It was June 16, and Ryan had had enough. He couldn't take her endless chatter about babies and marriage any longer. Sure, she was fun and cute and he always enjoyed their dates, but she always sent him at least five or ten emails at work, and always wanted to instant message him, and had actually changed her instant message name to Kelly luvs Ryan. He loved her, but he knew it just wasn't the way she wanted or even deserved to be loved. Maybe the whole office would think he was a jerk, but he knew he had to break things off for once and for all. He could try talking things out, but that wouldn't do any good. All she would do would cry, and he was a sucker for tears. Ryan never could stand to see Kelly cry. Only an email would do. That was a coward's way out, but he had no other choice. That was the only way he could make her see that he was serious.

So he opened up his personal email and thought about what he wanted to say.

Kelly,

I know this will be hard for you to understand, and I've thought about it a lot, but I really don't see a future with us. I have tried to make things work, and I have given it my best shot, but I really need to take time for myself. Maybe in the future we can give it another shot. Please take care of yourself.

Ryan

He read it over several times, and then hit send. He could tell she instantly read it- she always seemed to get his emails immediately, as she stared at the screen. To his surprise, Kelly did not make a scene. Instead, she logged off the computer, put on her sweater, grabbed her purse and went into Michael's office. She came out a few minutes later, with her car keys in hand, after apparently asking permission to leave for the day.

Michael came out and looked at Ryan. "Hey, buddy, what happened between you and Kelly?"

"Excuse me?"

"She said she is taking a few days off, to reevaluate her position in the company. I know she loves her job and everybody here knows that the only thing that would make her quit is you. What did you do this time? Did you dump her again?"

Ryan looked away. "I'd rather not talk about it."

"I mean, I know you can be a jerk, but you must have really pulled a fast one. What'd you do, cheat? Dump her on her birthday? Are you married? Gay? Come on, there are no secrets around here, you can tell us," Michael laughed.

"Excuse me, it's time for my break." Ryan got up and went to the break room, leaving a confused Michael behind.

A minute later a furious Erin approached him. She was never one to lose her cool but this time she let him have it. "You..you meanie!"

Shocked, he looked at her. He knew that she was Kelly's best friend, but still, she never got mad. "Excuse me?"

"Pardon my language but you are a big butthead."

"Erin, I know you're mad at me but you really don't understand…"

"No Ryan, you don't understand. I know you broke Kelly's heart but do you know what today is?"

"Tuesday?"

Erin sighed. "No. It was six years ago that Kelly's sister died in a car accident."

Suddenly he felt like the biggest jerk in the world. He knew that. He should have known that. Kelly would hate him forever. He would hate him forever. He would have to make this right.

Before he left, Erin grabbed his arm. "I know she's loud and noisy and she talks too much and you hate her for wanting a family but have you ever stopped to ask yourself why she wants a family so much? The night her sister died she got into a fight with her. She borrowed her sister's skirt without asking and sister got mad at her. She told her sister she hated her, then her sister stormed off in the car. That's when the accident happened. How do you think Kelly feels? There's a reason people act the way they do, Ryan. For someone so smart you sure act dumb sometimes. And people say I'm simple," Erin shook her head then walked away.

If he could dig a hole in the floor and disappear at that moment, he would. Never had he hated himself as much as he did right then and there. It all made sense. The things he hated about Kelly before he now loved about her more than anything. He really had to make things right. Maybe she would never forgive him, but he had to find out. So he went to Michael, and told him he had to go to Kelly. Michael understood; all Michael wanted was to keep his crew together.

Kelly peeked through the door, wondering what Ryan wanted this time. How many times could he dump her in one day?

"Kelly, I really need to speak to you."

"Why, so you can tell me you ran over my dog?"

"You don't have a dog," Ryan started, but he figured out what she meant. "Please, I really need to talk to you. It's important. It's the most important thing I've ever had to say to you. Erin told me what today is."

"So now you feel sorry for me and you want to clear your conscience."

"No that's not it. Well maybe a little," he admitted. "But I care about you. I can't leave you alone today. I really want to be with you and talk about what happened. Please.."

Reluctantly, she opened the door and then walked over to the couch. He saw an empty quart of ice cream, a picture of who he presumed to be her sister, and some rolled up tissues on the coffee table. He sat beside her and took her hands. She did not push him away, probably because she did not have the strength to.

"Kelly, I want to say how sorry I am for what I did today. I was selfish and only thinking of myself. I had no idea what today was…"

"And if you did you would have waited until tomorrow," she replied sarcastically.

"You know what, it changes everything."

She looked at him.

"I want to be with you."

"I don't want your pity Ryan."

"I don't pity you. I understand you. I see what makes you you. I know why family is so important to you now. I know what makes you tick and I appreciate that, which I admit I never did before. I took you for granted and I promise I never will again. I'm not saying I'm ready to have kids today or even tomorrow but I think you'll make an amazing mother and there's no one I'd rather be the mother of my kids then you. What do you say, will you take me back?"

Kelly's lip trembled as her eyes filled with tears and she nodded her head. She wasn't speechless often, but it had been a roller-coaster of a day, and she was for once grateful for Ryan to do all the talking. He reached over and pulled her close to him, knowing that he would never take her for granted again. He knew now that he loved her, no matter how much she talked and, despite all the talk about marriage and babies, he would never let her go again