"Routine dessert bestowal is also flattering, albeit differently."

"Huh. Really? How's that?"

"You could've been giving anybody desserts, presumably," shrugs Bella. "You picked me."

He grins. "Well, yeah. 'Cause I tried it and it was fun."

"Exactly."

He shrugs. "Anyway, no, I don't need you to love me. It would be nice if you did but it's not bad that you don't."

"Good, otherwise it would be kind of a problem."

"What, feeling that someone you love ought to love you back?"

"Yeah," he says. "I mean - you're here, being you, you came to see me in the hospital, you brought me cake, what more am I supposed to want? How could I possibly feel like complaining?"

"Hmm - everybody I love is related to me, so if I was in the hospital and they brought me cake and didn't love me back it could conceivably be out of duty, which would bother me, but I guess that doesn't apply here."

"Well, yeah," he says. "I mean - I don't know why you came to see me and brought me cake, but I'm pretty sure you felt like it on some level. That's important. If it was just 'cause you felt like you had to or somebody was blackmailing you or something then it wouldn't mean anything."

"Nobody is blackmailing me and I didn't have to."

"Great," he says. "If somebody was blackmailing you I might have to do something about that."

"Like what?"

"Like make them stop?"

"How, though?"

He shrugs. "Fucked if I know. Depends who and what and why and all that. But if somebody's blackmailing people into pretending to be my friends, that's my problem, I'm not gonna stand for that shit."

"I can't actually think of a reason for someone to blackmail me into being nice to you."

"Me neither. Ethan would probably do it, if he felt like it for some reason. But he's all about Robin these days."

"That's really weird, the way he latched onto her. I mean, Andi likes her too, but he appears to orbit her."

Trouble giggles. "Orbit. That's a good word for it."

"Yeah. I wonder why."

"They just fit," he says. "Couldn't tell you why, but I saw it happen. They make sense together. They get each other. Robin hasn't quite figured him out yet, but he's got her down perfectly."

"I wonder if there is somebody I fit with waiting to drop into my lap. Maybe Andi's it. Andi's probably it, on reflection."