Elena caught up to Laura just as she reached Finn's workstation. The red-haired woman who was suddenly standing above him startled him.
"So," Laura announced without preamble, planting both hands on Finn's desk and leaning forward, "I've decided we're all going out for drinks. Right now."
Finn blinked, his gaze shifting from Laura to Elena and back again. "I'm sorry?"
"Drinks," Laura repeated slowly, as if speaking to someone who might not understand the concept. "Alcohol. In glasses. At a bar. With other humans."
"Laura," Elena tried, but her friend waved her off without looking away from Finn.
"You both look like you haven't seen daylight in weeks," Laura continued. "Which might be acceptable for lab rats, but not for people. Especially not people who clearly need to talk about some things." She emphasized the last words with a meaningful glance between them.
Elena felt heat crawl up her neck. "We have a deadline. The research?—"
"Will still be here tomorrow," Laura finished, straightening up and crossing her arms. "Look, I get it. This research is important. Life-changing, even. But you know what else is important? Not burning out before you can finish it."
She softened her tone, turning to include both of them in her gaze. "One drink. That's all I'm asking. A moment of normal human interaction to remind you both that there's a world outside these walls."
Finn looked at Elena, his expression neutral but there was aquestion in his eyes. Despite herself, Elena wanted this. A night in Finn’s company without the weight of everything else.
"I don't think—" Elena began, but Laura cut her off again.
"Five years," Laura said firmly. "Five years since your divorce, and what have you done for yourself in all that time? Work. Parent. Repeat." She stepped closer to Elena, lowering her voice. "You deserve a few hours of fun, El. Hell, you need it."
Elena sighed. "One.”
Laura beamed, then turned her attention back to Finn. She didn’t have to say anything more. Even the strongest eventually bent to Laura’s will. Finn hesitated, his fingers hovering over his keyboard. Elena could practically see the calculation behind his eyes, measuring professional distance against what they both wanted.
"You should come," Elena said, surprising them both. "You've been working non-stop too."
Something flickered in Finn's eyes. "If you're sure.”
"Oh, she's sure," Laura interjected before Elena could respond. "In fact, she was just telling me how she couldn't remember the last time the two of you had a conversation that wasn't about patient data or research protocols."
Elena shot Laura a warning look that her friend ignored.
"I know a great little place a few blocks away," Laura continued, gathering Elena's jacket from the back of her chair and holding it out.
The prospect of sitting across from Finn in a dimly lit bar, seeing him outside the lab since that night at her house, made her pulse quicken. It was a terrible idea. But part of her wanted it.
"Alright," Finn said, already beginning to shut down his computer. "One drink."
Laura clapped her hands together in delight. "Excellent! I'llgo warm up the car while you two shut everything down." She grabbed her purse and headed for the door, calling back over her shoulder, "Don't take too long, or I'll come back and drag you out by your lab coats!"
And then she was gone, leaving Elena and Finn alone in the quiet lab. Finn stood, reaching for his jacket draped over the back of his chair.
"You don't have to come if you don’t want to," she said softly. "Laura can be... overwhelming. I can make excuses for you."
Finn looked at her directly for what felt like the first time in days. "Do you want me to come?"
The question was deceptively simple. She should say no. She should shut this down before it had another chance. But Elena found herself unable to maintain the professional distance she'd been so carefully cultivating. "Yes," she admitted quietly. "I do."
Something in his expression softened, the faintest hint of a smile touching the corners of his mouth. "Then I'll come."
They moved around the lab in silence, shutting down equipment and gathering their things. They were just going to get a drink, that was all. But it felt like a small surrender to this thing between them that they had been avoiding.
"I'm sorry about Laura," Elena said, adjusting the strap of her purse. "She can be a bit much when she gets an idea in her head."
"I like her," Finn replied, surprising her. "She cares about you."
