Sorry

Joined at the door by Ryan, Tal looks down into her eyes, wondering what she might be thinking. As she leans up closer to kiss his lips, he doesn't resist. Cocking his head slightly, he returns the brief exchange, his hand finding its way to her arm.

When she draws back, he's left with a racing heart. A soft little smile comes to his face. "I will... thanks for the nice evening." Though part of him wanted to ask her now if she'd like to get together with him again sometime, he holds off. He didn't want to push her, not to mention he should probably sit back and think about this whole thing first.

After a slightly awkward pause, he finally opens the door. "Have a good night..." One last look over his shoulder at Ryan and he turns to leave, heading back out to his car.

It felt like a long drive home for some reason tonight. Thoughts of Ryan continued to swirl in Tal's mind, and a few times, he wondered if everything had just been his imagination. He certainly hadn't set out to get involved with Ryan on that kind of level... he'd wanted to be a friend, sure but... he never would have guessed that would be her response. Had she meant it though? Maybe only time would tell. For now, a smile remained on his lips....


The next day came all too soon - hours to sleep just never seemed long enough. It was quiet in the shop except for a few clanking tools and random comment from one or two of the guys. Tal kneels by the car and tapes around the edges in preparation for a paint job, lost in his work. Eli hadn't come in yet, but he was already started on today's lineup. A few minutes later though, Eli's voice jerks him to attention.

"Morning."

Tal looks up at him and smiles. "Morning."

"How ya doing?"

"Good. You?"

"Fine... You, um... have a good time last night?"

A queer little feeling settles into the atmosphere. "Of course I did." Tal holds his smile. "Thanks for having me over."

Eli squats down next to him and runs a hand over the unfinished fender, his eyes on the job. "Don't hurt her."

Tal gives him a sidelong glance, finding Eli's tone just a little harsher than normal. Not mad. Not mean. Just... not quite as easy going as usual. He feels a shiver run down his spine. "The car?" he teases with a grin. "You know I'm always nice."

Eli finally looks back at him without a smile. "I mean it, Tal. Hurt her and you'll pay."

Tal's grin slowly fades and he swallows hard. His eyes lock with Eli's and he knew that last night he and Ryan had been seen kissing. Guilt creeps up his neck in the form of heat and he looks back at the car, unable to hold Eli's gaze. He didn't know if this was just Eli talking or if Ryan had complained. If she had, he felt terrible. "Last night was my fault, and I'm sorry," he apologizes. "I didn't mean to be inappropriate and if Ryan or you were uncomfortable because of it, then I take full responsibility." He knew she could have refused to kiss him... right? He'd given her the offer, but he hadn't forced her... right? And he hadn't been the one to instigate a goodbye kiss either... had he? All of a sudden, he was unsure. He'd enjoyed himself... thought maybe this had been a start of a good thing but... not with that look on Eli's face this morning.

Sitting in awkward silence, Tal finally gives Eli a sidelong glance then looks back at the car again. The expression on Eli's face was not a happy one. What had Tal done? He stares at the spot on the car that needed another strip of tape, but he couldn't focus enough to put it on straight. Apparently he really had done something wrong. Had he been so caught up in the moment that he hadn't realized what he was doing? Had he been more forward than he'd thought? His stomach gives a little churn. He'd never misread someone that badly, but apparently last night he had, and now he needed to make it right before it got blown out of proportion. He liked Ryan, and he'd never intended on displeasing her. "If I upset Ryan, I'll go apologize to her as soon as I'm off for lunch."

Eli is quiet for another moment before he rises and heads over to the work bench to get together their tools. "Yeah. Why don't you do that?"

Tal is left to his work, his face feeling hot and his emotions feeling embarrassed and guilty. So he had upset her. He never should have even remotely suggested Ryan kiss him. He shouldn't have tickled her in the first place. He probably shouldn't have even been sprawled out on the couch, as comfortably as he had. Come to think of it, the whole thing had started when he'd changed shirts - that had been highly inappropriate, and he should have gone around the corner to change. He hadn't even thought of it at the time, and now he felt stupid. And that last kiss before he'd left... somehow, he must have read her all wrong and should have just left. What had he been thinking?

"Are you gonna finish putting that tape on, or do you have some magic power that will get it to stick itself to the car?"

Tal jumps at Eli's joke, now completely unsure how to take him. "Um... I'm almost done." Forcing himself to concentrate, he finishes his task and sets about painting with Eli, though it was awfully hard to shake the mixed feelings he was experiencing. Eli seemed fine now but... he was afraid he'd really done something wrong...


...Arriving at J&J's, Tal parks and just sits for several long moments. He saw Ryan's car so he knew she wasn't away at lunch. That was a good thing right? Maybe he just should have called. No, this was better.

Taking a deep breath, he finally gets out. Instead of going through the customer area, he goes straight for the open bay doors, finding where Ryan was. There were a couple other guys around... Leo... Miles... that redhead - Axel? It was fairly quiet, but Tal still wishes no one else were around. But he didn't have time to go somewhere else - he only had a while on his break and then he'd have to get back to work. He couldn't waste the minutes that he had.

Coming up around the car Ryan was working on, he waits until she sees him, and he tries to smile while attempting to read her face. She... didn't seem upset to see him... did she? Now he was second guessing himself. "I... I only have a couple minutes. I just..." He glances over his shoulder to see Leo quickly look away. Turning his eyes back to Ryan, the heat is back in his face. "I wanted to say I'm sorry," he apologizes quietly so the others couldn't hear him. He was still confused, but he'd take all the blame if that's what it took to fix things. "I had no idea I upset you and... and... it wasn't my intention at all."

He stops short and swallows hard, feeling utterly ridiculous. "I'll just... keep things between me and Eli and leave you alone... if that's what you want... whatever you want... I'll do..." His voice trails off as he stumbles to find the right words. "Just don't be mad at me, please?" His eyes plead with her. "I couldn't stand it, knowing it was something I did without meaning to. If I misread you I am so sorry."


"What's up with you and Tal?"

"Hmm? What do you mean?" Eli sits on the stool in the break room, eating his sandwich for lunch.

Paul sits a few seats away eating his own lunch. "I mean there seemed like there was some weird tension between you two this morning. I thought you were buds."

"Oh, that." Eli's mouth shapes a wry grin. "I was just giving him a bad time about last night."

"Last night? What happened last night?" Paul leans in, anticipating juicy information.

"Walked in on him and Ryan making out on the couch."

Paul's eyes widen. "Whoa."

"Oh it was nothing bad," Eli clarifies. "Just some good old fashioned smooching."

"Nice. Bet you surprised them."

Eli snickers. "They didn't know I saw. So this morning I gave Tal the old 'don't hurt my sister' speech. I think he was mortified I knew, and he apparently thought my reason for giving him the speech was that he upset Ryan so he went to apologize to her just now on his lunch break."

"She was making out and then was upset about it afterward?"

Eli shakes his head, holding in a laugh. "Not that I know of."

"Eli!" Paul's eyes were wide. "You're terrible! Why did you tell him she was upset?"

"I didn't!" Eli holds up his hands. "It's not my fault he assumed. I meant it about him not hurting Ryan - she's been through too much crap already. But then I was actually gonna tease him about the whole thing. He took me so seriously though, I just couldn't resist letting him squirm a while."

"You turkey. You should have told him. You realize now he's gonna make a big fool out of himself."

Eli shrugs. "Oh, he'll get over it. Besides... if he actually follows through with apologizing to her, then she's got a winner."