Monday. Finally. Monday.

I had dragged myself out of bed that morning to go on a run, but once I got back home, I showered, changed into my comfiest clothes, and curled up on the couch to watch Netflix. After that weekend, I didn't want to do anything today.

Overall, nothing bad had happened. No fights broke out, there weren't any huge backlogs of food or drink orders, and with Ryan back on Saturday, things had gone even better since Alex could go back and help out on the floor. But even so, I had gotten lazy during the off-season, so I was just exhausted.

I was halfway through an episode of The Witcher when Emilia came out. She laughed when she saw me curled up in my blankets. "Rough weekend, huh?"

I paused my shows and sat up. "Remind me why I don't just take the summer off?" I complained.

"Because you love your dad and don't want to leave him and all of your coworkers hanging?"

I crossed my arms and pouted. Emilia and her stupid logic. "I guess," I muttered.

"Alright, well I have an art class to go teach," Emilia said, grabbing her purse. "But you relax and tonight we'll have a wine night, okay? It's been a while."

I yawned and nodded at the same time. "Sounds perfect."

I spent the rest of the day binging TV, eating cold pizza, and just ignoring the rest of the world. I wasn't in the mood to deal with anyone except Emilia.

"I brought burgers!" Emilia announced as she walked into the room several hours later.

And this is why I was willing to deal with her.

"Please tell me you brought fries, too," I begged her.

She dropped a bag on the coffee table in front of me. "I got you two orders," she said. "Because I love you."

I got up from the couch for the first time in hours. "I'll get the wine." I pulled two bottles of red out. We were probably going to need it.

We set up Legally Blonde on the TV, but neither of us really paid attention to it. We had both seen it enough times to recite it by heart, but now it really was just to serve as background noise. The week after the festival, we hadn't had much time to talk, so now it was time to catch up.

Emilia bit into her burger and then took a sip of wine before speaking. "Alright, you have to tell me," she said. "What's been going on with Alex?"

I hadn't even had time to give her the full account of what happened on the beach during the festival, so that's where I started. I ended with the craziness of the weekend and our interactions on Friday when he worked behind the bar. Fortunately, Emilia was a great listener so she didn't interrupt, but I knew she was just dying to say something.

"You two really are inevitable," she said when I finally finished. "It doesn't matter how much you protest."

I took a large swig of wine and shook my head. "Honestly, I don't really want to talk about Alex. You know everything, and there's nothing else to be done at the moment."

"Fair enough," she said. "That means I can tell you about John."

I sat up, a French fry hanging from my lips. "John?" I asked. "You heard from him?"

Emilia smiled shyly. "Yeah, he texted me a week ago," she said. "And then I talked to him on the phone a couple of days ago."

"And?" I pressed when she stopped.

She shrugged. "I don't know. I think I actually like him."

I flopped back down on the couch, grinning like an idiot. "Awww, look at you, all shy and everything," I teased her. "You should go for it. What did you guys talk about, anyway?"

"He mostly just asked questions about my art," Emilia said. "And I asked about his. But we talked about where we grew up and places we want to visit and things we want to see." She was grinning at this point. "I don't know, it was just nice."

"Are you going to see him?" I asked eagerly.

"I don't know," she admitted. "We haven't made any plans at this point. I kind of want to take it slow."

"That's great, Emilia, really." I loved seeing her so happy. "I hope it works out. You deserve it."

"Thanks." She sighed and leaned back with her wine glass. "You know, I see what you mean. I don't really want to talk about guys."

"Good." I poured myself another glass. "That means you can tell me about your art. What's been going on since the festival?"

"Well, I really loved doing the jewelry," Emilia said, her voice picking up speed like it always did when she talked about her work. "So I'm thinking of doing another line of that. And if it works out, I might try and get the community center to let me teach a class on how to make things like that. Oh, and I'm also thinking of doing a series of paintings revolving around deep-sea life, you know, the really weird looking animals..."

I sat back as I listened to her talk. I always admired the intense passion Emilia had for her work. It was something I had never really managed to grasp.

"But enough about me, really, I think I've just about talked your ear off," Emilia said. "And I know you're not a big art person."

"You know I love your work," I told her.

"Yes, I know. But I actually wanted to ask you about something. But you have to promise not to get mad."

It was a good thing I had drank so much wine. I took another sip. "Shoot."

"Have you ever thought about going back to school?"

I sighed. It was a really good thing I drank so much wine. "Why are you bringing this up now, Emilia?" I asked wearily.

"I don't know," she said. "And I'm not trying to start a fight or anything, I swear. And I'm not trying to push you into doing it or anything. I was just wondering if you had thought about it at all."

I stared into my almost empty glass. "Honestly?" I said. "I think about it all the time." I rested my chin against the back of the couch, staring at the floor. "Not in the sense that I'm making plans to go. I just think about it."

"So you would want to go back?"

"In a perfect world, yeah I guess so." I pursed my lips, a cloud of sorrow descending over my mind. "But it's not a perfect world, Emilia. And I don't really want to dwell on things that aren't going to happen, at least not anytime soon."

Emilia shifted over to me and put her arm around my shoulders. I leaned into her side, appreciating the comfort.

"Just know that I'm here to support you with whatever you decide to do," she told me. "You know I love you."

"Yeah, I love you, too," I told her. I yawned, the wine and comfort making me sleepy. "But thanks for checking in. I know I don't always seem like it, but I do appreciate it."

"That's why I do it."

Elle Woods was questioning her witness on the television. It was the last thing I saw before I fell asleep.

A/N: Nothing like a good girls' night to cleanse the soul