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“Well you don’t have to come every week,” Shira laughed. She nudged Cece with her shoulder reassuringly. “And stop, don’t put yourself down like that,” she frowned, distressed at her friend’s tone. “It’s just a Friday night meal. You know how Christians have their day of rest on Sundays? Jewish people’s Sabbath starts Friday night and goes into Saturday. A Shabbat meal is just..traditional. A nice way to end the week.” Her parents had been surprised that she wasn’t coming over for dinner, but she had to think they were probably a little pleased that she was actively participating in her own way.

“Look there’s no pressure, it’s just dinner, hun. It’ll be my roommates and whoever else I can scrounge up,” she smiled. “Also kind of traditional,” she laughed ruefully. “But really, it’s not anything intimidating. But I won’t be hurt if you don’t want to come for dinner.” Well maybe a little hurt, but she also didn’t want Cece feeling uncomfortable.

It seemed like too much work, putting together a big meal for a bunch of people every single week. Once a month seemed better, but she wasn’t about to argue. And she could understand that yes, Christians had their Sundays, but it’s not like they made it a thing, not at her house, when her mom was alive. Her mom would cook and they’d have a big family lunch, but it wasn’t a weekly thing, and it was always just... family.

“Okay-- no, I want to go, I promise I do,” she laughed a little, shaking her head. “Just not sure if I’m the best guest. I just don’t-- like-- I don’t know anything,” that sounded funnier than she intended, and she had to laugh again. “I mean about the culture. Can I learn this kind of stuff from google? I don’t want to be disrespectful.”

“I don’t know how good I’ll be at this, admittedly.” Josie had never been ice skating before as leaving the limited areas she was allowed to roam with other witches wasn’t something her father liked. “I’ve never actually been skating…” Now she was beginning to feel a little apprehensive simply because there were no barriers around to help her up if she fell - only Cece who she assumed was stronger than she actually looked. “I guess you’ll have to hold my hand, hm? Though I don’t think it’ll be too different than rollerblading right? Same concept but different mechanics? I did a lot of that as a kid.”

The confession brought a little bit of apprehension in Cece; she learned how to skate very young, she wasn’t sure she was apt to teach someone else the basics of it. She relaxed when Josie mentioned rollerblading. “Oh, yeah, exactly! It’s like rollerblading, you just can’t overthink it. You’ll only fall if you start getting too scared and think about it too much, that’s the truth about ice skating,” she shrugged, grinning over at the other girl. “But, you know, I’ll hold your hand either way.”

Elizabeth let out a soft laugh, nodding in agreement, “Good, because it’s totally happening.” She went to work to steam the milk, grabbing a few of the croissants from the display case to warm up while shaking her head at the question, “I haven’t! But I’m a big proponent of dipping toast into coffee in the mornings, so I’m sure it’ll taste great.” While everything was prepped she went to the display case again, taking out a couple cookies and taking a bite of one, offering the other to Cece with a playful grin. “I won’t tell if you won’t.”

Cece laughed along, the sound coming up a lot easier now. The energy seemed a little bit lifted, like it always did when Elizabeth laughed, and the shapeshifter would never know if that was a witch thing or just a Liz thing. “Oh, no, please, I’m gonna have a sugar overdose,” she chuckled, rejecting the cookie as she put a hand to her stomach. The nerves from dealing with that guy alone were already making a turmoil of her insides. “Croissants and hot chocolate are good enough. But your secret is safe with me, too.”

Cece knew better than to visit her father on the very day she had something fun planned, of course. Except, she did still live in the same shitty building as him, one floor above, and the lack of elevators meant she had to walk past his place -- her old home -- as she was going into the street. The door was open. She’d been stupid enough to think just checking in on him wouldn’t hurt.

It did hurt. It always did. The red fingerprints on her arms always stung more than the venomous words at first, but the words were the ones that stuck for longer.

By the time she was reaching the street, she was already texting Matthias some excuse or another to why she would have to ditch their date tonight. An extra shift she had to take at the gym. She’d already shared her address for him to pick her up, but maybe she was lucky enough that he hadn’t left his house yet. Maybe the universe would work with her this one time and she wouldn’t be hurting him too bad about ditching last minute. Maybe he didn’t even remember the date at all.

She was pulling on a sweater as she rounded the corner, her head popping out just as she almost crashed right into the familiar frame. Her heart squeezed itself in her chest and her eyes got wide as she scrambled to recompose. “Matthias, hey, um-- hi,” she cleared her throat and coughed, as if the tears she insisted on wiping away could be easily mistaken for a common cold, or just an extreme yawn. “Sorry, I can’t-- I tried, ah, texting you.”

Pulling up in a residential area of the city wasn’t exactly what she was expecting when Josie agreed to the date with Cece. They hadn’t seen each other for a bit as Josie had been busy with work and Cece with other things, she was assuming, so this was incredibly welcome. Still, she was confused as she stepped out of her car and into the frigid night air of New York. Following the path like she was instructed, she could spot the girl she was here to see off in the distance and couldn’t help but grin. 

“Hello,” she greeted warmly, affectionate and laughing at the reminder of her dick joke earlier. She wanted to respond but Cece almost immediately began talking about her plan for tonight which halted her. It struck her then that maybe the woman was a bit nervous for tonight but she needn’t be. Josie was immediately delighted at the idea and her wary glances towards the frozen lake were rectified with the silent question of trusting her friend. Watching Cece like this, so energetic and anxious for her approval, Josie grinned and bit her lip before she grabbed onto the girls arm to stop her from moving away. Meeting her eyes, Josie hoped that Cece could see that she was beyond pleased with what the girl had come up with. “This is perfect.” 

Cece had probably never put this much effort into a date, that much was true. She wasn’t one to go on many dates in the first place, and she never thought herself as good girlfriend material, so she never even gave this sort of planning any thought. But once her brother said he could arrange the skates if she wanted, she had to give it a try. This park was a private area, one that was technically -- and by technically, she means literally -- illegal to trespass into, but she had always snuck in with her brother to ice skate in the winter, for years, and it’d always been just fine. No cameras or anything. She wasn’t one to play around with the law unless she had perfect confidence it would be fine.

“Well, I tried,” she shrugged with a roll of her eyes and a faux coy smile, deflecting the compliment. She could see Josie looked happy about it, which was all she needed. Her arm untangled itself from where the girl had gotten a hold of her, only so she could take Josie’s hand instead and tug her along, pairs of skates on her other hand. “Come on, do you know how to skate? Do they have frozen lakes in Salem?”

Cece was more often than not fashionably late to things, but this time, she had to make sure to get there earlier than her date. If she didn’t get there first, it would only look like she sent Josie to an eerie, random part of town in the middle of the night. It wouldn’t be a good idea.

So that was why she rushed through her makeup routine and didn’t bother doing her hair before she was reaching their agreed spot to wait. As soon as Cece caught the familiar girl coming towards her, she held up what she’d been holding in her hands: two pairs of ice skates. “I almost didn’t find your number, I have to say-- your dick to feet proportion is incredibly off,” she greeted, beaming bright. Her hands, still holding the skates, gestured towards the darkness behind her; it was a quieter neighborhood, dim lamp posts, a park circled by tall, naked trees on the other side of the street. “Welcome, ma’am, to the most private ice rink in Manhattan, provided by yours truly, mother nature. Because why pay over forty bucks to Rockefeller when you can skate under only slightly worse conditions over a frozen lake, for free?” She offered. “It’s safe, I promise. And it’ll be only us. And I did not steal these skates, however, I won’t swear on it. Come on, let me show you the place before you say no.”

Josie: nah i'm still in

Josie: it's nice! i like it.

Josie: of course i'll be there

Cece: alright, good!

Liz really wasn’t going to take no for an answer. She grew up with two brothers, she knew how to get even the most stubborn of people to cave. She was just glad it wasn’t going to be too difficult this time around with Cece because she really did practically feel an urge inside to help, to try and make things good again. She smiled in response, nodding at her, “Excellent choice since that’s exactly what I was thinking. And maybe some chocolate croissants too. We deserve to indulge a little I think. Especially since it’s not too busy in here right now.”

Cece laughed a little, refraining from fondly rolling her eyes again. It was easier to let herself be taken care of when it felt like a favor to Elizabeth, at least. The girl always made it her mission to mother everyone, it felt like it might be rude not to let her. “A chocolate overdose, I like the idea,” she nodded, her hands not so shaky anymore. “Have you ever dipped the croissants into the hot chocolate? It’s great.”

Josie: you mean a surprise? you're trying to surprise me

Josie: now whose cute?

Cece: if you could see the way soda came out of my nose at that dick joke, you might reconsider this date

Cece: why yes, once every blue moon i feel inspired, so appreciate it while it lasts

Cece: i'll send you the address, meet me there at 9?

Josie: maaaaaaybe

Josie: where are you taking me?

Cece: omg tiny feet, cute

Cece: are you free tonight

“Last minute? Yes, maybe. But you’re invited over to mine for Shabbat dinner! Seven o’clock! Text me with any questions, okay? Do you have my number? I just have to run. Got my challah in the oven! You’ll come, right? I’m trying to make it a weekly thing.” Shira pressed a hand to the other’s elbow, smiling hopefully.

To say Cece was confused was an understatement. She watched The OC and that was about as far as her knowledge of the jewish culture went -- she knew Hanukkah was a thing? “What? Wait, hey, slow down there, cookie,” she shook her head. “What- what does that... mean? A weekly thing? Who’s going? I barely made it through high school, you can’t just throw difficult words at me and expect me to understand it.”

Even if she said she was okay, Elizabeth could see the signs in her friend that pointed to otherwise. She glanced down to her jittery fingers, how Cece leaned a bit more into the counter, and Liz let out a little sigh as she stepped closer to her and reached for her hand, giving it a comforting little squeeze, “Yeah. We got this.” She echoed in agreement, holding her hand for a moment more before letting go. Maybe she could still do something though. Not quite a hex but…a way to make sure the man never darkened their doorstep again. Make sure he felt an aversion any other time again he even came close to entering their bakery. Liz looked to the man’s name left over on the register screen from after he paid, committing it to memory before clearing the screen and looking back to Cece, “Well seriously, at the very least I’m making us some drinks, and don’t even try to stop me. Indulge me and let me mother hen a bit.”

Cece didn’t ever have an easy time being taken care of, but she knew it was in Elizabeth’s nature to look after people. She supposed it was just an instinct more easily present in people with siblings; she didn’t have a proper family until she was twelve and by then the damage had already been done, so Cece couldn’t quite relate. “I’ll humor you, just this time,” she hummed, rolling her eyes a little, though the smile on her lips came a little easier and turned fond. “We should get hot chocolates.”

Yael laughed at the comment, nodding, “oh, I’m sure. Probably great people watching too. Do you ever get that one person who wants like, a thousand cupcakes by six pm but they forgot to order?” She’d nannied for a few years and knew of some people who’d do just that, “Are they really that bad? I mean, I have been here when some kid paid for their order with nickels and dimes. Took about ten minutes for someone to ring them out.”

“I’m pretty sure you lied when we were kids and I asked you who at my last cookie,” he shot back, cocking a brow at his friend with a small glimmer of amusement in his eyes. Derek made a face at Cece, before waving his hand. “Right, I forgot. You definitely act like a child too, that’s for sure,” he laughed. The Calloway hummed as he placed a hand over his heart. “Oh my goodness, already? So soon? I haven’t even asked my parents yet. Wow… I guess I should say yes, right? I mean, we’ve only just met and… this is all so new for me…” he ribbed, the young man’s grin growing wider. 

“Josie, huh? I’ll keep it in mind. Am I going to meet her one day?”

Cece hummed at that, innocently shrugging and averting her eyes up like she had no idea what he was talking about. She definitely had been a bit of a troublemaker as a kid, and though she knew he probably didn’t mean that cookie thing literally, she was sure she had done it. “Don’t worry about it, princess, I’ll take care of you,” she declared at his dramatic worries, laughing again. “Just you wait until I end up at your doorstep with my deportation order in one hand and a ring in the other.”

There were worse goals Matthias guessed. And even the most perfect home and family could be stifling at times. Going from having no one to having so many brothers and sisters in the Rhodes family had taken an adjustment, and Matthias had moved out in the end too. Of course, his present location wasn’t much better since he was sharing a place with three other guys. “Have you tried shutting a door?” he pretended to muse seriously. He tapped a finger to his chin, pretending to be deep in thought. 

“Well it’s a plan. We’ll do it some time,” Matthias grinned. He had thought the idea would appeal to her, but you could never be absolutely sure. Nothing in life was certain.

“Okay, okay,” Matthias laughed, holding up his hands as if in surrender. “Although you’re not an idiot,” he added, giving her an admiring look. “Ummm I suck at hide and seek. I always get impatient about being found, or see something to distract me and come out to see it.” 

“That’s a genius idea,” Cece replied, clearly sarcastic in her tone but still keeping an easy smile on her lips. Closing the door wasn’t so easy when she shared a room. “It’s a tiny apartment, it’s almost impossible to find myself in a room alone, in the first place. The best I can do is wear headphones and ignore people if I want to be alone,” she laughed. “But I’m too nice for that, so. I had to learn to be an extrovert, I guess.”

She nodded at his confirmation. “It’s a date,” her smile grew sly, as she knew it was quite the cliche line, but it was a good one.

“Oh, man. Dully noted, I will never pick you as a hide and seek partner,” laughter escaped her again and she shook her head. “You don’t look the impatient type. I mean, it did take you about ten coffees before you asked me out, so,” she teased.