A restaurant would have been fun, but Ellie was a homebody. She could be comfortable in her own home and wasn't far from Grayson. She felt the butterflies in her stomach as she pulled off her skinny jeans and put on a pair of black leggins and an oversized sweatshirt. Her lipstick was already bothering her so she decided just to take off and put on a tinted moisturizer instead.

There was a decent amount of time before Taehyung would be back so Ellie decided to at least clean up her house a bit. The sink was full of dishes and the countertops were littered with crumbs. Did Taehyung see how messy her kitchen was? She hoped that either he didn't or if he did, didn't mind a little mess. She quickly cleaned off her stove and countertops and moved on to the dishes. She placed what she could in the dishwasher and then began to hand wash the pots and pans that had piled up.

"I'm back." She heard a voice behind her say.

Ellie turned around to see Taehyung place a bag on her kitchen table. He was now wearing a pair of grey sweatpants with a black t-shirt and he almost looked hotter in this than in the jeans and button up shirt earlier.

"I'm just finishing these up quick." She turned back to the sink and quickly scrubbed the next pan. Taehyung walked over and stood right next to her, his shoulder brushing against hers.

"What can I help with?" He asked and Ellie turned towards him, shocked.

"Nothing. You are a guest here so just sit down and relax." Taehyung shook his head a bit, but smiled at her.

"Well at least tell me where your wine opener and glasses are." He said and Ellie motioned to a nearby cabinet and drawer.

As she placed the last dish in the drying rack, Taehyung was pouring the second glass of wine. She dried off her hands and walked over to him as he held out the newly poured glass.

"Thank you." She said as she took it from him and took a sip.

"I also grabbed some sour candy since you said it was your favorite and a bag of my favorite chips." Taehyung held up the snacks for her to see and couldn't stop staring at how beautiful she looked right now with the huge smile on her face.

"Perfect! What movie did you grab?" Ellie took the sour candy from and walked to the living room as Taehyung followed.

"One of my friends recommended this action movie."

Ellie put the bag of candy and her wine glass down on the coffee table and reached out her hand for the movie.

"In all honesty he said it was terrible." Taehyung said, handing it over. Ellie started laughing but continued to walk over to her TV to put the disk in. "He said it's one of those movies that's so bad you just have to watch it." Both Ellie and Taehyung laughed a little as he found a spot on the couch.

Once the disk was in, Ellie came over the couch and sat down next him, grabbing her glass of wine in the process. Her thigh pressed right against his and she felt a hand snake around to her waist.

"Is this ok?" Taehyung asked, ready to move his hand if needed.

"Ya." Ellie said as she snuggled into his shoulder. Taehyung tightened his grip just a little so that he could pull her closer.

20 minutes into the movie and both Ellie and Taehyung had finished their first glass of wine and couldn't stop laughing.

"You're friend was right, this movie is terrible." Ellie sat up and crossed her legs on the couch facing him.

He grabbed the bottle of wine and filled both of their glasses.

"It is." He said as he carefully poured the ruby liquid. "So how did the project go today?" He asked. All week Ellie had told him how stressful this project was and how she couldn't wait until it was done.

"It went well. I'm glad it's done now and I feel like I can breath." She took another sip of wine.

"Well I'm glad. Seems like we both needed this night." Taehyung said as his eyes fell to the floor.

"Both? What happened?" Ellie asked, curious as to why his expression suddenly changed.

"Had a bad call today. An accident." Taehyung said and Ellie moved a little closer to him, offering a comforting touch to his knee.

Taehyung had a full time job as a photographer for a magazine, but he also volunteered his time as a local fireman as well. He would often send her pictures that he took for the magazine, but he rarely talked about his time as a fireman.

"A kid was texting and driving and hit a powerline." Ellie watched as Taehyung's eyes refused to look away from his wine glass.

"Are they?" Ellie hadn't the heart to finish her question but Taehyung knew what she was asking.

"They are ok, but it's hard to get those images out of your mind ya know?" His eyes finally met hers and he immediately felt better.

"I mean I don't really know but I can sympathize with you. I don't know how you do it." Elie moved her thumb against his knee, letting him know that she was there for him. He placed his hand on top of hers and squeezed it, thanking her.

"I don't know how you do it?" He said, raising his eyebrows. Ellie retracted her hand and sat back.

"Me? What do you mean?" Ellie took another sip of her wine.

"This." Taehyung gestured to her house. "Being a single, working mom." He watched as her smile faded and he regretted what he said.

"Well, I just do what I have to do." She said, letting the smile return to her face. "Even though this wasn't what I had planned for my life, I wouldn't change a thing." Ellie let her eyes wander to the baby monitor that was giving off a soft static from the white noise machine that was in Grayson's room.

"Can I ask about him?" Taehyung blurted out.

"I figured you would ask eventually." Ellie held her wine glass in both her hands, placing it in her lap.

"You don't have to tell me anything you don't want to." He said in a low voice.

"I'll give you the abridged version because details don't really matter." Ellie said as she looked up at Taehyung. "Grayson's father and I were dating and when I found out I was pregnant, it seemed like my dream of having a family was coming true. He was so sweet throughout most of my pregnancy, but towards the end he got scared and took off." Ellie paused and had to bite her lip to either keep the tears from falling or to keep from screaming. "He's a coward who claimed he wasn't ready, but hey neither was I, but I didn't get a choice now did I?" Ellie heard taehyung scoff as she saw his head shake a little. "He sends money in Christmas and birthday cards and that's about it. Not once has he asked for a picture of his son or how he's doing and I'm fine with that. Grayson and I are doing great on our own." Ellie took a big swig of her wine and met Taehyung's eyes once more.

"Like I said. I don't know how you do it. He is such a happy and healthy little boy and he loves you so much." Taehyung said, now taking his turn offering a comforting touch.

Ellie felt her face get red not just from the wine, but from the thoughtful compliment. She reached up and touched her face, feeling the coolness of her hand on her cheek.

"All this wine is making me warm. Want to cool off outside?" She asked and Taehyung nodded.