New Beginnings (Charlie Bartlett Fanfic Starring Robert Downey Jr.)

Chapter 7 - Grease is Good for the Soul

"Shit," Sydney sighed as she placed a red "F" on the last test she checked - it wasn't sitting well with her. It's wasn't that she felt she did a bad job teaching the subject matter; it was that she knew, for a fact, that the student who failed put actual effort into his studying. She had been tutoring him throughout the week and knew that failing this test was going to hurt him in several ways.

Nathan appeared in her doorway, as he so often did. When he realized that she hadn't noticed him there, he asked, "Everything okay?"

"Hm?" She looked up. "Oh, uh...yeah." She thought a moment. "No?" She exhaled sharply, pushing the papers aside. "Michael failed. We tried all week and I know that he..." A noise akin to a growl escaped from her.

Nathan looked thoughtful. "It happens."  His voice was kind. "It sucks," he added, bluntly, "but it happens. You can't say you didn't try, right?"

"Yeah, I guess not. it just makes me feel like I failed him."

Walking toward her, Nathan added, "You didn't." He sat on the corner of her desk. "So, listen, I think that you need to get out of here." Sydney raised an eyebrow and his expression changed. "That sounded bad considering what you just said, sorry. What I mean is, I know why you've been here so much and you shouldn't have to hide behind your desk."

Sydney got defensive. "I'm not hiding, I'm working." Nathan's eyes narrowed at her. "What?"

"Come on, Syd." He watched as she gazed down at her desk calendar; it was covered in doodles. "Everyone deals with things differently and I think that doing something other than being here or home might...help." He tapped his finger on her calendar, making her look up. "I know a little place with the best burgers. What beats some comfort food, hm?"

"Are you going to sit there until I say yes?"

He smiled, the act making the skin around his eyes crinkle ever so slightly. "That's the plan."

She stood up, giving in. "Fine. Arlen and I put off grocery shopping any way." Within a few minutes she was in her car, following Nathan.

Once seated in the little, unassuming diner, Nathan got right down to business. "How are you, I mean really? Don't tell me 'fine' or 'okay', I told you on the other night what I'm here for."

She diverted her eyes, but decided on the truth. "I dream about him every night, so that sort of makes for shitty mornings and explains why I get into school early. My heart still aches and I'm generally miserable." She looked up at him and frowned. "Is that honest and pathetic enough?"

Nathan looked surprised, but that looked soon turned into something similar to understanding. "It's certainly a start." The waitress took their orders, then he continued. "It dulls," he continued, taking off his glasses and placing them on the table.

"What does?"

"That ache...the hollowness." There was a trace of hurt in his voice. "I won't sit here and tell you how long it will take or that it will go away completely, that would just be a blatant lie, but it dulls - that I can promise." He took a sip of water and Sydney noticed him chew on the straw for a moment.

"It was bad, wasn't it?" Sydney asked, referring to the ending of Nathan's marriage. "You left a lot out of details before?"

"It's not so much that it ended, I think that was inevitable. I just think it was..." He looked down at the paper placemat in front of him. "I don't want to make you feel any worse. Ask me any other question - really, anything else, nothing's off limits except for that part of my life – just for now. Like I said, I don't want to add to the existing melancholy we have going here, this was supposed to cheer you up."

"Anything?"

He nodded. "Yup."

Knowing that he had just touched upon a dark place in his mind, Sydney thought for a moment and asked, "Boxers or briefs?"

"You're kidding."

She smiled. "You said anything."

"And that's what you came up with?" he laughed.

"You put me on the spot and, well, you're supposed to be cheering me up, right?" She batted her eyes in a ridiculous fashion.

Nathan shook his head, feeling better. "Uh, boxers. Now how the hell do I follow that?"

Sydney shrugged. "Hey, it was either that or 'cats or dogs' and since I've already seen half of your under things, it seemed a good route."

Nathan smiled fully as their food was brought to them. He was right, sometimes a little grease is good for the soul. They continued to talk about simple subjects like movies, books and music, then the deeper topic of how they both chose the profession they were in. They ordered desert and neither of them found it odd when they reached across the table to sample one another's choices. For a couple of hours, Sydney was calm and relaxed. Neither realized how much time had passed until she glanced out the window and saw a clear night sky.

They paid their bills separately, at Sydney's insistence, then walked outside into a biting cold. Sydney had only parked a few spaces away from Nathan's car, but he walked her there nonetheless. Feeling a bit unsure of which kind of friendship they had, he hugged her. He relaxed when she reciprocated.

"Thank you," she said softly. "Sometimes it's good to know that..." she didn't finish.

"I know, believe me." He let her go, opening her car door for her after she unlocked it.

"I'll see you tomorrow." She drove away feeling better than she had in weeks.