Lucia tied her apron and began to make an espresso. "Hi, Denny," she huffed.

"Hey, Lucia," Denny smiled.

"Potato Guy's mom is getting worse."

"Oh, really?" Denny asked, putting on his own apron.

"Yeah. Plus, Monica went out on another date with that guy last night," Lucia sighed.

"Good for her."

"That guy gives me a bad feeling."

"You're very cautious, Lucia, but it's her life," Denny reminded, taking a place next to her.

"But she's my best friend. She doesn't have parents to do these things, therefore, it's my job."

"But it's still her life."

"That doesn't mean I have to like the guy."

"True, but you have to be supportive. I am."

"Fine," Lucia grumbled. "Wanna see a movie later? Monica's inviting Kyle over to the apartment and I'd rather not be there."

"Okay. We can, but maybe it'd be good for you to be with them. Then you can watch."

"Watch them be all gross and lovey and rub it in my single face? No, thanks."

"You can watch for any warning signs. I can come, if you want."

"Thanks," Lucia smiled. "Hey, what if we totally crash their date and invite Jonah too?"

"Um...we could, but Monica would be mad."

"Exactly. It'll be fun," Lucia chuckled.

"No, Lucia," Denny said firmly.

"Fine," she pouted.

"We don't want to make Monica angry just because you're hostile."

"But then Jonah will be all hurt that we didn't invited him and he'll make up some fatal disease so that we feel bad for him."

Denny sighed. "Maybe I'll go be with Monica and you can go to Jonah's."

"Nope. No way. Not happening."

"Why not?" Denny huffed.

"Because Jonah likes me, and if I go over there, he'll read something into it, when in reality, I don't like him at all. I'm in love with Potato Guy. Er...I mean-" Lucia stammered.

"Then I'll go to Jonah's," Denny shrugged, avoiding her last statement.

"But I need you with me," Lucia moaned.

"Lucia..." Denny huffed. "Fine. The three of us will go."

"Thank you," Lucia grinned. "How's your hand?"

Denny looked down at his bandaged hand. "It'll be fine."

"I'm still coming over to take out the stitches later, yeah?"

"I guess."

"You nervous?" Lucia chuckled.

"Uh, yeah," Denny replied, steaming the milk in the machine.

"It's nothing to worry about. Doesn't hurt at all. Trust me."

"You positive?"

"I mean, it might be a little uncomfortable, but it shouldn't hurt," Lucia shrugged. "Just trust me, alright?"

"Okay," Denny nodded, finishing making the drink for a customer.

—————

Lucia cleaned a pair of scissors. "Ready to get those stitches out?"

"Yes, but be quick."

"Well, I have to be careful so that I don't accidentally cut you," Lucia chuckled, carefully maneuvering the scissors under the first stitch. "Ready?"

Denny closed his eyes.

Lucia cut the suture and pulled it out gently. "Did that hurt?"

"No."

"Okay, good. Now I just have to do that eight more times."

Denny sighed and braced himself.

Lucia kissed his forehead and put a hand on his shoulder. "You're fine. Calm down," she said softly.

Denny nodded.

Lucia removed a few more stitches. "How are you doing?"

"Okay."

"Good." Lucia took out the final stitches. "You're done."

When Denny looked down and saw the red, he nearly fainted.

Lucia wrapped her arms around him. "Calm down. You're okay."

Denny nodded and swallowed.

"You feel alright?"

"Yeah."

"I'm still going to bandage your hand, kay? I want you to be careful until that scar heals a little more."

"Okay...I'll be okay."

"Good," Lucia smiled, wrapping his hand. "You've been a great patient."

"Thanks."

"Would you like a sticker?" Lucia chuckled.

Denny chuckled with her. "I am not four. And yes, I want a sticker."

Lucia pulled a pad of stickers out of her purse. "They're sciencey and cool and I figured you'd like em."

Denny smiled happily. "Thank you, Doctor Luci."

Lucia chuckled and kissed his cheek. "I love ya, kid."

"Love ya too, Luci."

"Should we get back to my place? Monica will be bringing Kyle over soon."

"Okay. Sounds good."

—————

"Monica, I'm home!" Lucia called, setting her keys on the table. "And I brought Denny...and Jonah."

Monica popped out of the bathroom. "Oh, hi."

"When's Kyle getting here?" Lucia sighed.

"Thirty minutes."

"Oh joy." Lucia rolled her eyes.

Denny nudged her.

"I mean, yay," Lucia exclaimed in the most unenthusiastic tone one could manage.

Monica sighed.

Denny took Lucia aside. "You're not being nice."

"Fine. I'll be nice from now on," Lucia muttered.

Denny sighed.

"I promise."

"You better."

"Will you do me a favor and order the pizza?"

"We're not staying here, are we?"

"No, no, I'll stay. But I'll need you to pick up the pizza."

"Alright. Come on, Jonah." Denny waved his friend over. "We gotta find a good pizza place."

"Giovanni's on Main Street is amazing," Jonah nodded. "Let's go there."

—————

Thirty minutes later.

"Hi, Kyle," Monica said as she opened the door.

"Hey, Monica. You look amazing," Kyle smiled.

"Thank you," Monica smiled.

Kyle stepped in and hugged her briefly.

At the same time, Lucia stepped out of the kitchen and put on a convincing fake smile. "Kyle, it's good to see you again."

Kyle nodded. "You too."

"Our friend Denny just got back with the pizza, so we can eat whenever you're ready."

"We're all together?" Kyle asked and when Lucia nodded, he did as well and said, "Wonderful."

"Yes, isn't it?" Lucia smiled.

"It is," Kyle nodded.

They sat down and began to eat.

"Oh, Lucia, what's your dating life like? Since you asked me, I have no problem in asking you." Kyle looked at her directly with this little cocky smirk.

Lucia pretended not to hear him. "Denny, I need your help in the kitchen. Be a dear, would ya?"

Denny nodded. "Sure."

Lucia walked into the kitchen and whispered, "I need you to pretend to be my boyfriend."

"What?" Denny whispered back in surprise. "I can't."

"You have to. Please, Denny," Lucia begged. "Come on. I've taken you to Urgent Care and to the emergency room more times than I can count. You owe me."

"What do I do? What do I say?"

"Just- just say we've been together for a couple months. No elaborate stories. Let me answer most of the questions. As for what to do, just put your arm around me and kiss me and call me Babe or Baby or something. Nothing too cutesy, though."

Denny nodded. "Fine."

"Thank you, thank you, thank you," Lucia smiled, hugging him tightly. "You go out first. If we go out together, it'll look suspicious."

"Okay," Denny smiled before going back to the table.

Lucia poured herself a glass of water to make it look like she had a purpose for going to the kitchen and then returned to the dinner table as well. "I'm sorry. Where were we?"

"Your dating life," Kyle reminded.

"Right. Well, I haven't been in too many relationships. A few high school flings, ya know. I was really serious with this one guy in college. He proposed, actually, but I turned him down." Lucia interlocked her fingers with Denny's. "Now Denny and I are dating. Going on about three months now, right, Babe?"

"Um...yeah," Denny smiled.

"Really?" Monica frowned.

"Yeah. We've been keeping it on the down low," Lucia nodded.

Monica raised an eyebrow.

Kyle laughed. "Is your boyfriend aware that you've been dating?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Lucia frowned.

"He didn't sound sure," Kyle chuckled, looking at Denny.

"Oh, I'm very sure," Denny nodded, wrapping an arm around Lucia's shoulders and kissing the top of her head.

Kyle nodded.

"I knew it," Jonah muttered bitterly before huffing and getting up.

"Where are you going?" Lucia frowned.

"The kitchen."

Lucia nodded. "Need help with anything?"

"Nope."

"Okay."

Jonah left the room.

"So, Kyle, you're paralegal, right? Tell us about it," Lucia nodded.

"What about it?"

"Well, describe it. None of us have ever had a job like that."

"Well...I am pretty much an assistant lawyer. I help the lawyer with cases."

"What kind of cases?" Lucia asked with great interest.

"I can't say," Kyle replied. "Sworn to secrecy."

"Hm. Interesting," Lucia smirked.

"I can't. Nothing goes out of the courtroom."

"I see," Lucia shrugged.

"It's true."

"I'm sure it is. I understand completely."

—————

"Bye, Kyle," Monica said softly, shutting the door behind him.

Lucia breathed a sigh of relief. "I thought he'd never leave."

Monica sighed. "You hate him."

"Not hate," Lucia shrugged. "Just don't love."

"It's obvious."

"I'm sorry. Just give it time. I'm sure once I get to know him a bit more, I'll like him."

"Yeah."

Lucia pulled her friend into a hug. "Look, all I know is that you don't have a father to be all overprotective or a mother to give you advice, so as your best friend, it's my job to take on both those roles and sometimes it crowds out the best friend role when it comes to you dating. I'm sorry, alright? I just care about you."

"I know, but I wish you'd like him...I do."

"I'll try harder. I promise."

"I hope so."

Lucia nodded and headed off to her bedroom, pulling out a sheet of paper. She quickly wrote:

Dear Potato Guy,

I'm so sorry to hear about your mother. As for being lonely, I would suggest coming out here to Seattle, but I know your mom needs your full attention.

About Monica, yeah, I trust her. It's just that since she doesn't have parents, I sort of have to be overprotective of her, and Kyle gives me a bad feeling. He came over for dinner tonight. I invited Jonah and Denny, and I had to have Denny pretend to be my boyfriend. Why? Well, it's all Kyle's fault. He asked me about my dating life and he was so smug that I couldn't tell him that I'm single. You're single too, right? You feel my pain?

Anyway, as for the whole Denny cutting himself thing, we were blowing up a watermelon because that's what he wanted to do and he's the scientist. Who am I to argue with him?

Well, I don't really have much else to say. I still have a bad feeling about Kyle. What should I do? Please help me.

Send your mother my love. I hope she gets better.

Love,
Lydia

It was a few weeks before she got an answer from Potato Guy. It read:

Dear Lydia,

Sorry I haven't written. Mom has been busy with doctor's appointments and I've had to take her.

I understand how you feel about protecting your friend. We love our friends and don't want to see them hurt. However, in the end, it's up to them. We give our two cents and back off. If we see something really wrong, then we say it. Maybe that's your next step. Watch them together or get to know him and do your research. Isn't that the girl thing to do? Once again, I am a guy and have no idea. I've just learned that from sitcoms.

I will let my mom know that you send your love and I hope everything works out.

Jonah was at the dinner party when you and Denny pretended to be dating? How did that go? He has a crush on you, right?

Hope to hear from you soon. I love your letters.

Potato Guy