Mr. Robot Fanfic

Chapter 29

Sarah

     I don't mean to be this close to Elliot.
But I can't help sitting this close to him. I'm breathing in his scent of stale cigarettes and warmth and I feel safe. But there is nothing I want to do more than to take him home. This mission seems like suicide and I want to keep him alive for a little while longer.
But even then, he seems off. After the gunshot wound a couple of days ago, he's not himself. I wish there was something I could do about it. We get done with the mission and we end up going home, even if that means that whatever it is that we have to get done isn't completely finished. We go about our separate lives, but I keep an eye on him.
He starts acting stranger than normal. But he has a job now, working at ECorp. I'm proud of him for getting himself back at work, but he still seems off. Whenever we spend time with each other, and even then we have to make time to spend time with each other, he's still off.
One particular day, I pick up my phone and I call him. Something feels extremely off about him based on his aura. So I call him.
"Sarah?" His voice comes through the phone, deep and crackly.
"Hi Elliot," I say, feeling a smile spread across my face. "How's it going?"
"I'm fine," he returns, but I can tell he's not.
I sigh. "I was wondering if you would want to do something tonight?"
I can hear him breathe out as if he's smiling on the other end. "I'd love to do something with you tonight Sarah. Unfortunately I have to go to a mandatory work party."
"Elliot," I start to say but then stop. "Can you come by tonight before you go? It's been a while since I've seen you. I miss you."
He takes a deep breath. "I can do that, I'll be there at 6, okay?"
I smile and agree. "I'll talk to you later, okay?"
"Okay."
"Have a good day at work, okay?"
He hangs up and I feel my heart begin to sink. I'm starting to think I'm losing him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
At 5:59, I hear a knock at my door. I look out my peephole and see Elliot standing there, looking tired.
I open the door and smile at him. "Hey you," I say.
"Hey," he says back, a small smile on his lips. I've missed that smile so much.
"How have you been?"
He sighs and I can tell he's about to lie. "I've been good," he says, which I know is a lie based on his body language. But I swallow my doubts and pretend everything is okay with us.
"That's good to hear!" I say, feigning enthusiasm. Things just feel awkward between us. I look at him. "Can you come inside please?"
He looks at me and takes a step inside. I close my front door and turn to him. "Are you sure you're okay?"
He takes his hood off of his head and fluffs his hair. He looks at me and lays his hands on my shoulders. "I know you're worrying about me," he says. "But you really don't have to. I can take care of myself."
I feel tears begin to fill my eyes. "Elliot, I want to worry about you," I say. "You're someone I deeply care about, and I can't let anything happen to you."
He leans in and quickly kisses my forehead. "It'll be okay, I promise." He rubs his thumb over where he kissed me. "I'm making it better."
I throw myself into his arms and hold him, feeling his warmth against me and drinking it in. I don't know when the next time I'll see him is, so I'm just keeping myself prepared for the worst.
"I have to go soon, Darlene will be here in a little while," he says as he returns the hug. "I'll bring Flipper over in a little bit so you two can hang out together, okay?"
"Actually, why don't you tell Darlene she can hang out over here if she wants to?" I say, looking up at him. "It's been a while since I've seen her."
"I can do that," he smiles.
I pull his face down to mine and kiss him. I've missed everything about him: his voice, his lips, these moments we have together where we hold each other or lay our foreheads against each other. I've missed him.
"I gotta go, I'll be back in a few minutes with Flipper," he says. He kisses my cheek and sees himself out.
And just like that, I feel empty again.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
He comes back in ten minutes with Flipper and has changed his outfit.
"Hey handsome," I say, grinning from ear to ear. "Where are you going?"
"Work party," he says. The tips of his ears are bright pink and I know he's blushing. I feel my smile grow as I kiss his cheek.
"You look good, Elliot," I say. I lean in to kiss him, but he hands me Flipper's leash instead.
     "I'm sorry, I have to go," he says. He gives me a quick kiss and leaves.