are better in person, which you will experience at some point next week!" I cheered as he wrapped his arms around me.
"I thought you forgot."
"Me? Forget? Ha, that's cute." I chuckled. "You know I love your hugs but we have to chose a movie to watch so you need to let go."
♔♔♔
We ended up falling asleep at some point, I don't remember the last scene I watched. I stirred, stretching lightly. I lift my head from Neal's chest, glancing at the cable box to see the time. It was a little after 7 and Neal was still sleeping. As much as I wanted to go back to sleep, I knew we both had to eat something. I carefully got up, being careful not to wake him. I went online and ordered a pizza, then decided to grade some quizzes. I was able to get a few done, getting interrupted by Neal moving. I watched as he stretched, a tired smile on his face.
"Hey, sleepy." I greeted, walking over to sit down facing him.
"Hey." I slowly brought my lips to his, giving him a gentle kiss. I pulled away, a smile on my face.
"I ordered a pizza, it should be here in a few minutes." I ran my thumb over his cheek, looking at the tired man.
"How long have you been up?"
"20 minutes, maybe. I'm grading some quizzes the kids took earlier this week."
"Want some help?" I raised a brow.
"You want to help me grade quizzes?"
"Yeah, why not?" I chuckled, grabbing his hands and pulling him up off the couch.
"If you want to, you're more than welcome to." We walked over to the table, sitting down near each other as I split the pile in half.
We worked in silence for a few minutes, quickly and efficiently making our way through our piles. The grades were mixed but in all honesty, that's how they always were. I was down to my final quiz when my doorbell rang.
"I got it." I told Neal, passing the quiz over to him. I grabbed my wallet and walked to the door. I opened it to see Mozzie, not the pizza guy. Not going to lie, I was slightly disappointed. I was hungry, however I haven't seen him in a while. "Hey, Mozzie. What's up?"
"Is Neal here?"
"Yeah, he's in the kitchen. Is everything okay?" I glance in Neal's direction to see him already looking at me, a concerned look on his face. I waved him over. He put his pen down and walked over, the look of concern changing into one of confusion.
"Moz? What's going on?"
"Someone is here to see you." Neal and I looked at each other briefly before going back to Mozzie.
"Peter?" Mozzie shook his head. "Kramer?" Nope.
"Mozzie, who is here?" I questioned, crossing my arms over my chest. Mozzie waved the person over, an expression of nervousness on his face. I rest a hand on Neal's back, just to remind him that whoever was looking for him, it would be okay. It was a sign of support, I suppose.
"Sara?"
"Neal Caffrey, it's been a while."
♔♔♔
Here we were, the four of us standing in my kitchen, the pizza opened on the counter. I was a bit confused as to why Sara was here. I knew her and Neal ended on a good note, and I was friendly with her, but the last I heard she was in England.
"So what brings you here, Sara?" Neal asked. He was just a surprised as I was.
"I think I found something that could lead me to my sister." Right, I forgot that Sara's sister straight up disappeared. It had been almost 20 years, but at the same time many people find ways to live off the grid, look at Mozzie. "I might be on to something, then again, it could be nothing."
"How could I help?" Neal's eyes scanned over the document Sara had brought, making sure not to miss a detail.
"Sure, you guys are the White Collar Crime Division, but you're still FBI. Peter could have some friends that could help." I brought up. The room became quiet, eyes landing on me. "What? I watch my fair share of crime television."
"Exactly. The last person to see my sister was her ex-boyfriend. For a while, it seemed like he was dead. Surveillance footage caught this man stealing without paying for his things, and they managed to get his face. He was using an alias."
"I can bring it to Peter tonight and we can catch up Diana and Jones tomorrow." They all started to walk towards the front door, Neal turning around for a second.
"I'm sorry tonight didn't go according to plan." I chuckled and grabbed his hand.
"Hey, no worries. If you need any help, let me know."
"You're the best." He told me, giving me a quick peck on the lips as he turned back around.
"Hey, Caffrey!" He looked at me over his shoulder. "You're pretty great, too."