A/N: So, I think this is highly anticipated or at least the beginning part of this is. As always, Andy belongs to Lizzie B and thanks very much for all the reviews.

How we met was an act of chance, completely by accident. A simple slip of a finger, a misdialed number and I was suddenly talking to a stranger. The conversation relevant to the phone call was brief and short-lived but the dialogue that followed was long and engaging with a back and forth banter that felt like we'd been friends for years. Within that first phone call, she managed to secure five dates ranging from coffee and cannoli to a trip to the Met simply to hear me expound on modern art while trying to get her to like it as much as she likes Monet.

This love was as much an accident as was that first meeting. I needed a friend, someone to listen and to lean on. She did that. I was hung up on a bad break up, convinced I could work my way back to my ex. She sat across from me, offering up advice and support, letting me lean on her while I got back on my feet. She would tease me and I'd tease right back, not realizing what was going on right in front of me. Each meeting held within it the chance for our dynamic to change, for things to go in a different direction. We always pushed the limits of the flirting and the banter, seeing how far either of us would go before pulling back to safe distances.

And then something changed. My focus shifted, my ex was no longer framed in the center, but had been pushed aside. I can't pinpoint when this happened or why. There were a thousand moments that lead up to this, but which singular second that caused the shift, I don't know.

What is it about her that captivates me and keeps me coming back for more? She brings out a side of me that is rarely seen, like the Neelakurinji flower that blooms once every 12 years. She's entertaining and the conversation keeps flowing with never an awkward pause as is so often with other people. There's no better way to spend my time than to spend it with her. She melts my fears, calms my nerves, and makes me whole again. When life gets to be more than I can tolerate, when the cracks in my foundation start to widen, I turn to her. She knows how to fix me. And if I stubbornly resist, insisting that I don't need her, she throws her weight against the crumbling foundation and with brute force, puts it back together. Other people unintentionally and inadvertently make the cracks bigger, while some ignore them altogether.

When life drives a wedge between us, forces us apart like some twisted and clichéd story, I will fight like hell to set it right again. We've had to fight for it almost from the word "go" and will continue to fight until we've won. As Francois de La Rouchefoucauld said:

Absence diminishes small loves and increases great
ones, as the wind blows out the candle and blows up the bonfire.

All I know right now is that there's a part of me missing. If you had asked me a year ago if I had ever felt about anyone else the way I felt about my ex, I'd have told you "no". Clearly, I wasn't in touch with everything, missing key elements of that relationship. I've learned from that, grown as a man, a significant other, in all the ways I needed to. It didn't work out for a reason and I'm okay with that. If you ask me that same question now, I'll give you the same answer, but at least now, I'm in no rush, there's no great hurry. I have all the time in the world to find out if this is all I need. There's still so much to explore with her, to find out, to experience. There are things we said we'd do but haven't gotten to yet. Title and documents don't mean anything except in a legal capacity and I'm not going to be so quick in my desire for either of those things. When that wall between us is finally knocked down once and for all, I'm going to share my life with her in every way possible and take my time in doing so.