Ellie tries not to laugh through her hand as she watches the look of disgust that takes over Cooper's face when he takes a sip from her coffee. She grabs it back gently before bringing it up to her lips and letting the warmth of the liquid travel down her own throat.

"God. Maybe it's just the hospital's coffee. It tastes like someone went outside, grabbed a pile of dirt, and added it to a cup with some hot water. That can't be coffee. People can't seriously like that," Cooper complains.

She shakes her head as a teasing smile tugs at her lips. "This is coffee, my friend. Some people's taste buds just aren't sophisticated enough to handle it I guess."

He leans back in his seat as a grin spreads across his face. Pulling his knees up onto the seat and wrapping his arms around them for stability, he turns to face her once more. "If my taste buds don't enjoy dirt, I don't mind the idea of being unsophisticated. Sophisticated taste buds also like fish semen and snails. So I'll pass. I'm cool being a commoner."

"Suit yourself," she says, raising her eyebrows before going in for another sip of her sophisticated dirt.

"Hey, El. I've been meaning to ask you something," Cooper says quietly after a long moment of silence.

She glances over at him to see his head resting back along the wall, his now-brown locks falling slightly to his right as he tilts his head in her direction. Taking note of the dark circles under his eyes, she hesitantly asks, "Okay. What's up?"

"Why haven't I met your friends?"

Ellie's lips pull down into an embarrassed frown. "What do you mean?"

"Well, you know. You've met my friends. A couple times actually. Why haven't I met yours?"

She looks down at her hands that sit wrapped around her cup of coffee, hoping and wishing that she could somehow disappear from this moment and be somewhere else, anywhere else. Biting the inside of her cheek, she looks over to Cooper. "I don't have any friends."

His eyebrows furrow in confusion as he stares back at her, his gaze unwavering. Though even through his firm stare, she can see there's no judgment. Just the need for her to further elaborate, but still she says nothing.

"What do you mean you don't have any friends?" Cooper asks, an even softer edge to his already soft voice.

"I mean that I don't have any friends."

"Everyone has friends. You've got to have at least one."

She shakes her head slowly. "Not really. I used to have friends, back in high school. But then I realized I didn't like them, so I stopped hanging out with them. At my community college, I'm never around long enough to really meet anyone. I go to class and go home. I have friends I've met online though."

"Friends you've met online?" He asks, shifting in his seat just the slightest bit so he can look at her more comfortably.

"Yeah. People I've met online who have similar interests to me. They're all really great but we're scattered across the globe. My closest internet friend lives in Las Vegas, which is a seventeen-hour drive from here."

"I didn't know people actually made friends on the internet," Cooper says, pausing briefly as if he's lost in his own thoughts. His eyes snap back over to Ellie's. "Tell me about your friend in Vegas."

She doesn't say anything for a moment, trying to collect her thoughts so she doesn't sound insane. Taking a deep breath, she begins. "Her name's Ali. She's twenty, also in college. We met on Tumblr because we both liked this band—"

"You started being friends because of a band?" He asks, his eyes wide in disbelief.

"Yeah." She nods slowly, confused by his genuine look of shock, as if he's never really met anyone with internet friends. "A lot of people make friends online. Sometimes it's because you like the same band, or the same TV show, or you like to read the same stories. Sometimes you don't know how it happens, but it happens."

"Wow," he says, glancing down at the floor like his mind is trying to process all this new information. He lifts his head so his eyes meet hers once more before nodding and saying, "Okay. Go on."

"So we started talking because we both liked a lot of the same music. We eventually ended up in a group chat with a bunch of other people that like the same music. We've been talking for years, but most of us have never met."

Cooper's eyes widen. "Years?"

"Yep. Almost daily for the last few years."

"That's crazy."

"I know." She grabs hold of the hem of her shirt, rubbing her thumb along it gently as she looks across the room at a mother wheeling her child and an oxygen tank across the lobby.

"When I was younger I had a bunch of friends on Xbox Live. They were assholes though. Though back then, I guess I was too."

"Prepubescent teenage boys are the worst."

"Just slightly worse than pubescent teenage girls," he says, a playful wink following his words.

The elevator doors glide open and Ellie's eyes follow them to see her grandmother just as she steps out. Her eyes connect with Ellie's and she waves, to which she returns the gesture. She pushes herself up from her seat and turns to Cooper.

"Looks like my grandma's finished up. Until next time then," she says, turning on her heel to meet her grandma across the room.

"Ellie!" Cooper shouts after her, stopping her in her tracks as she turns around to face him. "Tomorrow's Saturday. Meet me at my place at noon."

"What are you doing?" Ellie asks, trying to peer over Cooper's shoulder as he scribbles away at a piece of paper on the table in front of him. He bends down slightly so his ass hits her stomach to block her from seeing.

"Stop trying to look."

"Stop grinding on my stomach."

He pauses, glancing over his shoulder at her with a glint of humor in his eyes. "El, if this is what you consider grinding, you've got another thing coming."

"I don't like the sexual nature of that comment."

A loud laugh passes his lips as he turns back around to continue writing on the paper. He bumps his ass into her once more in an attempt to mess with her. She lets out a groan before tossing herself onto his bed.

"Seriously. What are you doing?"

"I'm writing a last minute slip for the jar."

She props herself up onto her elbows, training her gaze on his back. "Is that allowed?"

He folds the paper up, turning to face her with the jar in his hands before tossing the new slip into it and shaking it up. "I don't see why not. Ready to pick our task for the day?"

"I don't know why but I'm nervous."

"Don't be." He holds the jar out to her. "Would you like to do the honors or should I?"

"You can do it."

"Suit yourself," he says with a shrug, stuffing his own hand into the jar and feeling around for a slip. He finally pulls one out and widens his eyes for effect. "The moment of truth."

He sets the jar onto the table behind him and turns back to Ellie, a dramatic expression dancing along his features as he holds the paper in the air. She can't help but roll her eyes at the theatrics that never seem to end with him.

"This slip decides our fate for the day."

"Cooper. Open up the damn piece of paper or I'm leaving."

A light laugh leaves his lips as he listens to her request and opens the paper. He squints slightly, probably in an attempt to read his own messy handwriting, before looking back up at her with a nervous glint in his eye.

"What does it say?"

He gulps. "'Learn to drive.'"

"You don't know how to drive?"

"Nope," he says, clearing his throat and crumpling the paper up before tossing it onto the desk behind him. "Why do you think my mom always picks me up from my appointments?"

"I just figured it had something to do with your treatment."

"I wish." He laughs dryly. "Instead I'm just a loser who doesn't know how to drive."

"Well let's fix that then."

"Garbage can! There's a garbage can! Cooper! Stop!" Ellie screams in horror, holding onto any handle that surrounds her.

"Stop yelling at me!" He screams back, slamming on the breaks. She glances over to see a stress vein bulging out across his forehead, something she never thought she'd see taking over Cooper's usually calm features.

"I have to yell at you or you'll hit everything on this damn road!"

"I'm going twenty miles an hour!" He protests, turning to her with a beat red face. "If I tap a garbage can, it's not the end of the world!"

"Stop yelling at me!"

"Then stop yelling at me!"

She bangs her head against the headrest of her seat, closing her eyes and inhaling and exhaling slowly. Cooper must be doing the same as she can hear his breaths matching her own. Peeking an eye open, she looks over to see his face in his hands.

"This is stressful," she mumbles.

He nods, turning to face her. "You're a horrible teacher."

"I am not," she says, an offended tone clung to her words.

A semblance of a smile tugs at his lips. "Like the worst teacher I've ever had."

"Well, you're a horrible student. I'm surprised you even made it through high school. Unteachable. That's what you are."

He snorts, his small smile turning into his usual grin. "That's something a bad teacher would say. A good teacher should be able to teach anyone."

She tries to hold back the smile that tugs at her lips but it is to no avail. "It's not my fault you don't know your left from your right."

"There are too many things to focus on at once. Driving is impossible."

"It's not that hard. You'll get the hang of it eventually."

Just as he looks like he's about to respond, his phone beeps, drawing his attention away from Ellie. He goes to reach for the phone before she slaps his hand away. Looking to her with a confused expression, he asks, "What was that for?"

"Don't text and drive."

His eyebrows furrow and a confused laugh sounds from him. "We're not moving, El."

"You're on the road. Your car is in drive. Don't text and drive."

"It would've taken a second to look at and we're not moving. But if it's that big of a deal, I'll wait until we're out of the car."

"It only took a second for my dad to look at his phone and kill a little kid with his car." The harshness of her tone takes even her by surprise.

Cooper doesn't say anything and the silence is nearly deafening. Swallowing down the burst of anger she'd felt moments ago, she says, "I'm sorry—"

"No. I'm sorry. You're right. It's a stupid thing to do. I won't do it again."

She nods, but still she doesn't say anything. The embarrassment from her outburst stopping her from wanting to make a fool out of herself again.

"So how about I try parallel parking?" Cooper says, breaking the silence and allowing the small smile she'd previously worn to return to her lips.

"Not unless you want to kill us both. Let's stick to learning how to use a steering wheel for now."