"It is what you call a buttery nipple pudding shot. Buttery Nipples are butterscotch bursts or butterscotch schnapps with baileys irish cream liquor usually."

He walks over with her and sits down. He starts eating the pudding as well.

"Even though the irish cream is made with whiskey it has so many other ingredients the stuff is only like 20% alcohol."

Not looking at Tyler, Ele swirled her spoon in the dessert, making patterns as she considered her next words. She knew she could trust him, she could open up a little more to him. So she tried,

"My mom..."

Ele stopped and cleared her throat, it was clearly hard for her to speak,

"20 percent wouldn't have been enough for her. She would have drank the bottle straight."

Biting her lip as her heart thumped painfully in her chest, Ele took a breath.

"Your moonshine skills would have made her love you though."

Hearing her speak of her mom he scooted closer to her.

"Addiction is a hard thing to deal with. Lost my brother in a car accident, he was 24. Lots of people know that but the truth of the matter was. He was drunk with his buddy who was looking for pills. There was a jog in the road, his friend yelled out curve thinking they were gonna drive off of the road. My brother swerved to try to make it. He rolled 7 times doing 70 miles per hour and he was ejected from the car."

He goes silent.

"Driving down a back road with bad headlights, while it was raining and drunk. My mom knew one day she would get a call about him being arrested or in the hospital. She never thought it would be that terrible. She thought maybe he would be banged up and be able to leave. November, 6th, 2002, that was the day of the accident. November 11th we laid him to rest finally..."

He puts his hand over his mouth.

"I always keep that in my mind cuz I love drinking but I don't want to get into it so heavy that something like that happens to me. God knows how hard my mom took it when we lost him."

Listening quietly, Ele set her dessert down on the coffee table then leaned over and placed a hand on Tyler's knee gently. She could recognize the pain in his voice, see it on his face.

"I'm sorry that happened to your family."

She whispered, knowing there was nothing else she could say to make it any easier.

"It is a lot to deal with but what about you?"

He looks at her. He tries to speak more but the words fail him. He shakes his head and puts his arm around her, hugging her sideways.

"...How is the relationship with your family?"

He finally gets it out.

With his arm around her, Ele reflexively tensed for a moment. Closing her eyes and taking a breath, Ele forced herself to relax. She was safe here, Tyler wouldn't hurt her, it was time to trust him a bit,

Taking another breath, Ele leaned against Tyler, just a little,

"My mom was the only family I ever knew. I don't even have a father's name on my birth certificate, and Mom claimed she was an only child and that her parents died before I could remember them."

She shrugged and bit her lip,

"Mom and I haven't spoken since I became emancipated at 15. Her parting words were, 'Fine, good riddance you ungrateful bitch.'"

He rubs her back.

"I will introduce you to my mom. Get you a mother figure in your life."

He finishes the pudding and sets the bowl on the coffee table.

"She could show some things."

Finally breaking the heavy vibe of the conversation he chuckles.

"Maybe take you hunting 1 day."

Straightening up as the mood of the conversation changed, Ele put a smile on her face and scooted back to her original position.

"If I can meet her in the,next week and a half, I would love to meet her."

"We will make a day out of it."

He smiles at her.

"She lives like 2 hours away from here now, up until fairly recently I lived with her in my house. She left me the house and moved down with my sister to help her with the kids. I think she might be thinking about moving back cuz she has been talking about setting stuff up out at the house for hunting. I know she loves living here but can't stand some of the neighbors but one of the neighbors just finally got his house repossessed cuz he hasn't been paying any of his bills. If she does move back in I might buy the neighbors house and share the property with my mom."

He leans back.

"Have me close by to help her when she needs it."

"That's so sweet of you,"

Ele,said with a smile. She genuinely liked the fact that Tyler seemed truly interested in helping his mother, but before she,could say anything else a yawn escaped from Ele.

"Oh man!"

She said, shaking her head and blinking,

"That came out of no where!"

He chuckles.

"They usually do."

He looks at her and smiles.

"It is still early, wanna go to bed or try to keep yourself up for a while? It is only like 9 right now."

Thinking for a moment, Ele couldn't decide,

"What would we do? If we just sit and talk, I may fall asleep anyway
.. No offense, I'm just tired and used to an early bed anyway."

"Not too much to do really, about the only thing going on tonight is a normal bar night at the lodge. If you are ready for bed, I will leave you to it. Been a pretty long day anyways."

He stands up, stretching.

"Plus, I never got taste that tiramisu."

He smiles down at her.

Standing as well, Ele stood up and smiled at Tyler. Feeling brave, she stepped forward and gave him a hug,

"Today was a lot of fun. Thank you."

She said quietly, then she released Tyler and took a step back again.

"I don't know if I'll see you tomorrow, but I hope you enjoy the tiramisu."

He lightly hugs her back.

"You're welcome, we will do it again."

Hearing speak again he says.

"Give me a call if you are feeling bored and wanna come to the mall and just play around or hang out, you can. Mondays are one of the nerdy days, it is Yu-Gi-Oh and Magic the Gathering day. We run tournaments for both and it gets pretty full but you can get in and check out the slot cars and model cars."

He smiles and says.

"But I will leave you to your rest."

He turns around and starts heading out.

Following him, Ele leaned on the door frame and bit her lip again, her nervous habit when she was unsettled but not unhappy. She didn't want Tyler to leave, even though she was tired and he needed to work in the morning,

"Tyler,"

She called, waiting for him to pause before continuing,

"Ummm..."

Ele searched for the words for a moment, trying not to seem awkward,

"Drive safe."

He smiles and looks down at her. He starts to leave again saying.

"I will."

As he is exiting he turns around and looks back at her.

"Can I give you a good night kiss?"

That sent Lee's heart into a frenzy, and she froze to process the request. Tyler was standing there in front of her, tall, strong, safe... He was safe. Letting a breath out, Ele nodded, but pointed to her cheek,

"Here, you can kiss me here."

Her voice came out small, breathy and unsure while her hands shook a little.

Safe. He is safe. He makes you safe.

Ele reminded herself in her mind, standing still for Tyler, uncertain of what to do.

He smiles seeing her shyness come out. He leans in and gives her a small kiss on the cheek.

"I will see you later Ele."

He walks out to his buggy and hops in, firing it up.

His lips were warm and soft on her cheek, and he didn't look disappointed that she had given him a boundary. In fact he had stayed well within that boundary. With her heart fluttering, and a giddy feeling in her middle, Ele waved to Tyler as he went to the buggy. Once he drove off, Ele went back inside and locked her door behind her for the night.