Waiting for Superman

Chapter Four: Secrets Uncovered

A couple hours later, Elle hummed quietly to herself as she stood in front of the stove making breakfast for everyone. She figured it was the least she could do since they had taken her in; granted they had insisted on it really, without a second thought about it, but she still felt like she owed them. It wasn't much, but it was the least that she could do for them after agreeing to take in a single mom and her energetic five year old son. It wasn't everyday that a house full of young guys would insist on giving a single mother, who was also a complete stranger to most of them, a place to stay, but words couldn't express how grateful she was for it.

The sound of footsteps behind her momentarily caused her to tense up out of habit. Too many mornings, she had endured Tripp's ire at the fact that she could never make his breakfast just the way that he liked it. Whether it was making the wrong thing or whatever she made not being up to his standards despite her years in culinary school, the man always found something wrong with what she made. Her grip on the spatula tightened, her eyes focused on the pancakes browning in the pan while she waited for the usual tirade. She should have known better. She knew that. After all, she was fully aware that she wasn't at home anymore, but that didn't stop the momentary panic from setting in. From preparing herself for the yelling and the throwing and the hitting. The smooth sound of Dayne's voice, though, ringing in her ears as he came into the large kitchen caused her to relax almost immediately.

"God damn did I miss your cooking, Leelee..."

"Jesus Christ, Dayne, you know how much I hate that nickname," she laughed, shaking her head as she loosened her grip a bit on the spatula and flipped the pancake so it could cook on the other side.

"Aw, but you know how much I love seeing you cringe," he commented with a smirk moving to her side and dipping a finger into the pancake batter, shrugging as he received a swift smack on the shoulder in return. "Oh my god, vanilla cinnamon," he practically moaned as the batter hit his taste buds. Elle rolled her eyes a bit, but she laughed as she set the finished pancakes on a plate with the rest that she had already made; when it came down to it, she probably would have made more, but she didn't know the boys well enough to know how much they would eat.

"Hey! None of that!"

Elle reached over and slapped Dayne's hand with the spatula as he grabbed a couple pancakes from the top of the pile and shoved half of them into his mouth before she could stop him, shaking her head with a laugh as he moved out of reach before she could smack him again. Looking over her shoulder as he jumped up and sat down on the island behind her, she rolled her eyes as he shoved the rest of the food in his mouth and then started speaking.

"Whaf ew anna oo ooray?"

"Such manners," she smirked, shaking her head and grabbing what was left of the batter to replace the pancakes that he had taken. "I have no idea what the hell you just said," she laughed, rolling her eyes as he repeated himself with just as much food in his mouth as if that was suddenly supposed to clear everything up. "You're a grown-ass man, you know," she commented over her shoulder, shaking her head when he tried a third time and failed to get his message across. Looking over her shoulder at him, she shook her head a bit as he looked at her expecting an answer to the question she still hadn't understood. Dayne groaned before swallowing hard. "You have a kid that never shuts up, and you can't understand someone with food in their mouth?" he joked with a smirk.

"Even with food in his mouth, Luca talks more clearly than you do."

"Ouch."

The laugh that followed his feigned hurt, though, was enough to tell her that she hadn't actually hurt his feelings. She had missed this; she had missed the banter that she'd had with Dayne when he was still in Florida. How safe and at home she felt in the Marine's presence.