"BBQ chicken! Just what I needed!" Elena exclaimed and stood up, rushing to the bathroom to go wash her hands. She returned almost immediately and picked up one small piece of the chicken, shoving it all into her mouth.

"Slow down Elena, I can't have you choking on me," Stephen teased and started to open the wine. His teasing brought a light smile to her face but it didn't stop her from stuffing her face.

The wine made a popping sound when he opened it and Stephen screamed along, compelling Elena to chuckle.

Stephen started to pour out some of the wine into the two wine glasses he had brought, and when he was done he gave one to Elena and held onto one.

"Let's make a toast," Stephen mumbled and Elena couldn't help but eye him. Who cared about making a toast? All she cared about at that moment was eating her BBQ chicken and drinking her wine in peace. Still, she obliged him.

"What are we toasting to?" she asked. A hint of impatience laced in her voice.

"Good question," Stephen muttered as he thought and Elena chuckled again. She could tell that he had no answer to that.

Stephen smiled. Oh how he loved the sound of her laughter. She had no idea.

"Okay here is one. A toast to hearing your sweet laughter more often," he said and she smiled sadly, shook her head at him doubtfully, and then moved to clink her glass with his, a warm smile spreading across her lips as she did this.

"And to your smiles too," he muttered in a voice, almost a whisper. And it was at one of these moments that Elena could have sworn that her heart skipped a beat.

Elena moved the wine glass to her lips and gulped it all down in one go. Afterwards she held the glass out to him to pour more, he smiled and shook his head in negation but he still poured her some more wine. She took her time this time, taking few sips of the wine. Her eyes which had a little light in them before saddened again and he knew that she was slipping into the memories and grief again.

"I keep thinking about it, who could have poisoned my mom and step-dad? It just doesn't make any sense," Elena paused and locked gazes with Stephen who gave her a comforting smile.

"I mean, Kelvin Blakes had quite a lot of enemies but none of them would dare do this to him. He is a powerful man in the business world. And we have tight security in our home. It just doesn't make sense. Except someone had come visit them when they got back and poisoned them, I can't think of any other explanation," Elena went on.

A deep sigh escaped his throat and then he reached out to hold her free hand, even though it was smeared with the BBQ chicken sauce.

"I just miss my mom, that's all. She is gone and I just don't know how I am supposed to accept that especially as we don't even know who killed her," she said.

"The police will find out soon, don't worry," was all Stephen could say.

Elena nodded at his words, and then retrieved her hands back from him. And then she started to shove small pieces of the chicken into her mouth, stuffing her face as tears rolled down her eyes.

After chewing and swallowing she emptied her glass of wine.

Stephen could only watch her in pain as she did this.

******

Elena's eyes blinked as she rolled to the other side of the bed.

The sun, a big golden orb, was just beginning to seep above the horizon, rising proudly in the sky. The rays seeped through the half open curtains and kissed Elena's face. She sighed. And then suddenly she had the urge to puke.

She jumped off the bed and rushed to the bathroom. She got there just in time and all that could be heard for minutes was her retching sounds.

After flushing the toilet and rinsing her mouth, Elena returned to her bedroom to see a worried Stephen sitting on her bed. He must have come in when she was in the bathroom. He stood up when she got in.

"Did you even knock? What if I was naked when you came in?" Elena mumbled, feigning annoyance as she moved to the other side of the bed, to grab a small face towel from the side table.

She failed to notice his lips curve upwards to form a smirk. Stephen chided himself the moment he realized he was already having a mental image of her being naked. He cleared his throat.

"You didn't even drink that much last night. I shouldn't have made you drink at all. Look now, you are sick," Stephen spoke in a sad tone.

"Give me a break Stephen. I just puked. It isn't like I am dying or anything like that," she said, rolling her eyes at him.

"Really Elena? Dying?" he called her out on her wrong choice of word but she just rolled her eyes at him again.

"I see that you are set for work," she muttered a few seconds later, referring to how he was dressed.

Stephen was putting on a dark grey tuxedo on black shoes. He had a black tie hanging loosely on his neck. For some reason Elena couldn't hold his gaze.

"I have a few things to settle back at the company, and then I will be back as soon as I can," he said and she shook her head at him in negation.

"No Stephen, you already gave me time off. You can't stay away from the company to come stay with me too," she protested.

"Actually I can and that's exactly what I plan to do," he said.

"Stubborn mule!" she said and moved to go help him knot his tie. She knew that he had left it unknotted on purpose. He loved it when she knotted it for him. She loved knotting it for him. Period!

But even though she failed to admit it, she was comforted by the fact that Stephen was willing to be by her side as much as he could. He had no idea how much his presence strengthened her.

"Is it just me or do your eyes look a little weak?" Stephen asked, searching her eyes just before she moved away from him after knotting his tie.

"Don't even start Doctor Stephen. Just go to work. Now out! Out! Out!" Elena muttered and started to playfully shove Stephen out of her room as she spoke.

The moment she had closed get door, she rushed to the bathroom to puke again.