The damp settled in over the valley, seeping into Ruthie's bones, like it did every year. Even Elliott, who was used to the legendary London fog, was surprised at its tenacity. Sometimes, in the late afternoon, it would almost clear, and a kind of watery sunlight would wash over them for a bit, but as soon as it was dusk, the fog would roll back in, filling low lying areas with a wispy white stillness.

"Good lord, this is depressing," Elliott remarked. He and Ruthie were walking Amal Clooney, or "Looney-Cloo," as Ruthie called her. "I don't think I've had a good look at the sun for days, maybe even weeks."

"Welcome to the Central Valley," Ruthie said, her voice glum. Amal was pulling her Flexi-Lead as far as it would go, wanting to take advantage of the outing and smell as much as she could. "I think once we didn't see the sun for, like, fifty days or something."

Elliott just gave Ruthie a squeeze as they kept walking.

"I know, how about a games night?" Ruthie proposed. "Pizza, Pepsi, and Pictionary, at my house?"

"Your friend or the drink?" Elliott teased. "No, never mind, I don't care, I'm in."

"Great, I'll call Linda and Gordo, too, we can play Cranium, and maybe MarioKart?"

"Um, Ruthie?"

"Yeah?" Ruthie was making a shopping list in her head and wasn't paying close attention.

"Could we maybe ask Amelia as well?"

"Sure." Ruthie walked on a few steps, then stopped as Elliott's words sank into her brain. Amal was also pulled up short as the leash tightened.

"Wait, what? Who?"

"Amelia," Elliott repeated. "I'm kind of concerned about her, if I'm honest. She's gotten so quiet, and different from how she used to be." Elliott's brows knitted as they continued walking.

"And how do you know 'how she used to be'?" Ruthie asked, working hard to sound neutral.

"I'm sorry, how she sounds like she used to be," Elliott responded, not noticing Ruthie's discomfort. "From what you've said, she used to be the life of the party, right? Joking around and laughing a lot? But since that wanker used her and threw her away, she's so withdrawn. Sometimes she doesn't say one word when we walk home."

To Ruthie's dismay, Elliott and Amelia walking home together had become a daily thing, since they had nothing going on right after school, unlike Ruthie, who had tutoring and chorus until dinnertime.

Auditions for Les Mis were in a couple of days, too, and nearly all the people in chorus were working on audition pieces, except for Susan Cornell, the only true soprano in the group. She was the only choice for Cosette, and everyone knew it. As far as Ruthie knew, no one else was even auditioning for the part.

"I guess we could invite her," Ruthie said, hoping her unwillingness didn't show. She couldn't very well tell Elliott that she was jealous of poor Amelia, could she?

"Really?" Elliott sounded relieved. "Thank you, Jelly Bean, I know she's not your favorite person since the mess with the knobhead, but you know how sorry she is about all that, right? How much she regrets what she did?"

"I do," Ruthie said slowly, wondering how Elliott knew how sorry Amelia was.

"Look, I want you to know that I'm only talking to her because I really am concerned about her, that's all, yeah?" He stopped and turned Ruthie to face him, and Ruthie was entranced by his red lips and white skin, and his hair, which the fog and damp had twisted into curls all over his head.

Elliott, for his part, was nearly knocked over by Ruthie's beauty. They faced each other in the growing darkness, as the fog quickly gathered around them. Her tiny corkscrews of hair were nearly dripping from the damp, and he was aware of how her front rose and fell in her soft, gray sweater. Her cheekbones were nearly slavic, and her luminous eyes seemed to glow in the dusk.

He stepped forward and cupped her face, lifting it so he could kiss her.

Ruthie grasped his forearm with her free hand and leaned into him, so their forms briefly merged into one in the near darkness. Where their mouths connected was so warm, so hot, that Elliott momentarily lost all thoughts, his body acting of its own accord.

He had been a normal, sexually active teenager before coming to California, but since meeting Ruthie, he'd been in a self-imposed state of near celibacy. Kissing her felt so good, her mouth tasted so good, that his body just wanted to have her, possess her, now.

"God, Elliott, if not having sex feels this good, I can't wait for the other, you know?" Ruthie whispered when they finally separated.

"Yeah," he answered, his voice shaky.

Amal Clooney finally came bounding back, wondering what was holding her humans up. She jumped up on them, barking happily, and they turned and continued walking.

"Anyway, I think spending some time with people might be good for her," Elliott concluded, giving Ruthie's hand a squeeze. "She seems so lonely, and really off, like she went through something really terrible that she can't talk about."

"She can come," Ruthie conceded. "I'll call the others, you call her, and let's meet at my house at seven, okay?"

"Yeah, seven, sounds ace," Elliott answered, smiling the smile that was loosening girls thighs all over Warren High School.

They'd reached Ruthie's house, so he kissed her again and headed for his house.

Ruthie looked after him for a moment before going in to tell her Pop about the impromptu games night.

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Ruthie warned Pepsi, Gordon, and Linda that Amelia would be coming, so none of them acted surprised when she showed up with Elliott, clutching a two liter bottle of Mountain Dew as an offering.

"Hi, sweetheart, so nice to see you," Pop said, reaching in for a one-armed hug.

"Thanks for having me," Amelia responded with a smile. She was wearing jeans with holes in the knees and a baggy sweatshirt, which was typical for today's high school students, but Ruthie knew that Elliott was right. This wasn't how Amelia usually dressed, and she'd definitely lost weight.

The six of them gathered on the floor in the family room and began a friendly game of Pictionary that quickly grew heated. Pepsi was teamed with Linda, Gordon with Amelia, and Ruthie with Elliott.

"Sorry!" Linda exclaimed at one point. "I'm so sorry that I couldn't tell your horrific drawing of a pregnant alien was supposed to be an Eskimo, okay?"

"It didn't look like a pregnant alien," Pepsi returned hotly. "It doesn't, does it, Elliott?"

Elliott looked at it critically. "I guess it doesn't look pregnant," he finally admitted.

Pepsi got the implication of his words and huffed out an offended breath. "It doesn't look like an alien, either," she reiterated, pushing her hair away and cracking open another can of her signature soda.

"I'm so glad you invited me," Amelia spoke up suddenly. "Thank you." Her words were addressed to Elliott.

"Don't thank me, it's Ruthie's house," Elliott told her.

"Thanks, Ruthie," Amelia said, looking at the carpet.

"You're welcome."

The exchange was awkward, and Elliott quickly rolled the dice.

When Ruthie successfully guessed "flight" from pictures of a plane, bird, and hang glider, Elliott leaned in and kissed her, which made her inordinately happy, Amelia or no.

"Thanks for getting that right, my clever girl," Elliott said, pulling her close.

PDAs were usually not a thing for them, so Ruthie didn't think anyone would mind. And Elliott seemed to understand that, whether it was warranted or not, she felt a little uneasy about Amelia, and he was doing his best to reassure her, which was nice of him.

They moved on to MarioKart when the pizza arrived, so two people could sit out and eat.

Linda gave Ruthie a fond look when she heard Elliott call her "Jelly Bean," and Ruthie couldn't help the warm feeling she got inside. Just sitting next to him, leaning into his side, made her so happy.

Gordon, who was sitting on the other side of Elliott, rose abruptly. "I have to go," he said, putting the last of his pizza in his mouth. "I'm sorry, I forgot I promised my mom I'd watch my brothers."

"Now?" Ruthie asked. "At nine-thirty at night?"

"Yeah," Gordo answered. "She's going to see a late movie with her sister." He smiled at Ruthie. "I'm sorry, I hope we weren't going to play any more partner games."

"It's okay," Ruthie said. "We can have a team of three, right, guys?"

Everyone assented, and Gordo left, with a wave to the room. It looked and felt suspiciously like flight to Ruthie.

They played Trivial Pursuit next, with Ruthie and Elliott against the others. They sat cuddled on the couch and called out answers, with Elliott filling in on sports and drink questions, which Ruthie had no clue about.

"We make a good team," Elliott declared when they won in record time, Kissing Ruthie's abundant hair.

"We do," Ruthie replied, hugging him.

"What next?" Linda asked as Pepsi put away the board. "I think we could take them in Cranium, what do you say?" she asked the other two.

"Actually, I have to go," Amelia said, quickly standing. "I'm sorry, but I told my mom I'd be home by eleven-thirty."

"That's okay," Ruthie said, giving Amelia a smile.

"I'll walk you," Elliott said, rising as well.

Ruthie's smile faded.

"I'll be back in a tick, okay?" he said to Ruthie.

"No need, I'll drive her," Todd called from the kitchen. "I just got home, the car's still warm and everything. It's way too drizzly and gross for anyone to be walking, I think." He came to the doorway and smiled at everyone.

"You ready to go now?" he asked Amelia, who was protesting weakly about him driving her, telling him she could walk.

"I won't hear of it," Todd said, continuing to smile, and Ruthie's heart swelled with affection for her father.

Since they were down to four, they played some more MarioKart until about one o'clock, when Linda and Pepsi left.

"I think Gordo might have a thing for you," Ruthie told Elliott when they were alone on the couch.

"What? No," Elliott laughed, looking at Ruthie.

"The way he was acting tonight? It was weird," she said. "And he practically ran out of here after you cuddled me and called me 'Jelly Bean,'" she added.

"He's always been really quiet about this stuff, but we've known he's gay since, like eighth grade," Ruthie concluded.

"Has he ever had a boyfriend?" Elliott asked.

"No, his family would have a collective fit. He's never even had a girlfriend as a beard or whatever."

They were quiet for a moment.

"You don't have anything to worry about with me and Amelia," Elliott told her, his voice quiet.

"I'm not, I don't," Ruthie told him, trying to sound convincing.

"Okay, good. Because it kind of seemed like you did."

Ruthie shook her head, and leaned in to kiss him.

He slid his hand under her sweater, letting it rest at the base of her bra. His thumb brushed against her breast, making her gasp, making her wet.

Hearing Ruthie was such a turn on that Elliott felt he had to remove his hand immediately.

"I'm sorry," Ruthie said.

"Why? Don't be. These rules were imposed by me, not you," he answered. "And I'm going to have one hell of a wank when I get to my own bed tonight, for certain."

Ruthie laughed.

Elliott rose.

"And on that note, I bid you good night, fair maiden," Elliott said with his beautiful grin.

"Are you really?" Ruthie asked him. "What you said? When you get home?"

"Absofuckinglutely." Elliott answered as he walked to the door.