Why the hell did time have to move so damn slow the more desperately that you wanted it to speed up? Elijah had just downed two glasses of champagne before heading outside for a quick nicotine fix, and it seemed that the more often he checked his phone, the timer he was met with had been going backwards and adding more time instead. In actuality, that wasn’t how it was working at all, and he was just incredibly impatient, but still. He wanted to leave. He hadn’t run into Nathan or any of the other Cranes at all yet and quite frankly, he hoped it would stay that way. Although the universe always did love playing silly jokes on him and planted yet another scenario he’d been silently dreading directly into his lap. As he finished off his cigarette, stomping the butt into the pavement with his shoe, he turned to find Lorelai there. And he froze, his throat dry from more than just smoke. Lack of quick thinking led him to stumble out her name and not much else, the silence growing incredibly awkward before he continued, “I, um. I didn’t think I’d see you here.” That was a lie. Another pause. “You look nice.”