I didn’t want to let it show, but I had to stop myself from sprinting home to see Stella. I had enough excitement brewing in me all day to sprint through the already melting snow, but then my car would be left at work and that’d be a pain. Stella was in the living room when I got home.

“Hey!” She said, rushing from the recliner she was sitting on to see me. I reflexively hugged her right away. She didn’t hesitate hugging me back, which was a nice feeling I hadn’t felt in…a very long time.

“Thanks a ton for the rent again,” I said. “You saved me a ton of time today, and also you know, saved my bank account.”

“Uh huh,” Stella said. “I also got all my fixings at my place, so I’m good for about a week."

“Your fixings?” I teased.

“Uh huh,” Stella said, deflecting my teasing attempt with a smug lil smile. “I might bring some more stuff over gradually, but—oh!” She darted past me into the kitchen. “I have to reheat it, but I bought us dinner.”

“You did?” I asked. My heart was easily won over by food, and Stella pretty much had won over my heart already, so this felt like when you get extra hearts or bonus healthbars in a game.

“There’s this deli by my place that’s really good, so I wanted you to try it,” Stella said. As I internally screamed at the thought of Stella thinking of me in a dinner trying related capacity, she got a paper bag out and got what appeared to be a bundle of sub sandwiches out of it. “Do you have a preference for oven or microwave for reheating? Oven might take a bit longer.”

“I usually just nuke em,” I said. “Whatever you think will make them taste better, I trust you.”

“Cool, cool, I’ll heat up the oven then,” Stella said. “How was work?”

“Same old, same old,” I said. “Well, OK, I was sore and I really wanted to brag about how good my night went, but I think I did a good job keeping a stone face.”

We sat at the table in the kitchen as we waited for our meal to be ready. I had never been to the deli Stella got the food from, but it all looked and smelled amazing. Stella giggled at my reaction before getting the subs in the oven to heat them up a little.

“I…did brag to my bestie a little,” Stella said. “Don’t worry, she won’t say anything, she works up in an LE college with me.”

“I mean, we’re not like secret secret,” I said. “I’m not gonna be mad if you’re telling your best friend how awesome last night was.”

“OK, good,” Stella said. “While we wait for the food, I thought it might be a good idea…"

“Hm?” I asked. “Did you lure me in with warm food to drop some bad news on me?” I was still teasing but I was ready for Stella to just bail on me at any second because that’s how my romantic luck usually went.

“No, no!” Stella said. “Not even news, really. After talking with my friend, she said that we should maybe get some…I don’t wanna say rules, but.”

“But like, rules,” I said. “That’d be good I think, yeah.”

Whenever Caya talked rules, it was more like an edict that felt like getting chewed out at work. So even though Stella wasn’t similar in personality to Caya at all, I still got a little stiff as she gathered her words.

“So…I don’t wanna stop doing this. Obviously.” Stella said.

“Obviously.” I agreed.

“But I do wanna be…what’s the word,” Stella strummed her fingertips on the table. Her hands were mostly covered by her sweater sleeves, it was distractingly adorable. “Cautious? About our next steps?”

“You did immediately move in with me and start fucking me so yeah fair.” I said.

“I just…the last time I was in a relationship I left it pretty hurt. It was a long time ago, but…” Stella said.

“I totally get you. And same here.” I said. “Alright, so that’s actually super comforting that this going this well has you concerned the same way. Like, after my last relationship…”

“Right, like that kind of too good to be true feeling?” Stella said.

“Yes!” I said.

“If you’re feeling that too, that makes me feel a lot better,” Stella said. “What other rules would be good? You suggest some.”

“I think for right now, like we said last night, keep it away from work,” I said. “Not that we need to be super secretive there, but for now, at least it’d be good with you just starting there if it didn’t seem like you got hired cuz we banging. Not that I have hiring power or anything, but still.”

“And you really think I’m getting hired?” Stella asked. “Sorry, I’m gonna keep saying that until it’s official. It’s just how my brain works.”

“No need to apologize, and yeah, I’m still preeetty sure you got it.” I said.

Stella did an excited little wiggle in her chair, again, distractingly adorable.

“Oh, and like I said last night, I don’t think Zeta needs to know just yet, she’s still going through a lot and the move might be a lot too.” Stella said.

“Oh yeah, we gotta figure out where she’d go in summer too, huh…” I said.

“We have plenty of time to think about that later.” Stella said.

“Right. Any other things we should square away?”

“Hmm,” Stella said. “Probably dumb to ask this far in to our chat here, but just to say it out loud. Again, since our minds are probably a good bit clearer tonight than last night. I know I’m repeating a lot of things, but again, I just want to…be cautious? Safe about it? So. Are you cool with sex still even if we take the rest slow?”

“Uh, yeah,” I said, relieved at her being the one to ask that. “As long as you’re cool with it."

“OK, cool with it is an understatement,” Stella said. “I dated someone many years and never had sex that good.”

“Me either!” I said. “It’s awesome, but I’m glad it’s you because I don’t know if anyone else would talk it out with me right away like this. It legit makes me feel. I dunno. Comforted?”

I internally debated and calculated the move for just a second but decided to just go for it and reach out to Stella’s hand on the table. She flinched as I felt the sweater-sleeved hand but met my grip right after.

“And speaking of anyone else,” Stella said, squeezing my hand a little tighter. She looked bashful about what she wanted to say next. “This is casual right now, but…is it fair to say no sleeping around?”

My feet tapped excitedly. That was music to my ears.

“Yeah,” I said, probably clamping my hand down way too hard on hers but I couldn’t help the feeling of what I told her next. “You’re all mine right now.”

“I feel the same. You know, casual might be too…er, casual a word for it. Maybe a step above casual?”

“I think a few steps up.” I said. “I hope?”

“Carefully casual? Since it’s been a while for both of us…” Stella said.

“But we also have immediate chemistry,” I said. “And you instantly moved in with me. And immediate fucking fantastic sex. But on top of that I have some past relationship baggage that probably wouldn’t be good to rush everything here even if it’s been a while.”

“Saaame.” Stella said.

“Yeah, carefully casual sounds good to start.” I said.

Stella got up to get the food out of the oven. “Wanna eat in the living room? These kitchen chairs are not the comfiest, I got them at a yard sale or something…”

“Sure, yeah!” Stella said. “You know, I have a pretty good said of dining room chairs I could bring down…”