As I Collide, I See I Am a Paradox // White Collar

THIRTEEN

Some things you never get over
Sometimes the moon just won't shine
The pain will never leave you
And nothin' ever looks fine.

~

The waitress placed their food down on the table, Neal's plate right in front of him, Kira's off to the side. Neal thanked her and focused on Kira. He picked up her plate slid it into her line of sight, the face made out of fruit and yogurt smiling up at the woman.

Taking one glance at the plate, Kira sat back and dropped her hands in her lap, glaring at Neal. He stabbed his fork into a sausage link and took a dramatic bite out of it before grinning at her around the meat in his mouth.

"First," Kira's voice was rough, "that's disgusting." She motioned towards Neal's mouth. "Second, I'm not eating that."

"First, you speak! And second, why? Because it's happier than you?"

"No. I'm not hungry."

"That excuse will only last you so long before starvation kicks in."

Kira rolled her eyes and looked out the window. Neal knew it would only take a matter of seconds before she checked out once again. "What time is it?"

Neal shrugs his shoulder and gestures to his phone plugged into the wall, "Dead battery. My guess is...almost noon, if not already."

"Why are we here, Neal?"

Swallowing the food in his mouth, Neal answers, "Because you were on a plane all night, alone, eating plane food — if you ate at all."

Shifting her gaze back to his, she takes a good look at him. His eyes were begging for her to eat. Giving in, Kira picks up the utensils wrapped in a napkin and unravels it. She cuts across the annoying smile on the pancake and takes a bite. That's when she finally realized how hungry she was. Not needing to be urged any further, she had proceeded to eat both the pancakes before even taking a breather.

God, she was starved.

When she looks up, Neal's expression was one of fascination. Her eyes widen, "What?"

Before Neal has the chance to answer, the waitress comes up to place the bill on the table. Kira reaches for it, but Neal catches it before her, "No, I got it."

"Neal." Kira's tone was pleading for him to give it to her.

"No, I dragged you here." Neal pulls out his wallet and pulls out some money, "I'll pay. You can have the honor the next time."

About to protest, she hesitated when Neal merely raised both eyebrows, so she instead sighed defeatedly, "Deal."

Standing, Kira waits for Neal to grab his phone and charger and follow her to the door. Bill paid and ready to go, they shared one last quiet look as they exited the restaurant and ran through the pouring rain to get to the car.

They were only driving for ten minutes when Neal took a glance at Kira's direction to find her asleep, her head bouncing on the window where it laid. The lines of stress and sleep deprivation were gone from her face. He notices that she looks younger when she's sleeping. Neal wonders why he didn't notice before. Then, he realizes it's probably because the last time she slept in front of him, he was half asleep. She has a few chunks of her rumpled, chestnut hair tucked behind her ear which made her look so innocent.