Her parents are flying in today. It's just a matter of moments now before they call her from their hotel, and Eleanor's stomach is in knots. She tells Justin she thinks it would be a good idea for him to cook for her parents, to have a small afternoon BBQ where they can meet any of her friends who are around. Justin gets a strange look in his eyes, like he's amused by her, but he frowns as he speaks, "You want to me cook for them, and meet them, and be around you all day in front of them, and not touch you, not look at you? I think it would be better for me to avoid them altogether, Eleanor." She doesn't know why, but it's important to her that he meet them, and that they meet him. Even though she can't tell them what Justin is to her. "Please, Justin, it's just a few hours. And you can look at me, you know..," she says, not putting much effort into her argument, knowing she will prevail. He won't say no to her. "Princess, if I look at you, they'll see how much I worship you. I don't know how I'm going to do this, I don't know how to be near you & not be with you," he says, and Eleanor mentally files that in her list of favorite Justin quotes. "But you'll do it, won't you?" she asks.

"Yes, of course," he answers, as expected. And then, with an odd gleam in his eye, he tickles her. "What do you think will happen to us, Princess, if we ever find out there's something I won't do for you?" There's a laugh in his voice when he asks, and a heavy weight as well. It's so hard to tell when he's joking, when he's serious...

As much as she's been dreading this call all day, it came at the right time.

Eleanor's mother immediately tells her how horrid the flight was, even though they were in first class. She's not happy with the hotel, either, it's too overdone, she says, too L.A. "They've added something to the water, made it run gold. Really, how tacky!" There isn't room for Eleanor to speak, and nothing for her to say. Her mother orders her to drive out Beverly Hills and spend the day with her while her father visits a colleague of his, a professor at UCLA. "Your father & I want to meet your friends, too, the girl with strange name you've mentioned. Arrange something so we can meet them," her mother commands. "Yes, Mother," Eleanor sighs. "Do hurry, dear, I expect you here within the hour," her mother finishes before hanging up.

It leaves her more emotionally drained than it should, but she hasn't been exposed to such a large dose of her mother in quite some time. She doesn't know how she's going to cope with this visit, and she turns to Justin for support, his love & concern for naked in his expression. "Eleanor, you're stronger than that. You have it in you, you just have to show it to her," he says softly as she throws her arms around him and presses her face against his chest. "You can stand up to her, Eleanor, I know you can. You're so strong, but you let her walk over you like you're weak."

Justin has far too high an opinion of her, she thinks. She's not strong, she never has been. How sweet it is that he thinks so, Eleanor thinks, kissing him passionately. He presses his hands against her spine, "I'm with you, Eleanor, remember that & use it to keep your strength when she comes down on you," he says in her ear, kissing her goodbye. The last thing she wants to do is leave him behind to drive out to Beverly Hills to hang out with her mother.