"I don't normally say stuff like that. I'm not sure why I said it. It was stupid. I felt nervous around you, and I guess I'm not used to talking to girls like that. They normally talk to me first. I don't normally make the first move," I explain.

She frowns at me.

"So your excuse for your unsolicited and unimaginative pick-up line is that it's my fault for making you nervous and not making the first move?" She asks me.

Oh. I've made this worse somehow.

"No! No, that's not what I meant. I'm sorry, okay. I just - I don't normally talk like that, and I'll never do it again, okay? I'm sorry," I say.

She stares at me for a moment, then rests her head against the wall again.

"So it's Sam, huh?" She asks, changing the subject.

I relax a little, feeling like she's leaning towards forgiving me.

"Yeah. I wish I just said that yesterday," I chuckle.

She nods. Probably wishing I did too. It would have saved us both a lot of awkwardness during this dinner.

"So, are you okay?" I ask again, realising she never actually answered my question.

She opens her mouth to say something, then closes it again. She moves her tongue around her mouth like she's considering what she's going to say. Finally, she speaks.

"I'm not used to doing stuff like this," She says, glancing at the door behind me.

"Dinner parties?" I ask her.

She nods.

"Yeah... and being like, introduced to family and friends like this. Like I'm part of something. Like they think I'm going to be here to stay," She tells me.

I frown as I think about this. Isn't she staying? I feel like her opening up to me is a good sign, and I press her further.

"Are you going home?" I ask.

"What?" She asks me, confused.

"You said, "they think I'm going to be here to stay," are you planning on going back to your family or something?" I ask her.

Sierra sighs and looks down at her feet. Then shakes her head.

"No... It's just what happens. The carers realise I'm harder to deal with than they thought, then move me on. Even people who think they can handle me eventually realise they can't," She tells me.

I snort. This feels like a Lifetime movie or something. She looks at me incredulously. 

"What? You're a bad girl or something? Too much of a rebel?" I ask, smirking. What a cliche. Next, she's going to be showing up on the back of some guy's motorbike.

Sierra scoffs and stands up straight. 

"No. I meant I have a lot of issues. Like issues, you need doctors for. You know, every time I start thinking you might actually be decent, you end up being a colossal dickhead," She says to me, shaking her head. 

She makes her way towards the door, and I grab her by the elbow, stopping her. 

"I'm sorry," I say, meaning it. I don't know why I keep doing and saying the wrong thing around her. She makes me act so differently than I do with other people. 

"You keep having to say that," She tells me, pulling her elbow out of my grasp and walking inside.