When Hector got caught by the police, Stefan gave Ben a night off.
Ciara showed up at the gatehouse after seeing her mom.
" Hey."
" Hey, How'd it go with your mom?"
" Fine. When you texted me, I thought my mom was going to give me all sorts of grief about seeing you, but she actually didn't say anything."
" We've come a long way, considering a few months ago, it was her mission in life to put me behind bars."
" What do you want to do tonight?"
" Don't you have to work?"
" Nope. Stefan gave me the night off. Apparently, he and Chloe have a hot date."
Ciara was taking cartons out of a bag.
" You know, when you said you were going to feed me, this isn't exactly what I had in mind."
" You didn't actually think that I was going to cook, did you?"
" What's wrong with cooking?"
" Nothing at all if you want to spend the night shopping and prepping and cleaning and all that. No. It's just so much easier to do it with an app. You just swipe a couple of times, and boom, dinner is served."
" Oh. You make it sound so romantic."
" Mm. Well, you know what? Actually, it, uh, it kind of is. Think about all the energy that I will be saving for you. Instead of keeping my eye on the stove, you, my dear, have my undivided attention."
" You make an excellent point. You know that, right?"
" I know I do."
" And the Chinese food, that's a nice reminder of our first date. So that's nice."
" Oh, right. An outdoor picnic in December that was really amazing."
" Please tell me you have some General Tso's chicken in there because I have been dreaming of that."
" Come on," Ciara said as she pushed Ben on the bed and climbed onto his lap."
" Back at the cabin, you waited on me hand and foot."
" We are not going to start that again."
" What? Am I not allowed to talk about it anymore?"
" Not if it's about you paying me back for something that you've already done a million times over."
" See, the thing is, it's not about me paying you back. I believe in reciprocating. And besides, I like taking care of you."
They shared a kiss before eating dinner on the bed.
" You know what. I will take some of that chow mein."
" Alright, coming right up."
Ciara tried to pick the food up but struggled. Ben watched her and started to laugh.
" No offense. You're kind of terrible with the chopsticks."
" I am not."
" Okay. You're right."
" I'm trying."
" I can see that you're trying. Maybe you should try with two hands. Or a shovel."
" Just be quiet, Ben Weston, okay? You're messing with my concentration."
" You know what? I think I got it."
Ciara lifted the chopsticks to his mouth and then dropped them all over him.
