Before Eleanor's parents come to town, while Gavin & Shay aren't working all the time since their director disappeared, they decide to have a little BBQ, and invite Xtina & her latest boyfriend to meet everyone. Justin doesn't care one way or the other about Xtina and her boyfriends, he just loves the opportunity to work the grill. He's trying a new marinade he got from his simhoo recipe group.

After Justin gets the kebabs on the grill, he joins the party, and meets Xtina's new boyfriend. He works in computer games: Justin is a particular fan of the assassin game Rainier worked on, it was extremely sick & twisted.

Having done his social duty, Justin turns to the only person he cares about. He's counting the hours now, until her parents come, make his life hell for a couple of weeks. The dread hangs over him, makes his stomach tight & knotted, his throat dry, more & more with every day. "Do you remember the last party we threw here?" she whispers in his ear. She knows he remembers, and she doesn't wait for an answer, "You scared the hell out of me, Justin, telling me Stalker was going to come for me," she murmurs, stroking his back, "You knew exactly what to do." She's turned the table on him now, he thinks, he's afraid of something he can't even name.

He kisses her like he kissed her the first time, hands in her hair, pulling, teeth on her lips, biting.

The kebabs go down really well: everyone love his marinade. Kira comes over to tell him how much she enjoyed them, and most importantly, Eleanor is smiling.

She's stressed too, he can see it. Her parents frighten her, and she's looking forward to this maybe even less than he is. She looks up in his eyes & bites her lip like she wants to say something. Her lips part, his name comes out in a hoarse whisper. "It's going to be all right," she says, and it sounds perhaps like a question.

He promises her everything will be fine, and kisses her.