Thank you to all of those who reviewed

Thank you to all of those who reviewed. I have made it (hopefully) easier to read this time around. In the next chapter, there will be dialogue, rather than the inner monologues the first two have had. I hope you enjoy it!

It didn't come to him all at once. It came slowly, over time. He dreaded his first trip back to Scranton, and not surprisingly, it was painful. It got easier as time went on, and it almost seemed normal. Then something odd happened. Kelly and Darryl. Darryl and Kelly.

As he stood in the front of the room and realized that they were together, he felt his heart flop down to his feet. He was surprised by this reaction. He should be relieved. Finally! She would move on and he wouldn't have to feel guilty about hurting her anymore. He knew she was just probably trying to make him jealous. But with each visit he would see them together and realize she was truly moving on. The only thing he could think was, "A warehouse worker? She moved from me to a warehouse worker?"

He knew that wasn't right, but he consoled himself with the fact that she had traded down. Anyone he dated would be a huge step up. Not that he was really dating much. He had been in a relationship for so long with someone who worshipped him, and he was finding it hard to date more "normal" girls. He had tried hard in the first few months to flirt and ask girls out, but lately he hadn't bothered. He went to work, came home, and spent the evening alone. Not exactly the life he wanted. It was better now that he was admitting his feelings to himself.

He was in love with her. Wow. He was in love with her. But despite that knowledge, he knew he shouldn't try to win her back. He was scared that he spent so much time trying to get away from her, now that he succeeded, he shouldn't try to tempt fate. But still...when pulled up into the parking lot in Scranton and saw her chatting with Darryl in the parking lot, smiling at him the way she used to smile at Ryan, he felt that familiar twinge in his chest and knew he had made the biggest mistake of his life.

She didn't care about Ryan. She really didn't. He dumped her in the cruelest way. She knew he wasn't as invested in their relationship as she was, but she loved him.

She tried desperately to hang on to the relationship as she felt it start to slowly slip away. She always thought that she could fill all the empty spaces in their relationship Ryan should be filling. She thought if she loved him enough for the both of them, he wouldn't leave. Maybe he would realize in time that they were meant to be together. But instead, he crushed her with five words when he found out about his promotion.

She spent the summer doing nothing but crying and eating. She couldn't believe he could walk away after so much time. He didn't even seem sad. She spent a lot of time wallowing in self pity, and even though it wasn't the most mature thing to do, destroying everything that reminded her of him. She burned the pictures of the two of them together, she donated the stuffed animals he have her to Goodwill, she shoved the DVDs she made him watch with her in the back of a closet. She thought if she erased anything he had touched from sight she would get rid of the memories. Instead it just made her place seem empty and sad.

She knew he would come to Scranton eventually. She thought she could prepare herself for it, but when he walked in that door she felt like she had been suckerpunched in the gut, and all the pain she had been denying she had came rushing back. She stupidly blurted out a fake pregnancy plea, but she didn't let it go too far. She didn't want to be that person anymore, damn it! The pathetic woman stuck living her life as a teenager. She couldn't believe she had said it, and as horribly embarassing as it was, admitted it to him at dinner that night.

But despite all that, it started to get easier. Her heartbeat didn't race as quickly anymore as it once did when he walked in the door. It was almost tolerable now, and she was feeling better. Despite all this, she wasn't expecting to move on for a while, but then something strange happened. Darryl asked her out. She was so shocked at first she didn't know what to do. But then she thought, "to hell with it. I've got to start my life again somehow. Maybe this is how I should do it." So she moved forward.

Initially, she thought, "How perfect. This is sure to make Ryan jealous!" Spending time with Darryl, however, had showed her he wasn't going to play her little games. Unlike Ryan, Darryl didn't mince words. He told her what he thought and helped her to stay calm. Over time, it became less a game of trying to make Ryan jealous, and more of the mature adult relationship she always craved.

She was happy; she really was. But sometimes when she was getting ready for bed, or she heard one of those emo-rock bands he liked to listen to, or she saw a man with the same coat from behind, she would be thrown right back to when they were together. The pain would hit her and she would forget how far she had come. Even though she still missed him at times, she knew she would never be that person again; she couldn't be.