Aaron left Alice to prepare their dinner. He had been debating all day how to deal with Alice after she woke up and as he was gathering his ingredients when he finally decided to tell her what was going on. When she arrived Alice was wearing a flattering one piece, Aaron never really found out what the style of dress was called, but it was a stylishly casual if well made and durable cotton affair dyed a soft brown with green shoulders. Alice was nervous and she was wearing these nicer clothes as a sort of psychological armor.

“If I didn’t know any better I would think you are dressed for a late night date with your crush. Sit down and try and relax. There isn’t any point in being scared. You look lovely by the way”

Alice blushed at his comments, both because Aaron had seen right through her, and because guys were often too nervous to give her proper compliments when she dressed up like this. “It is nice to see someone who isn’t intimidated by me once and awhile.”

Aaron nodded before he turned on the oven and gas stove in order to begin cooking.

The meat sauce was made up of a mixture of sausage and ground beef. Alice generally chose high quality foods so Aaron decided to let the sausage season the beef before tasting it. There were some garlic and sundried tomato flavored sausage links in her stock of food which he cut into thick slices before browning them in a separate skillet before adding them to the sauce. While the meats were cooking he put a pot on to boil so that he could cook some egg noodles, something he had always been partial to.

“You haven't seasoned anything.”

“You buy good sausage, not to mention this dish works better mildly spiced. The ground beef cuts the heat of the sausage some and the difference between the seasoned sausage and plain beef serves the dish well anyway.”

Aaron had also taken a loaf of bread out. After the meats were cooked he drained the oil into a bowl which he then set next to the bread. With the oil removed he opened a couple cans of Tomato sauce into the skillet of meats. After stirring the sauce together he took a pair of spoons and after using one to taste the dish he gave a sample to Alice. Aaron was sure that if she hadn't had the food in her mouth she would have open her mouth in surprise. With the situation as it was her eyes lit up and her jaw opened wide even if her lips kept her mouth shut. She quickly covered her mouth as it melted into a smile.

Aaron did add seasoning to the sauce now. A little salt, some garlic to complement the sausage slices, and just a little sugar because he felt like adding it. With this done he turned off the flame under the sauce and covered it. Then turning his attention to the bread he cut it into slices and tasted the oil. He added some spices to the oil and then used a brush to apply oil to the bread slices which he put into the heated oven. By this point the water had reached a boil. He added the noodles and sat with Alice while the pasta and toast were cooking.

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They sat in silence with both of them occasionally sampling the sauce. Aaron was a little surprised when Alice ‘snuck a bite’ before he did. When the pasta and Toast had finished Aaron served Alice and then himself. Once he sat down they both began eating. They ate the first serving in a content silence. When Alice had finished her plate she glanced at the skillet of sauce again. Aaron responded by taking her plate and dishing both of them another helping. This time Aaron broke the silence.

“I’m sorry about this afternoon. I knew about what would happen to the school and for reasons i'm not willing to disclose I have been trying to stop it. I wanted to know what would happen if you weren't there to discover… it. I had an acquaintance drug you so that you would pass out before you had a chance to see it.”

Alice wore a frightened expression on her face for a moment before gathering her courage to respond. “I thought the idea was to drug the girl during the date, not before.”

“Alice, most of the school is dead. Our entire class save you, myself and Grant. Their bodies aren't identifiable. They are hardly recognisable as human.”

“Okay. I hope that doesn't excuse drugging me.”

“I wish it didn’t, especially in light of the fact that I have fair reason to believe that what happened to the them is still a threat to me personally.”

“You intend to look through the school, don't you.”

“Yes.”

“Why did you tell me this?

“It seemed the best way to keep you away from the school. Details aside the first time this happened you broke down and just started screaming. You didn’t even respond when I physically turned you away from the sight and covered you mouth to calm you down. I know how you are around guys, I know it was bad. For myself it took me a while to even recognise you were screaming right next to me.”

“The first time? No, never mind that. I’m coming anyway. How bad is it?”

Aaron spent the rest of their meal describing the scene the most vivid detail he could manage. When he had finished they had already finished eating and were just chewing over the conversation. Aaron was simply eating the remaining toast while Alice had pulled some gum out of her purse and was quietly chewing it while listening to Aaron. With the conversation over Aaron Found some empty tupperware and divided the leftover food into meal sized servings and stored it in Alice’s refrigerator.

They parted in silence leaving to retrieve their coats from their dorm rooms. When they returned Alice had added a pair of earrings to her outfit and changed purses. “You said I had panicked the first time. What did you mean by that?”