Present Day

"So did you go and talk to Pinocchio?" Alison asked instantly.

"Of course she did, dummy," Emma said as she rolled her eyes. "They're married now!"

"Emma," Sabrina scolded.

Emma scowled as she sank into her chair with her arms folded across her chest.

"To answer your question, yes, I did go and talk to him," Daphne said softly.

"But it didn't exactly go the way I thought it would," Pinocchio said with a wry grin.

Fourteen and a half years ago

Daphne walked slowly up the walkway to Pinocchio's apartment building. She'd only been here a couple of times before, but the doorman opened the door for her. "Hello, Miss Grimm."

"Hello, Mike," she said with a smile as she walked over to the elevator. She pressed the upward button and waited a few moments for the elevator to come to her. She got into the elevator and pressed the button for the sixth floor.

She fiddled with the hem of her shirt as the elevator car went up to the sixth floor and opened its doors. She could think of about seven thousand different places where she'd rather be instead of here. But she needed to be here. She needed to explain her side of the misunderstanding to Pinocchio.

She walked out of the elevator and into the hallway. She walked slowly toward Pinocchio's studio apartment with a feeling of dread brewing in the pit of her stomach.

She hesitated for a moment as she reached his door before she knocked once on the door and then once again.

She could hear footsteps approach the door, and she inhaled in an effort to calm her nerves.

When the footsteps stopped, Daphne determined that Pinocchio was probably looking through the peephole. It took a few moments before he finally opened the door. "What can I do for you?" He asked somewhat coolly.

Daphne swallowed nervously. "Um, I was hoping we could talk."

He shrugged and opened the door to let her inside.

She walked into the apartment, not surprised by how ordered and organized it was. Pinocchio's fastidiousness was almost the stuff of legends. From an immaculate apartment to impeccable clothing, Pinocchio rarely looked like he was going anywhere other than a board meeting.

It was one of the things which drove her a little crazy as she had inherited her grandmother's penchant for organized chaos.

"You wanted to talk?" Pinocchio said, expectantly.

Daphne turned to face him, and for the first time since she'd first seen him at the door, she saw that he had yet to shave. Odd, she thought. He was always clean-shaven—whether she saw him at six o'clock in the morning or ten o'clock at night. He always looked like he'd just shaved.

And for the first time since she'd met him nearly twelve years ago, he was wearing jeans and a t-shirt instead of a three-piece suit. Was this what he looked like when he was unhinged? She wasn't sure if she should be excited that he was finally relaxing or worried that this was a sign of some nervous breakdown.

Unfortunately, however, the look of stubble on his chin combined with his slightly unruly curly hair, which was normally carefully combed, and his casual appearance made Daphne's knees weak.

"Daphne?" Pinocchio repeated.

She shook the thoughts from her mind and looked up. "Yes. I think I have some explaining to do."

Pinocchio sighed. "That's not necessary. I don't need an explanation. What you said made sense. If you think that it's a good idea for us not to see each other, then we shouldn't see each other anymore. I should have just taken the ring with me. It was wrong of me to leave it there for you."

Daphne swallowed and reached into her purse. "Actually, I'm glad you did. It told me that I had completely misread the circumstances."

Pinocchio looked over at her in confusion.

She pulled out the velvet box and offered it to him. "I thought that since you had pulled away from me in that three weeks that you were having second thoughts about being in a relationship with me. I thought that you were trying to figure out a way to let me down gently. Now, I see you were busy. And perhaps a little nervous about asking me to marry you. I'm sorry."

Pinocchio looked over at her with a confused expression as she held the box out to him. "Are you returning my ring or are you accepting my unspoken proposal?"

Daphne swallowed. If he asked her to marry him right here, she would probably be too weak to say no again, but there were so many reasons why a marriage between them would be unfair to both of them. For one, his job, though now with Everafters, would still demand a significant amount of time at work and at home as he prepared for his cases. Second, she was still in school and would be for another five years before she was ready to begin her practice as a therapist.

While she could see herself loving Pinocchio for the rest of her long life, now wasn't the right time to make that commitment.

Pinocchio's brown eyes became hard and cold again as if he could read her thoughts and knew that she was going to turn him down again. "I see. You just wanted to explain your side of things so that you wouldn't feel guilty by returning the ring."

"I love you, Pinocchio," she said seriously. "And I would love to be your wife. But I just—can't right now." Her voice had broken as she said the word "can't" as if she was unsure about whether or not she could or couldn't.

"Can't or won't?" Pinocchio shot back somewhat angrily.

"I understand why you're so upset," Daphne whispered. "We got really close. We're good together. And you want a family—the kind of family that even your father couldn't give you—"

"You leave my father out of this!" Pinocchio snapped.

Daphne had tears pooling in the corners of her eyes. "Pinocchio, I would love to say yes to you, but I can't marry a man who's already married."

Pinocchio stepped back as shock registered on his face. "I'm not married," he said as she shook his head.

"Not to a person," she admitted. "But you're married to your work. You've worked for so long to be respected for your ideas instead of being discriminated against because of your supposed-age that it's to be expected I suppose."

"Married to my work?" Pinocchio repeated softly as if the notion surprised him.

"And while I'm working on getting my therapist's license, I'll be working just as hard. It's not a bad thing. It just means that we've got rotten timing."

"Timing," Pinocchio repeated with a sad understanding brewing in his eyes.

She nodded. "I'm sorry, Pinocchio."

He sighed softly as he looked down at the ring she was still holding out to him. He reached over and picked up the velvet box. "I'm sorry too," he said hoarsely.

Daphne hesitated for a moment before she wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. "I am going to miss you though," she whispered as she held him.

"I'm going to miss you too," he admitted as he wrapped his arms around her. "Maybe someday—"

"Don't," Daphne said as she pulled away. "Don't do that to yourself. Just accept that we had lousy timing. Maybe we can still be friends?"

Pinocchio sighed softly. "I guess that's unavoidable if I'm going to work with your sister." He nodded. "Friends."

Daphne managed a small smile before she pulled away from him. "I'd better go."

He nodded slowly. "Yeah. You probably should."

She walked over the door before she turned back to him with a wry smile. "Word to the wise, that's a very good look on you."

Pinocchio managed a thin smile as she walked out the door.